Aging eyesight!

[xkaes]

Using auto focus will allow the shooter to view the selected area and move it if needed,

Depends on the camera. Some have this feature, some don't, and those that do have restrictions -- but it certainly helps if your camera has that feature.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

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, but AF has convinced me with performance. My Nikon AF cameras focus better than I could possibly do manually and I wish there was an AF-option for Hasselblad. For image sharpness, nothing is more important than accurate focus and AF delivers that speedy every time.

 

[eli griggs]

The surgery on my left eye, the 'good' one went fine, though I'm wearing a clear plastic eye shield until my followup tomorrow.

What I found interesting was the Doctor told me most older patients, in general, have a cataract thickness of five, (5. units?), however, mine was a 25., so I'm wondering just how thick a cataract do I tote around in the bad eye.

One thing is for sure is that the, fixed, Left eye is very much brighter than before.

I can't wait to take my next photographs!

 

[eli griggs]

No, but AF has convinced me with performance. My Nikon AF cameras focus better than I could possibly do manually and I wish there was an AF-option for Hasselblad. For image sharpness, nothing is more important than accurate focus and AF delivers that speedy every time.

Why not use a rangefinder to focus, something I'd like to do, even with new distants implants.

 

[John Wiegerink]

This thread is very interesting, and it seems that many of us on this forum are at this stage in life. I had surgery on both eyes and implants less than a year ago. My distance vision is fine now, but I do see a little fuzziness when I move my eyes fairly fast from right to left and back again. I also have to remember I have a pretty bad astigmatism in my left eye, which doesn't help matters. All said and done, things are better than they were, but I sure have to carry reading glasses with me, or I'm doomed. There are many folks where I live that are constantly complaining about life as it is today and say things like, give me the good old days. Not me!

 

[FriedLouisStudio]

I began needing glasses all the time for the first time in my life last year at 68. I've got 20-30 vision in my left eye and 20-50 in my right, and cataracts in BOTH. They weren't severe enough for my insurance to pay for surgery last year, hopefully they will be in the fall. In the meamtime, they're getting worse.

I'm a strictly manual focus guy, so this has been rough re my SLRs. I've been using my better left eye to focus - which I never had to do before. Zone focus is actually easier for me just now, I've been having fun with a Pen S I recently got.

And last fall was when I came into possession of a fabled Leica IIIf... and I just couldn't get comfortable using its minscule rangefinder eyepiece with my current eyesight. It turned out to need a shutter repair anyway, so I put it aside for now.

Yeah, aging eyesight is a real drag!

 

[guangong]

I had my first cataract surgery on my right eye in 2020 and had the left eye done a month ago. I too can now use my cameras with either eye and read without reading glasses.

Good news! Glasses are a PITA. They always seemed to be misplaced when needed. My vision capabilities are excellent, except that I must wear two pairs of contact lenses, 4 lenses in total. Other than that inconvenience my eyes are healthy. Of course I get a thorough eye examination on a regular schedule. Better safe than sorry.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

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?

my AF cameras (Nikons) indicate where they focused on and the focus is always on target. I never could achieve that accuracy manually with any camera(many brands) but that was my problem; nothing wrong with the cameras. Anyway, AF all the way since then.

 

[RezaLoghme]

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

Not when taking photos and adjusting focus or aperture, but actually when cleaning my cameras or fiddling with them close to my eyes. Then I have to wear glasses.

 

[Sirius Glass]

my AF cameras (Nikons) indicate where they focused on and the focus is always on target. I never could achieve that accuracy manually with any camera(many brands) but that was my problem; nothing wrong with the cameras. Anyway, AF all the way since then.

I agree. The only cameras that I do not use AF are those which do not have it in the models I own: Hasselblad, Pacemaker Spreed Graphic, Graflex and Wide Lux.

 

[brbo]

I now need to wear reading glasses and the worst thing about that is that without them I can't see camera controls on most of my cameras (and with them I can't see framelines on most of my cameras). I'm often counting down the steps from top shutter speed to arrive at the desired setting. I always preferred small cameras and lenses and that might now be over. For example, my Ricoh Caddy is an Olympus Pen W killer at a fraction of the price, but using it is no fun at all now...

 

[Dan Fromm]

I now need to wear reading glasses and the worst thing about that is that without them I can't see camera controls on most of my cameras (and with them I can't see framelines on most of my cameras). I'm often counting down the steps from top shutter speed to arrive at the desired setting. I always preferred small cameras and lenses and that might now be over. For example, my Ricoh Caddy is an Olympus Pen W killer at a fraction of the price, but using it is no fun at all now...

