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How do you focus when you need glasses ? (1 Viewer)

JGobeil

JGobeil

Nature Photographer
Like many oldies (I'm 63) I need reading glasses (+2 diopter). My DSLR has diopter correction so I do not wear glasses when birding since my eyesight is perfect at a distance.

When digiscoping, I use a 4X loupe with diopter adjustment on the LCD of the camera and this works fine. On the scope, I can get a clear focus by adjusting the focus control but this focus turns out to be off for the camera by my eye correction of a +2 diopter. The result is that most of my photographs have a soft focus. This soft focus is difficult if not impossible to detect in the field on the small LCD but shows up big time on the computer screen.

I am sure that many birders have that problem. How do you solve it ?
 
JGobeil said:
Like many oldies (I'm 63) I need reading glasses (+2 diopter). My DSLR has diopter correction so I do not wear glasses when birding since my eyesight is perfect at a distance.

When digiscoping, I use a 4X loupe with diopter adjustment on the LCD of the camera and this works fine. On the scope, I can get a clear focus by adjusting the focus control but this focus turns out to be off for the camera by my eye correction of a +2 diopter. The result is that most of my photographs have a soft focus. This soft focus is difficult if not impossible to detect in the field on the small LCD but shows up big time on the computer screen.

I am sure that many birders have that problem. How do you solve it ?
Click to expand...


I wear my reading glasses if I decide to manually focus. The camera seems to autofocus through the scope O.K. so much of the time I don't bother!
 
alan_rymer said:
I wear my reading glasses if I decide to manually focus. The camera seems to autofocus through the scope O.K. so much of the time I don't bother!
Click to expand...

Thanks for your answer Alan. I was afraid to get that response, hoping to be able to avoid using my glasses :C Well, I guess I'll have to get used to it !
 
This soft focus is difficult if not impossible to detect in the field on the small LCD but shows up big time on the computer screen.
I am sure that many birders have that problem. How do you solve it ?
Click to expand...

I wear graduated bi-focals so have to be careful when looking through the scope. I get around this problem by not worrying too much with image focus on the screen. I focus the scope with the camera off , put the camera back on and do a half-press . If the camera is in focus it's indicator will be steady (usually a green light) then take the photo. A cable release if better for doing this than your finger , or you could use the Self-timer. Neil.
 
Neil said:
This soft focus is difficult if not impossible to detect in the field on the small LCD but shows up big time on the computer screen.
I am sure that many birders have that problem. How do you solve it ?
Click to expand...

I wear graduated bi-focals so have to be careful when looking through the scope. I get around this problem by not worrying too much with image focus on the screen. I focus the scope with the camera off , put the camera back on and do a half-press . If the camera is in focus it's indicator will be steady (usually a green light) then take the photo. A cable release if better for doing this than your finger , or you could use the Self-timer. Neil.
Click to expand...

Neil, how do you focus the scope ? With or without glasses ? If you focus it without glasses, it will be soft focused for the camera but OK for your eye.

I also wear graduated bi-focals. Using them makes the problem worse. Depending on where you look, the correction is somewhere between 0,5 and 2.0...
 
Neil, how do you focus the scope ? With or without glasses ? If you focus it without glasses, it will be soft focused for the camera but OK for your eye.
I also wear graduated bi-focals. Using them makes the problem worse. Depending on where you look, the correction is somewhere between 0,5 and 2.0...
Click to expand...

I focus with glasses on as I'm short sighted , making sure I look through the top half. I have the bottom half setup for reading and looking at the computer screen so often the lcd is too close (when I'm sitting ) which is why I can't rely on my glasses to get me sharp focus. I find the AF indicators on the cameras to be quite reliable for determining focus if the scope is focused first. Neil.
 
Thanks Neil. I'll try with glasses.

A month ago, I purchased a P500 and ended up with extremely soft pictures. I returned the camera for this reason and because it is very slow. I had better success with an old 3 MPX Pentax Optio.

I will order a Canon A570 IS or a A640 this week.

A570:
Less noise at high ISO
IS

A640:
10 MPX
Larger CCD
Swivel LCD
Better quality lens

I will probably get the A570. I feel it will give me better pictures at the end because of the IS and better noise processing. You are the expert; what do you think ?
 
Last edited:
JGobeil said:
Thanks Neil. I'll try with glasses.

A month ago, I purchased a P500 and ended up with extremely soft pictures. I returned the camera for this reason and because it is very slow. I had better success with an old 3 MPX Pentax Optio.

I will order a Canon A570 IS or a A640 this week.

A570:
Less noise at high ISO
IS

A640:
10 MPX
Larger CCD
Swivel LCD
Better quality lens

I will probably get the A570. I feel it will give me better pictures at the end because of the IS and better noise processing. You are the expert; what do you think ?
Click to expand...

The Canon 35 - 140 mm lens is very sharp (I don't know the A570 but I assume the lens behaves the same way as the A640 ) (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona640/page15.asp ) but it is difficult to digiscope with. You need an eyepiece with 20 mm of Eye Relief at least (more is better ) and it's best if you have a universal-type adapter like the Baader Microstage (http://www.seeviewo.org/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=14) so that you can easily slide the camera in and out as you zoom. I have had a special adapter made for my A640 which is shorter than the Canon original and has a 52 mm thread (the original Canon is 58 mm and needs a 58/52 mm converter to mate with my Swaro DCA - this adds a little thickness too)
Although the A640 screen is big , it's low resolution to not easy in bright light to see focus. But I like the rotatable screen and have adapted to the low rez . I'm annoyed at the P5000's screen in bright sun as I have a straight scope which makes it very difficult to see. Both cameras would benefit from a hood of some kind.
I would go for the camera that has the easier to use screen for your setup if you have the right eyepiece - zooms won't work well.

I hope this helps, Neil.
 
Thanks for your comments and suggestions Neil.

I have a universal adapter but I plan to make my own slide in adapter that I will attach to the Canon lens adapter. I won't hesitate to shorten the Canon lens adapter if I have to. I will use the universal adapter to find the ideal lens to eyepiece distance.

My scope has a 19 mm eye relief. It is a Vortex Skyline 20-60X 80mm Straight http://www.vortexoptics.com/spotting_scopes/view/vortex_skyline_straight_80mm
Not very high quality, but surprisingly good. Anyway, it will have to do for the moment. Why do you say that a zoom eyepiece won't work well ?
 
Not very high quality, but surprisingly good. Anyway, it will have to do for the moment. Why do you say that a zoom eyepiece won't work well ?[/QUOTE]

Usually because they don't have enough eye relief. Neil.
 
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