I wear varifocal lenses and like them more than bifocals but when I first got them I had a lot of difficulty manually focusing my camera, so much so that I now invariably use auto-focus no matter the circumstances and generally I get very good results. I would be very interested to hear from others who also wear varifocals who like to manual focus and see if they have more success than me and if so do they have any tips that may help me get back to manual focusing? Thanks for any help.
I tend to take the shot on manual first and then on auto focus if I am not sure I got it. I have started to work out which way I am out by and focus slightly out. I find the best focus is often by just tipping my head slightly down, which changes the angle on the glasses and gives me view through a different section of lens. Trial and error, I think. I agree varifocals are terribly difficult to manage and I do prefer to use a proper viewfinder, not a touch screen.
@casablanca Thanks for your advice :-) I shall try the head tipping technique. I have wondered about getting a pair of specs just for photography but would rather not have to go down that route.
@allsop Totally agree, avoid that route. I had to go for a fixed lens to cater for the computer screen and piano music because my varifocals were no longer cutting it at that very specific distance. I have to be so careful how much I use them and it is very disorienting when you swap again. If you can adjust with what you have, I would always advise that as a first port of call. Wishing you all the best.
@30pics4jackiesdiamond Interesting thought, though it would have to be adjustable because my prescription has begun to change quite dramatically these days after sitting there doing next to nothing for the best part of 50 years. I will investigate, thank you!
@casablanca@30pics4jackiesdiamond Done a quick search and found this https://www.aperturebuzz.com/camera-diopter/ which seems to say that most cameras nowadays have a diopter adjuster onboard, my Fujifilm X-T2 certainly does! So by using this I can set the camera to my eyesight which, as the article says, means I can take my specs off when taking photos. I really want to keep my specs on so presumably I don't know how useful it will be. Research needed with the camera I think!
"I had a lot of difficulty manually focusing my camera, so much so that I now invariably use auto-focus no matter the circumstances and generally I get very good results." ... Yep, that's me. I've have Progressibe lenses (varifocal) since I first started wearing glasses (in my 40's), I don't remember if my inability to manual focus is because of the lenses, or because of the decline in my vision that led to needing glasses. It was really hard for me to acknowledge that the camera could see better than me... I used to blame it on the fact that my DSLRs didn't have the same focusing screens that my old SLRs had; but I think that's just an excuse.
Either way, I'm stuck on autofocus.
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Either way, I'm stuck on autofocus.