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Are my eyeglasses affecting my postprocessing?

vbnut
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Are my eyeglasses affecting my postprocessing?

I was blessed with pretty good eyesight, and a am fortunate to still be able to participate in sports (volleyball in my case) without corrective lenses. Over the years, however, I've developed presbyopia like everyone does, so I've been using "drugstore" reading glasses for 10 or 15 years. About a year ago, I got my first eye exam in forever, and learned that I am also a bit farsighted and have some astigmatism in my right eye, so I got my first prescription eyeglasses, a pair of "office progressive" glasses where the top part is for viewing a computer screen (2-5 feet) and the bottom is for reading books and cellphones (less than 18 inches away). I've been very happy with these glasses, but recently I've noticed something strange and I don't know it is caused by the glasses.

I've been shooting an EOS R3 in electronic shutter mode at 30 frames/second for about 3 months now, and while I try to avoid "spray and pray", my finger is rarely fast enough to only shoot one shot, so I find myself comparing nearly identical images way more frequently that I did with my EOS 7DII. I stack all the bursts in Lightroom, so for perched birds I'm tempted to only review the first image image in the burst, but at 30 frames/second perched birds do sometimes move enough to make a better or worse shot, so I'm using LR compare mode to look at all the images to find the best.

What I've started noticing is that with nearly identical images, the image on the right tends to look slightly better (more detailed) to me, but if I swap the two images left <-> right, the image now on the right looks slightly better. At first I was thinking maybe there was something strange going on with my BenQ SW320 monitor, but during the last week I noticed that the image on right actually looks slightly larger, which would explain why it looks more detailed, and I don't think the monitor could do that. I checked my eyeglass prescription and noticed the right eye (OD) sphere (farsighted ) correction is stronger (1.25) than my left eye (OS) sphere correction (0.75). I also have +2.00 add correction on both eyes for the presbyopia. I tried switching back to my old "drugstore" reading glasses and the two images look the same size size, but I can't see them as well because those glasses are much weaker.

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon where one of two nearly identical images compared left and right appears slightly larger than the other?
If so, do you have a stronger eyeglass prescription for the eye on the side that looks larger?

This is really slowing my image selection process because in LR the left image is the current "select"ed image and the right image is the candidate. I end up wasting time replace the selected image with the candidate image over and over when there is really no noticeable difference between them. I'm looking for a way to solve this problem. Anyone have any good ideas?

Oct 11, 2022 at 11:29 PM

John Wheeler
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Are my eyeglasses affecting my postprocessing?

I would explain the situation with the eye doctor / optometrist.
Your eyes either changed or they measured your eyes incorrectly and you have the wrong prescription.
If you are concerned with the eye doctor / optometrist, you can always to to another one.
Just my opinion of course.

Oct 12, 2022 at 05:20 AM

lara_ckl
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Are my eyeglasses affecting my postprocessing?

John Wheeler wrote:
Your eyes either changed or they measured your eyes incorrectly and you have the wrong prescription.

Or they ground the lenses wrong, or they installed the lenses wrong.
Start with your eye doctor/optician. Have them recheck your eyes AND your glasses.

Oct 12, 2022 at 07:18 AM

EB-1
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Are my eyeglasses affecting my postprocessing?

vbnut wrote:
I was blessed with pretty good eyesight, and a am fortunate to still be able to participate in sports (volleyball in my case) without corrective lenses. Over the years, however, I've developed presbyopia like everyone does, so I've been using "drugstore" reading glasses for 10 or 15 years. About a year ago, I got my first eye exam in forever, and learned that I am also a bit farsighted and have some astigmatism in my right eye, so I got my first prescription eyeglasses, a pair of "office progressive" glasses where the top part is for viewing a computer screen (2-5 feet) and the bottom is for reading books and cellphones (less than 18 inches away). I've been very happy with these glasses, but recently I've noticed something strange and I don't know it is caused by the glasses.

