Aging eyesight!

Melvin J Bramley · Aug 22, 2023

Whilst I enjoy my manual focus Nikons and Mamiya's my aging eyesight nudges me to re consider the autofocus cameras I once sold off to pursue a 'purists ' life of photography!
Has anyone else suffered this remorse?

TB

BrianShaw · Aug 22, 2023

My eyesight is aging, too, but hasn’t got to that point yet!

xkaes · Aug 22, 2023

There is a middle ground. First, auto-focusing cameras can focus on things in the scene that you would not focus on -- so they can get it wrong just as easily as you can. Plus, lots of auto-focusing cameras (all the ones I use) indicate with a light in the viewfinder, a beep, or whatever, when the subject is in focus -- even when focusing manually.
Third, when was the last time you had your glasses prescription updated?

BrianShaw · Aug 22, 2023

For me it’s not so much a matter of current prescription but more about loss of focus accommodation that is starting to make photography challenging.

Nicholas Lindan · Aug 22, 2023

The same here, until I had cataract surgery - suddenly I could see again, and really clearly. I had to put '0' diopters in the Nikons as I went from pathologically near-sighted to a fixed focus species of far-sighted.

Lens replacement won't do any good if the problem is in the retina with macular degeneration. My father suffered from it - I hope it isn't yet another thing I have to look forward to.

"Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything." - Willey the Shake

Rick A · Aug 22, 2023

I picked up a Nikon F-4s a couple of months ago for that very reason. I was disappointed in the performance(mostly of mine) and having to learn a new set of skills just to operate the danged thing. It had a couple of issues the seller failed to disclose so I sent it back. I'll just muddle through with my aging eyes.

RalphLambrecht · Aug 22, 2023

Melvin J Bramley said:
Whilst I enjoy my manual focus Nikons and Mamiya's my aging eyesight nudges me to re consider the autofocus cameras I once sold off to pursue a 'purists ' life of photography!
Has anyone else suffered this remorse?

TB

I've given up on manual-focus lenses as soon as I discovered that I wasn't able to beat autofocus manually. Having the focus nailed also makes for cleaner and crisper images

ic-racer · Aug 22, 2023

I wound up getting two medium format AF cameras and a whole slew of AF Nikons after many, many years of manual focus only.

Sirius Glass · Aug 22, 2023

I use Nikon AF cameras for convenience. I prefer the Hasselblad because the prism provides a large image of the 6x6 screen. I had one cataract operation and the second may be coming in a few months.

Melvin J Bramley · Aug 22, 2023

xkaes said:
There is a middle ground. First, auto-focusing cameras can focus on things in the scene that you would not focus on -- so they can get it wrong just as easily as you can. Plus, lots of auto-focusing cameras (all the ones I use) indicate with a light in the viewfinder, a beep, or whatever, when the subject is in focus -- even when focusing manually.

Third, when was the last time you had your glasses prescription updated?

Last year the same time I replaced my white cane!

AnselMortensen · Aug 22, 2023

In the past year, I have found myself using my Nikon N90s more, and my F3HP less...the AF is THAT good.
I have also been using my 8x10 camera more, and my 4x5 less.
It is much easier to focus on a larger ground glass.

Melvin J Bramley · Aug 22, 2023

I just picked , for cheap, a Nikon F80 with a stock lens to test my theory of aging eyesight.
I hope I am wrong as i offloaded some good AF camera gear some years go!

Patrick Robert James · Aug 22, 2023

Older manual cameras are more difficult to focus since the screens aren't as bright. My Contax 139 isn't as easy to focus as my Contax ST for example.

A few years ago I picked up an Olympus Pen. I couldn't get a sharp picture with it. I replaced the mirror inside and that helped. I just thought there was something off on the camera, but it was fine, just dim. The problem was my eyes. As we age the lens isn't as flexible. The degradation happens gradually over time so we don't really notice it. I moved to using diopters on most cameras now. If you can get the right diopter, which is usually your prescription for about six feet or so, you should be fine. Every camera is different too so that has to be taken into account. I usually need a +1 or a +1.5. Maybe that information can help you.

benderscameracorner · Aug 22, 2023

I actually find myself wanting to go back to contact lenses for the first time in a number of years, just to make it easier to get a decent look through the viewfinder. Cameras with enough eye relief to work OK with glasses tend to be the exception, rather than the rule.

Patrick Robert James said:
A few years ago I picked up an Olympus Pen. I couldn't get a sharp picture with it. I replaced the mirror inside and that helped. I just thought there was something off on the camera, but it was fine, just dim.

