Alphabravo2020

I'd appreciate thoughts from anyone who has had vision correction surgery (lasik/RK). I've thought about it many times but have not wanted to trade a sharp nearsightedness for the ability to see distances. Recently I was working on a lens and noticed that my near sightedness was not as good as it used to be so perhaps it is time now.

I am wondering if, after correction, I should still have good enough near sight to see the viewfinder and LCD displays of a DSLR without glasses, especially when using a manual focus lens. As it is now, I find myself using my glasses to see in the viewfinder and frame the shot and then I flip them up to see the closely examine the focus or image displayed on the LCD.

TIA

Comphoto

I think I can answer most of your questions. I have had lasik surgery. Looking as you to improve my nearsightedness. I also used contact lenses. The lasik surgery sometimes caused a halo effect in my vision. The contacts with the lasik surgery basically took care of most of this problem. I then had a detached retina in booth eyes. This again changed my vision. I must add though the detachments came after cataract surgery. Unfortunately, the eye problem was caused by hereditary effects and one eye trauma event. I would try contact lenses as a first correction There is a lot they can do today with contact lenses. The main thing is to see an eye specialist that does not do contacts as a sideline. I had tried both hard and soft lenses. Some or most nearsightedness require hard lenses. Then go from there if you think you need more correction. Explain to the specialist what you desire in your vision. Also as you age your eye shape will also change. Which will result in additional changes to your vision. My preference would be to go to an Opthamalist instead of an Optrican ( sorry for the spelling) then decide. I have not shot in over 15 years soI cannot comment on any ladtest photos. I do know that when I put the camera down ; I was still having some focus problems due to the surgery

Judy795

I have worn glasses since early childhood. I could not see the face of the person in front of me without glasses or contact lenses. I wore hard lenses for 30+ years. I had a detached retina in 1990. No symptoms, just picked up in a routine eye exam. The surgery left a “wrinkle “ in the right eye retina and mildly distorted vision.
In 2002 I had lasik in both eyes. It took a few months and a touch up procedure in the left eye to get good vision. Things were good until 2016 and I started having issues with cataracts. I just finished with the last cataract procedure. My vision in my left eye is great. The eye with the retina repair is ok.
My husband had lasik early on. He should have waited. His pupils were too large and now he has lots of glare.
Make sure you find the best most experienced surgeon you can find.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

May not be your nearsightedness. It could be the beginnings of cataracts. Get a complete exam with an Ophthalmologist by preference your Optometrist otherwise.

I was born nearsighted, it kept getting worse until my mid/late 20's then stabilized, then around 50 the normal farsightedness that hits most people started making me "less nearsighted". Now at 75 instead of being Very Ultra Nearsighted I am only Very Very Nearsighted. Those tiny letters on labels and things that most people use a magnifying glass for - I just held them at the end of my nose and read them. Now I hold them about 6-7" from my face and the tiniest I have to use a very low power magnifier.
Yes, it bugs me to have to do things differently. And on Dec 15th the Ophthalmologist told me my cataracts are at the "If you want it we will do the surgery stage.". He speculated that next year they will be "I recommend you get the surgery." and between 2&3 years from now "Get the surgery or we have to tell DMV you should not drive anymore." My wife is a retired Surgical RN & OR Charge Nurse so her vote is for "get the surgery", but after the Covid thing dies down and I and the whole family have gotten the shots.

I have a friend who got the Lasik done at VA (fellow Vietnam Vet, a little younger than myself). One eye came out near perfect, the other only 90-95% and because he is over 70 now they won't redo that eye. He has to do what my eye doctor calls "single vision". Glasses with one plain and one corrective lens, one contact or learn to mentally shift from eye to eye. For herself, myself and many of her patients she deliberately gives out contact Rx with one eye for near and one eye for far and you learn to switch. I know a few people who couldn't learn to do that and had to return to glasses or normal contacts. I have done it all my life since my right eye is much worse than my left so I have no problem doing that with contacts. 99% of the time I go with glasses but have the contacts for when glasses are not wanted like anything that requires protective goggles.

Judy795

Yes. My eye with the detachment had the cataract removed first. Doc gave me mid range vision as there were complications when she did the surgery and the fancy lens I picked out wouldn’t work. So I needed an eyeglass prescription for the right eye.
Then last month I had the left eye/cataract done. I told the doc to give me best distance vision possible. In essence I have that mono vision you describe. I thought I would need the one eye pair of driving glasses but my brain seems to be taking over and accommodating.
What’s interesting regarding photography is that after the first eye was done in 2016, the one with the detachment, that eye saw WHITE. The left eye saw TAN. It was a struggle to edit for color.
Well after having both eyes fixed for cataracts, the good eye now sees blue/ white and the bad eye sees white with a yellow tinge. I asked the doc if she originally put a yellow lens in my bad eye, but she said she never uses them. She said it had to do with the way my wrinklier retina sees colors, she said “sort of like your camera film is a little off”.
Anyway I can see well and I guess this is a first world problem.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Yes, you learn to work around or use it.

One of my uncles was born far sighted and his eyes tested 20/15 and 20/10 so in WW II he was made a gunner on bombers. He always saw incoming fighters first and the other gunners learned to just shoot where his tracers were going.
Mom said he also was a great hunter, during the depression he brought meat home (Central PA) when the people he was with didn't even see any game.

jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA

I had both eyes done years ago after years of glasses wearing. Opted for distance focus and resorted to having readers around the house and in my camera kits. For the viewfinder, I only needed to adjust the diopter to get a clear clean view, so no need for readers. I range from 1.5 to 2 on normal reading glasses, but have a 2.5 for when I need to verify critical focus when viewing the lcd screen or when tethered to a tablet or laptop. (usually with a CamRanger) I believe this was the best choice for me since readers are so cheap and I can finally wear non prescription sunglasses as I did with contacts.

