Nikon FIlm Bodies with Diopter adjustment: are there any?

[Rob-F]

Lately it has become harder to see properly with my FE2, FA, and F3 bodies. When I use a camera with a diopter adjustment (D200; Leica R5, R6), everything is fine. Looking through the middle of my trifocals helps. Using my glasses specially corrected for computer screen distance helps a lot. Fiddling with various screw-in diopters doesn't help much.

I could go on using the trifocals, etc.; but is there a film body with a diopter control? And if there is, is it an AF body, or is there a manual focus type available?

TIA!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

The N80, F4, F100, F5 and F6 do. There may be others but I don't know all of them.

 

[Mudman]

there are diopters available for your FE2, FA and F3 cameras as well. Chris nailed it with the list he has.

 

[John Kozy]

diopters ...

diopters ...

My Nikon F , FE , FG have added screw in diopters that I found on the internet used camera sites and e bay ; not expensive and not too hard to track down . Just find the setting on your adjustable SLR's that is good for you and scout some up . But they are specific to each camera mostly . The FE and F screw on to the viewfinder and the FG one slides down from the top . I can then put my eye flush against the finder and see well . Then again I've seen Annie Leibovitz shoot and she keeps her glasses on all the time ... I have to flip mine up and down to review the scene .

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

My Nikon F , FE , FG have added screw in diopters that I found on the internet used camera sites and e bay ; not expensive and not too hard to track down . Just find the setting on your adjustable SLR's that is good for you and scout some up . But they are specific to each camera mostly . The FE and F screw on to the viewfinder and the FG one slides down from the top . I can then put my eye flush against the finder and see well . Then again I've seen Annie Leibovitz shoot and she keeps her glasses on all the time ... I have to flip mine up and down to review the scene .

Problem with that is the SLRs with adjustable eyepieces do not have any calibration markings on the dials! You cannot set to a specific diopter, you do it visually by looking in the finder and adjusting till it looks good, and it doesnt tell you what diopter you chose!

To use the screw in ones, you need to go to your eye doctor or the place you get your glasses, and ask the doctor what your glasses prescription is. That is the diopter number you buy.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

The Nikon finder is set at -.5 from the factory. So, to get to "0", you have to actually add +.5, which is what the Nikon Diopter "0" does. I use a "0" diopter on all my Nikons, even with my eyeglasses, to get a sharp finder image.

The F100, though, especially at todays used prices, is really the way to go, though. Then you don't have to fool with figuring out what is right for you. Just adjust the diopter to exactly what you need. And it's a fine camera.

 

[john_s]

Do you know approximately what diopter you need? The reason I ask is that different cameras have different ranges. Of the cameras that I have, they are:

F100: -3 to +1
F6: -2 to +1

There is a Nikon pdf file that explains their naming of add-on diopters. They do things differently to Leica for example. You can find a link to download it at:

http://www.nikonmall.com/aboutslr.asp

If your eyesight is not in the range provided by the camera, you can get a diopter that is close and use the camera's adjustment for fine tuning. I use this with the F6: I need a bit more minus than it offers, so I have a -1 and then I dial in something between an extra -1 and -2. As you get older, the value must be more precise. On the F100, I don't need the extra diopter because of its greater range of adjustment.

 

[Rob-F]

The Nikon finder is set at -.5 from the factory. So, to get to "0", you have to actually add +.5, which is what the Nikon Diopter "0" does. I use a "0" diopter on all my Nikons, even with my eyeglasses, to get a sharp finder image.

Is that -.5 factory setting accomplished with the screw-in eyepiece that comes with the camera, or is it native to the finder internally? The reason I ask is that I tried removing the eyepiece, and could not see any difference.

I have used screw-in diopter eyepieces on my Nikons from time to time. A minus-5 used to work for me. My prescription has regressed slightly over the last several years, so I ordered a minus-4 to try. It wasn't the answer. I will drop by the eyeglass place to find out the power of my middle trifocal lens, and go on from there. And I think I will round up a "0" eyepiece and try that method as well.

One step at a time, and I'll get there. Thanks, guys.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

It is native to the finder. The screw in eyepiece that comes with the camera is just plain glass.

