Question
The back-story: My father-in-law, who was an active film SLR user earlier in his life, suffered a series of strokes several years ago. He lost most of his ability to speak, and cannot use his right side (he has no fine motor skills at all in his right hand), and has limited mobility as a result. He's confined to a wheelchair, but gets around his care facility just fine. Despite the communication barrier, he manages to get across the gist of what he's after most of the time (and while he can't speak, he's a Marine, so he can still swear at you ;-).
What we're after: We'd like to help him be able to shoot the world around him again. He lives in a facility with plenty of accessible indoor and outdoor spaces, and he has free roam of the place each day. A great environment for capturing unexpected surprises in photographs.
The constraints we're working with: His wife visits regularly and can take care of processing (transferring to computer, printing, etc), but isn't strongly tech or photo savvy, so any solution has to take her skill level into account. He'll have difficulty using anything without a simple user interface; half-presses of the shutter might be a problem, a viewfinder (rather than an LCD) may pose a problem, and it must be operable with his left hand. Also, due to his environment, the ability to easily clean (or even better, seal) the unit would be helpful. Finally, as anyone who has a loved one in a care facility knows, theft can sometimes be an issue, so this needs to be something he can take with him in his chair; bulky solutions will end up being left behind and "misplaced".
So, with that in mind:
- Can anyone recommend a camera manufacturer that caters to lefties, or even better, specifically to the handicapped? Cost is a consideration, but a low one; we're much more interested in finding something that meets his needs.
- If anyone has specific experience with this kind of situation or equipment use case, can you share how it went for you? What worked, what didn't, things that would have been good to know?
Answer
What level of tech savvy is available for setup? You could tether the SLR to a laptop or netbook and write a script which uses speech recognition to trip the shutter. (For sealing, you could add a "keyboard condom" (e.g.) or just cover the whole laptop in plastic.)
Another option would be a remote shutter release, either wired or wireless. Maybe you can find one he can activate by biting, or rig it somehow as foot pedal (can he use his left foot?).
Another thing that could be helpful is rigging a monopod with a ball head to his wheelchair. That could help with support and stabilization even if you don't tighten down the head.
Finally, on a personal note: good on you for doing this. Both of my grandfathers had strokes and spent the last years of their lives in a similar situation, so I know it's rough. Good luck!
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