While it sounds like a nasty disease, such as athlete’s foot or tennis elbow, that’s not the case with the photographer’s eye. We take our eyes for granted and they are an essential part of photography, both figuratively and literally.
I wonder how many chapters in photography books are written about the photographer’s eye. That is the title of a reference book I really enjoy reading and recommending. Of course, it is often applied figuratively and refers to the photographer’s ability to create an attractive composition. However, it also has a literal meaning.
It is a constant news item that the world population is aging. Globally, the average age has increased by seven years since 1950, the United Nations says. It was then 24 and is now 31. In the UK, the median age is 40.6 and in the US it is 40.6. 38.5. That said, nearly two-thirds of the world’s population is under the age of 39. When I visit camera clubs or see other photographers walking around with their cameras, most are my age or older. Indeed, more than half of my intern clients are older than me. As a result, more than half of those clients need their vision corrected.
Do you use glasses when taking pictures?
Not long ago, I started wearing glasses. They weren’t what I needed before, but getting perfect vision at a young age often means some optical correction is needed as the eye muscles become less toned than they used to be. My slowly deteriorating eyesight was aided by the camera’s precise autofocus and focus assist that outlines the area in focus with a colored line.
Like me, many of my clients are battling nearsightedness and problems wearing glasses. Fortunately, the diopter adjustment on my camera’s eyepiece was enough for me to see through the viewfinder. I’m surprised how many people don’t know about the diopter adjustment on their cameras. If you haven’t found it yet, it’s the little wheel next to the viewfinder. Use autofocus to lock the camera onto your subject, then rotate that little wheel until what you see through the viewfinder looks sharp. There should be a lot of resistance on this wheel. A client of mine recently told me that his diopter was accidentally adjusted forever in his camera bag.
But that doesn’t help me when looking at menus or using the Live View screen, and I don’t wear glasses.
For a while, I wore a pair of glasses hanging around my neck, it mostly worked. However, sometimes my camera gets caught in them and the rings attached to the glasses will fall off, resulting in my glasses falling to the ground.
I tried to keep my glasses in the top pocket, but that was annoying. So in the end, I bought multifocal lenses, which was the best solution. I use them for photography and driving. I have two separate sets of reading glasses. One pair has a set distance for my computer screen and the other is suitable for reading. However, they are still not immune to difficulties.
Recently, I tested a lens that I agreed to review. It looked and felt great, so I attached it to my camera and went for a walk on a sunny winter morning. However, when looking through the camera’s viewfinder, I could see significant chromatic aberration around the high-contrast edges. So this ruined the rest of the shoot for me. Despite the focusing speed, build quality, ability to obtain shallow depth of field, close focusing distance, no distortion, and excellent ergonomics of the lens, I did not enjoy using it because of the error. that optics.
I only like to rate the device if it’s worth recommending to you. If it’s terrible, I don’t want to write about it. So what will I do?
I went home and uploaded the photo to my computer. There’s not the slightest bit of chromatic aberration there. First, I turned off the lens profile. The image is still clear. Then I view the photos with different software. There’s still not a bit of purple and green lines around the contrasting edges that I could clearly see when taking the photo. Next, I put the SD card back in the camera and hit the play button. Still nothing on the camera’s Live View screen. So I looked through the viewfinder and couldn’t see it.
After scratching my head, I put on my contact lenses. There, in the viewfinder, I could see chromatic aberration. It was the glasses that caused it, not the lens.
The advantage of the right eye helps photographers
Are you left eye or right eye? Most of us have one dominant eye. If you need to determine which of your eyes are, and assuming you have two working eyes, open both eyes. Now point to an object a few meters away from you. Next, alternately close one eye and then the other. You should see your finger move relative to a distant object when you close one eye and move back to its correct position when you open it again. It is your dominant eye.
Years ago, I worked to provide outdoor adventure activities. I had a great time climbing, canoeing and canoeing the sea marshes, and wading upstream. One of the activities we do is archery, and archery instructors always talk about left and right eye dominance. If you are left-eyed and try to shoot with your right hand, you will miss. Teaching someone to shoot left-handed is always more difficult for instructors. Domination of the left eye often occurs in left-handed people. So the first question they will ask the customer will be: “who is left-handed?” I often tease instructors by secretly telling groups of clients in advance that they all answered yes to that question. That’s the question I always ask my photography students.
Most of us are right-eyed and the camera was built for us. Holding my camera to my right eye, the back of the camera is not against my big nose, and if I open both eyes, I can see objects moving into the frame from the right. That’s not true for every camera. I’ve tried larger cameras that cause my nose to stuff up painfully; Yes, I have a big nose.
If I try to hold any camera with my left eye, my nose gets in the way and I can’t see anything from my right eye because my right hand blocks the view. Just as the world is prejudiced against left-handed people in many ways, cameras are designed for right-handed people or maybe left-handed people with small noses and hands.
I am still looking for a solution that combines the perfect camera and glasses. I don’t want to wear contact lenses and wouldn’t consider laser surgery, but any of your practical suggestions are welcome. Do you know if you are right-eyed or left-eyed? If you are left-eyed, have you noticed the inconvenience of right-handed cameras?