ELNikkor

Had both eyes done 11 years ago after a lifetime of being very nearsighted with astigmatism. One operation, no need for follow up, even today, the stars are sharp pinpoints. I use reading glasses for computer and reading. Don't bother with them for "chimping". Best thing I've done for myself, highly recommend. (Be patient with yourself the first few months, as your brain needs to adjust and the eyes will be healing. Car headlights will be flarey.)

Nalu Loc: Southern Arizona

I had lasik surgery done on both eyes about 25 or so years ago. The doc asked my vision preferance and I told her I wanted to see a golf ball 300 yards away. I'm 71 now and could probably stand to get come glasses for night driving, but otherwise still good. Once I got the procedure, reading glasses were a must, so when viewing an image on my DSLR, I had to put them on, but off when shooting. On and off, on and off. It was a pain. What I love about going mirrorless, you can check out your images in the viewfinder. No more need for reading glasses when shooting.

dr.juice

Judy is dead on correct. I had both eyes corrected for messed up cataracts about 18 years ago. The "about" is because the R eye was in December and the L was the following June.

I agree with her to find the best opthalmology surgeon you can find. I took my regular ophthalmologist who is also the head of glaucoma surgery where I go to keep my eyes in top shape because that runs in my family (Mom, Gramma, and Great Gramma), so when the opportunity came to snag this guy, I took it. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him for any "little bit dicey" work I needed done anywhere near my eyes. The mornings he did mine, he did three other women as well. All of us compared notes while we were waiting and all of us us had recent high-dose chemotherapy before we got our cataracts fixed. I haven't seen any of the other women involved. But I have asked discreetly where we all did our chemo how everybody else is doing and we're all still good in the eyes department. Not everybody takes pictures. Two of the other ladies are painters and another one and I are both photographers and still doing well.

FYI - There has to be an excellent eye surgeon nearby if you live near a university with a med school that has eye docs coming out the door with their diplomas.

Good luck with whatever you do.

Virginia aka drjuice in sunny SoCal

Bison Bud

I have no experience with lasik surgery, but had cataract surgery in both eyes about 6 years ago. Before the surgery, I was very nearsighted, but could do fine work up close without my glasses. This was extremely helpful when working on small items like soldering circuit boards, etc. However, past 18 to 24 inches or so my vision blurred rapidly and bifocals were required for general reading, computer work, etc. Frankly, adjusting to being farsighted after the surgery was very difficult for me after a lifetime of extreme nearsightedness, but my distance vision is now better than it's ever been and I like not having to wear glasses to watch TV, drive a car, etc. However, I do really miss the close up vision I had previously. While I can wear bifocals or reading glasses to do such work, I've found the depth of field I now have to be very flat and have to hold whatever I am working on at the precise focal point to see it clearly rather than being able to manipulate it within the 18 inch or so field of view I previously mentioned. This can be frustrating at times, but all in all I am very pleased with the implants and my overall vision, especially since the cataracts were getting pretty bad when I made the decision. This last year, I noticed my right eye getting a bit blurry again and went back to the doctor. We discovered that I had "Secondary Cataracts" which is a clouding of the membrane that covered the back of the original/natural lenses of the eyes. Fortunately, this was fixed easily with a laser treatment to break up this no longer needed membrane. The whole thing took only 4 or 5 minutes per eye and the improvement in my vision was immediate. However, I did have to deal with a lot of "floaters" for awhile afterward, but this was only temporary as well. My distance vision is now near perfect again, my night vision is excellent, but my need for reading glasses is still a requirement. The big issue for me is that I now need several difference strengths of reading glasses to cover my close up vision needs. I guess that's a small price to pay for having good vision overall and I must say that I'm impressed with how good the doctors were at correcting my vision with the implants. Good luck with your decision!

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I'm in the same boat. Nearsighted. Using graded bifocals so I can see the road signs and also the dashboard. Over the last year the road signs have started to blur out. Went to the optometrist and he said the prescription is the same but the cataracts are developing. He recommended cataract surgery when the virus settles down. It's not urgent for me, I can wait, but I have to wear my glasses indoors now and particularly when I'm on the computer. Change is a pain, but it happens. In this case it's correctable.

wingclui44 Loc: CT USA

I have been using bifocal lens for over 15 years, I am 76 and I got my glaucoma surgery few years ago, now I have a schedule for both my eyes for the cataract surgery this coming month, it was initially scheduled on last April but was cancelled due to the pandemic, I don't know how the result will be, but that's very encourage after reading all the responding postings here, I believe I will be fine, and I can continue to drive safely!

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

My first wife’s mother got her first driver’s license at age 76.

one_eyed_pete Loc: Colonie NY

As I suspected a lot on here have had eye issues (due to the average age). Almost everyone will have cataracts sooner or later and lose up close vision due to eye lens stiffening. All my life I had extreme nearsightedness (20/290). I also had a detached retina in the right eye which left a wrinkle. I wore contacts which were so strong I needed strong readers to be able to focus inside 4 feet. I investigated lasik years ago but was turned down because my vision was too bad. This summer I had my second cataract surgery (which removed the tan filter in my eye) and my vision is now 2/20 L and 20/30 R. My up close vision is even improved, I can see the computer screen without readers but I frequently use +1.25 readers (half glasses) for smaller text and the camera LCD screens. After 73 years I can see without correction and it feels like a miracle. My mother developed macula degeneration in her late 70's and lost 90% of her vision. As you can expect, I don't mind having to use mild readers for some things because I'm grateful I can see well enough to take photos and see images. See an Ophthalmologist for a thorough exam and consult.