M8.2 Focus challenges with progressive lens glasses

[philw]

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I have problems focusing wearing progressive lens glasses - any suggestions?

[pop]

Unless you have cataracts or something like that it should be possible to use other glasses or no glasses at all while focusing.

 

If you absolutely have to wear your glasses when focusing, you should first identify which part of your glasses you have to look through in order to see something sharp which is at a distance of two meters. AFAIK, the rangefinders optics are adjusted to a virtual distance of 2m. Once you have found that spot in your glass, always look into your finder with that very spot covering the focusing patch.

 

It might never become very easy because of the nature of progresssive glasses. The area giving you a sharp view of things at 2m might be too small to cover a sufficiently large part of the field of view. It also might be in a part of your field of view which makes looking through your view finder a pain in the neck. Literally, as you might have to hold your head in an uncomfortable position.

[richedg]

My glasses have progressive lenses and I have learned how to use them with my M camera. I use the 1.25 magnifier and have learned that there is a sweet spot on the progressive lens that allows me to see the focus patch clearly and allows accurate focus. Each new photography session I have to relearn the position of the sweet spot! It can be a little frustrating, but I have had great success with just a bit of practice.

 

Good luck with your photography and if you practice you will find progressive lenses are not a barrier.

 

Cheers

 

Richard

[scsambrook]

My optician says that whilst I should be able to see the rangefinder patch clearly through the far-distance segment of my progressive spectacle lenses I'm being hindered by the limited focusing accommodation of both my eyes. The "killer" - for me - is the negative 0.5 diopter factor in the viewfinder which I'm not able to overcome.

 

Philw - your optician should be able to tell you which "strip" of your lens is appropriate for 2 metres. If you've been using non-progressives satisfactorily before, then the problem must be to do with the lenses you've now got. Progressives can also give problems with their "optimal window" (my term) which means you may have to look through the lens perpendicularly. In other words, if you've got your camera squished up against your nose, you may be looking off-axis through the spectacle lens and losing clarity. Some (more expensive) progressive lens types minimise this problem. Trying to find a progressive lens segment which is half a diopter away from the distance segement isn't easily done, I think because the change in power may not be quite so subtle. Again, your optician is the man or woman to consult.

 

All the staff in my optician's practice were delighted to help when I took my camera in and explained my problem. The solutions suggested were a custom eyepiece correction lens so I could use the finder without my specs (I have a complex prescription) or - at a fraction of the cost - a simple diopter correction lens to use with my specs.

[bocaburger]

Maybe my experience could apply to yours also. I began wearing progressive lenses almost 10 years ago. My distance Rx was about -4 and my close-up "add" is +2, and I have moderate astigmatism (.5-.75 cyl). In the beginning I was able to focus all my cameras through the distance segment of the glasses. As time went on this became less and less adequate. Ultimately I put +1 diopters on my Leicas, +0.5 on my old Nikons, and adjusted my Canons by sight. (I still kept my glasses on along with the diopters).

 

About 6 months ago I had my eyes re-examined, and to my surprise my distance Rx had actually grown weaker (i.e., my long-distance eyesight had improved!). My optometrist said that's not unusual with age. My new distance Rx is a full diopter less negative, and with my new glasses I have removed all the dioptric correction from my cameras.

 

So the moral is, if you can't focus the Leica using the distance part of your progressives, you might want to get a new eye exam, even if you think you can see distance very well, it may be too strong.

 

NOTE: the only thing in a Leica rangefinder viewfinder that is "set" at 2m is the LED display and frame lines. The actual images (finder and rangefinder) are variable, just like looking through a window. It isn't like an SLR where everything on the screen is "set" at a virtual distance. Your distance Rx should let you resolve everything from about 3ft to infinity, which covers most of the focusing range of the Leica M. Progressives aren't made to "progress" until about 2ft down to about 1ft (considered the reading range).

[MikeMyers]

Here's what I would try to do if my progressive lens glasses wouldn't let me work with the Leica. I'd go to the eye doctor, and try to find out what prescription for lenses would work best for my eyes (probably different for each eye).

 

I'd then put on a test pair of glasses, and have the optician mark the spot on the glasses that naturally goes right behind the Leica's viewfinder when I hold the camera normally. I would then ask them to make me a set of progressive lenses, so the appropriate prescription is located on the appropriate spot on the lenses, so they work best for the camera.

 

Hopefully these would be comfortable to use for general use, in addition to when I was Leica'ing.

 

(I'm sure this can be done - my brother got a special set of glasses specifically for handgun target shooting, so I know they can make special lenses.)

[pico]

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My experience is a bit different. I have extreme astigmatism and at Fifty I had to give up the graduated correction lenses in favor of tri-focals. They are great once you get used to them. My eye-doctor said that grinding a special lens for the Leica would not work well in my case. Too much cylinder and alignment issues, and besides I'd have to take off my glasses to use the camera and I'm practically blind without them.

 

With the tri-focals I can use the middle or top lens quite well, moving my eye to just the right place without even thinking of it.

 

I suggest a rubber eye-cup to protect the glasses. Leicagoodies.com has a very good one they call the Scoop.

[drdannn]

Interesting that Leica does not have a diopter adjustment on the back of the camera, or is that impossible with a rangefinder ?!?!

[giordano]

Interesting that Leica does not have a diopter adjustment on the back of the camera, or is that impossible with a rangefinder ?!?!

 

It's impossible with the current viewfinder design and body dimensions, but not with a rangefinder as such.

[Gin314]

I have this same problem, went to the Dr. and aske him to make a presciption for me to fit in the adapter that would go in the back of my M9. He didn't have the equipment to do this. Any suggestions or does anyone know a Dr, that would do this?

[pop]

@gin314 - your optician (the person who makes your glasses) might be able.

[pico]

It's impossible with the current viewfinder design and body dimensions, but not with a rangefinder as such.

 

I wonder if it is really impossible. My wife's Leica III has a lever by the rear viewfinder that changes the magnification for purposes of focusing. Seems to me it could be made as a diopter in a modern Leica M.

 

[jaapv]

It is a focussing lever for the rangefinder.

[pico]

It is a focussing lever for the rangefinder.

 

So it is a variable diopter, correct? I realize that many people need more than just a diopter to correct their vision, some with cylinder and some with negative correction, but it's a diopter and was put into a Leica at one time.

[jaapv]

Not quite the same, but I see your point. However, that only focusses the rangefinder, not the separate viewfinder. The supposition that Leica is opposed to an adjustable diopter cannot be maintained; there have been too many Leicas with that feature. It must be problematic to build, otherwise it would have been carried over from the LTM cameras 56 years ago. But the integrated view/rangefinder of the M series is completely different from the rangefinder and viewfinder of the Leica III. The complication must be caused by that.