I wear +1.5 glasses to read - which diopter for my M9

[hhmrogers]

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To see the image sharp, indeed correct (if it is at infinity) - if your accommodation is insufficient, this will throw closer photography, the framelines and RF patch out of focus.

It is a telescope, not an image projected on a screen.

 

Hi Jaapv, This is a genuine query because I'm puzzled. I've worn glasses for years, first for reading and now even for driving a car. Currently I use varifocals, formerly I used bifocals. As I wear my glasses all day I just shoot with them on and I'm lucky enough never to have met the obstacles some rangefinder users meet. I'm really curious about this, there must be a logical explanation. Is it a straight choice between wearing specs or having a prescription eyepiece? If so, which of those do people who earn their living by photography recommend? I can see that scratching expensive prescription lenses would be a bad idea, but my own specs don't seem to get messed up. Henry (IIIg with a focus adjustment lever, M8 and ME without)

[Dr Owl]

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m9-forum/130720-leica-m8-m8-2-m9-m9p.html#post1378521

 

Don't rely on theory. Try before you buy.

Thank you for the reference to your FAQ entry, Jaap.

 

When I finally crawl to the top of Red Dot Cameras' waiting list for an M240, this is going to be important to me, since I have a severe eyeglass prescription--minus 9 dioptres and some astigmatism. Naturally, I shall take the advice of the ophthalmologist who tests my eyes, but I need to give him the right information. Am I right in understanding that

 

(a) the picture in the viewfinder is optically at infinity, just reduced in size by 0.68x, and

 

( both the rangefinder patch and the frame lines are optically at 2 metres?

 

My layman's inference from this is that, provided I still have half a dioptre of accommodation left in my eyes, it should be enough. I can look into the viewfinder through the distance-vision section of my progressive eyeglass lenses, and focus on everything.

 

Except of course the 28mm frame lines.

 

Later,

 

Dr Owl

[vdb]

I too wear 1.5x for reading. But no need for diopter correction on my MM.

[jaapv]

Hi Jaapv, This is a genuine query because I'm puzzled. I've worn glasses for years, first for reading and now even for driving a car. Currently I use varifocals, formerly I used bifocals. As I wear my glasses all day I just shoot with them on and I'm lucky enough never to have met the obstacles some rangefinder users meet. I'm really curious about this, there must be a logical explanation. Is it a straight choice between wearing specs or having a prescription eyepiece? If so, which of those do people who earn their living by photography recommend? I can see that scratching expensive prescription lenses would be a bad idea, but my own specs don't seem to get messed up. Henry (IIIg with a focus adjustment lever, M8 and ME without)

I would say it is a personal preference. Not everything can be covered by theory, and certainly not compensated by a simple spherical lens like a diopter. We haven't even been talking about astigmatism, for instance.

[msap7222]

OK, after exhaustive testing on M240 and M9 over the weekend (several focal lengths at different focus points by rangefinder) couldn't decide - so purchased a +0.5 and a +1.0

 

My gut feel is that the +0.5 is likely "the one" as it adds +1.0 to the M240/M9 standard -0.5

 

Sent from my iPad

[jaapv]

The corrected view should be -0.5 as well. The viewfinder has that strength for a reason.