When to give in..... Troubled Eyesight

[Rob-F]

Andy, how do you feel about the Hasselblad? The screen is brighter, aiding focusing (especially the acute-mat); and I have a prism that has both high magnification and a diopter adjustment all the way out to +/- 5. It's the one with the long tube meant to clear the 70mm back. I find my Hassie far easier to focus than the Rollei (which I gave up on after a brief try).

 

[madNbad]

Andy,
A couple of years ago Dan (Pioneer) was mentioning the changes in his eyesight. Since an early age my eyesight was about 20/400 or not being able to see past the end of my elbow without correction. In the fall of 2014 while on a road trip, I had surgery for a PVD (Posterior Vitreous Detachment, a tear in the retina) which is when you wake up and it looks like you're looking through a dirty window. The surgeon said basically what he was doing was patching wallpaper with a laser. I also have a touch of macular degeneration, best described as looking at captcha for a website for everything you view. I have found both rangefinder cameras and split image screens in an SLR work best. Having a limited number of cameras helps, an M2, a Nikon F and a Nikon Df for digital. The finder in the M2 is the best. I can compose and with the assistance of the the rangefinder assure my focus is correct. I have recently acquired the Nikon F. It came with an "A" screen but I found a "P" screen which has a 45 degree split image plus a set of vertical and horizontal lines to help with orientation. The screen in the Df was changed to one with a split image which helps with manual focus. In nearly fifty years of photography I have delt with bad vision for just about all of it and with the recent challenges, have tried to find new ways to work around it. Composition is the true key for a good image and if your vision is good enough for that, then it's good enough. All of us would like to be able to pick up any camera at any time, focus clearly and cleanly with the ability to see the entire finder. There are some of us that will never be a possibility but it should not keep us from enjoying both the technical and artisic side of photography. Like I told Pioneer several years ago, I'll plug along until I need a scale focus camera then continue on. I understand the limitations but use the tools available to us and continue to enjoy the thrill of capturing an image. Best wishes for the New Year!

 

[sanmich]

I guess we have to find the tools adapted to our limitations.
I try to carry light due to back pain.
I start to have slight vision problems and my plan when it gets worse is to either switch back to AF on film, or go digital and use the screen to frame the image (I am attached to shooting film more than I want to admit, so I hope it doesn't come to that).
I hope you find a way, and all the best for 2018...

 

[Doug]

Sorry to read of your vision difficulty, Andy. I'd just do what is most enjoyable and avoid what is not. If that means passing the TLRs on, then so be it. 🙁

My vision's in reasonable condition now, but there was a time that cataracts formed and got worse, and were corrected by surgery, the right one first and then the left two years later. That was a bit awkward as I'm left-eye dominant so after the first surgery I needed to switch to using the right for focusing. And even afterward since the surgeon set up the inserts for better distant vision on the right and better closeup on the left! Glasses do correct this but progressives are annoying and I'm fortunately able to go without them for photography. For me, sometimes it's a relief to switch to an AF camera, then later it's also a relief to switch to an RF... each for different advantages.

Just in the past year or two another problem arose with binocular vision... A bit surprising the optician didn't pick up on this in exams but at a distance my eyes didn't want to have the two images coincide, so after a long day driving for instance they couldn't manage the strain and I saw double, very annoying. New glasses have a wedge factor to correct for that.

Nice to see our fellow RFF members sharing their interesting experiences!

Good luck with the eyesight and a happy new year to all...

 

[Richard G]

The interesting thing is, considering the requirements of vision, not bending to waist level for some as their degenerative neck arthritis causes pain with TLRs, and considering the difficulty with the weight of medium format and DSLRs, the way forwards may be autofocus compacts, but my go-to camera recently has been a IIIf. I love how light and compact it is, and when I struggle with the M rangefinder focus patch in dim light, the whole magnified rangefinder window of this late LTM Leica is a very welcome alternative.

 

[Godfrey]

One thought that came to mind as I read the further posts to this thread: I find myself using the focusing scale almost more than the rangefinder or EVF in many situations with the M-D and the SL. I tend to focus once on some reference thing in my scene, then just tweak the focus back and forth to accommodate small changes by glancing at the scale and estimating the change in distance by eye. Even if (on EVF cameras when using an adapted lens) the scale is not accurate for absolute distance, the relative distances seem pretty accurate.

Usually I'm shooting something in the four to fifteen foot range, it seems, and I've gotten pretty good at seeing when something has moved about a half foot or so, and that's an easy nudge on the focusing ring with lenses between wide and long-normal... 🙂

G

 

[Richard G]

I agree Godfrey. We’re so obsessed with focus. AF can be perfect. So can RF. But scale focus will do so often.

 

[ForestCap]

My eye sight got worsened in the past 5 years dramatically.

I used to have super sharp eyesight, I could see the red laser pen dot kilometers away that I pointed at on billboards at night. No kidding. Then myopia kicked in when I was a teenager, but I could still see very well with correct eye-glass.

Now the faraway things are just not as clear as before even though I'm wearing eye-glass of correct prescription. It's like there is a transparent jelly cube sitting around my head to make faraway things blurry and fuzzy. Doctors don't listen to me or think it's just fine.

I use microscope and computer a lot. I think that is one of the reasons for my worsened eye sight.

I found two things that helped. One is focus training, moving your fingers slowly near and far in front of your face and keep focusing on it. The other one is rolling eyeball exercise, which is in fact stretching the muscles that controlling the eyeballs. You can find the trainings online.

