First off. I have enough eye conditions to suggest I should never pick up a camera, let alone a manual focus rangefinder. My vision has been poor all of my life with the end of my elbow being the focus point, I also have macular degeneration and about a decade ago had a Posterior Vitreous Detachment that a nice surgeon in Princeton, New Jersey fixed for me. As he explained it, my retina is patched like a loose piece of wallpaper. The latest adventure was the cataract surgery.
For years, I had the same ophthalmologist. He retired and the after the first examination with the new doctor, her comment was that she was surprised I can see as well as I do. Last summer we set a date for lens replacement and even a bit of an upgrade. She said I qualified for a toric lens which would adjust for astigmatism. I've been buying gear my whole life and this was the first time I could buy a lens that I could use every day. It also makes my glasses a third of the weight they were.
The surgery was fine but I did develop some scarring of the eye which makes for hazy vision. A simple laser treatment clears the scarring and eliminates the haze. She did my right eye and the next day went on maternity leave.
There was also scarring in the left eye and for the last eight months the world has had a gray tint. I thought I would have to learn to live with it until yesterday. She cleaned up the scarring and the vision in my left eye cleared. For the first time since last summer, I can see the world without haze.
I gained a few things and lost a few. On the plus side, my prescription went from being a -4.5 to a -2. For the first time in a very long time, I can do a lot of things without being dependent on my glasses. The negative is, I lost my extreme close focus and I'll often need more light to see things.
I don't like autofocus and I'll keep at it as long as I can see the rangefinder patch. Thanks for letting me ramble.
madNbad wrote:
I don't like autofocus and I'll keep at it as long as I can see the rangefinder patch. Thanks for letting me ramble.
Getting old-er is NOT for whimps!
I have eye problems also and hand tremors.
I depend on the Canon audio alert that the subject is in focus and the "center point" to turn green.
Luckily the adjustable diopter on my Canon's allows be to have better vision in the vf.
My Fuji MF, not so. I have to put faith in the camera that it is doing its job in af.
I DO use MF for macro work and it has worked well manually with the Canons. The Fuji, I depend on the AF.
All this being said, have faith brother!
Practice on subjects....refine your focusing technique.
Now will glasses correct this problem? The reason I ask is that I had my eye doctor prescribe a pair of short distance lenses so that I can see my image in the vf clearly.
Thank you, Dan! I always appreciate your positive outlook!
I can easily see both the rangefinder patch which guarantees the image will be in focus and the framelines. Even the little patch on the Retina IIa is easy to find. The only thing I need to concentrate on is ensuring the image is level in the viewfinder. It only takes a few seconds but does make a difference. There are post from members about the difficulty of using a rangefinder because of their glasses. I use a rangefinder because of my poor vision.
I told my ophthalmologist that if things get really bad, I have a couple of plastic cameras that I don't have to focus.
madNbad wrote:
Thank you, Dan! I always appreciate your positive outlook!
I can easily see both the rangefinder patch which guarantees the image will be in focus and the framelines. Even the little patch on the Retina IIa is easy to find. The only thing I need to concentrate on is ensuring the image is level in the viewfinder. It only takes a few seconds but does make a difference. There are post from members about the difficulty of using a rangefinder because of their glasses. I use a rangefinder because of my poor vision.
I told my ophthalmologist that if things get really bad, I have a couple of plastic cameras that I don't have to focus.
I bought a "level" that "sits" in the flash mount. My Fuji has a "level".
But even with this I many times have to "straighten" the frame in Ps.
Lol..plastic-fantastic!
Dan
I use FF bodies 95% of the time. I use my Canon APS-C body(90D) for much of my macro. FF gives me a huge frame that I can crop to suit my tastes.
The "on board" flash of the 90D is wonderful if I need "fill flash". I have 2 ring flashes for my FF Canon bodies and use MF when shooting macro inside and sometimes outside.
Good luck!
A joke..."What did the lens say to the eye? 'Stop staring, you're making me blink".
Dan
