Fuji X100 OVF Diopter Adjustment - Big Uh-Oh

[kyteflyer]

Progressive lenses that I use have adjustments for...
Distance, medium distance and close up like reading. There is no lines in the lens. They just look like a single lens.
I really need just reading glasses. I still have 20:20 vision. With the progressives, sometimes I just leave them on all the time.
My eyes aren't that bad, they're just getting old.

Ahhhhhh. We call them multifocals over here. I had a set once, but was unable to adjust to using them. I got seasick. Go figure. My eyes are getting old too, hence the ridiculous situation in which for my driving licence after needing to wear glasses for 40 years because I could not pass the eye test without, I now do not have to. Still and all, for the X100 and inadequate diopter adjustment, I'll have to take a look in a demo model if ever one comes to my town, but based on what Chuck has said... its not going to be something I can use, and TBH the OVF-EVF was the main reason for me to go with it. I *love* rangefinders and Leica is well outside my financial capacity so the X100 seemed to be the thing. Not if I can't use that viewfinder, though, may as well just go for a mirrorless of another kind.

 

[Ray Sachs]

A question from Oz: what on earth are "progressives". No doubt we have them here, but they will be called something different. I am quite myopic, on the way to becoming longsighted, and I cannot shoot with glasses on. I use the maximum + adjustment on my Pentax (I think its a 2 but possibly 3)... sounds like the X100 may be a no go for me but I will be looking in to this thread to see how Chuck manages.

They're like bifocals or trifocals in that they have a distance correction in the top part of the frame and a reading/close correction in the bottom. But instead of having lines in the glass and discrete steps between each level of correction, they progress through an infinite number "steps" (making them not steps at all) so you should always be able to find a spot in the lens for whatever distance you're trying to view, whether near, far, or anyplace in between. Its like having a focus ring on a camera with no discrete stops - just a smoothing changing transition from near to far. It sounds sort of complicated, like you'd have to search out the right part of the lens to look through for any given distance, but in reality it becomes second nature VERY quickly. I tried traditional bifocals at one point and could NEVER adjust to them - hated 'em. Progressives took me about two days to get fully comfortable with. People who HAVE adapted to traditional bifocals or trifocals often have trouble switching to progressives, but if you start out with them, most people find them easier to adapt to than a discrete step like in a bifocal or trifocal.

-Ray

 

[Streetshooter]

Ya know, a good optician should be able to make a small lens that could slip in the finder.
The rubber could hold it in place and I'm sure a small amount of crazy glue could lock it in.
These are available for many DSLR's and even Leica M's.

 

[BBW]

In my case my progressives are needed for everything from close-up to infinity. Thank goodness for eyeglasses!

 

[jonoslack]

Kiteflyer
In the UK we call 'progressives' 'vari-focals'

Progressive lenses that I use have adjustments for...
Distance, medium distance and close up like reading. There is no lines in the lens. They just look like a single lens.
I really need just reading glasses. I still have 20:20 vision. With the progressives, sometimes I just leave them on all the time.
My eyes aren't that bad, they're just getting old.

That sounds like me (only maybe mine are just a bit older) - and I used to leave my vari-focals on all the time too, but the disposable contact lens is a real revelation - freedom.

 

[BBW]

Chuck, did you ever get a handle on this with your X100?

 

[kyteflyer]

I'd like to know, too, though I have removed the X100 from my wishlist for other reasons.

 

[Crsnydertx]

BB, I've decided to return it. No criticism intended; the camera just doesn't suit me.

I'm going to continue to enjoy it vicariously through the wonderful photos that you and others post here and on Flickr.

 

[BBW]

Oh, please don't feel bad on my account, Chuck. I completely understand the individuality of camera choices. No need to apologize, however I am glad to know what you ended up deciding.

If budget constraints didn't inflict themselves on me I'm sure I'd be buying one of those GRDs...or who knows what. While walking along this morning, I thought about how my needs could well be different if I were living somewhere else and taking different kinds of photographs.

Would you say it was both the diopter issue that you were experiencing as well as the fixed lens that made it not for you?

 

[Crsnydertx]

Would you say it was both the diopter issue that you were experiencing as well as the fixed lens that made it not for you?

The diopter issue was a bit frustrating, but it got me thinking about the kind of photographer I am and likely will continue to be, rather than what I might ideally wish to be. Bottom line is that a MFT camera with an EVF and a few lenses will satisfy my needs more completely than a fixed-lens camera; the fixed-lens camera would be underutilized. So no hard feelings; lesson learned. The Fuji will wind up in capable hands and give years of pleasure!

 

[BBW]

Absolutely, Chuck! And I really do understand. If I do end up moving to a more countrified area, wait - I mean when I do move - I will probably find my way back to having another camera with a different lens. Only time will tell.