I've been shooting an EOS R3 in electronic shutter mode at 30 frames/second for about 3 months now, and while I try to avoid "spray and pray", my finger is rarely fast enough to only shoot one shot, so I find myself comparing nearly identical images way more frequently that I did with my EOS 7DII. I stack all the bursts in Lightroom, so for perched birds I'm tempted to only review the first image image in the burst, but at 30 frames/second perched birds do sometimes move enough to make a better or worse shot, so I'm using LR compare mode to look at all the images to find the best.

What I've started noticing is that with nearly identical images, the image on the right tends to look slightly better (more detailed) to me, but if I swap the two images left <-> right, the image now on the right looks slightly better. At first I was thinking maybe there was something strange going on with my BenQ SW320 monitor, but during the last week I noticed that the image on right actually looks slightly larger, which would explain why it looks more detailed, and I don't think the monitor could do that. I checked my eyeglass prescription and noticed the right eye (OD) sphere (farsighted ) correction is stronger (1.25) than my left eye (OS) sphere correction (0.75). I also have +2.00 add correction on both eyes for the presbyopia. I tried switching back to my old "drugstore" reading glasses and the two images look the same size size, but I can't see them as well because those glasses are much weaker.

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon where one of two nearly identical images compared left and right appears slightly larger than the other?
If so, do you have a stronger eyeglass prescription for the eye on the side that looks larger?

This is really slowing my image selection process because in LR the left image is the current "select"ed image and the right image is the candidate. I end up wasting time replace the selected image with the candidate image over and over when there is really no noticeable difference between them. I'm looking for a way to solve this problem. Anyone have any good ideas?
...Show more →

Of course it is posisble that the lab screwed up, but you may need a little more (like +0.25) on the side that looks smaller. Do have it checked by a professional! I had the experience where the same add on both sides was not quite right up close although the sphere and cylinder were correct at infinity. Some people are more sensitive than others and the stronger the lens, the more important the PD and horizontal/vertical centering are. A good optician will ensure that you have proper frames for your face and that they are fitted correctly. Most places will give you one redo in the first few months.

EBH

Oct 12, 2022 at 10:30 AM

RustyBug
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Are my eyeglasses affecting my postprocessing?

Fitment is a piece of the puzzle. As time marches on, the eyes can continue to slowly change.

I know it is time to revisit the optometrist when I start fidgeting with my frames, left to right. If you've tweaked on the temple tension, it can get the lenses put of plane ... either increasing or decreasing magnification of the opposing sides as the frame pivots across the bridge a smidge.

Same goes for tilt.

Try adjusting the position on your face to see if you can re-establish even magnification. If you can, then you may be fine with reposition a bit. If it takes a LOT to even things up, then a trip to the Dr. is due. They can help with fitment also, but you can check it a bit to verify if that's your issue before you go.

As to the prescription ... they only go in 1/4 diopter increments. Most of the world is fine with that. But we tend to be much more critical about our vision, so sometimes we are "between" increments.

Oct 12, 2022 at 01:31 PM

runamuck
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Are my eyeglasses affecting my postprocessing?

I found this on DPR. It scans the eye without dilation. It is a Nikon product. I am diabetic and get dilated every year. https://www.arthurhayes.co.uk/optomap-retinal-imaging

Oct 12, 2022 at 02:48 PM

vbnut
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Are my eyeglasses affecting my postprocessing?

Thanks for the input everyone. After I started the thread, I started thinking maybe I should send similar message to my eye doctor, but I figured I'd wait to see what responses I got here. The conclusion is clear, so I'll definitely contact my eye doctor.

Since I didn't even think about it, I didn't mention that a few weeks ago I noticed some scratches on my lenses, and they were replaced under warranty in the same frames. While the "right image looks slightly better" phenomenon definitely predates the replacement lenses, noticing that the "right image looks slightly larger" doesn't, so it is possible that they messed up the replacement lenses.

Oct 12, 2022 at 04:23 PM

Imagemaster
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Are my eyeglasses affecting my postprocessing?

Geez, get off the pot and see an eye specialist again, and take all your glasses and questions with you.

For most subjects that aren’t moving, I think that photographers that shoot at 30fps are morons or newbies. Try seeing how many frames you can take per second by pumping the shutter button when in single-shot mode.

