Poll for Eyeglass Wearers

[ssmc]

I would like to vote #3 but that's only partially true - I can shoot through a viewfinder without them but now (sadly) I need them to see all but the largest controls in less-than-good light due to age-related presbyopia (as someone commented when watching me struggle to adjust settings on a DSLR, "you need longer arms, mate")

Having a close friend who has suffered (and I mean, suffered) all his life with defective close vision, to the extent of having both corneas transplanted and lasered back into shape, and he still needs glasses, I am truly grateful for the eyesight I have!

 

[Jamie Pillers]

My eyeglasses are made of real glass. No scratches for me.

However, I do believe that wearing glasses influences my enjoyment of lenses wider than 35mm. At about 28mm I begin to lose sight of all the framelines.

I also have real glass lenses, but its the coating that gets mangled by the metal eyepieces.

 

[traveler_101]

For some folks this is a non-issue. For others, the difficulties are really and something we have to live with. I started using rangefinders in 2005. Even over this short time, I'm aware that my eyesight is getting worse, and that rangefinder focusing (even with my excellent Leica M) is becoming more difficult.. . ..

I voted option four because I live with and don't think about it too much. But my eyesight is not getting any better that's for sure.

I have thought of selling my IIIf, too, now that it is now replaced by the Bessa R4M. I primarily bought the latter for its much bigger VF, and built-in framelines.

However, I can't let the IIIf go, I've gone quite attached to it. 😀

I would never let my IIIf go as I have found it (a) the easiest camera to focus on and (b) the most reliable in producing good results. Have Bessa-T and R and tried M6.

Before I finally gave up on rangefinder cameras, I was almost always resorting to using accessory Voigtlander viewfinders. . . ..

No point is using a M then. Thee III series can stand up to declining eyesight. I have the 25mm f/4 Snapshot Skopar: screw in, zone focus and frame through the Voigtlander auxiliary viewfinder.

I sold my lovely Canon P because I could not see the 35 mm frame lines.

I don't care. I just deal with whatever scratches may ensue. I have used glass lenses before as they last longer and scratch less than plastic, but they are heavier.

I shoot a iiig, an M5 and a M6, and they all scratch to some degree.

I have no scratches with my IIIf. I think this is primarily a Leica M issue.

I discovered that my left eye is strong enough to focus without my glasses on.. . . .

Good for you! Pure envy here I have suffered from pretty strong myopia since childhood, though it is worse in my left eye (fortunately).

 

[Chromacomaphoto]

Great thread.

Re. ruining your glasses: Luckily good quality glasses are cheaper where I live than they ever have been so I have several pairs in different styles. Remember how expensive glasses were 20 years ago? There just weren't any decent and stylish cheaper options back then. I never used to like wearing glasses (been wearing them since I was seven), but I almost like it as I get a little older.

That said, I know that nearly all of them are scratched up quite a bit. Even a .72 finder is a challenge for me and I prefer a 35 on a Leica which means all of my street stuff involves very loose framing (because I just can't see some of it!). As for the oft touted traditional Leica advantage of being able to see what's outside of the frame and coming into shot, yeah right. Love the comment about owning an M for a year before even discovering it had 35mm framelines! I can relate.

It's easier if I shoot 50mm but I don't enjoy that focal length as much. I have been known to wear contacts if going out with the intention of just purely shooting street for a few hours but it always seems a pain to have to do that just for the sake of shooting plus I prefer the way I look in glasses nowadays anyway.

I think this is one of several reasons as to why I shoot my TLR's more and more. Ground glass waist or chest level finder action rocks for glasses wearers. Even using the sports finder on the 'Flex is fine for my glasses as long as I am careful. I find SLR's a bit easier but I always lose those Nikon rubber eyering inserts and I don't realise they are gone until I get home. By that time I've been scratching my glasses up all day anyway.

Helen, if my shots looked like yours, I'd be ok ruining my glasses too.

 

[jsrockit]

I wear glasses and make do with any camera worth the time to use.

 

[randolph45]

I can't see

I can't see

On vacation in NYC I took my customary extra pair of glasses for emergency use(bending over the Brooklyn Bridge and loosing them would be possible)
I like to read the local paper on trips and I was having trouble with the ear piece so I pulled out my other pair and BAM the print was BLACK and not gray.The coating had slowly failed with out me noticing.
I do have mild trouble with rangefinders and glasses combos ,but my glasses do end up looking bad after two years use anyway.😡😱

 

[PaulDalex]

I too use dioters.
So it seems to me that the poll is not correctly formulated

 

[PaulDalex]

Edit: Diopters

 

[kossi008]

Didn't vote , as I fall somewhere in the middle between the -900% fun and no problems at all categories...
It did help my decision NOT to buy a Leica 0.72x camera; my solution is the Zeiss Ikon...

