Hasselblad PM5 Prism Diopter - Strength

AKG414 · Feb 16, 2022

Hi everyone,

I have a PM5 prism with a +2 diopter. My eyes can't focus on this rendering it pretty useless. When using the waist level viewfinder (and pop-up magnifier, specifically), I can see perfect and nail focus. I've read that this pop-up magnifier is +5x. If this is the case, are there +5 diopters for the PM5 prism? If not, what does one do in this case?

And am I correct with the +5 size for the pop-up magnifier? (IFNOT) how does one measure their eye to ensure getting the correct size?

And lastly, do other companies make diopters that will fit the PM5 prism? Because maybe I can just go to a camera shop and test some out.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

cowanw · Feb 16, 2022

I would think that the reason the popup diopter works is that you can vary your eye distance intuitively to the perfect distance. But the PM5 has a preset distance, likely close to infinity, So if you do not wear glasses when viewing ask your optician for the correct strength of the replacement eyepiece. If you do wear glasses you will want the factory eyepiece. I presume this is 0 but it might be +1
Or go to a camera store and ask to see a camera or a PME90 with an adjustable eyepiece and set it for yourself and take a note of how many diopters it is set for. Or just get a newer model PME45 or 90

Alan9940 · Feb 16, 2022

Many years ago, I took my 500C/M with PM5 prism to my local optician to figure out what diopter correction worked best for me with this setup. Using a set of individual "magnifiers" (not sure exactly what you call them), I focused the camera on various subjects at various distances with each magnifier in turn until I found the clearest view. I should probably mention that I removed the stock eyepiece for this exercise.

AKG414 · Feb 16, 2022

Alan9940 said:
I should probably mention that I removed the stock eyepiece for this exercise.

Thanks for the reply - now, when you say the stock eye-piece, are you talking about the rubber cup or totally unscrewing the diopter?

cowanw · Feb 16, 2022

Totally unscrewing the diopter and replacing the glass. Yours has been replaced at some point, I expect.

Alan9940 · Feb 16, 2022

AKG414 said:
Thanks for the reply - now, when you say the stock eye-piece, are you talking about the rubber cup or totally unscrewing the diopter?

Yes, totally remove the stock or whatever diopter is currently installed. In other words, you'll have an empty hole there such that you could stick your finger into the hole.

AKG414 · Feb 17, 2022

Alan9940 said:
Yes, totally remove the stock or whatever diopter is currently installed. In other words, you'll have an empty hole there such that you could stick your finger into the hole.

Ok, I'll give that a try by contacting an optician. Thank you!

CJG · Feb 17, 2022

This is from a response I saw from an ophthalmologist to an article B&H had. I did ask my ophthalmologist and brought my camera in but she was clueless.

That said, I tried this and it worked well for me. I replaced my diopters with one that had the strength of the first number in my eye Rx and can focus well now without my glasses on. If you have astigmatism things may be different.

A good starting point for adjusting your you finders diopter we'll would be by looking at the card you get from your optometrist with your eyeglass prescription. A "Rule of Thumb," The first number in your prescription might indicate what direction to turn the wheel. If your eyeglass prescription for example starts with a +3.00, turn the wheel three clicks in the + direction. A prescription of -3.00, do the opposite. I don't want to get stuck in the weeds with astigmatism correction and your glasses but this is just a starting point

Andrew Patteson · Feb 17, 2022

I think you're mixing up magnification and diopter. The pop-up magnifier of the WLF has 5x magnification, but that's not the diopter. They can be found in different diopters, but they are all 5x magnification. Apologies if I am the one who is mixed up.

itsdoable · Feb 17, 2022

The stock diopter for both the waist level and PM prisms is 0 (zero). Many people have switched them over to a 1 diopter.

Diopters are a measurement used for eye glass lenses. The diopter value on the waist level and PM finders are designed to match the value that you need on your eye glasses, but the actual lenses have a different focal length than those used in your glasses.

A 0 dipoter lens on the finder means that if you have perfect vision, the screen should be in focus if your eyes are focused at infinity. If you put a 1 dipoter correction on the finder, then the screen will be sharp if your eyes are focused 1m away. A 2 diopter means you have to focus your eyes to 0.5m to see the screen clearly, Note that the screen appears at the same magnification regardless of diopter used.

Eye glasses work in a similar way. if you are near sighted, an cannot see past 1m, then a -1 diopter correction move that out to infinity.

