Digital Leveling Tool....

The Olympus E-P1 has a digital leveling tool that (from what I understand) you can turn on and just leave it on all the time. This sounds incredibly useful, as I can't tell you how many times I have had to go into to Photoshop, tilt a picture, recrop and lose stuff I wanted to keep. Is there any other camera out there that offers this? I know some cameras can display those grid lines, but I don't really like them either. (At least not on the P&S cameras I have used with them thus far.)

It's not grid lines, but indicators on the right and bottom edge that show if the camera is tilted.
Nikon introduced a levelling gauge function on some of their DSLRs too, I can't remember which one.

The Nikon F80 first introduced LCD gridlines into the viewfinder which you could turn on or off as you please. It's still there on the D300, D300s and the D700.

The new Canon 7D has some sort of electronic levelling device.

I think all digital SLRs with Live View have grid lines you can turn on and off. That's not the same as a digital level, though. I find I have trouble getting landscape images level, even with grid lines. Sure, they help. But unless you're in flat desert or looking out to sea, there really aren't any level lines in the natural world. I've found the built-in level on the Olympus DSLRs to be really useful.

Here's another great electronic leveling tool - the iPhone. There are a whole bunch of iPhone apps for checking angles and leveling. I use one called Clinometer. I have used it in the studio to make sure my camera and product shooting table are parallel and it's also great for checking the pitch on ski slopes :)

Thanks everyone! And thanks PJ for the iPhone tip! I have an iTouch so I may go see if I can d/l that app for it. That sounds pretty handy.

Actually I think I wasn't clear on part of my post. Sorry about that. I don't like the grid lines at all. I have them on my current camera and they don't help. I'm only interested in finding a camera that has a digital level.

I haven't heard the digital level mentioned on any of the other Olympus camera's, but if the E-620 and 600 have it, that would be great. It's still pretty much a toss up between the E-P1 and the E-620/600. (Although I am trying to wait for the E-P2 just in case they add a viewfinder of some sort.) It's hard to wait especially considering I originally expected to buy my camera over a month ago. There are just so many things happening in the industry (particularly with the m4/3's system) that I don't want to end up with huge buyer's remorse.

I got a pre-production Canon EOS 7D yesterday and it has a digital level. It's interesting because it's very different from what Nikon and Olympus have done. I'm not trying to change your mind about Olympus. I just think it's interesting to see how the different camera makers are implementing this useful too. And it is useful. This is going to be one of those things we wonder how we lived without.

As far as Olympus goes, I think the digital level is available in the E-30, the E-620 and the E-P1. If I remember right, it's simplified a little in the E-P1. I would check but my E-P1 battery is dead :rolleyes:

I don't believe the E-600 has the level tool. That's one of the things they left out.

Wow thanks for letting me know about the 600. It's actually important enough that I don't think I would buy a camera without one.

I'm glad to hear that Canon is incorporating one on the 7D. I hope that will put a little more pressure on other manfuacturers to include something similar in future models.

Hi i thought if we are all not happy about the A6000 not having digital leveling gauge,we should really push Sony for this firmware update.The more people emailing them about this,the more we might be able to get something done about this,or at least get some answers why it hasn't got one.Partition email here. link SonyCRG.au @ ap.sony.com

Well, as long as a 5-year-old thread is revived by a first-poster, I'll point out that there's a lot more to having the level indicator than just firmware code; you have to have the hardware to sense it, as well. You're not going to add the feature with a download.....