Waist level viewfinder of 503CW

[Meelis]

Happy end of the year to everybody.

I'm considering to buy 503CW with waist level viewfinder, and was wondering if it would be easy to focus with nearsightedness.
I don't wear glasses and have -3 far vision. Up close i see perfect if not better.

Am i correct, in theory i should be able to focus this camera?

 

[cowanw]

Yes, if you can see at 16 inches or so you are good to go.

 

[Alan Gales]

I need my glasses to read a book or read house numbers at a distance while driving a car. Otherwise I don't wear them.

I had no trouble focussing with a Hasselblad 500/cm waist level finder and Beattie Intenscreen which would be similar to the screen in the 503CW.

Welcome to APUG!

 

[snikulin]

I had problems with both rented 503cw WLF and PM and my -2.6 vision.
About half of my frames shot without the glasses were out of focus.
Interestingly, I don't have such problems with my Yashica TLR WLF.
It's possible that this focusing problem would go away with more practice/experience.
I used 503cw for about a week in total.

 

[Meelis]

Thanks everybody and thank you Alan Gales for warm welcome.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Welcome to APUG

I have the 503 CX. I use the 45° PME exclusively. I have never used the WLF. I am near sighted [- 3.0] and I can use glasses or contact lenses with the PME although as with every other camera I greatly prefer the contact lenses.

 

[Slixtiesix]

You won´t need any correction if you are focussing on the screen without any aid. When using the built-in magnifier however (which I would strongly advise for critical focussing), you will need it. I have -0,75 myself and changing the standard against a -1 magnifier made a real difference. I was able to focus with the standard magnifier as well, but now everything looks crisper, focussing became easier and faster for me. You could also buy a chimney finder, some of them have adjustable diopters.