Your eyesight goes bad. Your doctor says time for a choice.

[sun of sand]

Remove the eyeballs
Wear eye patches
Don't fix nothin
Not a damn thing
Continue with large format
Become a sensation
Grow old
Rich
Divorce
Buy new eyeballs
Enjoy your golden years with 30-somethings

[Jac@stafford.net]

For the record, I have profound astigmatism and my eyes have never been correctable to 20/20, but somehow I've managed photography of all kinds for fifty years. Trifocals are the rule for me, and a 4X loupe is just right. For reasons I cannot understand a more powerful loupe does not work as well. Others might find the same.

Cataracts are a whole different story. Thanks for those who commented. This has become a precious thread. And the monocle idea is terrific!
.

[mlatterich]

Thank you so much for your help and the encouragement! Short of taking my eyes out and replacing them with a CMOS sensor, or better yet, an eye-shaped polaroid camera, I will go the progressive lens route and also invest in that monocle. Great suggestions!

[neil poulsen]

I think that we're lucky if a vision problem can be corrected with eye-glasses. In this case, I would do whatever it takes. Get one, two or three pairs of glasses. We're very fortunate to have this option so readily available.

The real problems begin, when this is not the case. Examples would include (I think) cataracts, astigmatism (?), retinal detachment, etc. In this regard, I've twice dodged the bullet. First in the left eye, and then later in the right eye, my vitreous humor separated from the retina. The risk in these cases are that this separation can lead to a detached retina, crumpling of the retina, etc. Skipping a lot of technical stuff, I still have quite good eyesight. And, I plan to do as much photography as I can, while I can.

If indeed I were to end up blind (though not likely), I want to at least have the satisfaction of leaving behind a decent body of work.

[Wayne]

You can wear glasses or contacts to correct for astigmatism though there may be extreme cases where you can't

[Tin Can]

I have to agree, that modern glasses are a miracle in my life. I was considered an idiot until I was 7 when somebody finally figured out I couldn't see.

When I put on the first pair, my life changed immediately. I had thought everybody was doing magic tricks...on the chalkboard. I was placed in the rear of the class as a troublemaker.

And now, GG focus is very clear to me at 1.5 inches. No loupe necessary.

I consider them safety glasses as they have protected my eyes many times since.

We need a survey on how many photographers have poor vision.

[AtlantaTerry]

About 10 years ago I had cataract surgery on both eyes which had been stained yellow by chemotherapy.

The doctors said they could use the implants to allow me to see sharp either at a distance or close-up, but not both.

Since I was about 9 years old I could not see anything sharp unless it was about as close as the tip of my nose. So I immediately knew I wanted to be able to see the world sharp without glasses and would use corrective lenses for reading or other close work.

The surgery went well and I have been using inexpensive 1/2 frame +1.50 diopter reading glasses only when needed.

[Jim Jones]

I finally yielded to my ophthalmologist's recommendation to get cataract surgery at age 81. It was like removing a K1 filter, 8 diopter built-in close-up adapter, and diffuser from my eyes. The main downside was the loss of what little close focusing remained. For the month between operations, one eye was corrected and the other not. Adapting to this was easy, although I opted to have both eyes corrected to distant vision. Glasses continue to correct for considerable astigmatism and to provide bifocals.

[Drew Bedo]

[QUOTE=Heroique;1091197But when it comes to LF, what choice would you make – and why?

Also, would you order a special eyeglass design to ease your LF work?[/QUOTE]


Choice?
In 2002 I lost effective vision in both eyes within a few days. Right eye has paraciaclly nothing and the left one is at 20/200.

I use a 4x5 zone VI and an 8x10 Kodak 2D. I work slow. While I do some landscape photography, my best work has been with intimate compositions such as table top or building interiors.

Focus is the single most difficult element of the process (well sometimes the most difficult thing is screwing the camera to the tripod!). I often place a high contrast target in the composition, usually a bar code panel, to help determine what is in and whats out . . . and I work slow.

Even if you do not have a choice re near vs far, if you can see light and dark I think there may be a way. Several years ago I corresponded with a photographer in England who shot cathedral interiors using preset hyperfocal set-ups. He set the precalculated extension with a pre cut stick between the front and rear standard.

[rdenney]

Drew, a laser pointer helps by providing a bright dot on a near-field scene that is easy to see on ground glass even at f45. I have a really bright green one that works well.

A Maxwell screen really helped me. I still use a tilting loupe for critical focus, and a really good Blackjacket hood.

Progressives made me sick, and I wear regular trifocals in daily life, bifocals (medium and close) for desk work, and single-focus (at music-stand distance) for playing music. And I cuss at glasses routinely. But what are you gonna do?

Rick "whose astigmatism defeats contacts" Denney