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Cataract surgery and MF photography

cerett

Member
I know this is probably in the wrong forum, but thought I would get more responses here. Apologies in advance. Here goes - I will be needing cataract surgery in both eyes. (Yes, getting old really sucks!) Hoping to get some input as to whether, as a photographer, to correct for near or distance vision. If the new lenses are for distance only, I will need to wear glasses to check the camera settings. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated, especially from those who have had the procedure done. Thank you.
 

jerome_m

Member
I know this is probably in the wrong forum, but thought I would get more responses here. Apologies in advance. Here goes - I will be needing cataract surgery in both eyes. (Yes, getting old really sucks!) Hoping to get some input as to whether, as a photographer, to correct for near or distance vision. If the new lenses are for distance only, I will need to wear glasses to check the camera settings. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated, especially from those who have had the procedure done. Thank you.
I have perfect vision... at infinite. Everything further away than about 2 meters, I see perfectly.

I had perfect vision when I was younger, but now I suffer from presbyopia. So, I can't really check the camera settings or see the picture on screen without glasses any more. I find this infuriating.

I think I would find it a lot more infuriating if I needed glasses to see the subject. Photography is about the subject, not about camera settings.

Other people may hold different opinions, of course.
 

JohnBrew

Active member
I'm in the same boat. My opthalmologist suggested that some are putting in one eye for distance and the other for close. I'm not about to do an experiment like that and will have mine done for distance. Reading glasses have never been a problem for me and actually after having laser surgery twelve years ago I was able to go without any glasses at all for over a year.
 
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JeRuFo

Active member
My father-in-law opted for multifocal lenses and doesn't use glasses at all anymore. He used to have a pair of reading glasses around his neck always.
I don't know anything about the procedure, but I do know that my own father has been trying to get the transition in his bifocals in the right place and is now considering just buying two sets of glasses, one for distance and one for reading, so I would be apprehensive about choosing this option myself when surgery is involved.
Another option apparently is to get two different lenses, one for distance in the dominant eye and one for near vision in the other.
 

fotografz

Well-known member
I had cataracts removed from both eyes a few years ago. It had gotten to the point that I could not manually focus anything accurately ... but most disappointingly I could no longer focus my M rangefinder to any degree of certainty no matter what diopter I used. Night driving was also getting more difficult with diffuse halos around on-coming headlights, and reduced night vision in general.

My replacement lenses corrected for distance vision and astigmatism ... so I still wear reading glasses around my neck to see the LCD and camera settings. I use seamless bifocal glasses for reading and computer screen distances, and have prescription sunglasses with lower portion for closer up gauges, etc. I now use the same diopter strength for my M camera as I did when I was in my 30s.

Beyond the expected improvements, a few other things were immediately apparent ... the whole world looked bluer until my brain adjusted because cataracts are yellowish, so a lot of images I had processed had to be revisited. Plus, many images I had previously done were over-sharpened ... I recall Jack commenting on a shot of mine looking too "crispy" to his eye ... he was right, I just didn't know it at the time:rolleyes:

Get it done, the process was no big deal, well worth it.

- Marc
 

steve_cor

Member
For multifocal lenses such as Crystalens® AO IOL which allows for near, intermediate, and distance vision without glasses, the doctor attaches the muscles in your eye to the implanted lens.

Health insurance will usually not pay for multifocal lenses. You can ask if you can pay the difference, about $1500 extra. However, some patients are not a candidate for multifocal lenses. Your doctor may say your eyes have other issues so multifocal lenses are contra-indicated.

If you can't get the multifocal lenses, I would go for perfect 20/20 distance vision like Joe, and just use reading glasses for up close.




--Steve.
 

Smoothjazz

Active member
As a practicing ophthalmologist, my recommendation would be to go for the distance correction in both eyes, and not have the Multifocal lenses implanted. Many ophthalmologists, including myself, have seen too many problems with Multifocals; they are prone to glare and halo issues, and you give up significant contrast and sharpness. Unfortunately, they have been over-sold over the past many years. I stopped using them about three years ago. As photographers, we really are keen on maintaining all the sharpness and contrast, without optical aberrations. You have to realize that the Multifocal lens actually is focusing two images on the retina at the same time, which results in unavoidable image degradation.
The Crystalens by and large avoids this problem, but does not always focus close enough to read easily.
There is a new lens out you may want to consider if you really want to avoid reading glasses, which operates on the basis of diffuse optics, like many of our DO camera lenses; it is called the Symfony lens. It can have some low grade starbursts at night, but by and large it seems to avoid many of the problems of the Multifocal lens, with excellent near vision.

