I'm a blind photographer!!!!! :-(

mickimac

mickimac

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Name
Micki
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I love being a photographer, however my eye sight is getting pretty bad. 80 percent of my work is either very soft or blurry and its starting to get pretty embarrassing. Besides the obvious, making sure that my settings are correct to get clear pictures, I have gone to Auto focus and even that turns out blurry every now and then. The reality of it all is my eye sight is bad. So is there any gadgets out there to help me (i.e. bifocul diopter!!!!). Maybe my eye sight isn't THAT bad but its getting there. HELP!!!!

Camera Type: Cannon EOS 7d
Lens: Cannon Zoom Lens EF 24 - 70mm 1:28 L USM
Flash: Canon speedlite 580EX II
 
I don't know about any gadgets but would it be worth using the expanded autofocus point mode along with rear button servo and also shoot with a high f setting than usual?

Edit: I did a bit of google searching and with the exception of someone suggesting getting a hoodman cover most just suggested just setting your diopter correctly - article here if you don't already know how to.
Edit 2: If you need additional diopters Canon do a range from -4 to +3 (here), also I found a youtube video helping with setting it up (here)
 
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^^^^ all round good egg
 
Umm, get glasses or contact lenses?

If your eyesight is that bad it must be affecting your normal life too? wouldn't it be nice to see rather than just have sharp photos?
 
Nawty said:
Umm, get glasses or contact lenses?

If your eyesight is that bad it must be affecting your normal life too? wouldn't it be nice to see rather than just have sharp photos?
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lol, I just assumed they had, if not then :plusone:

Cheers Ben :D
 
Nawty said:
Umm, get glasses or contact lenses?

If your eyesight is that bad it must be affecting your normal life too? wouldn't it be nice to see rather than just have sharp photos?
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Or laser surgery :)

Cheers.
 
I use Varifocal specs in conjunction with the diopter adjustment on the viewfinder. If you can get a prescription that helps your problem it will also cure your photo issues. dont rely on the diopter adjustment only.
 
Check out this

http://www.digicamhelp.com/accessories/dslr-accessories/eyecup/

But if you're struggling perhaps an eye exam is the way forward just to be on the safe side

It depends how you're set up your autofocus points and what you're focusing on. If you're using all the focus points, the camera would focus on the nearest object rather than the one you might what to focus on, perhaps use a single focus point and use the expanded focus point option in the settings as previously suggested
 
Surely the most obvious thing is to get to the opticians and get an eye test done?! :shrug:
Glasses or contact lenses will be the most useful, then add the gadgets and extras after that.
 
Mandoo said:
Surely the most obvious thing is to get to the opticians and get an eye test done?! :shrug:
Glasses or contact lenses will be the most useful, then add the gadgets and extras after that.
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:plusone:
 
Mandoo said:
Surely the most obvious thing is to get to the opticians and get an eye test done?! :shrug:
Glasses or contact lenses will be the most useful, then add the gadgets and extras after that.
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Ok Mandoo, im trying real hard not to be sarcastic here lol. I wear contacts AND i wear reading glasses. So yes, I have looked into eye wear. ;-)
 
I wear contacts as well (not very powerful though 1.5/2.75) but if they correct your vision OK normally I'd have thought they'd make it OK if you're wearing them when looking through the viewfinder ?

Of course, that's assuming they do correct your vision normally?
 
Okay guys, I really appreciate your help but, stating the obvious...I have gone to the doctor, I wear contacts and i wear reading glasses (both up-to-date). So we have establish that I got my eyes checked and that I am in fact blind as a bat!!!! lol

All im asking is, if there's any hardware, tips or tricks out there that you as a photographer can tell me about. I have played with the diopter to the highest it will go and I have used the Auto focus. As a photographer thats losing her site this was very hard for me to get online and talk about but I did.

So please if youre gonna get on the "duh get an eye exam" bandwagon, at least include some of your professional "photography" advise and not JUST a "doctors" advise.

Thanks Pete, Chrisbie and John for the "extra" info!
 
Hi Mick

Welcome to the forum!

It is the habit of the forum to not help people with their question, but point out the bleeding obvious.

If you get the chance, scan in any documents proving your eyesight, this will help ;)

It is a friendly forum, but once one person asks a silly question, it grows :(

On a serious note....

What sort of photography do you do?

Have you tried using live view? Any chance of shooting tethered to a computer

Have you tried an eye piece magnifier

Can you read the display clearly, its just seeing if the small image is in focus or not?
 
Sorry if I offended you but if your vision can't be corrected for normal circumstances then I'm not sure how it can be corrected for using a camera ?

Anyway, have you thought of things like this, from carryspeed ? I'm sure there are other similar products.

How about this as well ?

I can't vouch for how those products work, but they'll give you something bigger to look at.
 
stu.artd said:
I wear contacts as well (not very powerful though 1.5/2.75) but if they correct your vision OK normally I'd have thought they'd make it OK if you're wearing them when looking through the viewfinder ?

