Through the Viewfinder, Wear Glasses or Not?

I have been wearing glasses since I was about 8 years old. As I am -8.25 diopters (something like 20/800) I wear them all the time. I did wear contacts for quite a while, but then I got to the age where I needed reading glasses with my contacts. I always wear them when looking through the viewfinder. I did pick up an extension just last weekend and I really like it, more because it gives me more room for my nose than for my glasses! I have heard that some people think that the extra open space between my eye and the eyepiece will alow light to enter and effect the exposure. Either I havent noticed this or I have learned to adjust for it in some way that I'm not aware of.

For me, it was a good investment. I have one on both my 20D and D30...it will go on the 1DmkIIN with some effort and using the eyecup off a 20D. I am not sure that I want to go that route. I think they need to build a new model for the 1 series and then I would jump on that as well.

Thanks everyone for the quick replies. I did notice that I sometimes look over my glasses into the viewfinder when I am using the tripod. I just started using a release so I can see through the viewfinder for the framing and then stand away from the camera to see the subject(s) and then snap with the release. That seems to work when I do portraits. And even then, I use AF these days.

I'm a full-time glasses wearer - I have been for years. My prescription isn't as severe as some:

R sph -3.25 cyl -1.00 x15 add +1.25
L sph -3.25 cyl -1.25 x142 add +1.25

In other words, I have a -3.25 dioptre basic error, 1 dioptre of astigmatism in the right eye and 1.25 dioptres in the left. I also have a reading correction of +1.25 dioptres. I've had a reading correction since I was 16. At 31 I'm not presbyopic, but I have a tendency to a progressive squint, so I need a varifocal that fades out my distance correction.


Maybe because of the distance accommodation issues, I find I need quite a dioptric adjustment to use my glasses with the camera. I'm totally right eye dominant, so I use the camera solely with my right eye.

With an eyecup Eb on my 20D, I need the adjustment wheel wound right round to the - end when I use the camera with my glasses, so I have -2D dialled in for a total of -3D. However, I can't see the corners of the viewfinder. All Canon EOS cameras have quite limited eye relief, and this tends to cause problems with glasses.


The first solution I came up with was to buy an EP-EX15, but the optical quality of the extender isn't the greatest, also I found myself really needing a further -0.25D or so to get proper focus, which, of course, isn't possible. I don't think it's a common finding to need such a correction when wearing glasses - and my glasses prescription is correct.


My next idea was to try an E -3 dioptric correction lens, which would give me a further -2D on the viewfinder (dioptric correction lenses are quoted including the -1D that's standard in the viewfinder). I was working on the basis that that would bring the correct focus with my glasses and the EP-EX15 more or less into the centre of the adjustment.

I managed to buy the E -3 lens in a camera shop when I was passing, but couldn't get the rubber frame Eb, which I ordered. When I got the rubber frame, I put the frame around the lens, and put it on the EP-EX15. What happened next was serendipity in action. A negative power lens is concave, or reducing lens. When I fitted the E -3 and frame to the EP-EX15, I had the ability to adjust the viewfinder for perfect focus, but the image was tiny.

I removed the EP-EX15 and fitted the E -3 and frame directly to the camera. Not only could I get the viewfinder in perfect focus with my glasses on using the on-camera adjuster, but I could see into the corners. Further, I could, by moving the adjuster, get the viewfinder in focus without my glasses, though I have to watch out for the uncorrected astigmatism if I do this.


Elsewhere in the thread, removing the eyecup has been suggested for glasses wearers. I wouldn't want to do that - whilst it will help with the short eye relief that Canon use (you may not need to put a reducing optic of some sort on the eyepiece), I'd think the risk of scratching your lenses would be high. I keep the rubber frame clean, which helps, but it's not unusual to find a greasy smudge on my glasses when I've been taking pictures.

It maybe helps me that the lenses in my glasses are coated - I suspect it may be a multicoating, but if not it's a high quality single coating. I wear top end Essilor Varilux varifocal lenses, though I'm not sure whether my current glasses are Varilux Panamic or Varilux Physio. If you're going to wear varifocal lenses (I think the Americans here may call them progressive lenses), it's worth going for the higher end products, as the lower aberrations and better overall performance are well worth it.

I find myself paying around £400 when I change my glasses, but when I reckon that up over the typical 2-3 year lifespan, it works out as much cheaper than contact lenses. I don't need sunglasses either because of the photochromic tint.

David

As I told my optician.. there is no way your price tags can freak me out these days, because Canon is doing a *GREAT* job in that department and I didn't blink laying down the plastic for the 24-105 f/4L.

And if there was one place where I would most certainly be interested in installing L glass, that would be my own glasses because I have these on virtually every waking moment. So I asked for the best.

....... I got Nikon lenses :P

Dang Canon better start making L prescription lenses in custom Oakley mounts

(...... no kidding, truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.....)

I wear glasses to correct an astygmatism in my left eye and slight nearsightedness in both. The astygmatism is no issue since I use my right eye for the viewfinder. I find that the diopter adjustment is anough to mitigate my eyesight, so I usually go without glasses. When I am shooting flowers and bugs in the yard, though, I leave them on since I am switching from the VF to my eyes, looking at lighting and settings, etc. that it is easier to leave them on. You just have to remember to readjust the diopter wheel. When my blood glucose went out of control last summer, my eyes went to extreme farsigtedness, and even my +50 correction glasses didn't help with anything within about 20 feet or so, so I was forced to shelf the camera for a bit. Thankfully all that is under control now - amazing new medicines have been introduced for diabetes management in the past few years.

Maybe my glasses are adjusted closer to my eye, but I have no problem seeing the whole image in the viewfinder with the 20D.

hey Suzie.. do you remember how quick I was with my lens cleaner.. it's more to clean my glasses throughout the day than for my lenses.. I can take my glasses off if i'm sitting around a table talking to folks.. (I usually do).. but I can't walk around or even think about shooting without them on.. and i'm a wimp and not ready to consider contact lenses, I will someday I suppose..

sari

Doesn't seem like it should be this much of a hassle for people with glasses, now does it? Can't say Canon didn't try to help, though. Why don't all of you four-eyed people get those diopter lenses? Are they expensive?

For those of us who like to go MF most of the time, seeing everything in the viewfinder in focus is really important. Without my glasses, I am not secure with the sharpness and it's a complete waste of time or it can get frustrating. I have been straining my right eye to focus and then I can't keep it up.

I reiterate, though...why not buy one of those diopter lenses?

Just looked at B&H and they are around $14. I may just do that. But which eye do you look through the viewfinder?

The slight diopter adjustment that is standard is usually enough for me - 2 or 3 clicks to the (-) side. I think the issue is with some peoples' eyesight "falling off" at close or far distances. The dioppters work, but when my vision was at +50, there wasn't much I could do without my glasses.

Opter Scmopter, whatever. Been wearing glasses for well over 60 years. Just get as close as you can and compensate for framing. The generous smear of nose oil on the LCD gives a reason to clean my gear.

Day-ummmm Archie....why don't ya say what ya mean? I don't buy a specific diopter because my glasses correct my vision just fine. Using a diopter adjusted viewfinder would entail removing my glasses. I need them to see what is going on around me. Taking them off and putting them back on over and over again just isn't a rational behavior for most of us that are visually challenged. Not only is is time consuming to keep cycling your glasses on and off, but you run into the problem of what to do with them while you have them off. Just be glad you don't have to wear them yet!