The best vision however is still going to be a single focus lens; my preference is the Bausch&Lomb Envista lens. If I were having surgery, I would have one eye focused at far distance, and one eye focused at mid-range distance (sometimes referred to as partial mono vision), and still use reading glasses.
I would not recommend full mono vision for photography purposes either, since you give up your stereo vision.
You can go with a 'partial mono vision' if you wish to maintain some mid-range vision, keep your eyes relatively in balance.
Good luck!
Send me a PM if you wish, with any other questions.

John Zdral
 

jng

Well-known member
Assuming your choice is between being corrected for distance vs. reading, consider how you spend most of your waking hours and ask yourself in which situation would you rather not be wearing spectacles? I am presbyopic and a few years ago had my contact lenses fully corrected for far distance vision. For working on the computer and reading I now need to use spectacles fitted with progressive lenses. It took a little getting used to but it's now second nature. My spectacles hang around my neck when they're not sitting on the bridge of my nose. Yes, for photography it's a PITA especially when moving from scene to viewfinder (far distance) to image review on either the digital back or computer (near distance), but truth be told I don't spend most of my time using my camera. And how many times have my dangling spectacles gotten stuck under the camera when using the waist level viewfinder? :mad: It can be frustrating but *my* personal preference is not to have to rely on spectacles when driving, cycling or just walking around. As noted, some people choose to have one eye corrected for distance and the other for reading, which essentially renders one's vision monocular - definitely not for me but everyone is different.

Good luck!

John
 

Pelorus

Member
As a presbyope and long term user of tri-focals I'd say put up with the specs and do as Smoothjazz suggests and correct for far sight. I don't find spectacles an impediment, but then I don't use a viewfinder.

Interesting comment on multifocal replacement lenses: If you are a pilot here, and you opt for multifocal replacement lenses, the regulator will refuse you a medical. They are quite clear that they are not acceptable. There has to be a sensible reason why they do that in terms of visual acuity.
 

Nutcracker

New member
I know this is probably in the wrong forum, but thought I would get more responses here. Apologies in advance. Here goes - I will be needing cataract surgery in both eyes. (Yes, getting old really sucks!) Hoping to get some input as to whether, as a photographer, to correct for near or distance vision. If the new lenses are for distance only, I will need to wear glasses to check the camera settings. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated, especially from those who have had the procedure done. Thank you.
I had both eyes operated 10 and 7 years ago.
Lifelong short-sighted and contact lens wearer, and a neurological surgeon before retirement, the decision was to opt for short sight so that near vision for reading files and scan images was easy, and spectacles for driving, and photography.

Very happy with result and no regrets. Spectacles to look through viewfinder, specs off to view camera back.
For me, perfect solution.
 

cerett

Member
Thank you all for taking the time to respond to my question. I really appreciate it! At this point, I think correcting for distance seems to be the best option. I don't mind wearing glasses for reading and computer work, since I tend to wear them anyway (progressive lenses). My major concern is reading the camera settings and LCD screen which I can do now without wearing glasses. I primarily do MF landscape photography, so having glasses hanging around my neck for this purpose does not seem to be that big a deal. I have relied on the viewfinder diopter correction in the past, but the cataracts, especially in one eye, are to the point of needing surgery.

Nutcracker - Will the viewfinder diopter correction (if you have one) work without having to wear glasses?

John (Smoothjazz), I may PM you once I get more details from my ophthalmologist. Thank you very much for offering that option. The surgery is scheduled for January.
 

Nutcracker

New member
Thank you all for taking the time to respond to my question. I really appreciate it! At this point, I think correcting for distance seems to be the best option. I don't mind wearing glasses for reading and computer work, since I tend to wear them anyway (progressive lenses). My major concern is reading the camera settings and LCD screen which I can do now without wearing glasses. I primarily do MF landscape photography, so having glasses hanging around my neck for this purpose does not seem to be that big a deal. I have relied on the viewfinder diopter correction in the past, but the cataracts, especially in one eye, are to the point of needing surgery.

Nutcracker - Will the viewfinder diopter correction (if you have one) work without having to wear glasses?

John (Smoothjazz), I may PM you once I get more details from my ophthalmologist. Thank you very much for offering that option. The surgery is scheduled for January.
I am too short-sighted for diopter correction to remove need for spectacles to use viewfinder.
My way works very well for me, eyes now 70 years in use.
Sean
 

Roger65

New member
I had cataract surgery in both eyes at the age of 39. It runs in my family. The left eye was done for close vision and the right for distance.

Maybe it is because I was so young, but I feel like I can see near and far objects without the need for glasses. Reading is even possible without glasses, but more comfortable with them. I can use a camera without difficulty with no need for glasses, even now at age 51.

Edit: I forgot to mention that if I want to use magnified live view on the rear lcd for critical focus, say on a Nikon D810, I do need to wear +1.5 reading glasses.
 
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