If you're used to more modern SLRs, the viewfinder of a Pen FT will come as quite a shock! Alas mine has a non-functioning meter it appears, which kinda makes an FT pointless. Now looking for an original Pen F... ;-)

madNbad · Aug 23, 2023

Buy a rangefinder, problem solved. I’ve had poor vision my entire life and aging hasn’t helped. I use a Leica because it has the best rangefinder patch and it also has parallax correction. I may not be able to guarantee focus on a fresnel screen but I can align the rangefinder patch.

henryvk · Aug 23, 2023

benderscameracorner said:
I actually find myself wanting to go back to contact lenses for the first time in a number of years, just to make it easier to get a decent look through the viewfinder. Cameras with enough eye relief to work OK with glasses tend to be the exception, rather than the rule.

While I'm only on the far side of my thirties, I've been near-sighted since my teens and so has everyone in my immediate family. This has bothered me enough to get ICL surgery and it's been nothing short of a revelation. I can finally use any camera I like and some of those squinty viewfinders seem generous enough now.

I'm already a bit more far-sighted after the surgery and this trend will continue but chances are I'll never need anything other than reading glasses ever again.

That being said, I find rangefinders the easiest to focus cameras by far.

benjiboy · Aug 23, 2023

I had a cataract operation on my right ( dominant) eye last July, I and can now focus all my cameras without glasses, something I have never in my whole life been able to do, which makes viewing the focusing screen information very much easier to see.

xkaes · Aug 23, 2023

madNbad said:
Buy a rangefinder, problem solved. I’ve had poor vision my entire life and aging hasn’t helped. I use a Leica because it has the best rangefinder patch and it also has parallax correction. I may not be able to guarantee focus on a fresnel screen but I can align the rangefinder patch.

Rangefinders are an option, but every SLR I've ever owned (excluding those with auto-focusing) have had split-rangefinders in the middle of a fresnel donut. True, they are only useful with lenses faster than f5.6 or so, but most of my lenses meet that criterion.

etn · Aug 23, 2023

Melvin J Bramley said:
Whilst I enjoy my manual focus Nikons and Mamiya's my aging eyesight nudges me to re consider the autofocus cameras I once sold off to pursue a 'purists ' life of photography!
Has anyone else suffered this remorse?

TB

No remorse. I bought an autofocus camera (Nikon F90x) already in the 90's (I was in my 20's back then) to be able to shoot without glasses. But 10 years later I discovered TLR's and other manual cameras and realized that I had no issues with them.

My only issue with aging eyes (which started 3-4 years ago in my case) is with cameras with ground glass (Hasselblad, Rolleiflex, etc.) My first solution was to use a prism viewfinder for the Hasselblad, which made me lug a gigantic piece of equipment on top of an already large camera... and I quit using my beloved Rolleiflex for the lack of a prism (The Rollei one is just to cumbersome and ugly, sorry.) My second solution, which I am using now, is progressive glasses.

I never had any issue with cameras with integrated viewfinder (i.e. most 35mm). If it is an issue for you, you might want to try correction eyepiece for your camera?

Sirius Glass · Aug 23, 2023

Soft contact lenses could eliminate the OP's problem. They work well for me with any camera.

Timmyjoe · Aug 23, 2023

I just diopter they heck out of my MF cameras. But Yeah, it is a bit of a pain.

Best,
-Tim

benjiboy · Aug 23, 2023

Sirius Glass said:
Soft contact lenses could eliminate the OP's problem. They work well for me with any camera.

Contact lenses might be a solution for the O.P's problem Steve, but ageing unfortunately can cause many other optical problems. I would suggest he consuls an eye doctor to advise him of his best course of action.

Sirius Glass · Aug 23, 2023

benjiboy said:
Contact lenses might be a solution for the O.P's problem Steve, but ageing unfortunately can cause many other optical problems. I would suggest he consuls an eye doctor to advise him of his best course of action.

I would not expect him to self prescribe the contact lenses.

RalphLambrecht · Aug 23, 2023

AnselMortensen said:
In the past year, I have found myself using my Nikon N90s more, and my F3HP less...the AF is THAT good.
I have also been using my 8x10 camera more, and my 4x5 less.
It is much easier to focus on a larger ground glass.

I agree, I find Nikon's AF unbeatable!(face detection even focuses on a smiley!)

Melvin J Bramley · Aug 27, 2023

RalphLambrecht said:
I've given up on manual-focus lenses as soon as I discovered that I wasn't able to beat autofocus manually. Having the focus nailed also makes for cleaner and crisper images

I just developed my first roll of film from the F80.
Looking at the negatives using aperture prefered metering my exposures are more reliable than those with a Nikon FE or FM.
Focusing is faster and I have an easily read full information viewfinder though not nearly as good as a Nikon F90x!!
However the Nikon F80 is a much lighter camera that is not backwards convertible and I cannot use my Nikon AI lenses.
Perhaps I should have purchased a Nikon F70 with it's odd interface that offers light weight with backwards compatibility?

Aging eyesight!

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