How are your eyes shaping up?

[Snoogly]

The last two years have played havoc on my eyesight. My job is a university teacher, so for two years I was online, and my eyes only looked a couple of feet in front of me. It radically changed my (already bad) eyesight, and made photography difficulty. Hard to focus on the scene in front of me, and hard to focus on the camera LCD or viewfinder.

Last August my eyes finally blew up, and I got a new prescription for my varifocal lenses. At last I could focus on the world around me, and use a camera.

But several weeks ago my world changed, and my work is now back on campus. My eyes are being used in a fundamentally different way, and over the last week I have noticed it has become harder to use my cameras. This made me notice my eyes were buggered-up again!

Went to the opticians today, and hopefully will be picking up a better pair of specs in a week.

I am curious if any other NG members have experienced vision issues strong enough to have on impact on their photography over the last couple of years.

[Birna Rørslett]

Well, most of us do age and with increasing age comes all sorts of issues, eyesight not excluded. These changes do tend to occur intermittently and abruptly.

Many many moons ago I had to forego my beloved Nikon F2 Titan due to eye issues and after that, getting renewed prescriptions and using the ocular settings of the new cameras, I can scrape by. In fact, although it was hard to admit, the EVF of the Z  fc/Z9 made viewing through the camera a little easier the last couple of years. Almost Df-like -- almost, but highly usable.

[mxbianco]

Back in the F/F2/F3 days you had to apply a diopter correcting lens on the finder if you didn't want to use your glasses on your camera.
Since the introduction of the F4, a diopter correction dial (on the side of finder) was introduced, allowing to correct from -3 (near sighted) to +3 (far sighted). Naturally, you might have needed to correct more if youy were really nearsighted or farsighted. All models produced after the F4 have this feature, I never use glasses when I'm using a camera. Maybe you need prescription glasses for your normal vision, if your sight is within the -3/+3 range you don't have to use any other extra correction method, just turn the dial to compensate your particular eyesight.

Despite my work (more than 40 years time) as an IT professional, with 99% of my working day in front of a monitor at arms' distance, I was lucky enough not having to use glasses up to age 56, currently I use +2 glasses and all my cameras are corrected likewise. On cameras with an EVF I can read the menus and preview photos without using glasses, otherwise I pull down my glasses (they live permanently on my forehead thanks to an elastic sports strap) and I'm ready to go.

For me, practically no prob: I can drive without glasses (maybe if I want to select a radio channel I have to pull down my glasses, but that's no driving!), I can do photography with no glasses, I can watch TV with no glasses, I have to use glasses only in front of a PC or Notebook or tablet, and I use Siri all the time to dictate my texts (my big fingers do more errors on the tiny virtual keys of a smartphone)

Maybe I got lucky?

Ciao from Massimo

[Akira]

When the half mirrors made it way into the SLRs, and the finder screen became brighter to compensate for the loss of the light directed to the viewfinder, I gave up focusing on the matte of the screen.    An FM2n body was the last SLR with which I could focus properly on the matte.

Now I'm suffering from the presbyopia as many of the folks, but, better or worse, I am strongly near-sighted.  So I can focus on the LCD
screen with the image magnification function fairly comfortably.

Having said that, my eyes become tired easily after long hours of using PC.  In that case, I typically go out and look into distance for a while, which makes me feel a bit relaxed with my eyes.

Also, I've heard that blueberry contains some ingredient that improves eyesight.  So I try to put the blueberry jam on the bread periodically with the hope of the info to be true.   

[Birna Rørslett]

Blueberries taste deliciously. So not wasted either way.

[Dogman]

At 74, my eyes are a mess.  Seems I've always been near-sighted--poor distant vision--but I developed "over 40 eyes" when I was about 35 years old.  I've been in varifocal lenses ever since.  When using a camera, I've always worn eyeglasses.  Tried screw-in corrective diopters on the cameras but they didn't work for me, having to always go back and forth from glasses to no glasses.  Then came the wonderful adjustable diopters built into camera viewfinders.  It was heaven for me.  I could adjust the diopter to the point in my varifocal lenses that was most comfortable and natural to view.

But the worst problem I've ever had was with the Fuji X-Pro1.  I loved the camera--it was similar to the handling of the Leica rangefinders I had always loved--but it lacked an adjustable diopter.  I had to remember to hit the right spot on my eyeglass lens when using the optical viewfinder or the image was blurred.  The EVF was a complete no go.  Couldn't get a clear image no matter what.  I would have needed strong reading glasses to see a sharp EVF image with that camera and that was no solution for my eyes.  When the X-Pro2 came out with an adjustable diopter, I was a very happy shooter.

