Diopter and vision

[jdlaing]

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Ten years ago I had a detached retina and became a left eye shooter which was a lousy experience.

I've had a lot of Leica rangefinders starting with M6 thru M240. I kept the M240 even though I didn't use it much and as the remaining good eye became progressively worse I relied on autofocus.

 

Last Friday I had cataract surgery and lens implant. I'm now back to using my right eye and it's flawless.

 

Does a diopter change anything in the viewfinder other than general clarity? Does it have any effect on the frame lines or focus patch?

 

I'm glad I kept the rangefinder. :-)

[Jeff S]

Stop by an optician with your M and ask for some test diopters. I did that recently and, despite using glasses, found the viewing/focusing experience better with a +.5 diopter. YMMV.

 

Jeff

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[lct]

General advice is to choose a diopter correction lens of the same correction needed for your sight + 0.5 diopter but better ask an optician as Jeff suggested above.

[Jeff S]

General advice is to choose a diopter correction lens of the same correction needed for your sight + 0.5 diopter but better ask an optician as Jeff suggested above.

Well to be more precise, I didn't ask the optician; I merely used his diopter samples and drew my own conclusion. Seeing is believing.

 

Jeff

Edited May 19, 2017 by Jeff S

[Exodies]

I have implanted lenses configured so I can read without glasses. I wear glasses for distance. I asked my optician to focus my spectacles shooting eye at two meters. This is the most convenient set up I have found though a Leica diopter correction lens and no glasses gives the best viewfinder view as the eye is closer to the camera.

[Jean-Michel]

Well to be more precise, I didn't ask the optician; I merely used his diopter samples and drew my own conclusion. Seeing is believing.

Jeff

I did exactly that recently. In my case, putting a plus 0.5 diopter between my glasses and the eyepiece proved to be right for me. Purchased the diopter for my MP and M9 and it is that much easier to focus.

[Jeff S]

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I have implanted lenses configured so I can read without glasses. I wear glasses for distance. I asked my optician to focus my spectacles shooting eye at two meters. This is the most convenient set up I have found though a Leica diopter correction lens and no glasses gives the best viewfinder view as the eye is closer to the camera.

Preferences vary. My glasses also correct for distance, but I don't like to take them on and off to see distant subjects. The M10, with its larger eyepiece opening, increased eye relief and higher magnification, makes life much easier for keeping glasses on, even when adding a plus .5 diopter as I now do.

 

Jeff

[Emref]

I went to a Leica Store in Rome, and I tried diopter correctors with a Leica M they had,and chose the one that gave me a perfect view.

 

Alberto

[pharyngula]

No question that a diopter helped my view through the viewfinder but the frustrating thing is that I need glasses for those times I'm not looking through the camera. Needing to take the glasses on or off gets tired pretty fast.  I've lost track of my diopter, however, sometime in between transferring it between cameras. This has forced me to reacquaint myself with the process of using glasses to focus.  I wear progressive lenses, which makes things a little trickier but I think I'm managing. You can't beat the convenience of just leaving the glasses on my head - but bespectacled, I can forget frame lines for anything wider than 35mm on my bodies.