No diopters available in my strength, so that's not an option... (my wife finds it remarkable how someone with such bad eyesight can be so obsessed with sharpness 😀)

 

[nikonhswebmaster]

I have always used a diopter when possible. For some reason not a choice.

 

[Ronald M]

I scratched many a pair of glass glasses back in the day. Tried tape and O rings without much success. Astigmatism coupled with nearsighted shut out diopters.

Now FINALLY Nikon has rubber around eyepieces. Leica has added rubber around camera eyepiece. The diopters have a proper built in O ring. I use a +1 diopter on the Leica and my regular glasses. The +1 allows distance portion of eyeglasses to focus to 3 feet and regular glasses fix astigmatism. Nikon has user adjustable eyepiece.

This set makes me a happy camper.

 

[one90guy]

I voted eyeglasses no problem, but forgot on my Canon P the 35mm frame line is almost impossible to see. but I bought a hot shoe mount viewfinder just for that reason. Love the camera to much to ever get rid of it.

Must add, since getting the Canon have never shot 1 frame due to surgery in February. But it has been fondled and lots of make believe photos in the house and sitting on the porch.

David

 

[Godfrey]

I've been wearing glasses since I was in fourth grade, progressives since about a dozen years ago. Sure, they get in the way now and then, and I almost never see the 28mm frame lines in an M finder. Eh? who cares?

I can focus any camera—RF, SLR, EVF, Ground glass—with perfect accuracy and precision anyway. And get joy out of it. I've learned how not to scratch my glasses too. 🙂

G

 

[nikonhswebmaster]

I've been wearing glasses since I was in fourth grade, progressives since about a dozen years ago. Sure, they get in the way now and then, and I almost never see the 28mm frame lines in an M finder. Eh? who cares?

I can focus any camera—RF, SLR, EVF, Ground glass—with perfect accuracy and precision anyway. And get joy out of it. I've learned how not to scratch my glasses too. 🙂

G

Ditto, but the high eyepoint F3 was really a revelation to me. In my old age I am barely nearsighted thanks to new in-eyeball lenses set for computer work.🙂

 

[Pentode]

Aside from reading/close work, I need to do nearly everything with my eyeglasses on, so I don't really think about it much. I've always used RFs with glasses so I have no sense of perspective - no other experience to compare it to.

 

[Godfrey]

Ditto, but the high eyepoint F3 was really a revelation to me. ...)

Indeed... the F, F3hp, Leicaflex SL, and R8 viewfinders were the best SLR viewfinders I ever found due to my needs for glasses.

G

 

[bayernfan]

a poll option for camera diopter would be welcome.

my vision is not terrible (-2.5), however, i do wear glasses for the most part. when walking i'll have them on and when I happen upon a scene, pop them up on my head, and use the diopter for critical focus / composition.

 

[Mr. Fizzlesticks]

With RFs I just use the lens one down from max. On the Hexar RF it is the 35 and 50. On the M3 it is the 90 and 135. Works ok.

Aki-Asahi used to sell leather donuts that were peel and stick. I use them on the M3 and any other metal eyepiece. If you clean the eyepiece with alchol before you mount them, they would stay. Still fall off eventually though. He sold them in a sheet of maybe 6 or so. Don't know if he still does, but they are the best solution aside from replacing the eyepiece with something newer.

Contacts are great. Pain to use though, especially tiresome after decades of use. I just use glasses these days.

 

[pagpow]

I use diopters on all my cameras. I am nearsighted but can see well enough to not trip over anything. So put my glasses on top of my head.

I have never actually focussed an RF camera, I used them full time for many years in the '70s, and set lenses at 5.6. I find rangefinder focussing too fussy and slow for my taste, but love the clear view!

No vote in the poll for taking glasses off.

+1, up there above. I used to use scratch protectors and found them wanting. I now use diopters and that solves several problems: no scratched lenses, easier to see wide frame lines, less disposable income. I simply flip my glasses to my forehead when I need to shoot.

 

[music_healing]

I wear glasses... cant use contact..

shoot everything from 25-90 in RF...

dont feel any problems...

for 25-28 I simply use Voigtlander R4M
for 28 up .. no problems with standard RF in 0.72 x
try 0.58 two times.. but the quality of the RF in M6 and MP .. both dissapoint me .. R4M beat those two


Sincerely
William Jusuf