How can I tell what diopter my eye is?

[Sirius Glass]

I prefer to be wearing contact lenses when I photograph rather than eyeglasses. I can see much better with contacts and eyeglass lenses and frames can add inconveniences. Everything in the view finders is in focus and I can clearly see the corners and all the details with the contacts.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Have you ever tried taking off glasses to photograph?

I can set the diopter on my OM-4 and though it’s possible to adjust to my eye... I never do it because it’s too much trouble to take off my glasses and put them back on. So I adjust to look good with glasses on.

+1

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

By the way, some cameras have viewfinder correction built in. The Olympus OM4-Ti for example. This is handy as there are no extra parts to lose.

Add to that the EOS 1N, 1NHS, 1V... whatever else...
Yes, very handy. But not so handy when you max out the correction!

 

[AgX]

I prefer to be wearing contact lenses when I photograph rather than eyeglasses.

The majority of people here at Photrio having eye-issues have old-eyes and there contact lenses will not work.

 

[Sirius Glass]

The majority of people here at Photrio having eye-issues have old-eyes and there contact lenses will not work.

Since my cataracts are not bad enough to requires surgery, I can only comment on what works for me now.

 

[Prof_Pixel]

Your eyes are nearsighted so you need a negative lens of some value to focus at infinity. As you age, you become farsighted (can focus at a distance but not closeup) with your glasses on. The virtual image in the viewfinder is typically at a distance of about 40 inches which means with your glasses on you will need some value of positive lens over the camera viewfinder window.

 

[jim10219]

The Optometrist should give you some paperwork with your last exam. That would have the power listed that you need. Also, if you wear disposable contacts, they’ll have them written on the package.

Here’s what I did, and saved a bunch of money over buying a diopter from the manufacturer. I bought an eyecup attachment with a normal, flat piece of glass screwed into the middle. I unscrewed the eyecup and took out that piece of glass. Then, I took an old pair of glasses and covered one of the lenses in blue masking tape to protect it. Next I marked a dot in the middle of one of the lenses that corresponds to where my pupil lines up (the optical center of the lens). Then I removed the lens from the frame, and placed the piece of glass I pulled out of the eyecup directly over the center of the dot and outlined it on the tape. Next, I took a rotary cutter (Dremmel) and carved a piece of the lens with the same diameter as the round piece of glass that came with the eyecup. Lastly, I removed the tape, and inserted it into the eyecup and screwed it all back together. Now when I go shooting with my SLR’s, I wear one of those granny ropes around my glasses so I can quickly pop them off and focus clearly through the camera. When I switch cameras, I switch the eyecup to the new camera (assuming it fits. Not all brands are compatible). It sounds more complicated than it is. It took less than an hour to do, and cost me less than $15. Plus, it’s exactly in my prescription, and not just a close enough number. I found instructions on how to do it somewhere online. If you Google it, I’m sure you can find step by step instructions with pictures.

 

[Bill Burk]

Nice jim10219

 

[wiltw]

I want to get a diopter eye piece for my Nikon 35mm SLRs but I dont know what diopter I need. Do I need to get an eye exam for 100 bucks or can they check that at the eyeglass shop for free?

Go to the drugstore and put on one of the 'readers' glasses, and read some text at a distance of 30-36", which is the nominal distance of apparent focus that most camera manufacturers design the standard viewfinder to emulate for the focus screen and any displayed text in the viewfinder. Put on different strength readers, until the text at 30-36" appears sharp and easy to read for your eyes. That is the strength you need for your camera, too. Let's assume the reader which worked well for you was +2 diopters...
There is a complication that when diopter strengths are listed by camera manufacturers, they follow two different conventions for stating the rating of the eyepiece lens

1. one group calls the strength of the diopter for usual viewfinder to be strength '0', even if the actual optical strength is truly +1 diopters; so an additional +2 adjustment strength replacement lens is strength +2 (but the actual optical strength is +3 diopters)
2. one group calls calls the strength of the diopter for usual viewfinder to be '+1', when the actual optical strength is truly +1; so an additional +2 adjustment strength replacement lens is +3 (and the actual optical strength is +3 diopters)

 

[AgX]

1. one group calls the strength of the diopter for usual viewfinder to be strength '0', even if the actual optical strength is truly +1 diopters; so an additional +2 adjustment strength replacement lens is strength +2 (but the actual optical strength is +3 diopters)
2. one group calls calls the strength of the diopter for usual viewfinder to be '+1', when the actual optical strength is truly +1; so an additional +2 adjustment strength replacement lens is +3 (and the actual optical strength is +3 diopters)

1. the attachment eyepiece is designated in the total diopter of the system camera + attachment

2. the attachment eyepiece is designated in just its own diopter


(Thank you. I thought just group 1 was existing.)

