leica diopters +1 or -1 to start

[stump4545]

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in an effort to improve my focusing accuracy i decided to try a one for the m9.

 

went to the eye doctor and he told me i needed the weakest prescription for eyeglasses to improve my distance vision.

 

which diopter should i try +1 or -1 to start?

 

do many leica shooters use diopters?

 

thanks

[EJohnE]

You should ask the eye doctor to be more precise.

John.

[StephenPatterson]

For people who are far sighted (long sighted) the easiest way to test, other than going to an optometrist, is to go to a pharmacy and try different powers of reading glasses with your Leica. In my particular case my reading glasses are +2.25 and a +2 diopter correction lens makes a quite noticeable difference in my focusing ability.

[billib]

I need reading glasses, +1.75

but when I'm using the M9-P I

don't require correction of any

kind

 

I had bought an adjustable

diopter at the time of the M

purchase thinking I would

need to correct my vision in

order to focus. It turned

out to be a waste of money.

 

Try your M first and see if you

will be able to do without it. +1

might be to much. I don't think

anyone makes a +0.5

[lars_bergquist]

For people who are far sighted (long sighted) the easiest way to test, other than going to an optometrist, is to go to a pharmacy and try different powers of reading glasses with your Leica. In my particular case my reading glasses are +2.25 and a +2 diopter correction lens makes a quite noticeable difference in my focusing ability.

 

I agree. First of course it matters (to say the least) whether you are nearsighted or oversighted. If you are oversighted (difficulty with close-up seeing) you need + correction; if nearsighted (trouble with distance seeing) then – correction.

 

When testing, please note however that the critical thing is not seeing the frame lines and the edges of the RF patch sharply. It is seeing the overlapping images in the rangefinder sharply. And while the framelines etc. are at a virtual distance of 2 meters, the finder image/s is/are normally at virtual distances that are a bit longer, meaning that you may need some less + correction and some more – correction. The finder image is not, as with a SLR, a picture focused on a screen which is at a fixed, unchanging distance. It is a picture that exists in your eye, directly, and therefore focuses variably.

 

Now if you actually need correction, either because advancing age makes it difficult for your eyes to close-focus (presbyopia or age oversightedness) or you actually are slightly over- or nearsighted, then I would suggest that spectacles are the real answer. Straight dioptries in the latter case, but varifocals (progressive lenses) in the presbyopic case. I am badly presbyopic – my eyes are fix-focused beyond infinity! – but varifocals solve the problem nicely. I am able to focus a 135mm Apo-Telyt wide open, without any damn finder magnifier.

 

The specs will increase your eye relief, so that the outermost areas of the finder are masked. I can see only parts of the 28mm frames (with the .68x finder of my M9). When I used 28mm lenses, I did so with a 28mm accessory finder (which Leica does not offer at present). So people will recommend correction lenses, but these too do increase the eye relief, masking parts of the 28mm frame. I experiemtned with these lenses, but decided that my ordinary everyday 'use for everything' specs were the best solution. You will very quickly learn subconsciously, like when learning to ride a bicycle, which part of the spectacle lens you must use for focusing your M. This is so quick that I do not even notice it.

 

And of course I never need to remove or put on specs when using the camera, because the specs are the ones I always use!

 

Another problem with correction lenses is that you may find that accessory finders do not accept them. The current single focal length 18, 21 and 24mm finders do not, for instance. And you want to see clearly through them, too.

 

If you want to talk to your optometrist about your problem (if is is an eye problem, and not ordinary unfamiliarity with the rangefinder) then I suggest that you print this out, and show him/her.

 

The half-blind old man with the Leica M

[rafael_macia]

in an effort to improve my focusing accuracy i decided to try a one for the m9.

 

went to the eye doctor and he told me i needed the weakest prescription for eyeglasses to improve my distance vision.

 

which diopter should i try +1 or -1 to start?

 

do many leica shooters use diopters?

 

thanks

 

do many leica shooters use diopters?

 

Surprisingly no.

 

Go to a full service Leica dealer and try the diopters both plus and minus, one by one.

See what works for you.

In shooting Leica M's regularly since 1968, I would be lost without diopters. (I use -4 ... no longer made by Leica ).

With glasses you have to move your eye around. A precious waste of time when shooting IMHO.

A diopter allows you to see everything there is, instantly.