Of course, that's assuming they do correct your vision normally?
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Thanks stu.artd for your post, Sometimes when I am on a long shoot my contacts tends to get blurry after looking through the view finder. But lately my pictures have actually gotten very very soft. I have posted on other sites and they have actually given me some good info. 1-I could use the live view, 2-there's hardware products that out there for photographers losing their sight, 3-Someone said I can tether a tablet to my camera and then i can see if the pic is blurry. After being a photographer for so long, you never think it could happen to you. Its like doing something you love so much, like running and one day finding out you have arthritis in the knee!!! And although you can run, you just cant run like you use too. lol :-)
 
Is it possible that something is amiss with your camera / lens setup ?
There have been posts from people where their lens has went from sharp one day to very poor next time they used it, and a trip to a service centre has sorted it out.
 
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Dale_tem said:
Hi Mick

Welcome to the forum!

It is the habit of the forum to not help people with their question, but point out the bleeding obvious.

If you get the chance, scan in any documents proving your eyesight, this will help ;)

It is a friendly forum, but once one person asks a silly question, it grows :(

On a serious note....

What sort of photography do you do?

Have you tried using live view? Any chance of shooting tethered to a computer

Have you tried an eye piece magnifier

Can you read the display clearly, its just seeing if the small image is in focus or not?
Click to expand...
Thanks Dale for your response. :-)
I was starting to wonder about the "site". arg arg arg! Well, I do mostly portrait photography these days. Although, I have done weddings (which i wont even THINK about doing right now), boudoir, and pregnancy pics. I am currently in the military and is the squadron's photographer. I am at a training base, so we have graduation every couple of weeks and Its really bad when I am taking pictures during that time. The lighting is really bad and although I use auto focus, my pictures turn out Yellow and very very soft. Sooooo embarrasing when you have the parents asking...so when can i get my baby's pictures! lol Like I told Stuart, I did find out about that great live view! WHO KNEW!?!?! I DIDNT! Hahahahaha Thanks for the great info!
 
Wow Dan, now thats what Im talking about! Maybe I will have a few more years of photography after all! :-) thanks for your response!
 
Stuart, thats a great thought. I think im gonna take it to the camera shop this week. It will get me out of work because its for "an official" function. ;-)
 
mickimac said:
Wow Dan, now thats what Im talking about! Maybe I will have a few more years of photography after all! :-) thanks for your response!
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No probs glad I could help :thumbs:
 
mickimac said:
The lighting is really bad and although I use auto focus, my pictures turn out Yellow and very very soft.
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Hi,

Sounds like the shutter speed is too low due to the bad lighting.

Definitely get the camera maintained/checked (at least you can say you've done it).

Possibly you might need to increase the ISO. Best thing you could try is vary your iso from 200-1600 on the same scene. Set the aperture around f8.

As the ISO increases the shutter speed should get faster too, but you may lose too much in details. Hence the experiment of ISOs with similar lighting and (hopefully willing) subject.


Do you use Flash (either onboard or a flash gun) ?
Depending on your location (outside/inside) might be worth getting some lights with diffusers on? There is a section in the forum on lighting which might help with this. There is also a thread on home studio (if you search the forum) which details peoples home set ups. This might give you some more ideas.

Hope you manage to sort something out! :thumbs:
 
What sort of contact lenses do you wear? In their wisdom, my opticians switched their default make/model to a newer type (of soft, daily disposable lenses) which don't suit me for photography nearly as well as the older type, so I now have to order the older type in specially when I'm running out. It's a shame really since the new type are great for everything else but go smeary when I'm spending a lot of time eye to finder! A minute or 2's rest and the smeariness goes but it's still annoying.

Do you keep your camera's AF point fixed or is it mobile? I would keep it fixed and on the centre point - get the important part of the subject in that rectangle and the camera should nail it for you. You might need to alter a setting as well, just in case the camera's set to shoot before focus is confirmed (in my Nikons, the setting you need is called "Focus Priority" with the other being called "Release Priority". Focus priority is the default in Single-Servo AF mode and Release Priority is the default in Continuous-Servo AF mode.
 
Hello all,
Once again I want to thank everyone for responding to my post. I got back a lot of good info. I actually used the live view today to take headshots of 20 of our students. The pictures came out great. Weird because when I put the camera on auto focus and look through the view finder, the pictures comes out soft, and the color is yellow (and that's on AUTO FOCUS!!!! But when I change it to live view (keeping it on AUTO FOCUS and not changing anything) the picture is clear (still not as crisp but clear) and the color is great! This lead me to believe maybe my camera do need a checkup like a few of the people suggested. *:-)*

Your comments came just in time. I have been tasked to do 2 huge Change of Commands (that's the changing of our commanders) on 18 Jan and 22 Feb. *I am actually kind of nervous about it! There will be guest speakers, high ranking individuals, People will be in formation, they will do the changing of the squadron flag, and a pluthera of other stuff! YIKEs I think I'm freaking myself out now!!! Hahahahaha.*
 
That does sound like an AF issue as liveview works differently to the standard method (I forget exactly how just now but I do remember it being said)
 
Glad to hear you're getting a little further forward.
Live view uses contrast detect (like a compact camera would use) and that's why it tends to be slower.
Normal focussing uses phase detect that is much quicker.

Someone with a similar problem to you here ?
The issues isn't resolved, but you're not alone!!

Your job certainly sounds challenging, little wonder you're nervous. Here's hoping everything is sorted in time and it goes well on the day.
 
Im glad to hear your getting somewhere - although im fairly new to photography i'd hate to have a situation like yours.

Good luck for your shoot and im really happy your getting nearer to sorting your problem

:thumbs:
 
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