The 0 diopter lens for the PM is different from the waist level, because the distance to the screen is different, thus the lens to make the screen focused at infinity would be different.

If you want to view the PM5 with your glasses/contact on, you probably want a 0 or 1 diopter lens. If you want to view without your glasses, then get one marked with a diopter value as close to your eyeglasses as possible, rounding up.

Sirius Glass · Feb 17, 2022

itsdoable said:
The stock diopter for both the waist level and PM prisms is 0 (zero). Many people have switched them over to a 1 diopter.

Diopters are a measurement used for eye glass lenses. The diopter value on the waist level and PM finders are designed to match the value that you need on your eye glasses, but the actual lenses have a different focal length than those used in your glasses.

A 0 dipoter lens on the finder means that if you have perfect vision, the screen should be in focus if your eyes are focused at infinity. If you put a 1 dipoter correction on the finder, then the screen will be sharp if your eyes are focused 1m away. A 2 diopter means you have to focus your eyes to 0.5m to see the screen clearly, Note that the screen appears at the same magnification regardless of diopter used.

Eye glasses work in a similar way. if you are near sighted, an cannot see past 1m, then a -1 diopter correction move that out to infinity.

The 0 diopter lens for the PM is different from the waist level, because the distance to the screen is different, thus the lens to make the screen focused at infinity would be different.

If you want to view the PM5 with your glasses/contact on, you probably want a 0 or 1 diopter lens. If you want to view without your glasses, then get one marked with a diopter value as close to your eyeglasses as possible, rounding up.

Thank you

AKG414 · Feb 18, 2022

itsdoable said:
The stock diopter for both the waist level and PM prisms is 0 (zero). Many people have switched them over to a 1 diopter.

Diopters are a measurement used for eye glass lenses. The diopter value on the waist level and PM finders are designed to match the value that you need on your eye glasses, but the actual lenses have a different focal length than those used in your glasses.

A 0 dipoter lens on the finder means that if you have perfect vision, the screen should be in focus if your eyes are focused at infinity. If you put a 1 dipoter correction on the finder, then the screen will be sharp if your eyes are focused 1m away. A 2 diopter means you have to focus your eyes to 0.5m to see the screen clearly, Note that the screen appears at the same magnification regardless of diopter used.

Eye glasses work in a similar way. if you are near sighted, an cannot see past 1m, then a -1 diopter correction move that out to infinity.

The 0 diopter lens for the PM is different from the waist level, because the distance to the screen is different, thus the lens to make the screen focused at infinity would be different.

If you want to view the PM5 with your glasses/contact on, you probably want a 0 or 1 diopter lens. If you want to view without your glasses, then get one marked with a diopter value as close to your eyeglasses as possible, rounding up.

Yes this is my approach. I bought another expense piece of Hasselblad kit, the +3 diopter. Once it gets here, ill let you all know the results.

AKG414 · Feb 18, 2022

I created a thread of some pics that I shot using the pop-up magnifier of the WLF - tell me what I'm doing wrong.

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threa...g-focusing-rate-these-terrible-photos.190042/

itsdoable · Feb 19, 2022

itsdoable said:
The stock diopter for both the waist level and PM prisms is 0 (zero). Many people have switched them over to a 1 diopter.

Diopters are a measurement used for eye glass lenses. The diopter value on the waist level and PM finders are designed to match the value that you need on your eye glasses, but the actual lenses have a different focal length than those used in your glasses.

A 0 dipoter lens on the finder means that if you have perfect vision, the screen should be in focus if your eyes are focused at infinity. If you put a 1 dipoter correction on the finder, then the screen will be sharp if your eyes are focused 1m away. A 2 diopter means you have to focus your eyes to 0.5m to see the screen clearly, Note that the screen appears at the same magnification regardless of diopter used.

Eye glasses work in a similar way. if you are near sighted, an cannot see past 1m, then a -1 diopter correction move that out to infinity.

The 0 diopter lens for the PM is different from the waist level, because the distance to the screen is different, thus the lens to make the screen focused at infinity would be different.

If you want to view the PM5 with your glasses/contact on, you probably want a 0 or 1 diopter lens. If you want to view without your glasses, then get one marked with a diopter value as close to your eyeglasses as possible, rounding up.

