quick question about focusing and eyesight

iPhoto17 · Oct 13, 2009

my eyesight isnt terrible but there is a significant difference when i wear my glasses for driving than when im not wearing them, but can this effect my focusing on a camera? it doesnt seem to have been a problem in the past when i shoot without my glasses, so i dont know if what i see in the viewfinder is actually not how its supposed to be

lvcrtrs · Oct 13, 2009

Years ago, I thought suddenly my pictures were fuzzy. I was very distressed as I was using A-1 and AE-1s. Come to find it was me. If not for the photography it might have been awhile before we discovered I had impending problems.

The diopter adjustment wheel if you have one should help. I know it's hard to shoot with glasses on sometimes. Also, if you are manually focusing you might check into the option of having split screens put into your camera. I do believe I read some threads about that. Until I got spoiled by the benefits of auto focus, I terribly missed my old split screens. I still cannot imagine focusing manually without them (although I have had to try a few times).

Mostly I think you'll always be wondering if your pictures are actually better than what they look like to you. I think for you it would be extra important to get a really good resolution monitor for your computer to view your pictures. Good luck. These are the things that make you realize how much your most basics senses are important to your quality of life.

Dwig · Oct 13, 2009

I assume you are refering to a manual focus camera.

Most camera viewfinders project the image at an apparent distance of around 6 ft (2m). Since many people who only have a minor error in their vision go uncorrected and that such minor errors either affect infinity or very near focus the 6ft distance is a good choice. If you can see well at 3-10ft you should have not difficulty. Your driving glasses would be set up to improve you near-infinity vision.

Village Idiot · Oct 13, 2009

Most modern DLSRs have diopter adjustment that you can use to correct this.

o hey tyler · Oct 13, 2009

Village Idiot said:
Most modern DLSRs have diopter adjustment that you can use to correct this.

Er that little dial right next to the view finder right?

Big Mike · Oct 13, 2009

Er that little dial right next to the view finder right?

That's the one.

DennyCrane · Oct 13, 2009

Just like binoculars have that dial to compensate for different vision from eye to eye, the diopter will adjust for vision in 1 eye compared to the light hitting the sensor.