Oct 12, 2022 at 09:28 PM

jimmy462
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Are my eyeglasses affecting my postprocessing?

vbnut wrote:
>snip<

What I've started noticing is that with nearly identical images, the image on the right tends to look slightly better (more detailed) to me, but if I swap the two images left <-> right, the image now on the right looks slightly better. At first I was thinking maybe there was something strange going on with my BenQ SW320 monitor, but during the last week I noticed that the image on right actually looks slightly larger, which would explain why it looks more detailed, and I don't think the monitor could do that. I checked my eyeglass prescription and noticed...Show more →

While my prescription readers do not cause a magnification difference (as you're experiencing) I have found that as I get older (now cruising my 7th decade) getting a good match from my eye doctor for my aging eyes has gotten more challenging.

I'm currently in a back-and-forth (measure my eyes, get a pair, return for correction/adjustment, rinse and repeat) and I'm still not as satisfied for performance/accuracy as compared to what my pre-pandemic Rx pair could provide! Your preference may well vary, but I detest the progressive lenses and their extremely narrow FOV...heck, my "drug store 1.75 Foster Grants" outperform my recent Rx glasses for clear and accurate peripheral vision!

My biggest issue with any glasses for vital color work on the computer is the color edge fringing glasses produce, I'm constantly having to turn my head to verify whether or not the color fringing is actually in the image or not! Oofah, the joys of getting older!

What works for me is, they're my eyes and it's my money and insurance, and I keep going back until they get it as right as possible. This go-round took 2 rinse cycles.

Best of luck getting things sorted, keep us posted!

Oct 13, 2022 at 06:55 AM

RustyBug
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Are my eyeglasses affecting my postprocessing?

Yup ...

I used to have the same Rx for decades (annual checks). Now, an Rx does good to last a full year without problems creeping in before next exam ... picky folks that we are.

jimmy462 wrote:
While my prescription readers do not cause a magnification difference (as you're experiencing) I have found that as I get older (now cruising my 7th decade) getting a good match from my eye doctor for my aging eyes has gotten more challenging.

I'm currently in a back-and-forth (measure my eyes, get a pair, return for correction/adjustment, rinse and repeat) and I'm still not as satisfied for performance/accuracy as compared to what my pre-pandemic Rx pair could provide! Your preference may well vary, but I detest the progressive lenses and their extremely narrow FOV...heck, my "drug store 1.75 Foster Grants" outperform...Show more →

Oct 13, 2022 at 11:48 AM

LeoPizzo
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Are my eyeglasses affecting my postprocessing?

Progressive lens are always a compromise, especially in the transition area, no way.
Due to construction constraints, they can vary drastically in quality between “good” and “bad”.
Obtain a continuous curvature variation is not a peanut, and different brands use different recipes, sometimes with disputable results.

There is also another point to consider: your brain is used to see in a particular manner, compensating, especially after years of mono focal lenses.
Consider also that this is the first time you measure your view capacity and you have prescribed lenses: this enhances the condition.
All your synapses needs to adapt to the new viewing mode: give them some time, don’t give up.

I own almost all defects, spreader between both eyes: miopia, presbyopia, astigmatism, with a spray of deuteranomaly, and I started recognizing my problems quite late: I compensated a lot for years, so I speak by experience.

Beware also of the “Anti UV” coating (and coatings in general): after a while they start degrading and the result is a distorted color perception.
My ones, (Zeiss lenses), are ok for office, but give a warm shift that make them not suitable for pp.

Finally, my advice is to buy a pair of mono focal glasses, tuned for your prescription and for the monitor viewing distance and use them when you are at PC.

Oct 14, 2022 at 12:29 AM

StephenS_CP
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Are my eyeglasses affecting my postprocessing?

If you are looking at each image with both eyes open, then this probably isn't being caused by the Rx difference between the two lenses of your glasses. Your visual system doesn't work that way. You aren't seeing one image displayed on one side of your screen with one eye, and the other image displayed on the other side of the screen with your other eye. You are seeing what you are looking at with both eyes and the two ocular images are fused together by your visual perceptual system reconciling any "real" ocular image size between the two eyes.

