<sigh> Aging eyesight and DSLR (help)

Over the last 6 months I've noticed that my near field eyesight (within about 18-20 inches in front of my eyes) has gotten worse, basically I now hold anything I read farther away, etc. I expected this type of degradation at some point (having turned 46 earlier this year), but was hoping for a few more years...

This will be the first year diving and shooting a DSLR (D200 in an Aquatica housing) with this degraded eyesight, and given that much of what I like to shoot is macro, how do other u/w photographers deal with this? Focusing close in is hard enough, but when I review the image on the camera display at this point I'm basically guessing if I've got it right (sharpness, etc. - the color and composition I can see fine).

Do you correct for this in your mask or do you correct for it through the eye piece of the housing (or some combination)?

All ideas welcome - we have a trip planned at the end of th summer so would like to have something in place by then...

- Matt

Join the club

I wear bi-focals.

I have them in my mask. When I had them installed, I went to Prescription Dive Masks in San Diego (Linda) with my housing and they set the bifocal line position.

I further tune it in via the diopter adjustment on my camera body.

I fully trust the "in focus" indicater in the camera view finder (Nikon N90, D200, D7000) over my own eye sight.

The camera routinely will focus sharply on the whiskers on a coral whip shrimp.

Fear not - if you can still see the sea, you can still shoot!

I do mono-vision, a close-up contact in my left eye. It takes some getting used to but after a few hours it becomes normal.

Well, i suffer the same problem.

As i wear contact lenses for viewing better far i can't use other contact lenses.

1° Solution: Stick-on lenses (cheap, but not very good viewing quality) http://optx2020.com/p-2-hydrotac-stick-on-...ing-lenses.aspx

2° Solution: graduated glasses for your dive mask (expensive solution and you may need to change mask)

3° Laser eye surgery (most expensive solution and may work only for a few years and cause serious troubles)

I had divers diving with me using reading glasses glued in their mask (ugly but better quality than stick-on lenses)

Chris

For the past two years I have been unable to read the camera settings accurately, relying on autofocus and pre-dive camera setup routine plus memory of what knob changes what value by how much when turned.

Sitting on my camera box is a new mask, complete with bifocal lenses. Not dived yet, but early indications are very, very positive indeed.

Having looked through the lenses and been able to read the camera settings above the wavesI wish I had resolved the close vision issue problem sooner. If you have even the slightest of doubt then invest in bifocals or whatever is needed to sort the vision.

I have used bifocal prescription masks for about fifteen years. No problem after the first couple of dives.

I would also recommend fitting a viewfinder on the housing (they are not cheap but, once you try them, you are sold...)

I shoot wide angle and trust the AF. I also dive in haloclines also, so the murky water makes it almost impossible, so I have to trust AF. I sometimes have problems seeing the menu items. To check sharpness I magnify the image I've stopped being able to read my Dive Comp which is even more of a worry

I have used a Seavision gauge reader mask for the past five years. Works well in conjunction with adjusting the diopter to adjust the viewfinder .

JP

I recommend the Aqua View Finder for sure. For these last years I used two strength contact lenses as someone above also mentioned, to achieve like bifocals with contacts. However, as my prescription strength has been changing, that option was working as well as it had been originally. This past dive I went with a Seavision bifocal mask, works most excellent! I use their mask juice which also works great.