Shooting while wearing glasses??

[jackperk]

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I wear glasses and do not get close enough to the viewfinder to see from frameline to frameline. What an I do about this?

[Walt Calahan]

What model camera are you using/ I wear glasses but do not have a problem with my two M6 TTL bodies. One is the .58 viewfinder and the other is the .85.

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[erl]

I 'solved' that problem by getting titanium frames for my glasses. They are very fine and are very flexible (and expensive). They allow you to press the the VF nearly right into your eye and then flex back when the camera is removed. Not perfect, but the best solution I could find that did not compromise other factors relating to my vision.

[jackperk]

I'm using an M9.

[Jeff S]

Other than more flexible glasses as Erl mentions, some alternatives you've likely considered are contact lenses or diopters (assuming you don't have astigmatism or other vision issues that preclude use of either). Your optician or optometrist may have some suggestions.

 

I wear glasses and have learned to just deal with it, which gets easier over time as you get to know your frame lines well.

 

With some film Ms this could be addressed to a degree through different finder magnifications, e.g., .58 for wide focal lengths, or .85 for long lenses, rather than the standard .72 (or .68 in case of M9). Don't know if digital Ms will ever follow suit.

 

Jeff

[likalar]

I wear glasses and do not get close enough to the viewfinder to see from frameline to frameline. What an I do about this?

 

I've been shooting Ms for years with glasses (and now use a m9), and have no trouble except with the 28mm frame lines, but have just gotten used to it when using the 28. (I have no trouble seeing the 35 frame lines). In reality, the frame lines are actually just an approximation of what is captured, and I usually find an extra 10% or so of image than I intended even using the outside edge of the frame lines. Sure, I often end up cropping away some valuable pixels later, but the advantage is that I'm often thankful the camera included a bit more of a scene than I intended (the 90mm is the most "generous" in this regard. I can't believe how much more image is recorded than what the frame lines show).

 

 

 

Larry

Edited August 15, 2010 by likalar

[Rick]

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Jack, I can understand your problem and for some of the wider lenses it can be hard to see to the edge of the viewfinder. Of course, contacts would be of help if you are a suitable candidate. Diopters can help sometimes and different glasses might be a possibility. LASIK eye surgery could be an option. External view finders can be excellent solutions. Beyond that, you just have to adapt the best you can. The rangefinder system depends on excellent vision.

 

Just a side note, I went out today and was shooting at our public market and had to use an older contact lens (that's another story!). I would judge the contact lens as a distorted 20/25. Not too bad. But, I couldn't believe how much trouble I had with the M. Several times I found myself cleaning the rangefinder window to no avail. Part of the time I found it impossible to focus. I now have a new and personal understanding of the problems that visually impaired persons (20/25!) have with the rangefinder M system!

 

Jack, it is critical, as you know, to figure out how to get "your" optics dialed in. This will be no news to anyone reading this with any "challenges" with their vision.

[lars_bergquist]

It is of course all a matter of eye relief, or rather eye distance. I am 74 and must use specs at all viewing distances, because my accomodation is all gone. So I have progressives. On top of that, I am presbyopic, i.e. my eyes are permanently focused beyond infinity!

 

Still, I have few problems. The lenses are quite thin (high-grade synthetic) and thus also the frames. With a 0.72 or 0.68X finder, I cannot see the entire 28mm frame. So when I need something wider than 35mm, I use 24mm (actually, a 25mm Biogon) with its auxiliary finder. This does not trouble me, probably because when I grew up, you used auxiliaries for everything except 5cm!

 

I had to exchange the eyepiece on my M4-P for a rubber-rimmed M6 one, because the original scratched my lenses to death in no time. Otherwise, the only "problem' is that the inside of my right spec lens gets smeared, instad of the finder eyepiece! My M9 is just fine (or will be, when it returns from Solms with a de-cracked sensor).

 

I have experimented with correction lenses in the eyepiece, but that was not the solution. It meant that I was half-blind except when looking through the finder. I tired pretty quickly of the specs off -- specs on drill. Not the right procedure for an action camera.

 

The old man from the Age of the IIIa

[250swb]

The 28mm frameline is the only one I can't see in total, and for that I have gotten used to quickly scanning the edges of the frame. But with experience even that isn't always necessary because you see the scene, you know the lens coverage, and when it goes to the eye all you need to do is focus the camera. As Larry has said the framelines are approximations anyway, and its the experience of the results from a lens that gradually train you to compose with regard to the viewfinder frame and actual frame edge.

 

As for the 'specs' themselves, well I've tried contact lenses and found them next to useless. I was always concious of having to keep them in place. But a pair of varifocal specs with a thin frame are the best for me. They are quick to use (no taking specs of and on again like Lars says), and the lower reading area means its easy to read the menu and see the settings.

 

Steve

[lars_bergquist]

Steve, I'm glad you have the same experience. I use the same glasses both for photography and for general use. Can't be simpler.

 

The old man

[Xmas]

I wear glasses and do not get close enough to the viewfinder to see from frameline to frameline. What an I do about this?

 

Contacts is nicest, if you can tolerate them, where you take photos

Even with astigmatism a dioptre is ok if you only take horizontal shots.., but you will lose specs for sure.