I have to correct this, it is a -1 diopter that makes the screen sharp when your eyes are focused at 1m, and is the correction that many people ues instead on 0 (zero)

A + 1 diopter is for people who are far sighted

I apologize for the error, getting your signs backwards is bad, especially in engineering.

nickandre · Feb 19, 2022

Yeah to clarify, the default 0 diopter focuses the image at infinity. If you need reading glasses but can see distance fine you can use the standard 0 diopter. If you have myopia (e.g. glasses of -3.0D) you can use a stronger negative diopter lens within some reason. So if you have -3D glasses and use a -4 lens you'll be able to see the virtual image as if it's projected 1 meter in front of you (since 1 diopter is defined as the amount of correction required to bring an image from infinity focus to 1 meter). Not great to use greater than necessary correction for long term as it will worsen your vision but for temporary viewfinder use it's fine.

The one other thing to note is correction lenses for prisms have two different values since the correction required for a PM90 is 2 diopters off from what is required for a PM45. So if I recall correctly a standard lens on a PM90 if transferred to a PM45 will provide equivalent of -2D (or maybe vice versa? I think I'm right).

wiltw · Feb 20, 2022

Eyepiece designations are different from different manufacturers. Some called '0' or standard eyepiece have a real Diopter strengh which is actually non-zero number as measured FL. For example, Bronica '0' is actually -1.5 Diopter.
Other manufacturers label their eyepieces with true Diopter value (not relative to 'standard' eyepiece). I have not figured out the convention followed by Hasselblad...different designation for 45 degree prism vs. 90 degree prism.

!I did a bit of snooping around, and found via photos of the eypieces and/or descriptions that...

Hasselblad 42432 +3 Diopter for 45 Degree Prims Viewfinder
Hasselblad 42429 +2 Diopter for 45 Degree Prism Viewfinders NC-2, PM, PM3, PME, PME3, PM5, PME5 and PME51
Hasselblad 42426 +1 diopter.fits the following Hasselblad 45 degree prism viewfinders NC-2, PM, PM3, PME, PME3, PM5, PME5 and PME51
Hasselblad 42412 0 (Zero) Diopter for 45 Degree Prism Viewfinders NC-2, PM, PM3, PME, PME3, PM5, PME5 and PME51, is also a +3 Diopter for the PM90 Prism Viewfinder)
Hasselblad 42421 is 0 Diopter on 90 degree prism
Hasselblad 42423 -1 diopter
Hasselblad -2 Diopter for 45 Degree Prism Viewfinders NC-2, PM, PM3, PME, PME3, PM5, PME5 and PME51, is also a +1 Diopter for the PM90 Prism Viewfinder
Hasselblad 42418 -3 diopter for PM PME, is also -1D for 90 Degree Prism
Hasselblad 42415 -4 diopter for 45 Degree Prism viewfinders NC-2, PM, PM3, PME, PME3, PM5, PME5 and PME51 iis also a -2 Diopter for the PM90 Prism Viewfinder
Hasselblad Diopter -6 for all 45 Degree Prism Finders can also be used as a -4 Diopter for PM-90

In a photo of the PM-5, it appears that the standard diopter has no strength indication, whereas the correction eyepieces are labele -4D/45 and -2D/90

Hope these clues help you to figure things out! But there appears to be a lack of consistency between 45-degree and 90-degree...sometimes it is +2 differential (to 90-degree), other times it is a +3 differential (also to 90-degree!

You can try taking the camera to an optician, and borrow a bunch of different power diopter " monocules", remove the supplied eyepiece, then hold each monocule up to the prism until you find the one that enables you to focus best. You can also compare the eyepiece strength that you currently have and compare it to the Diopter strength of the optician lens that matches, to see how the Hasselblad designation compares to real Diopter value. It should then be apparent what to buy.

masie · Jun 3, 2022

Hi all,

I purchased a pm5 recently but require a 0D/45 diopter - any idea where I could find one? If anyone is willing to part with theirs, please let me know. Thank you

Marion Cobretti · Aug 9, 2023

Hey everyone, does anyone know if the eyepiece from the NC2 Prism is interchangeable with a PM or PM5 prism?

As in, can I remove the eye piece from an NC2 and simply screw into a PM/PM5?

Sirius Glass · Aug 9, 2023

Marion Cobretti said:
Hey everyone, does anyone know if the eyepiece from the NC2 Prism is interchangeable with a PM or PM5 prism?