Bifocals.

 

[eli griggs]

Bifocals.

Half clear for distance?

 

[Dan Fromm]

Half clear for distance?

Exactly. I'm almost due for cataract surgery and expect to do that.

 

[brbo]

Bifocals.

I'd still need to take them off to comfortably use the camera as I can't see the framelines with glasses on since I can't get my eye close enough to the viewfinder.

I know, I'm not the first or the last that needs to adapt to the "new normal". It just sucks, you know...

 

[Dan Fromm]

I'd still need to take them off to comfortably use the camera as I can't see the framelines with glasses on since I can't get my eye close enough to the viewfinder.

I know, I'm not the first or the last that needs to adapt to the "new normal". It just sucks, you know...

I now wear trifocals. No problems with cameras, but I have difficulties with a stereo microscope. The break between the close and closer sections of the lenses gets in the way.

 

[eli griggs]

I had my 10 day check out today, and now have 20/25 vision in the Left Eye.

I've stopped even trying to continue wearing the Left Eye glasses, my old script, the differences is so great and I've been deliberately not using any camera viewfinder to view anything, until my second eye is to this point.

My operation was a success, I was told I should be able to use over the counter readers, but I'm certain I'll need polarizers with anti-glare properties.

My other good news for today is my next operation in the First of May, several weeks sooner than their previous proposed date.

I am looking forward to being able to use bare eye cameras with small viewfinders for the first time in my life, and will not even fear the aggressive Fed 3b and 5's, viewing ports, and older Leicas, should the opportunity presents and old mechanical rangefinder viewers that allow for accurate zone and dept of field focusing.

I might even start shooting my Argus 'Brick' just because I can now, see well through it.

I want to say, the VA eye Doctors and staff did a great job, follow-up, and very clean & comfortable operation.

So, if you fear this procedure, don't, just so long as you use some basic care with picking the actual civilian surgeon and clinic.

Cheers,

Eli

 

[Dan Fromm]

I might even start shooting my Argus 'Brick' just because I can now, see well through it.

If yours is like my father's, your right index finger will hate it. Sharp serrated control wheels, stiff too.

 

[eli griggs]

No worries, I've got lots of Duck tape.

 

[bluechromis]

It is getting harder for me to focus manually. I have more trouble focusing a Yashica Electro rangefinder in low light than I do with manual SLR's. But perhaps that is because the Electro is a low-cost rangefinder model.

But I often shoot events at night or in very low light and autofocus is a lifesaver there. Using the focus assist beam from the strobe helps considerably and I use it both with the flash enabled or disabled.

I have read that my Pacemaker Speed Graphic has a curious precursor of the focus assist beam for low light where two beams of light were projected out, and when the beams converged on the subject, it was in focus. I have been meaning to try that. In the old days, the subject person then probably had their vision permanently damaged when a monster flashbulb blasted out of the dark.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Now that I am some months past my second cataract operations, it is great getting up in the morning and not having to fool with eyeglasses any more. I can even see though all my cameras now!

 

[gbroadbridge]

Reading you guys is making me really look forward to Thursday next week when I get my right eye cataract fixed.

 

[eli griggs]

I just found a good illustration on this site of how badly cataracts can mess with your photography.

In the gallery, under "new media" is a colour picture "Red Shoulder Portrait", with a bright green background, which stands out with my corrected Left eye, but when I view it with only the Right eye, which gets done next Wednesday, there is NO colour at all, just a typical, b&w print with a tinge of yellow.



How I made photographs with these uncorrected eyes, is a mystery, to me, seeing this comparison at play.

 

[psmithp]

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

If it is possible, get diopter correction lenses for the viewfinder. If your eyesight is clear but you are not able to accomodate.
I have the same problem; I can only use my Canon F-1 with the magnifying loupe of the waist-level viewfinder, not very handy for shots in portrait format.

 

[gbroadbridge]

If it is possible, get diopter correction lenses for the viewfinder. If your eyesight is clear but you are not able to accomodate.
I have the same problem; I can only use my Canon F-1 with the magnifying loupe of the waist-level viewfinder, not very handy for shots in portrait format.

You could possibly buy an appropriate strength pair of cheap $10 pair of readers from a convenience store, cut a lens down to size and tape it to the viewfinder eyepiece.

Worked for me for a few years.