-

 

[Europan]

Determination of your eye’s error is simple. Look along a meter scale and find the distance at which you lose sharp sight. The reciprocal of that distance is the diopter. Example: sharp until half a meter = 2 diopters. 1 meter = 1 diopter. 33,3 cm = 3 diopters.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

Determination of your eye’s error is simple. Look along a meter scale and find the distance at which you lose sharp sight. The reciprocal of that distance is the diopter. Example: sharp until half a meter = 2 diopters. 1 meter = 1 diopter. 33,3 cm = 3 diopters.

Yes, this works very well - agrees perfectly with my prescription.

 

[Sirius Glass]

The Optometrist should give you some paperwork with your last exam. That would have the power listed that you need. Also, if you wear disposable contacts, they’ll have them written on the package.

Here’s what I did, and saved a bunch of money over buying a diopter from the manufacturer. I bought an eyecup attachment with a normal, flat piece of glass screwed into the middle. I unscrewed the eyecup and took out that piece of glass. Then, I took an old pair of glasses and covered one of the lenses in blue masking tape to protect it. Next I marked a dot in the middle of one of the lenses that corresponds to where my pupil lines up (the optical center of the lens). Then I removed the lens from the frame, and placed the piece of glass I pulled out of the eyecup directly over the center of the dot and outlined it on the tape. Next, I took a rotary cutter (Dremmel) and carved a piece of the lens with the same diameter as the round piece of glass that came with the eyecup. Lastly, I removed the tape, and inserted it into the eyecup and screwed it all back together. Now when I go shooting with my SLR’s, I wear one of those granny ropes around my glasses so I can quickly pop them off and focus clearly through the camera. When I switch cameras, I switch the eyecup to the new camera (assuming it fits. Not all brands are compatible). It sounds more complicated than it is. It took less than an hour to do, and cost me less than $15. Plus, it’s exactly in my prescription, and not just a close enough number. I found instructions on how to do it somewhere online. If you Google it, I’m sure you can find step by step instructions with pictures.

That is a lot of work, but that will provide a custom solution that corrects for any astigmatism.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

Your eyes are nearsighted so you need a negative lens of some value to focus at infinity. As you age, you become farsighted (can focus at a distance but not closeup) with your glasses on. The virtual image in the viewfinder is typically at a distance of about 40 inches which means with your glasses on you will need some value of positive lens over the camera viewfinder window.

Not necesarily. I still need -3 to see the screen, I also now need +1.75 for close work, aging does not always reverse myopia.

 

[Prof_Pixel]

Not necesarily. I still need -3 to see the screen, I also now need +1.75 for close work, aging does not always reverse myopia.

No, it doesn't reverse it - it just means that, with age, with your glasses on - you are in effect farsighted (can't focus close) - hence the need for things like bifocal glasses.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Not necesarily. I still need -3 to see the screen, I also now need +1.75 for close work, aging does not always reverse myopia.

Usually after the age of forty to forty-five, the eyes either stabilize and stop becoming more near-sighted or they become less near sighted. It depends on the person.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

No, it doesn't reverse it - it just means that, with age, with your glasses on - you are in effect farsighted (can't focus close) - hence the need for things like bifocal glasses.

I've had to remove my glasses for close work since I was 9 years old, now I have to remove one pair and don another for anything smaller than say, the size of a long case clock movement. For reading & etc I do not need glasses, yet.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

Usually after the age of forty to forty-five, the eyes either stabilize and stop becoming more near-sighted or they become less near sighted. It depends on the person.

Yes. Another 5 to 8 years and my eyes will be fixed focus, right now I can focus over a range of about 5 inches.