Hi members,
I will be having cataract surgery in the next couple months. I have to choose between far and near sightedness. Just wondering if anyone out there has had to make this choice and how well it worked for them in regards to being able to focus your camera. Thanks for your comments.
Hi, John - My husband is not a rabid photographer as I am, but he did a lot of microscopic work for his teaching.
He chose one far-sighted and once close-sighted lens, as the MD suggested, and it has worked great - he uses
the left eye (near) for the microscope and reading, his right eye (far) for cameras, and adjusts the focus further with the camera focus. The brain adapts, apparently easily, to using the eye it needs - so you can have BOTH. (as weird as it sounds)
Good luck! Jim says the difference before/after surgery as stunning - and he did not wait as long as his MD would have preferred to have the surgery.
Sandy
I am currently in the middle of Cataract surgery. I had my right eye done the end of March and I will have my left eye done in a couple of weeks. After talking to my doctor some serious reflection I choose to go for distance vision in both eyes. I will need to have reading glasses for reading distances but since I have used glasses for reading most of my life that does not bother me. The current result with my right eye being fixed is that everything is sharp from infinity in to about 18 inches. That means using a computer works fine with out glasses. I am writing this message on a laptop sitting in an easy chair if I close my left eye the right eye is fine for typing or working on photos. The best news is my right eye now can out perform the auto focus of my camera as it used to! I will do my usual spring flower macro photography begriming in a week or so and I will find out if I need correction for that distance in the viewfinder. Seeing the camera data in the view finder with the corrected eye has not been a problem either. That is not necessarily the way it would work out for everyone based on where your eyes are at since there is more that just the lens in you eye that can impact vision. I will sound like a TV commercial but you do have to consult your doctor to understand the option and likely outcomes based on your eyes.
The other good news is that I estimate that my right eye is seeing between 2.5 and 3 stops more light, regardless of the focus and that is a big deal for me. My doctor explained setting one eye for distance and one eye close up. She also explained that since I did not do a good deal of close up work on a regular basis, and I was not worried about using reading glasses, in my case setting both eyes for distance should work well. After listening to all of this from the doctor and thinking it over I choose to go for both eyes set for distance and not having to wear any glasses at all except to read. I think this is a personal choice based on your everyday needs and how you feel about when and why you need to wear glasses.
By the way the Doctor also said that after the left eye is done and the vision stabilizes I ought to be able to go back and get a eye test where we get our licenses and get the eyeglass restriction removed from my drivers license.
When both eyes are done I hope to be able to use no glasses most of the time, and only need glasses when I sit and read. The other thing is I should be able to use the $ 20.00 drugstore glasses for reading since it will only need a magnification of 1 diopter or so. That beats the heck out of the cost of any prescription glasses especially since I tend to mis-place my glasses more frequently that I like to admit!!
What ever path you choose you should be very happy with the improvement and feel good about having your eyes on a more equal footing with the technology in your camera.
I had both eyes done last year. I use reading glasses for reading and computer work. My long distance vision is excellent with no problems with visual acuity. My camera focusing works fine and it is nice not having to wear glasses while doing camera work.................Jim
Discussion
3 repliesI will be having cataract surgery in the next couple months. I have to choose between far and near sightedness. Just wondering if anyone out there has had to make this choice and how well it worked for them in regards to being able to focus your camera. Thanks for your comments.
He chose one far-sighted and once close-sighted lens, as the MD suggested, and it has worked great - he uses
the left eye (near) for the microscope and reading, his right eye (far) for cameras, and adjusts the focus further with the camera focus. The brain adapts, apparently easily, to using the eye it needs - so you can have BOTH. (as weird as it sounds)
Good luck! Jim says the difference before/after surgery as stunning - and he did not wait as long as his MD would have preferred to have the surgery.
Sandy
I am currently in the middle of Cataract surgery. I had my right eye done the end of March and I will have my left eye done in a couple of weeks. After talking to my doctor some serious reflection I choose to go for distance vision in both eyes. I will need to have reading glasses for reading distances but since I have used glasses for reading most of my life that does not bother me. The current result with my right eye being fixed is that everything is sharp from infinity in to about 18 inches. That means using a computer works fine with out glasses. I am writing this message on a laptop sitting in an easy chair if I close my left eye the right eye is fine for typing or working on photos. The best news is my right eye now can out perform the auto focus of my camera as it used to! I will do my usual spring flower macro photography begriming in a week or so and I will find out if I need correction for that distance in the viewfinder. Seeing the camera data in the view finder with the corrected eye has not been a problem either. That is not necessarily the way it would work out for everyone based on where your eyes are at since there is more that just the lens in you eye that can impact vision. I will sound like a TV commercial but you do have to consult your doctor to understand the option and likely outcomes based on your eyes.
The other good news is that I estimate that my right eye is seeing between 2.5 and 3 stops more light, regardless of the focus and that is a big deal for me. My doctor explained setting one eye for distance and one eye close up. She also explained that since I did not do a good deal of close up work on a regular basis, and I was not worried about using reading glasses, in my case setting both eyes for distance should work well. After listening to all of this from the doctor and thinking it over I choose to go for both eyes set for distance and not having to wear any glasses at all except to read. I think this is a personal choice based on your everyday needs and how you feel about when and why you need to wear glasses.
By the way the Doctor also said that after the left eye is done and the vision stabilizes I ought to be able to go back and get a eye test where we get our licenses and get the eyeglass restriction removed from my drivers license.
When both eyes are done I hope to be able to use no glasses most of the time, and only need glasses when I sit and read. The other thing is I should be able to use the $ 20.00 drugstore glasses for reading since it will only need a magnification of 1 diopter or so. That beats the heck out of the cost of any prescription glasses especially since I tend to mis-place my glasses more frequently that I like to admit!!
What ever path you choose you should be very happy with the improvement and feel good about having your eyes on a more equal footing with the technology in your camera.
I had both eyes done last year. I use reading glasses for reading and computer work. My long distance vision is excellent with no problems with visual acuity. My camera focusing works fine and it is nice not having to wear glasses while doing camera work.................Jim