Other than problems with cameras, I've developed ARMD--Age Related Macular Degeneration.  It's not so bad right now.  I have a blurred spot in my right eye that is barely noticeable along with distortion of straight lines in both eyes that sometimes is noticeable but only when viewing with one eye, either left or right.  I also have cataracts that I'm planning to have corrected ASAP.  However, I had to delay seeing my ophthalmologist in February about cataract removal due to developing shingles on my face that included my left eyelids.  I still have intermittent itching from this that drives me bat-crap crazy at times.

I see my ophthalmologist later this month about the cataracts.  Hopefully that will solve one of the many problems I have with my eyes but I will still have a number of other challenges to face.

[ColinM]

I've worn eyeglasses since I was about 6.
Initially for short-sightedness, and as I got older, varifocals were a great help.

One thing I wasn't expecting was occasional bad eyesight in my right eye that in the last couple of years just comes & goes.
Turns out this was optical migraines. I'm very grateful I don't get any headaches, but since my right eyes is my dominant one, I'm now learning to wait patiently for 20-30 mins when it happens.

[Matthew Currie]

Owing to a bad bicycle accident just about 10 years ago, I have a busted trochlear nerve, which causes my eyes to tilt downward toward the nose, and gives me uncorrectable double vision up close, and in the lower half or so of my field.  I have to squint to read and walk down stairs, etc.  Photographically it doesn't do too much in horizontal viewfinder mode, but I struggle with level horizons in Live View and vertical.  Without the grid verticals are hopeless, and I try to avoid Live View.  When using point and shoot camera with no viewfinder I try to shoot wider to allow for correction.

For the first 64 years of my life my left eye was dominant, and I was a left-eye shooter.  When I woke from the coma my right eye was dominant and has been every since. It's actually a little easier being a right-eye shooter now, though it took some adjusting.  Fairly soon after the accident, my brain decided to establish the now dominant right eye as having the correct horizon, so the left appears off by ten degrees instead of 5.    Which is why live view shots are so hard, because to get a straight shot the camera must appear to be tilted.

[Ethan]

Please think of the Blind people and support your local Blind Groups and Charities.

There is one saying: You had a good run and you cannot eat it all and always!

[David H. Hartman]

I had a problem with flashing lights at the periphery of my vision. My ophthalmologist told me the problem was the gel in the eye (vitreous humor) gets thinner with age. I was told if the lights stayed on rather than flashing in a transitory fashion I should come in immediately. I saw my ophthalmologist immediately when the flashing lights started as it could signal a detaching retina.

I started taking Bausch + Lomb, Ocuvite Adult 50+ supplement and the problem went away. This is anecdotal information and please note I am not medically trained. I'm tossing this out as it might help some.

Don't take chances with any flashing light in your vision. It could be a symptom of a serious condition needing immediate medical intervention.

Dave

I have no association with Bausch + Lomb and there must be other nutritional supplement makers that make a product with similar ingredients.

[Snoogly]

I feel like I kicked a hornet’s nest! 

I’m sorry that so many of you have more severe issues than me. My current woes seem to be directly related to the changes in my lifestyle / working style over the last couple of years.

My distance and close vision fluctuates wildly. This time (according to the optician) I need a stronger prescription for the close up sector of my lenses, and the same prescription for distance vision. Varifocal lenses are very convenient, but can be tricky to balance.
——————

As an aside, the rest of my body is also reacting to a return to normality. In the last month I have lost 3 Kg, but my arthritic knees are complaining about all the activity.

[MFloyd]

Photography, old (wo)men occupation  …

[Matthew Currie]

My eye doctor also suggested lutein (a main ingredient of Ocuvite),  whose benefit is mainly in macular degeneration. 

[Frank Fremerey]

After 1 Million shots my right eye was done. For a while now I take my photos with the left eye. The right eye has 70% visual strength, my left eye has 120% ... So I am looking forward to another Million shots ;-)

[Airy]

No major issues so far (I'm 65)
I use my right eye for photography, and it always was my weakest (mild short-sightedness + astigmatism)

Df + DK17M keep me able to focus on the matte screen, which has been my favourite modus operandi since the eighties, while not wearing glasses.

Last year, I got *special glasses adjusted for mid-distance* (reading at arms length), which are quite a relief for my daily work on multiple screens. Not surprizingly, a side-effect to the rested eye was easier focussing.