If you are detecting the differing sizes between the images by alternately covering one eye or the other and at the same time examining the alternate photographic image, then it may be possible that an over-correction in one eye is actually reducing the size of the retinal image. But if that is what you are doing, stop doing that!

I'll agree with Leo. Progressive lenses are great cosmetically, but they are terrible optically...they contain large areas of distorted imaging in the transition area and often hard to find, small clear areas for near vision with lots of opportunity to be misaligned. But again, these alignment problems which could cause image size problems would only be detectable when viewing with alternate eyes, and in that case, lens and frame alignment would be more likely candidates than the 0.5D Rx difference.

As Leo suggested, if this is causing you this much problem, visit your eye care professional and get an occupational solution to your visual need, either mono focal glasses, i.e., prescribed reading glasses tailored for your screen viewing distance, or traditional bifocal/trifocals. My solution is trifocals with very large segments set high. That way, I can see my entire screen through the trifocal without having to do a lot of scanning head movements, and have bifocal for looking at the [closer] desktop. Not well suited for walking around though. These are occupational lenses.

The first step, though, is to empirically validate your perception that the images are different sizes.

Pick an image. Crop it to contain only 1 detailed element. You can set viewing options to display your cropped image size in pixels. Create a virtual copy. Then do your side-by-side comparison.

Another tool you might have...my monitor has the ability to superimpose grid lines over the screen image. If available, try turning that on and see how the two images align within the grid.

Oct 14, 2022 at 01:07 AM

RustyBug
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Are my eyeglasses affecting my postprocessing?

LeoPizzo wrote:
Finally, my advice is to buy a pair of mono focal glasses, tuned for your prescription and for the monitor viewing distance and use them when you are at PC.

This ^

I use a "large" bifocal with an Rx set for my laptop distance.

Depending on your position / angle, you can also have your bifocal put on top. Of course, the use of a mono Rx, set to that working distance, is all the better. The point being, ensure that you have your Rx set to your monitor viewing distance.

If needed, you can have your optometrist put you in a set of those frames with replaceable lenses, so you can go out of the exam room and sit at a desk to check the Rx at a working distance that matches your workstation viewing distance. If your main PP rig is a laptop, take it with you. Main point being, don't get the Rx for "reading" nor for "distance" ... get the Rx for your actual working distance.

On the matter of progressives ... it requires you to "swing your head" to maintain your eyes looking through the same location in the lens, to retain the same Rx. It might not seem like much, but I wasn't a fan of swinging my head L < > R, vs. shifting my eyes L < > R while at the monitor. Wasn't so bad for regular use, but for PP ... not a fan of the progressive. Went back to large lined bifocal (PC viewing distance).

StephenS_CP wrote:
get an occupational solution to your visual need, either mono focal glasses, i.e., prescribed reading glasses tailored for your screen viewing distance, or traditional bifocal/trifocals. My solution is trifocals with very large segments set high. That way, I can see my entire screen through the trifocal without having to do a lot of scanning head movements, and have bifocal for looking at the [closer] desktop. Not well suited for walking around though. These are occupational lenses.

And this ^

Your best Rx working distance is never going to be achieved through reading glasses, nor a "normal" (i.e. hand-held, book reading distance) bi-focal. You'll have to ensure that your optometrist understands your needs are not what folks "normally" do. You may have to drive this point ... not all optometrists "get it", since they are so used to setting folks up for the "norms".

Get a tape measure (or string) and find out what your viewing distance is. That'll be helpful when you're with the doc.

HTH

Oct 14, 2022 at 06:10 AM

mikeengles
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Are my eyeglasses affecting my postprocessing?

Perhaps you should remove all glasses check your eyes yourself with images magnified, covering each eye alternatively. I have cataracts and my right eye has a more yellow cast.

Oct 19, 2022 at 02:29 PM

Camperjim
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Are my eyeglasses affecting my postprocessing?

I wear straight bifocals and have had good luck with getting glasses made. My wife likes progressives and has had numerous issues with lenses that were not ground correctly. Have your glasses checked at the eye doctors or by an optometrist, not the one involved with the initial order.

Oct 19, 2022 at 05:55 PM

schlotz
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Are my eyeglasses affecting my postprocessing?