 

[sepiareverb]

An F4 in nice shape would be my choice. All the traditional controls including rewind.

 

[john_s]

Is that -.5 factory setting accomplished with the screw-in eyepiece that comes with the camera, or is it native to the finder internally? The reason I ask is that I tried removing the eyepiece, and could not see any difference.

I have used screw-in diopter eyepieces on my Nikons from time to time. A minus-5 used to work for me. My prescription has regressed slightly over the last several years, so I ordered a minus-4 to try. It wasn't the answer. I will drop by the eyeglass place to find out the power of my middle trifocal lens, and go on from there. And I think I will round up a "0" eyepiece and try that method as well.

One step at a time, and I'll get there. Thanks, guys.

As I mentioned above, as you get older your eyes' focus range diminishes and so the diopter must be more accurately chosen. Most brands have add-on diopters in increments of 1. Leica has 0.5 diopter increments which can make a difference.

[an aside: I am 62. My eyeglass prescription for driving, movies etc has changed only from -2 to -1.5 since I was a teenager. But my eye's range of focus has changed from a normal 12 diopter range to about 0.5 diopter total. This is a common scenario, unfortunately]

But even better is to have the fine adjustment on something like a Nikon viewfinder where you can dial in 0.25 increments. If -5 used to work for you, probably a -3 on an adjustable camera would be worth trying. Test it patiently in a not well lit environment so that your eyes are operating with minimal depth of field (wide iris).

Let us know how you go.

 

[Rob-F]

I dropped in at my friendly eyecare place with Nikon FA and several pairs of my glasses. The technician looked up the records and found that the glasses that give me the best sharpness in the finder were -3 spherical and -2 cylinder at 105 degrees. She wasn't sure how to come up with the best spherical equivalent. Then when the doctor who does my prescriptions came over, and at first suggested minus 4; then she thought it over and said maybe minus 3 would be better. I have already tried a minus 4, and it wasn't very good. So I may try out a -3.

So then I went to the camera store and traded my F3, which I never use, for an F100. Now I not only have a film Nikon with a diopter adjustment, but one that handles somewhat like the D200. I considered an F4 but it weighs double the F100. I already have a 24/2.8 AF and a 28-85AF, so I'll just pick up one or two more AF lenses I can use on both those bodies. Of course, I'm still interested in a solution for using my FA and my two FE2 bodies. The doctor said they wouldn't be able to make a lens small enough to fit the tiny eyepiece ring for the FA and FE2.

Now I have to start a thread on what a couple of controls on the F100 add-on battery pack do. The rest I have mostly figured out.

Thanks, all. Any more ideas, let 'em flow.

 

[john_s]

I dropped in at my friendly eyecare place with Nikon FA and several pairs of my glasses. The technician looked up the records and found that the glasses that give me the best sharpness in the finder were -3 spherical and -2 cylinder at 105 degrees............

Cylindrical adjustment is problematical, and -2 is a significant amount. The problem is that the correction required, if it were made to that prescription, would have to be aligned to the axis of the cyl correction needed for your eye. Turning the camera 90degrees to take a vertical pic would make it much worse than no cyl correction. (An argument for 6x6 since there's no vertical option).

The best you could hope for with normal spherical correction is to ignore the cyl and go with -3. You could try dialling in a bit more negative with some orientations and a bit less with others (I mean portrait compared with landscape).

I think I read once that Leica make (or at least made) an empty diopter frame that could rotate 90degrees, so that a cyl prescription could be fitted to it. It wouldn't fit a Nikon though. And most optical firms are shying away from special small jobs these days.

Let us know how it turns out.

 

[pvdhaar]

There are also some cheap Nikons with built-in diopters: F55, F65, F75 all three from -1.5..+0.8

 

[Chuck Albertson]

The F6 has it. The F6 has everything. And we don't call them trifocals anymore. They're progressive lenses.

 

[Rob-F]

Thanks, John, as a matter of fact the doctor did recommend a minus 3.

@ Chuck: Yeah, well mine are incrementally progressive in steps. We don't jump right into new things here in the midwest!