I have had issues with my sight for as long as I can remember. I remember being at junior school at the age of about 9 complaining about not being able to see the board. Of course this was voiced and promptly dismissed as 'being a boy with an inability to concentrate".
Nine years later at the age of 18 I finally had an eye test and found that I was in-fact short sighted. I remember putting on the brand-spanking new lenses made specially for me and being completely blown away with the results.
Does everyone see like this?
Having an eyesight issue needn't stop you from taking amazing images, you simply need to take the extra steps to ensure that the images are tack sharp.
Wearing glasses is a bit of a pain in the butt when using the traditional 'eye-piece' viewfinders. Of course on a more up to date digital camera the screen can display a live image of what is in front of camera and many medium format cameras have the waist-level-viewfinders which eliminate the issue entirely. I have found that when using a traditional 35mm film camera, the lenses that use split-screen with miscroprism-ring focus are the only sure-fire way to be sure that the image is at a state of acceptable focus.
Dealing with sight issues when using a digital camera.
Of course using a digital camera it is possible to simply turn on the auto focus and forget about it but on a number of occasions I have tried to check the focus in camera and the results have been poor. Here are some tips for dealing with sight issues:
1. Remove glasses and use the in eye-piece view-finder focusing adjustment controls. Most digital cameras have a small wheel with +/- notation which can be used to counter any sight issues.
2. Use focus bracketing to be sure that your image is tack sharp. Focus bracketing is the process of taking a series of photos whist steadily adjusting the focus ring giving you a collection of images that move through the range of focus.
3. If you prefer, it is possible to put an insert which clips on to the mirror of your DSLR which creates the effect of a split-ring/miscroprism ring focus which gives much more accurate focus feedback.
4. If shooting digital, always check your images in camera. This is of course not possible when shooting on film.
Closing thoughts
Having an eyesight issue needn't stop you from taking amazing images, you simply need to take the extra steps to ensure that the images are tack sharp. As a good exercise it might be a good idea to go and try focus bracketing for yourself so that you can get a better feel for how it works.
Stay sharp!
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