As in, can I remove the eye piece from an NC2 and simply screw into a PM/PM5?

Welcome to ~~APUG~~ Photrio!!

Pieter12 · Aug 9, 2023

Has anyone tried contacting Hasselblad or referring to a manual? I know the standard diopter for my Rollei 6008/Hy6 is +8.5 if taken to an optician to read, so any variation is labeled as a deviation from that and not the true diopter value. Example: a diopter that reads +2 is optically +10.5.

stam6882 · Sep 25, 2024

wiltw said:
Eyepiece designations are different from different manufacturers. Some called '0' or standard eyepiece have a real Diopter strengh which is actually non-zero number as measured FL. For example, Bronica '0' is actually -1.5 Diopter.
Other manufacturers label their eyepieces with true Diopter value (not relative to 'standard' eyepiece). I have not figured out the convention followed by Hasselblad...different designation for 45 degree prism vs. 90 degree prism.

!I did a bit of snooping around, and found via photos of the eypieces and/or descriptions that...

Hasselblad 42432 +3 Diopter for 45 Degree Prims Viewfinder

Hasselblad 42429 +2 Diopter for 45 Degree Prism Viewfinders NC-2, PM, PM3, PME, PME3, PM5, PME5 and PME51

Hasselblad 42426 +1 diopter.fits the following Hasselblad 45 degree prism viewfinders NC-2, PM, PM3, PME, PME3, PM5, PME5 and PME51

Hasselblad 42412 0 (Zero) Diopter for 45 Degree Prism Viewfinders NC-2, PM, PM3, PME, PME3, PM5, PME5 and PME51, is also a +3 Diopter for the PM90 Prism Viewfinder)

Hasselblad 42421 is 0 Diopter on 90 degree prism

Hasselblad 42423 -1 diopter

Hasselblad -2 Diopter for 45 Degree Prism Viewfinders NC-2, PM, PM3, PME, PME3, PM5, PME5 and PME51, is also a +1 Diopter for the PM90 Prism Viewfinder

Hasselblad 42418 -3 diopter for PM PME, is also -1D for 90 Degree Prism

Hasselblad 42415 -4 diopter for 45 Degree Prism viewfinders NC-2, PM, PM3, PME, PME3, PM5, PME5 and PME51 iis also a -2 Diopter for the PM90 Prism Viewfinder

Hasselblad Diopter -6 for all 45 Degree Prism Finders can also be used as a -4 Diopter for PM-90

In a photo of the PM-5, it appears that the standard diopter has no strength indication, whereas the correction eyepieces are labele -4D/45 and -2D/90

Hope these clues help you to figure things out! But there appears to be a lack of consistency between 45-degree and 90-degree...sometimes it is +2 differential (to 90-degree), other times it is a +3 differential (also to 90-degree!

You can try taking the camera to an optician, and borrow a bunch of different power diopter " monocules", remove the supplied eyepiece, then hold each monocule up to the prism until you find the one that enables you to focus best. You can also compare the eyepiece strength that you currently have and compare it to the Diopter strength of the optician lens that matches, to see how the Hasselblad designation compares to real Diopter value. It should then be apparent what to buy.

Hi, came across this old thread as I am currently looking for a diopter for my PME5 (with my 503CX). My eyesight is -1.5 and would prefer not to wear glasses when shooting with the PME5. I have not been successful identifying the correct product code for the diopter lens.
Would someone be kind enough to help me with which Hasselblad product code is for the diopter -1.5 on PME5? Many thanks.

wiltw · Sep 26, 2024

I tried to figure it out for you, but could not. I did find this in the PME5 instruction manual

eBay seems to have a -2

HASSELBLAD Eyepiece lens for prism viewfindes PM5,PME,PME3,PME5,NC-2 in box | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for HASSELBLAD Eyepiece lens for prism viewfindes PM5,PME,PME3,PME5,NC-2 in box at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

skahde · Oct 4, 2024

If the lens has no marked corrective optical power it is usually the standard-eyepiece even if it has some actual optical power to bring the entire finder to its default. They often end up stored in boxes for corrective eyepieces when the previous owner mounted it on his camera, buyers beware! Happened twice to me when buying on the net.

stam6882 · Oct 4, 2024

Yes that’s what I have noticing as well. It’s tricky to buy the right diopter strength due to low volume being produced and unable to test easily.

Hasselblad PM5 Prism Diopter - Strength

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