Viewfinders and glasses (spectacles)

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The Pielander

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John
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I've had to start wearing glasses and have found that using the viewfinder on my recently purchased (prior to glasses) isn't a very good experience. The same is true for my beloved Fuji X100. My glasses simply get in the way and I can't get my eye close enough to the viewfinder to see 100% of the view. Is this normal for glasses wearers and if so how do you get round the problem? this is all quite new to me.....

(removing my glasses every time I want to take a picture isn't really an option)
 
Yep quite normal, I Have worn glasses since I learnt to drive (43 years ago), and have just got used to. You could adjust the dioptre setting of your camera, but then you have got to fiddle about with your glasses to see what's going on. The other alternative is contact lenses.
 
I used to remove mine and rely on the dioptre adjustment but it was a hell of a polava each time I wanted to take a shot.

I persevered with using my glasses and found that the fuji x-pro1 isn't to bad when wearing glasses.
 
The Pielander said:
Is this normal for glasses wearers and if so how do you get round the problem? this is all quite new to me.....

(removing my glasses every time I want to take a picture isn't really an option)
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Hi John, I think we may have had this one before, just trying to recall what I said last time!

I use glasses for reading, and there are times when I struggle to see things in the view finder, when I put glasses on they do knock against the viewfinder and this does annoy me.

Sometimes I peer over the glasses, or I will hold the viewfinder just gently against my glasses.

I do at times need my glasses to read the dials on my camera :)
 
bifoculs.. best thing i ever did for camera work :)
 
What about a Monocle ? Best of both worlds :D



Father in law wears glasses and has tried with them and removing them and more often than not just wears them and manages. He does occasionally have a problem shooting when it's very bright and sunny with some reflection of the sun on his glasses - just removes them then...
 
I've worn glasses for 62 years since it became obvious that I was short-sighted being unable to see the blackboard at school. I've used cameras for some 44 years now with all sorts of viewfinders and I still can't totally conquer the problem. I have developed long-sightedness and astigmatism with age, so I'm really stuck with a problem. I have tried using dioptre correction eyepieces and hanging my glasses on a string, but that really is a hassle and latterly with astigmatism, is no longer an option

I use varifocal lenses, so if I try and use live view, I have to tilt my head right back to the extent that it gets painful.

Despite all this, I have found I can use a good SLR viewfinder without any problem whatsoever and can see the whole frame with settings information. I stress "good" though. I asked the question from the optometrist during my last eye test as to how it was that I could see distance and macro through the SLR viewfinder without adjusting my glasses. Apparently on an SLR it's all at infinity? I don't really get that but it's borne out by my own experience.

I just went though an expensive exercise of buying an X-Pro1 and trying to get used to the viewfinder (optical or digital). I gave up in the end, but I would suggest that if you get the correct diopter eyepiece, or if the camera has sufficient adjustment (your optician can tell you the setting), and are prepared to remove your glasses, it's worth a try. Rather than tilting them up on your head, try the hanging strings you can buy cheaply. Again it's worth a try.

Experiment, and in the end make up your own mind how best to deal with it. I did find professional advice very useful and you might try asking about photography issues next time you have an eye test.
 
geriatrix said:
I've worn glasses for 62 years since it became obvious that I was short-sighted being unable to see the blackboard at school. I've used cameras for some 44 years now with all sorts of viewfinders and I still can't totally conquer the problem. I have developed long-sightedness.
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How can you be both short and long sighted?

Do you mean that you are short sighted but now have a problem with close focussing?


Steve.
 
Some cameras have greater "eye relief" than others as do binoculars.

I can cope with all the cameras that I own with my glasses on.
I have my glasses made in hardened glass so that I don't damage them on the viewfinders when I press them close.
In the past OLympus and others made an eye coupler for use on their film cameras, that extend the view further back, to make the use of Bulk film backs and right angle finders easier to use. they still fit modern cameras and help with glasses.but do make the image slightly less magnified.
 
Steve Smith said:
How can you be both short and long sighted?

Do you mean that you are short sighted but now have a problem with close focussing?


Steve.
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That's it Steve - Not so unusual in later life. In my case the long-sightedness started to make itself apparent in my forties. There was a period when the oncoming long sightedness cancelled out the short sightedness at short distances and I used to remove my glasses when I needed to close focus but that no longer works

I have glasses for daily use and also for the office environment where I need to use a computer. I even used to carry TV glasses so I could see the TV when lying on a bed in hotel rooms.

Bi-focals are no good to me any more and tri-focals have largely been superceded by varifocals which I get on with well. Some that don't, or don't want to, wear contact lenses for long distance and have glasses for short distance. You then have to carry yet another pair of glasses in case you lose a contact lens. Nevertheless, that would have possibly been a good solution to my photography issues. I just don't want to start using contact lenses.

None of this is very unusual (except perhaps for the TV glasses!). Just avoid getting old if you're short-sighted.

Steve L
 
Steve Smith said:
How can you be both short and long sighted?

Do you mean that you are short sighted but now have a problem with close focussing?


Steve.
Click to expand...

Yep, I think it is short sighted and close focussing issue. Happened to me a few years ago and also can't see quite as well in low light. Our body parts just haven't kept up with us averaging an age of 78 instead of the average age of 38 not that many 100s of years ago.
 
geriatrix said:
In my case the long-sightedness started to make itself apparent in my forties. There was a period when the oncoming long sightedness cancelled out the short sightedness at short distances and I used to remove my glasses when I needed to close focus
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I'm quite lucky then. I'm approaching 49 but manage with just a set of single vision lenses. Reading, etc, is fine with the glasses and sometimes without.

At work when an eyeglass is offered to inspect something we are looking at, I decline and just take off the glasses for a 'macro' view of it.

However, what you are referring too as long sight when you are short sighted is actually the inability of your eye's lens to focus on the closer objects.


Steve.
 
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Steve Smith said:
I'm quite lucky then. I'm approaching 49 but manage with just a set of single vision lenses. Reading, etc, is fine with the glasses and sometimes without.

At work when an eyeglass is offered to inspect something we are looking at, I decline and just take off the glasses for a 'macro' view of it.

However, what you are referring too as long sight when you are short sighted is actually the inability of your eye's lens to focus on the closer objects.


Steve.
Click to expand...

If you are short sighted and you can get a closer view by removing your glasses I reckon you are probably on the way over the next few years to my condition whatever we may call it. I was an aircraft (rotary wing) maintenance engineer and I remember specifically 27 years ago discovering that removing my then bi-focals enabled me to closely inspect components without visual aids. My eyes are slightly different, so I also found myself first closing my right eye and then as time went on, my left eye. I started using varifocal lenses almost as soon as they came on the market and they made a huge difference. Fortunately by the time these symptoms became apparent I was in a management position else I would probably have been concerned I might miss something due to my eyesight. I was often impressed by others' vision when I needed a magnifying glass in order to give an opinion on a defect that an inspector had picked up with unaided vision.

At least I have a 30" monitor for my image editing!
 
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