Approaching my 7th decade as well. Been there, done that with progressives. Actually was dumb enough to try them more than once given the input "oh, they've come a long way since the last time you tried them". NOPE!

Love the Rx I've been using (with updates over the last few years) for the computer screen. Lower section of the bifocal is for close up stuff just like my regular glasses.

Oct 22, 2022 at 06:52 AM

Alan321
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Are my eyeglasses affecting my postprocessing?

IMO, for computer work you're far better off with bifocals or single prescription lenses than with progressive lenses. If you opt for bifocals then you'll be able to read notes on the desk in front of your monitor, but you need to ensure the top section - for viewing the monitor - is tall enough that you can see all of the screen in focus by moving your eyes without moving your head.

Progressive lenses vary the focus with vertical angle of view, corresponding to typical changes in distance when out and about but not so useful when looking at a vertical screen. To make matters far worse, progressives have a blurry area at the bottom left and bottom right of each lens. The focused area is widest at the top of the lens and relatively narrow at the bottom of the lens, and is more T-shaped than V-shaped. The blurry parts get bigger with greater differences between the upper and lower focus strengths. The transition to blurry is not as immediate as it would be with bifocals, so you may not recognize it at first, and its impact on you while looking at a monitor may vary with the tilt of your head or if the glasses are not sitting straight on your head.

Progressive lenses are not all bad for general purposes but not so good for close-up work where the subject is pretty much all at the same distance whether looking upwards or downwards, and left or right (e.g. a monitor).

No glasses will work well for you if you are close to a wide monitor, because the viewing distance to the sides and corners will be significantly greater than the viewing distance to the central area (relatively).

Use a string or soft measuring tape to measure the distances you need to focus at while sitting at your normal viewing distance in front of your monitor. Measure the distance to you whatever you might need to view on your desk too. That info will be useful for the optometrist.

As your eye lenses harden with age you will find it ever harder to change focus as much as you used to be able to do - eventually impossible - and so your perceived depth of focus will get narrower from now on. It will only get harder to focus on every part of a computer screen without moving you head a little bit towards it or away from it. The effect is usually gradual but may be faster for some than for others. Some people don't even realize it is happening because each eye is behaving differently and the brain is compensating.

To make matters even worse, cataracts will sneak up on you and affect your vision long before you realize it is happening. As well as effecting focus they will affect colour perception and brightness perception. Happy days for a photographer. Cataracts can be fixed surgically but you will completely lose the ability to change the focus distance of your eyes (which will happen anyway because that's what cataracts do - they are a hardening of the lenses in your eyes). One way around this is to have different lenses in each eye. Another is to have fancy multi-focus lenses but they reduce contrast.

As a general indicator, the more frequently you need a change of glasses, the worse your cataracts are getting. In my case they were not visibly obvious at all (no cloudiness apparent) but by the time I got to an eye surgeon there was a 3 dioptre difference between my left and right eyes. I was told that 2 dioptres is normally the limit at which most people cannot cope - because the brain doesn't like seeing such different magnifications through each eye at the same time. When I got the cataracts fixed everything looked far more colourful (especially blues and violet) and a whole lot brighter. And with glasses, my whole screen is in focus at the same time

It has affected (improved) my ability to judge and edit my photos.

Cheers.

Oct 24, 2022 at 04:24 AM

vbnut
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Are my eyeglasses affecting my postprocessing?

After a series of email messages with my optometrist, I finally got to meet with her in person last week. She said the "image on right actually looks slightly larger" phenomenon is caused by the right eye correction being stronger than the left eye correct in my glasses. She actually demonstrated this to me by putting lenses that match my prescription in some "special" glasses and verifying that I could see the phenomenon looking at here computer screen, then adding extra lenses to make the correct identical for both eyes and I could see that the phenomenon disappeared. Her recommendation is that my next glasses have identical correction for both eyes and she made a note in my chart to the effect. Based on the comments here, I'm thinking that I will switch from progressive lenses to separate glasses for reading and computer use, and get identical correction only in the computer glasses and my "real" prescription in the reading glasses.

Thanks again for all the info.

Nov 16, 2022 at 10:38 PM


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