If you are a right eye shooter then leaving the other eye open helps a lot, (for me). Just don't close the eye, bring the camera up and don't close the eye. Cause I an naturally left eye dominant this is easier for me you will need iron will to keep that pesky eye open, I use the right eye for horizontal shots (although it is unnatural) cause alternatives are so annoying.

note you don't need a 1:1 finder, your brain can cope.

The snag is it will slow you down, cause you have to switch eyes you are using in your head.

The last option is to use a LTM lens and use a M adapter for the next longer lens, you get to see more (of the) frame and wont miss anything in the photo, e.g. a 28mm lens with 35mm adapter. If you have a M2, M4 or M4-2 with a bayonet 28mm then hold over the selector with an elastic band.

 

Noel

 

edit holding over the selector will work for any post M3 M and a 28mm... sorry

Edited August 15, 2010 by Xmas
dubo

[bocaburger]

Even with astigmatism a dioptre is ok if you only take horizontal shots

You can ask your eye doc what is your "spherical equivalent" for that eye. Eg, my spherical equivalent is one diopter more minus. With that I can see perfectly through a finder in any orientation even though I've got astigmatism.

 

If you are a right eye shooter then leaving the other eye open helps a lot, (for me). Just don't close the eye, bring the camera up and don't close the eye. Cause I an naturally left eye dominant this is easier for me ...

note you don't need a 1:1 finder, your brain can cope.

 

Your brain can cope, not everyone's can. Some people do not have binocular vision, and most people have varying degrees, and will to a greater or lesser extent see two images at two different magnifications, superimposed.

 

The last option is to use a LTM lens and use a M adapter for the next longer lens, you get to see more (of the) frame and wont miss anything in the photo, e.g. a 28mm lens with 35mm adapter.

 

I don't get why would I care if I have a frame if it's not even close to accurate? Why not just leave the 28mm frame there and accept as much of the finder view as I can see with my glasses on?

 

All said, the thin lenses + flexible frames and mash them as tight to the eyepiece as possible works the best, short of contacts or lasik (getting surgery just to use a certain brand of camera seems a little radical to me ). Diopters are ok for people whose vision correction isn't huge (can see ok without glasses), but for those of us who are blind without glasses it's a pain to keep switching glasses on and off.

[bill]

There are a number of factors at work here. The shape of your spectacles is one, as is your prescription. Also, are you a left- or right-eyed shooter? This is not as daft as it sounds, given that those of us who are left-eyed also have to take into account our noses...

 

I am a left-eyed, spectacle wearer. I use a .85 M7 and an M2. I can easily see the 35mm framelines in both, and use the whole of the viewfinder for 28mm.

 

Regards,

 

Bill

[Doug A]

Another left-eyed glasses-wearing old timer here. My vision is just good enough to use the rangefinder and viewfinder without glasses, but I can't read the shutter speed on the dial without them! Putting the glasses on and off is too cumbersome, especially with a Digisix meter hanging around my neck too. A previous owner of my M2 substituted some sort of plastic eyepiece, so the titanium frames mentioned here may be a solution.

 

--Doug

[Mike Rawcs]

Varifocal specs with a thin titanium frame for me. For 28mm I would probably slip one arm of the specs from behind my ear. This allows the eye and lens to be jammed even closer to the viewfinder. This shouldn't still be happening. The viewfinder needs a redesign.

 

Mike.

[stunsworth]

A left eyed glasses wearing person here. I have a dioptor on the camera and take my glasses off when I'm shooting.

[Rick]

Lars, imagine having a plano Rx for distance and having 3.00 diopters of accommodative amplitude. This is what I am watching very closely and it will be the answer to all of our dreams of regaining our accommodation:

 

http://www.osnsupersite.com/view.aspx?rid=6262

 

This IOL is a dual lens system that uses the ciliary body to control accommodation through the zonule fibers just like the human crystalline lens in a prepresbyopic patient! I believe this is the future for IOL implant. The Europeans are actually much further advanced on trials with this lens. If, you are still phakic, this is your future.

Edited August 15, 2010 by RickLeica

[mgreernz]

I guess I've had it easy. I wear glasses and certainly found it awkward when I switched back to RF cameras (an M9, M7 and an MP). But fortunately my right eye is the best of the two and with a +1.5 diopter (bear in mind that Leica's "default" is approximately -0.5) attached to the viewfinder, I get excellent "in camera" vision.

 

However, that of course created its own problem. When my eye was away from the viewfinder, I still needed to be able to see various settings on the body of camera and lens. I solved that by succumbing to a cheap pair of half frame reading glasses which, when I'm out on a photo shoot, are left to hang around my neck - but are at least to hand when I need them.

[Fotomiguel]

I 'solved' that problem by getting titanium frames for my glasses. They are very fine and are very flexible (and expensive). They allow you to press the the VF nearly right into your eye and then flex back when the camera is removed. Not perfect, but the best solution I could find that did not compromise other factors relating to my vision.

I use the same.

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[lars_bergquist]

This IOL is a dual lens system that uses the ciliary body to control accommodation through the zonule fibers just like the human crystalline lens in a prepresbyopic patient! I believe this is the future for IOL implant. The Europeans are actually much further advanced on trials with this lens. If, you are still phakic, this is your future.

 

Thanks, I think I willl wait until my cataract gets bad enough to merit attention.

 

The dulle-eyed old man