Aging eyesight!

[Daniela]

And chances are -- if you wear corrective lenses -- you're like me and waited too long for a check-up.

Yep...7 years, and I only went in because my reading glasses were stolen on vacation. It looks like my left eye (the one I use for shooting) has gone to hell in a handbasket. No wonder I've been resorting to AF lately...I have now graduated to progressives too! Yay?

 

[L Gebhardt]

The problem with lasik is that the eye keeps growing and evolving and the lasik changes fade. Lasik can only be done once. It is better to where contact lenses, hard or soft, as possible.

I’m not sure that is the case here. My distance vision is still corrected but the normal stiffening of the lens related to aging is what’s necessitating the reading glasses. Maybe in another 20 years what you say will happen.

 

[benjiboy]

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

With advancing old age there are many eye defects that can't be corrected by contact lenses or glasses, for example cataracts,or macular degeneration .

 

[VinceInMT]

With advancing old age there are many eye defects that can't be corrected by contact lenses or glasses, for example cataracts,or macular degeneration .

Exactly. I’ve developed a large floater as well as some weird blur in the center of vision of one eye. I went to the eye doctor and they just shrugged and told me that the good news is that prescription hadn’t changed in 4 years. They had no suggestions for the actual problem.

 

[BrianShaw]

Same here. I even was given a pamphlet on how normal it is to have floaters as we age. Mine eventually “went away”.

 

[dynachrome]

I am trying to decide between a Contax RX and a Contax RXII as my next Y/C camera. The RX has focus confirmation but a finder which isn't quite as bright as that of the RXII. I am lucky that after more than 50 years of picture taking, I need glasses only for reading but I think I will go with the RX. Sometimes I find focus confirmation, on a camera like the Nikon N90S, very convenient. I need diopter correction with a few cameras like the Konica T4, TC and FT-1 but none with any of the Canon F-1 versions or Minolta SRT versions.

 

[henryvk]

The problem with lasik is that the eye keeps growing and evolving and the lasik changes fade. Lasik can only be done once. It is better to where contact lenses, hard or soft, as possible.

My corneas were too uneven for Lasik which is why I got Implantable Collamer Lenses.

These could, theoretically, be removed/replaced if my eyesight develops beyond certain parameters.

The disadvantages are that there is a chance of developing dry eye and that most people experience halos to varying degrees (which, to be fair, are also side-effects of Lasik and/or regular contact lenses).

 

[xkaes]

Exactly. I’ve developed a large floater as well as some weird blur in the center of vision of one eye. I went to the eye doctor and they just shrugged

Was that "doctor" an ophthalmologist? It could be a cataract or macular degeneration -- or both.

I guess you haven't seen Henry Winkler on the TV lately -- and I don't mean because of your vision problem.

Time to go to a REAL eye doctor.

 

[Sirius Glass]

With advancing old age there are many eye defects that can't be corrected by contact lenses or glasses, for example cataracts,or macular degeneration .

I would not do bathroom surgery on myself for either of those two conditions.

 

[SodaAnt]

I went to the eye doctor and they just shrugged and told me that the good news is that prescription hadn’t changed in 4 years. They had no suggestions for the actual problem.

Was that an optometrist or an ophthalmologist who told you that? If the former, I'd suggest seeing an ophthalmologist, who is a medical doctor specializing in eye disorders. An optometrist is just someone who prescribes glasses and contacts.

 

[BMbikerider]

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?

Not so. I prefer manual focus. but also have an AF film camera which can change the point of focus to a multitude of different places on the screen, but it is possible to move a lever (usually on the lower front of the body with Nikon) so that the AF focusses on the chosen spot and so long as you keep your finger on the button the focus will not change.

 

[VinceInMT]

Was that an optometrist or an ophthalmologist who told you that? If the former, I'd suggest seeing an ophthalmologist, who is a medical doctor specializing in eye disorders. An optometrist is just someone who prescribes glasses and contacts.

It's an office with both. I hear you but we have a lack of specialists here even though I am in the largest city of the state with the largest medical centers. I have a list of the problems I've encountered here already. 5 years ago I had a biopsy and they failed to notify me of the results or return my calls. I pulled the path report up through the portal and had to use "Dr. Google" to explain the findings and tell me I had cancer. While I like where I live, this kind of thing is pressuring me to relocate.

And I should mention that my spouse is dealing with retinal detachment and macular degeneration and seeing the only doctor who deals with that and he’s not taking new patients.

 

[madNbad]

It's an office with both. I hear you but we have a lack of specialists here even though I am in the largest city of the state with the largest medical centers. I have a list of the problems I've encountered here already. 5 years ago I had a biopsy and they failed to notify me of the results or return my calls. I pulled the path report up through the portal and had to use "Dr. Google" to explain the findings and tell me I had cancer. While I like where I live, this kind of thing is pressuring me to relocate.

And I should mention that my spouse is dealing with retinal detachment and macular degeneration and seeing the only doctor who deals with that and he’s not taking new patients.

A decade ago, I was visiting family back east. I sat on the motel bed, the comforter shifted and I ended up on the floor. During the fall I bumped my head on the nightstand. The next morning, the vision in my right eye was like looking through a dirty window. I had a posterior vitreous detachment, often referred to as PVD. My sister lives on the outskirts of Doylestown, Pennsylvania and that month all of the ophthalmologist were at their New Jersey offices. I made an appointment and we crossed the Delaware River to Princeton. The first doctor I saw took a bunch of pictures of my retina, found some macular degeneration and spotted the tear. She sent me to a specialist who used a green laser to in his words "patch it like wallpaper".
I was lucky to be close to some of the best specialist in the country when it happened. It's held up so far.

