albertaoldie Loc: Lloydminster Alberta

Not familiar with Lasik surgery but on the topic of corrective lens my wife & I both had lens implants done a year ago. (68 & 70 yrs old). Have worn glasses for years and certainly dont miss them. We had a choice of distance vision or close up vision with the lens paid for by health care but were give the option of a more expensive lens at a cost of $5000 for two eyes which we opted for. Close and far vision is now excellent. After surgery we both noticed halos around any bright light but our surgeon said our brains would adjust and eventually ignore which the halos and this is true. Would certainly have this procedure done again. In Canada we are able to write off the cost of this procedure on our income tax which brings the cost down.
Hope this helps or is of interest to you.
Best of luck, there is nothing quite like being able to see clearly.

cbtsam Loc: Monkton, MD

I've been wary of lasik - ophthalmologist almost fell off his stool laughing when I asked about it - but I did have cataract surgery, where I had to choose between close and distance lenses. I asked about the viewfinder, and the surgeon assured me that things through the viewfinder would be fine with distance lenses, which is what I chose. It turns out he was correct: no problem with the viewfinder. So I'd guess you don't need much near sight to see through the viewfinder. The LCD is a totally different matter; I need spectacles for that.

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

I had it done several years ago (lasik/cataract surgery). I opted for the single vision lens rather than the multi. I wanted the best possible clarity. It was supposed to be for distance but wound up a little off. Since I intended to wear progressive lens glasses anyway, I didn't have them adjusted. Also, I found that while the original procedure was easy, adjusting would be more severe. All worked out well.

Anyway, years have passed and now the uncorrected vision has changed to near-sighted. I read books and work with the computer without glasses. This means I either have to have a correction dialed in in my camera viewfinder (making it wrong for others) or wear my glasses when using the viewfinder; glasses is normal for me anyway.

My advice - If it is for cataracts, do it! The improved clarity was unbelievable, and the cataracts had altered colors.

reverand

I don't know what your age is, or what your medical condition is, but you might be a candidate for cataract surgery. Nowadays, cataract surgery offers the possibility of inserting corrective lenses in the eye. There are various options, but the one that seems to work best (and is most popular) is a correction for infinity. You'll then need glasses for close-up work, but that's easy. After my own cataract surgery, my vision measured 20-15 in each eye, which is the best it's ever been, obviously, better than "normal," which I didn't expect.

gwcole

I was suffering from quadruple vision in my right eye. I was diagnosed with what was called scar tissue or more regularly foreign tissue growing on the retina. The tissue was making small "mountains" on the retina and pulling it away from the wall of the eye. I had surgery to peel the tissue off and encourage the retina to reattach. Six weeks later I was looking at a crescent moon and counted the points I saw. Result? I had gone from quadruple vision to seeing 11 of everything. The surgeon hadn't told me that the surgery would give me an instant cataract. I had a lens implant and 20/20 vision in one of my eyes which was the best I have ever had. Two years later I wasn't seeing clearly through the left eye. I was diagnosed with Fuch's dystrophy, a hereditary disease that destroys the cornea. I needed a transplant. Given the miracles of modern science they now only transplant the inside lining of the cornea placing it where the diseased was. The transplant slid down to the bottom of the eye and I had one surgery to reposition it and then a second surgery to reposition it again. I have 20/20 vision in my left eye now although I see double with it because the three positionings of the transplant created a small wrinkle. I also had to have a second lens implant because that surgery also created cataracts. The result is I see better than ever even with the wrinkle.

Miami39 Loc: Florida

I don’t know if my prior answer was sent. This really is not the place to ask for such advice. I had a very bad experience with LASIK years ago and had to go to many doctors afterwards to “fix” the problem, including a process called cross-linking. Not everybody had such experiences. After many surgeries, I still have to wear contacts. The best advice is to find a good, experienced ophthalmologist to advise you. Most cameras have a diopter adjustment that might solve your viewfinder issue.

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

My last optometrist told me that everyone HAS cataracts. They just aren't all a problem yet.

My wife got both eyes done, one at a time. It was an outpatient operation and took 15 minutes. (Plus some prep time and time to wind down afterwards, total less than an hour). They made one eye for close vision and the other for distance.

shutterbob Loc: Tucson

I had severe astigmatism until about 5 years ago when I decided to have lazer surgery done on both eyes. I now see great at anything over an arm's length away but need readers for close up. I consider it a more than equitable trade off. There is enough adjustment in my cameras viewfinder (Nikon D750, D7500, z50, z5) that I do not need to wear my glasses when taking photos, even when fine tuning the focus on the rear screen. I do however carry a pair of 'cheaters' in my camera bag because I find them necessary for reading anything in the menu. Again, I am more than happy with my decision to have the surgery.

smiller999 Loc: Corpus Christi

My brother had very bad eyesight and had lasik done. He enjoyed it up until the day he had to have cataract surgery. His lens was so thin they almost refused to do the surgery. So be careful about that, and ask the surgeon about it (and stay away from the factory surgeons).

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

Talk to your eye Dr about mono vision. That's what I had done. One eye for distance and the other for near. We tried contacts first to make sure I could adjust.

Miami39 Loc: Florida

A poster above mentioned an issue about the thickness of his cornea when he later needed cataract surgery. My cornea started to bulge like keritoconitus. Complete nightmare. I also think that monocular vision is a bad idea. Please go to a very experienced surgeon at a facility such as Bascom Palmer. LASIK can cause dry eyes, halos, and other issues that you might not anticipate. If you work on a computer a lot, dry eyes can be very painful. UHH is not the place to get advice about eye surgery. Many people are happy with the results but a lot of times, it has to be redone a few years out.

planepics Loc: St. Louis burbs, but originally Chicago burbs

I just had my 2nd cataract surgery Friday (the first one being November 6 of last year. I had never worn glasses until I was a little over 50 and started with readers, heavier readers and then 2 different sets of bifocals. Since diabetes runs in my family and I take insulin, cataracts came hard and fast. I will still need corrective lenses, but after watching videos of LASIK and PRK I decided that glasses will be fine. My left eye sees better close and my right sees better far (fine because that's how I shoot a camera anyways) but because I also have astigmatism standard lenses (what Medicaid would pay for), I still have a bit of double-vision, but I can still see much better than before surgery. The ophthalmologist (optometrist?) said it would probably be about 3 weeks until he could figure out the new prescription (healing time, I guess). I'll be 58 in June.

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

Forgot to mention - I had both eyes done at the same time. No big deal. After a few minutes of winding down, I was sent home with sunglasses.

Judy795

Miami
My husband also developed keratoconus from his Lasik procedure. He had to see a specialist at Baptist Hospital in Miami for treatment which delayed his cataract surgery for two years.

Dave H2

I had cataract surgery a few years back and chose the fixed distance lens replacement which required me to use reading glasses for any close work. (Dollar store kind works fine).
I have had no problem using the view finder on my Nikon DSLR's (D7200 & D300S). Electric viewfinder on Panasonic ZR200 also works ok without using corrective glasses.
Good luck,
Dave