Tips for switching from right eye to left

[biomed]

I just had an eye exam today. Due to a form of macular generation in my right eye, my doctor suggested using my left eye when photographing. She said that I just need to train my brain to make my left eye the dominate eye. I have no idea how to do this. Maybe just start shooting with my left eye.

Mike

 

[bgetty]

I began as a left eye shooter; just always felt natural to raise the camera to my face in that fashion. I made a deliberate switch to my right eye once I began shooting rangefinders, now it feels just as natural as raising to my left once did.

Give it a few weeks of conscious attention, then you'll do it without even thinking.

 

[Jan Pedersen]

Start shooting with your left, it will be a little strange in the beginning and some cameras are really not made for the left eye, Leica being one of them.
I was forced to start using my left when i was 18 as i had an infection that left a scar on the cornea. My right eye is soft focus now. 🙂

 

[rhl-oregon]

Ditto to those final sentences--yours and Brandon's. Too bad Nike trademarked Just Do It, but that pretty much covers it, unless you prefer Necessity is the Mother of Reinvention. May be a bit harder if you have to shift your impulse to squint L->R, but some practiced blinking, winking, and opening each eye WIIIIDE can help.

I go back and forth myself, because it's the only way I can be truly ambidextrous, even though it's my left eye that is growing (very slowly) a cataract.

 

[nikon_sam]

I use my left eye with all my cameras SLR's, TLR's, and Rangefinders...with a Waist Level Finder I focus with my left eye using the magnifier...sometimes after focusing I'll pop the magnifier out of the way and then re-frame the shot using both eyes...it's the same with the 4x5...

I've tried to use my right eye but since my left is still working fine I'll stick with it for as long as I can...

 

[KenD]

Practice framing and focusing 15 minutes every day... within a week you will have transitioned.

 

[lynnb]

from ocular dominance in Wikipedia:

"It is possible to change eye dominance by actively suppressing the visual field of the dominant eye. This is achieved with an eye patch bandage that covers the dominant eye, with adhesive tape around the patch perimeter.

The eye patch does not need to be black to blot out all light, and the dominant eye does not need to stay closed. The eye patch simply presents the dominant eye with a static unchanging visual field containing nothing of visual importance, and the brain is forced to rely on the suppressed eye for visual information.

The experience does cause irritation and frustration for the eye patch wearer since their visual capabilities for comprehension will be reduced until the brain starts to adapt to not being able to use the dominant eye."

 

[FA Limited]

i have to concur with everyone else just do it!
i usually shoot my DSLR with my left eye but when i got my X100, i realized it would make more sense to shoot with right eye to get the viewfinder experience. after a bit of time i just got used to it and now i can interchange eyes on any camera.

 

[Cameron]

Phew, sounds like that would be tough when shooting with a rangefinder. Like everyone has said, just make a conscious note every time you go to shoot to bring the viewfinder up to the left side. You'll probably forget sometimes and have to correct yourself, but with enough practice, persistence, and shooting, you'll transition quickly. Who knows, you may come away with an advantage shooting lefty.

 

[Jockos]

I vote for the pirate patch! Arr!

Sorry to hear about your eye though 🙁

 

[Keith]

Around six weeks for the brain to re-map it's priority aparrently!

 

[Richard G]

You can do it. I am heavily left eye dominant from a childhood squint. My right eye has good visual acuity but is partially amblyopic. I can't read more than a few words without extreme discomfort. But I switched from left to right eye shooting with the M Leica with my glasses when I bought my second lens, a 35mm, in my mid 30s. I wanted to be closer to the VF to see the 35 frame lines. Now it is quite natural. It took a few weeks only. I just tried reading this with my right eye and it nearly killed me, but photography is fine.

 

[Stuart John]

I just did. At first it was tough and I had to think about it, sometimes I would still lift the camera to my left eye but after a few weeks it became natural to do it.