 

[bluechromis]

After blowing the focus with a number of my beloved manual focus cameras, I am reluctantly using autofocus more, especially with fast-paced events. On the other side of things, I am surprised how often I have things in focus with the scale focusing Holga. Okay, everything is soft with the Holga and it doesn't have wide apertures. The Brownies with flipped lenses are really tough because there is only one spot in the center of the frame and one distance, about 15 feet, that can be in focus. You just have to guess. Some day I ought try to measure the distance so I can run a string with the right length to the subject. I have heard of people doing the string thing with large-format studio work as well.

 

[rknewcomb]

Exactly. I’ve developed a large floater as well as some weird blur in the center of vision of one eye. I went to the eye doctor and they just shrugged and told me that the good news is that prescription hadn’t changed in 4 years. They had no suggestions for the actual problem.

May I suggest you need to get a different eye doctor.

 

[rknewcomb]

xkaes said:
"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."

You might consider, just pick the focus spot yourself instead of letting the camera do it. Choose and set the center AF spot and just focus with it. Focus and recompose.

 

[xkaes]

xkaes said:
"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."

You might consider, just pick the focus spot yourself instead of letting the camera do it. Choose and set the center AF spot and just focus with it. Focus and recompose.

To me, manual focusing is simpler than all that -- especially with difficult subjects, macro, etc.

 

[guangong]

Was that an optometrist or an ophthalmologist who told you that? If the former, I'd suggest seeing an ophthalmologist, who is a medical doctor specializing in eye disorders. An optometrist is just someone who prescribes glasses and contacts.

Not quite correct. There are optometrists who have taken advanced study and can treat some medical problems with medication and give proscriptions. My own optometrist provides intern training for such graduates. However, it’s possible that the availability for this level of optometrist varies from state to state. From my own experience, ophthalmologists are concerned with the medical condition of the eye, and not whether you can see or not.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Not quite correct. There are optometrists who have taken advanced study and can treat some medical problems with medication and give proscriptions. My own optometrist provides intern training for such graduates. However, it’s possible that the availability for this level of optometrist varies from state to state. From my own experience, ophthalmologists are concerned with the medical condition of the eye, and not whether you can see or not.

Optometrists cannot remove cataracts.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Exactly. I’ve developed a large floater as well as some weird blur in the center of vision of one eye. I went to the eye doctor and they just shrugged and told me that the good news is that prescription hadn’t changed in 4 years. They had no suggestions for the actual problem.

I get floaters but they go away after a few days. IF yours isn't, Vincent, I'd go to another doctor, an MD, an ophthalmologist, to get another opinion. .

 

[MattKing]

I get floaters but they go away after a few days.

This just means that they have "floated" to a different part of the eye.
I see them most when I use a grain magnifier in the darkroom.
If you are looking for an animated reaction, ask an ophthalmologist about how they feel about optometrists being permitted to call themselves "eye doctors".

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

This just means that they have "floated" to a different part of the eye.
I see them most when I use a grain magnifier in the darkroom.
If you are looking for an animated reaction, ask an ophthalmologist about how they feel about optometrists being permitted to call themselves "eye doctors".

But I don't see them. Where did they go?

 

[Lee Rust]

Over the past decade my vision gradually degraded due to cataracts in both eyes. Last year it got so bad that I really couldn't focus my SLR cameras at all and could barely use the rangefinders, even with eyeglasses. Very discouraging, but after cataract surgery it's like my eyes are suddenly 20 years old again, with sharp distance vision and bright, vivid colors. Of course, the downside is reading glasses for anything closer than 3 feet, but I think that's an acceptable trade-off.

Even several months after the lens replacement operation, I still find myself gazing in wonder at the twinkling stars and big bright moon that used to be either completely invisible or a vague, fuzzy blur. If your visual problems can be addressed with this procedure, I would definitely encourage it.

 

[benjiboy]

Over the past decade my vision gradually degraded due to cataracts in both eyes. Last year it got so bad that I really couldn't focus my SLR cameras at all and could barely use the rangefinders, even with eyeglasses. Very discouraging, but after cataract surgery it's like my eyes are suddenly 20 years old again, with sharp distance vision and bright, vivid colors. Of course, the downside is reading glasses for anything closer than 3 feet, but I think that's an acceptable trade-off.

Even several months after the lens replacement operation, I still find myself gazing in wonder at the twinkling stars and big bright moon that used to be either completely invisible or a vague, fuzzy blur. If your visual problems can be addressed with this procedure, I would definitely encourage it.

I had my left eye cateract operation done about twenty years ago, and my right (dominant) one last July. I now can focus my cameras for the first time in my life without glasses which I think when almost in my mid eighties is quite remarkable, and I'm thankful that due to Britain's wonderful National Health Service neither operation cost me a penny.

 

[guangong]

Optometrists cannot remove cataracts.

That’s correct. My optometrist uses one of the very best, if not the best, ophthalmologist in NYC for cataracts. His name is also on the door.
40 yrs ago I went to several ophthalmologists about a vision problem with no success. My optometrist found distortion of corneas. When told what to look for, opthamologist was able to confirm.