What does diopter setting say about my eyesight?

[LeicaTea]

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Hey - posting in case anyone else is in the same boat as me... as far as I know, my eyesight is great. And yet, I am having to set the diopter on my SL2-S almost all the way to the right (+1.7). At first I thought it might be the diopter on this camera.. but actually, I have to pretty much do the same thing on my Leica Q2 in order to get tack sharp image. So.. what does this say about my eyesight exactly? 

[LeicaR10]

Leica Tea,   Do both eyes respond to the same +1.7 diopter setting or just your left or right eye?   Also, do you wear glasses or contacts for any correction? r/ Mark

Edited April 26, 2022 by LeicaR10

[LeicaTea]

yep - both respond the same. no glasses or anything. and I don't really have problems with my eyes generally... I can see and read perfectly. I'm exceptional with noticing if something is out of focus or tack sharp. 

[LeicaR10]

LeicaTea,   Based on what you wrote in post #3, I suggest you have someone else with perfect 20/20 vision look through the viewfinder. (Simple cross check)  If they see everything clear at +1.7 diopter...I would suggest the adjustable diopter is out of calibration.  If they see clearly at 0 diopter...then you might want to go see the optician.  r/ Mark

[Jeff S]

3 hours ago, LeicaTea said:

... I can see and read perfectly.

Self -assessed or based on an actual eye exam?

Jeff

[davidmknoble]

LOL, I have worn corrective lenses since the 8th grade.  I love diopter corrections so I can remove my glasses and see better through the viewfinders.  Unfortunately, I have to use a -3.0 on my M cameras, which I believe makes the a total of -3.5 to fix.  The S and SL don’t quite get there, but it’s good enough.  I’m just glad its an option…

[BernardC]

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FYI, viewfinders are usually set to an optical distance of around 1m. This may be near the limit of your comfortable range even if you have "perfect" vision, so I wouldn't worry about adding a bunch of correction in the diopter. It just means that you are a bit far-sighted, even if you don't (yet) need corrective lenses. You should of course discuss this with your optometrist during your next eye exam.

[pickerdd]

15 hours ago, LeicaTea said:

Hey - posting in case anyone else is in the same boat as me... as far as I know, my eyesight is great. And yet, I am having to set the diopter on my SL2-S almost all the way to the right (+1.7). At first I thought it might be the diopter on this camera.. but actually, I have to pretty much do the same thing on my Leica Q2 in order to get tack sharp image. So.. what does this say about my eyesight exactly? 

Sorry for the dumb question, but what are you using as a base reference to set the diopter? What are you focusing on?

I put the lens cap on and use the EVF icons to set the diopter and that works well. I wear glasses and have an astigmatism and my diopter is set to -1 (the first mark to the left of 0).

David

[jaapv]

It doesn’t make any difference what you use to set it; all you see is the little LCD screen with everything in the same plane of focus. 

[Pelu2010]

Hey, 

I would go to the doctor and check the camera there. 

Maybe they have some corrective lenses for the viewfinder 😀

 

[Jeff S]

2 hours ago, Pelu2010 said:

Hey, 

I would go to the doctor and check the camera there. 

Maybe they have some corrective lenses for the viewfinder 😀

 

Many opticians have free trial diopters; no need for a medical appointment.  That’s how I assessed my need. (My glasses already corrected for astigmatism and distance.)

Jeff

Edited April 29, 2022 by Jeff S

[Chuck Albertson]

It might be worth a trip to the optometrist to have your vision checked. I thought I had perfect vision when I was a kid, until the time at the high jump pit at school when a friend asked me to hold on to his glasses while he made his jump. I tried them on out of curiosity, and was amazed at how much sharper everything looked. Mentioned that to mom, and it was off to the eye doc for a prescription for my own. I'd always nailed the annual eye chart test they gave us at school, but the thinking was that I was such such an over-achiever, I'd memorized the eye chart so I wouldn't flunk the test.

Similarly, many years later I thought my existing prescription was fine until I went on an overseas trip and realized I couldn't read the timetable board at the rail station. If you're looking at the same scenes every day, your brain tends to fill in the blanks when reading signs, etc., and you don't think you're having any problems reading them.

Now I go in once a year for a checkup (I'm old) and occasionally a new prescription. Even with that, I still adjust the diopter on my SL a few notches to get it right. The guys on Red Dot Forum helpfully pointed on that to do that, use the text visible in the viewfinder (ISO, aperture, etc.) as your focusing target, rather than the scene. As jaapv pointed out, you're looking at the screen.

[hdmesa]

On 4/26/2022 at 3:56 PM, LeicaTea said:

Hey - posting in case anyone else is in the same boat as me... as far as I know, my eyesight is great. And yet, I am having to set the diopter on my SL2-S almost all the way to the right (+1.7). At first I thought it might be the diopter on this camera.. but actually, I have to pretty much do the same thing on my Leica Q2 in order to get tack sharp image. So.. what does this say about my eyesight exactly? 

Most likely age-related presbyopia. Have it checked as you may need reading glasses even if you have no other issues.