Who wears eyeglasses when shooting BIFs?

I currently shoot a lot of birds in flight and I don't use eyeglasses yet. In the past couple of years or so (I'm now 45 YO), I noticed that my eyes aren't as sharp as they used to be, and I reckon it won't be long before I need to wear eyeglasses too.

To BIF shooters who wear eyeglasses, do you find such a problem? Kindly share you experience.

Regards,

Romy

Can't get enough dioptre adjustment on the camera?

I need glasses now for reading but don't when shooting, other than to look at the menus on the back

Believe it or not, I look above my eyeglasses into the viewfinder... The dioptre can be set so I can see clearly but I am at the limit.. Looking through the glasses creates too much reflection and glare... But they do have special caps for people with glasses, I forget what there called...

Thanks guys for the info. BIFs comprise much of birding fun for me, and I'm worried I might not be able to enjoy these captures anymore when I wear eye glasses.

Romy

I can see well enough without my glasses to get by, but I also have my prescription sunglasses on a set of croakies so I can flip them up on my head when I have to shoot. Then they are easy to put back on when it's time to see at a distance again.

noodle_snacks wrote in post #8463215
Can't get enough dioptre adjustment on the camera?

Silly me! After being puzzled with your reply, I googled "viewfinder diopter adjustment." Now, I finally understood what the diopter adjustment is all about! This site explains it beautifully: http://home.surewest.n​et/frcn/Diopter.html

"In cameras, the diopter is a way to add an additional amount of focus adjustment that sets the optical viewfinder to match your eyesight. It works sort of like the focus on a pair of binoculars. It is necessary because the human eye is able to focus on an out-of-focus image in the viewfinder, tricking the brain into thinking that the image is really in focus. The best thing about diopter adjustment is that it allows eyeglass wearers to adjust the optical viewfinder to match their glasses so the camera can be used without wearing glasses."

Now, I only need to worry about exceeding the limits of diopter adjustment, which might happen many years away yet.

Biffbradford wrote in post #8466493
I can see well enough without my glasses to get by, but I also have my prescription sunglasses on a set of croakies so I can flip them up on my head when I have to shoot. Then they are easy to put back on when it's time to see at a distance again.

Great tip.... thanks for sharing!

I'm fairly blind, near-sighted, and my eye glasses require a 5.75 correction. I have minor issues with getting my eye close enough to the viewfinder, so I sometimes lose some of the outer edges of the scene. This usually isn't a problem for landscapes, when I have time to adjust, but under action of BIF it is sometimes a bummer. ("Damn, I thought that bird filled the frame, but it's only at 75%!")


One of my bigger problems is with long-distance resolution. I've been out shooting with CDS, who has good if not great vision - and I often can't see a bird that he sees clearly. He was said something about a bird being male, and I cracked the (stolen) joke: "I can't even see the bird, and you can see it's freaking genitals!"

In reality, this isn't so much of a problem - if I had a 20,000mm lens it would be, but by the time they're anywhere close to me I can see them just fine.


My biggest complaint with eye glasses is the loss of peripheral vision. Because eyeglasses don't wrap around my head, the edges (actually a good amount) of my peripheral vision is so blurred that it's effectively useless. My peripheral vision only detects distinct movements or changes in color/lighting.

That sucks big time.

But that also shouldn't be a problem for you - your eyesight won't be anywhere near as bad as mine. So you might get a slight loss of peripheral vision/acuity - maybe 5%?


All of my problems could be avoided by wearing contact lenses, but I can't wear them - even specialized ones - for longer than 5-6 hours because of dry eyes.


In the end, I highly doubt that you'd have any of my problems.

Thanks for sharing your experience, Scottes!

Romy

liquidstone wrote in post #8476618
Thanks for sharing your experience, Scottes!

Romy

I hope my post makes you comfortable with the idea of wearing glasses. I highly doubt you'll have any issues.

Oh, you WILL smack your eyeglass lens into the camera eyepiece many times until you get used to it.

They have special doctors called optometrists who can verify that for you.

If it's presbyopia you're worried about, that won't bother your distance vision--but the menus on the camera should be getting more difficult to see. Distance vision doesn't go bad with age (myopia usually starts much younger and usually stops as you get older) unless it's some internal issue like cataracts. You'd better get that checked--some of those problems can get very bad very quickly if not caught early.

I wear glasses and the diopter adjustment doesn't do me any good. So I have to wear glasses when I shoot. It's a Pain In The * but nothing I can do about it. It's the only way I can tell if focus is good.

My wife is almost always with me and she spots the birds usually long before I do.

So why is it you haven't gone and got glasses already? Your probably missing a lot by not having them.

Now, go get some!

Scottes wrote in post #8476827
I hope my post makes you comfortable with the idea of wearing glasses. I highly doubt you'll have any issues.

Oh, you WILL smack your eyeglass lens into the camera eyepiece many times until you get used to it.

Your posts took the words out of my mouth.

I can't stand my very necessary for seeing anything past 1 foot glasses.

I Specialize in BIF and I wear glasses all the time. It is not a problem for me.