 

[x-ray]

Andy, one of the above posts suggested a Hasselblad but in my experience the Rollei SL66 has the best viewfinder ever made. I bought 3 SL66's for my studio years ago because of the VF being brighter and easier to focus than anything on the market at that time. The SL66 has an oversized mirror so there's no vignetting with longer lenses, instant return mirror and especially the screens made in the 70's and later were dry bright and easy to focus. I used these for nearly thirty years and only went to Hasselblad because the V series Hasselblad could be used with digital backs.

Looking at my 501CM with a Hasselblad bright screen, it's still not as easy to focus as the later SL66 screens. Also operation of the SL66 is closer to the TLR than the Hasselblad. Focus is by a large knob on your left and winding is like the TLR with 3/4 of a crank and back on your right. Aperture is a ring on the lens and shutter speed is a ring around the wind crank. Lenses are all Zeiss and the same glass as in the Hasselblad. Also because Rollei really designed the SL66 for maximum flexibility, there is a tilting front, the bayoneted on the front of lenses is the same as the rear which allows you to reverse them and there's a built in bellows. Also the backs take 120 & 220. You can also get a wide variety of finders.

Take a look at one.

 

[raid]

Health is most important. Everything else usually takes a backseat to health issues. Take care of yourselves.

 

[daveleo]

Lots of good advive above, Andy, and I don't have much to add.
Except that I vote to find workarounds and compromises that keep you into what you enjoy (TLRs).
I think that giving up what you love doing will make you feel worse about your eyesight problems.
Hanging in there, you probably will learn to get along with your workaround solutions and maybe feel at least that you're fighting the good fight.

 

[ptpdprinter]

Give in when the activity is no longer rewarding, and not a second before.

 

[Timmyjoe]

For starters, my deepest sympathies Andy.

From my experience, the TLR is the toughest to adjust to, now that my eyesight is getting worse. With my SLR & rangefinders, I can usually diopter my way around the problems, but so far I haven't found such a solution for the Rollei. Right now I'm doing the strong prescription reading glasses, with the pop up magnifier, and a stock Rollei screen, (which although dark, gives me that "pop" when the subject is in focus, which I can't seem to get with a Maxwell screen, not with my eyes anyway). I use the magnifier, and my strong reading glasses to get the subject in focus, then fold back the magnifier and frame the shot, while still wearing the reading glasses. Not the way I like to work, but so far I can still get decent images this way.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do Andy.

Best,
-Tim

 

[retinax]

No words of wisdom, but have you tried screens with focusing aids and/or a prism finder on the Rollei? To me, focusing on a plain screen is hard, even with decent eyesight.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

I favor WA lenses so I hope DOF will have me covered as my vision deteriorates. Scale focus makes things easier.

I don't like AF, especially the plastic fantastic lenses. I do own an early AF 35mm SLR camera and might one day
use the focus confirmation with manual focus lenses. I presume most DSLRs also offer this capability.

I suppose if my vision deteriorates past a certain point I will probably give up photography.

Chris

 

[f16sunshine]

Thank you all for participating.
It's heartening to read your replies.

TLR cameras have been with me since high with the first Yashicamat in '84 or '85 (School 30+ years).
I'm a stubborn beast and changing some of those things I don't want to change is not easy.
I always really enjoyed the ability to focus and make use of the focus interface on the TLR camera.
It's where the process of image making begins for me .... That pleasure seems to have turned into something else now. It's a reminder of what is no longer! 😱
I think I'm going to take Dougs advice

"I'd just do what is most enjoyable and avoid what is not."

I've become friends with the Eos AF system for 135 film.
Maybe it's time to more deeply explore some of the finer grain 35mm films/developers in order to try and find some of the tonality and detailed richness of 120 in the smaller Autofocus format.



Thanks again for replies.

 

[alfredian]

Enjoy what works for you

Enjoy what works for you

Yes, enjoy what works for you, life is too short for anything else. Simplicity works - the Rollei 35 scale-focus cams are among my favorites. I'm 65 and in the last year had cataract surgery (left, non-dominant eye), mainly in prep for the main event, removal of an epimacular membrane over the retina that wrinkled it and made linear things wavy and mid-field out of focus. Mid December I had it removed. Both surgeries were short & I was "awake" enough to listen to the surgeons talking. So far, so good. Most of the wavy-gravy is gone & the sharpness improves. With a new set of glasses I'll have full stereoscopic vision back.

I was looking forward to having both eyes done for cataracts at the same time - doctor's brochure said my main decision was to decide on perfect distant-vision + reading glasses or have everything "within arm's reach" nice and need driving glasses. Then he found the membrane thing. Oh, and lens doctor recommends I ditch the "progressives" (which are annoying) and just get two pairs of straight lenses - near & far.

Enough of my experience - was your injury to both eyes? sounds like it was. Mainly a lens/cornea issue or is the interior/retina also involved? With two disparate images from each eye the brain software gives up & can't assemble a unified stereo image from the two inputs. Until my last surgery I was doing a lot of things with the left eye closed. Lost depth perception (a drag for walking on uneven ground) but not bad for operating camera gear, even TLR/big SLR cams. Best of luck & science with your home-grown optics.--alfredian

 

[Doug]

There are compact medium-format cameras with AF.... Fuji GA645 for example. I have the GA645Wi model with wide 45mm lens and like it. So perhaps there's a way to keep the medium format advantages!