An optical lab that can make a custom eyepiece?

[aizan]

Where are these fabled opticians who can make custom eyepieces for camera viewfinders?

If they existed, I think the optical industry must have changed recently and wiped them out. I've called over a dozen opticians and ophthalmologists and none of them have the equipment to make lenses on premises, and the three (3) referrals I've gotten to local optical labs that manufacture eyeglasses are not set up to do anything as small as I need (1 inch diameter for a Hasselblad NC2 prism finder).

 

[dmr]

I made a few of them with generic plain clip-on eyepiece cups and those plastic goggle lenses of -2d. They fit on both the Pentax and Mamiya SLRs.

 

[john_s]

Maybe try a telescope bits and pieces place like Surplus Shed. You might be lucky to find something off the shelf there.

 

[View Range]

This might be something that S K Grimes in Rhode Island would want to make.

 

[majid]

Edmund Optics does custom optical elements.

 

[aizan]

I made a few of them with generic plain clip-on eyepiece cups and those plastic goggle lenses of -2d. They fit on both the Pentax and Mamiya SLRs.

How did you cut them into shape?

 

[aizan]

Maybe try a telescope bits and pieces place like Surplus Shed. You might be lucky to find something off the shelf there.

I have astigmatism in my right eye, but this could work for somebody else!

 

[aizan]

This might be something that S K Grimes in Rhode Island would want to make.

It doesn't look like they do any lens making, but I'll give them a call.

 

[retinax]

I haven't tried, but maybe you need to indicate that you're willing to pay for a pair of lenses as they'd normally order them for glasses? If they really can't mount them, you could do that yourself if you have the right ring. Eyeglasses lenses are plastic nowadays, easy enough to saw, file, dremel...

Or get new glasses and cut up your old pair.

 

[Timmyjoe]

I don't have an astigmatism so maybe it's different, but I do have aging eyes that need diopters and I love to shoot really old cameras, where diopters aren't available. What I've been doing for the last number of years is taking drugstore bought reading glasses, the ones with plastic lenses, and making diopters out of the them. Pop the lens out, cut and file it down until it fits the camera eyepiece. Again, not sure this would work for an astigmatism, but it works pretty well otherwise.

Here's one I made for an old 110 camera, a Canon 110 ED 20:

Best,
-Tim

 

[dmr]

How did you cut them into shape?

With a rotary Dremel tool. Very easy.

When I get home I'll (try to remember to) take a photo and post it.

 

[retinax]

Likely there's a communication problem. You talk about making lenses and making eyepieces, maybe they use different vocabulary. I mean they don't manufacture the lenses as in grinding and polishing them, they usually order and mount them. Do you have the threaded (?) ring to mount it in or did they perhaps think you were asking them to make one? I can't believe they can't work with a lens of 1" diameter as some eyeglasses are as small as that in the vertical dimension.

 

[pagpow]

I have astigmatism in my right eye, but this could work for somebody else!

Is it strong astigmatism? Because I too have some astigmatism but have never had it interfere with the usefulness of standard (ie not corrected for astigmatism) eyepiece diopters. Have you tried any?

Apologies if this was addressed earlier upthread.

 

[dmr]

Here ya go, hope this helps.

The eyepiece cup is just a generic Camera Show Special (tm) 🙂 which you should be able to get almost anywhere. This particular one has (had) a plain window-pane plastic lens and the whole thing unscrews into two pieces.

The lens I used is an insert made for diving goggles which I got on Amazon and then cut and shaped with the Dremel.

I've worn glasses since I was a teen (nearsighted) and I've always been in denial and usually only wear them for driving and shows when the lights are down and such. 🙂 Until a few years ago I thought I could photograph with or without them, until I started missing focus on some shots with the SLRs. This REALLY helps!

I've been lucky that although I'm now in my 60s (again, in denial!) I've never been affected by presbyopia or astigmatism. I wear a very simple spherical correction which is very close to the -2 power of the cheap goggle lenses.

 

[Dante_Stella]

Eyeglass shops don't cut glass, and edging machines do not go that small. I had one in Ann Arbor cut a didymium filter years ago (to Series VI), but with the demise of glass prescription lenses in the U.S., there is no infrastructure.

You can get kludge-worthy small lenses at Edmund. Learn to use epoxy.

This might also be shocking, but you can also buy, tear apart, and reconfigure diopters for other cameras.

There is also a guy (Otto?) who makes custom Leica eyepieces, including astigmatism correction. You're going to shell out $200 for that, if I recall.

Dante

 

[john_s]

I don't know the Hasselblad prism finder, but I had a similar problem with my Rolleiflex SL66 prism finder. I'm short sighted so I normally use around -1.5 for other cameras. The eyepiece lens on my prism finder is a strong positive lens (maybe +15 diopter, I don't remember). This is to allow the viewer to see the the ground glass screen which is only a couple of inches away. So I needed one of 15-1.5=+13.5 to replace it.



There were lenses available off the shelf but they were far too thick to fit the mount. I have learned to use my left eye which isn't so bad. For some reason, I don't have a problem with the waist level finder which has a somewhat similar +ve strength eyepiece lens in it.

 

[sepiareverb]

Gave up on the hasselblad CW with the prism because of this very reason. I tried purchasing diopters from eBay, but they were never the strength written on the box, always the standard one. I have a friend who is an eye Dr, she couldn’t find anyone who could do this (I’m in New England).