I use the Leica made diopters. The less expensive HK ones and Megaperls (japan exposures now) diopters, I heard dim the view. But they just might be fine.

 

In short try a -1 Leica diopter

[tobey bilek]

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If you need minus 1 for distance, it is still minus one for close range.

 

However if you do not need correction to see 3 feet, a correction is unnecessary.

 

If you need bifocals,you are probably still ok unless the lack of focus adaption gets more severe.

 

Go to a drug store or look at cheap readers somewhere and see if anything improves your vision thru the camera. Note the correction and order that. Some optomitrists stock cheap readers.

 

The complicating factor is your focus accommodation, and the fact the viewfinder already has some correction built in, -1 I think. Trial is the best way and cheap reading glass make a perfect test bed.

[stump4545]

does using a diopter dim the viewfinder at all?

[jaapv]

no

[EricC]

I don't think

anyone makes a +0.5

 

Leica do, both +0.5 and -0.5.

 

I personally use a -0.5 diopter, and since fitting it focussing is much easier.

[vk2109]

if you have myopia, then anything with - will help. "+" will make it worse.

I have myopia and use a -1 so that make with the internal adj -1.5 and helpful when your eye becomes slighlty tired. it really helps as makes strong contrast

 

Vadim

[StephenPatterson]

I had Lasik eye surgery 2 years ago, which I absolutely love but my doctor tells me that my eyes have drifted causing me to be a slightly farsighted. I have excellent distance vision, 20/15 when recently tested, so perhaps it's the -0.5 diopter of the Leica M9 viewfinder that was the problem.

 

I was quite honestly stunned at how much difference using a +2 correction diopter lens made in my ability to focus. Everything is now faster and sharper.

[microview]

I had 1.25 viewfinder magnifier and found it of little help: wanted to wear reading glasses when focusing. Then I tried at RG Lewis +1.5 diopter and that's terrific for me. Horrendous prices for either of these Leica add-ons, though!

[stump4545]

asked my eye doctor what my prescription was and she said it was -5.

 

i picked up a -5 and and -1 diopter to try.

 

what is the best method to determine which is right for me?

should i be looking at the shutter speed numbers in the viewfinder, focus patch, or entire image to determine which if any diopter is needed?

 

so far i have been messing with them and i honestly cant tell if they are helping me or not.

 

 

thanks.

[jaapv]

Both are wrong...But 5.0 might work. Why did you not take your camera to your Optometrist and spend 5 minutes testing with the testing lenses held between you eye and the viewfinder? I mean, these diopters are not priced to be tried and thrown in the bin if incorrect.

[stump4545]

i did bring my camera to the optometrist and i must say she was not very helpful or nice.

 

i figured she wasn't so helpful and she did not like answering my questions and i did ask about my m9 which was with me.

 

i figured once i got my prescription which was -.5, it would translate into what would be best for my m9.

[stump4545]

in theory, should i be looking at the shutter speed, focus patch, or entire overall viewfinder image to determine which if any dioptor is needed?

[jaapv]

Focus patch. Do you have astigmatism?

[stump4545]

i do not think i have astigmatism as the optometrist did not say anything about that.

 

She just said i needed a -.5 prescription to correct my slight nearsighted vision.

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[lars_bergquist]

I note that some of the posters here are quite confused as to what is what – dioptrical correction lenses, and finder magnifiers.

 

A correction lens is a single lens in a flat rim. It has a specific, marked correction value: + or positive (a bi-convex lens) for correcting far-sightedness, or – (negative, a bi-concave lens) to correct for nearsightedness.

 

A finder magnifier, like the Leica 1.25x or 1.4 versions, is a small Galilean telescope, not a single lens or a 'magnifier', and it enlarges our view of the finder in the same way as any telescope or monocular does enlarge our view of anything – by making it appear closer. But note that the magnifier does not correct for defects of eyesight. That has to be done separately, by the user wearing spectacles, or by one of the above-mentioned correction lenses screwed into the eyepiece of the magnifier.

 

The camera's own finder eyepice has a dioptrical value of +0.5. This is why the framelines are at an apparent or virtual distance of 2 meters (1 meter : 0.5 = 2). The focal length of a single lens (or any lens for that matter) is found by dividing 1 meter by the number of dioptries.

 

The old man from the Age of Opticks