This may be an odd question, but this group contains a lot of older tech people and many seem to be photographers so I will put it out there. It has an overlap with technology and using devices close up (phones and tablets) but also computer screens.
As people get older, most people will have to get cataract surgery. In reviewing the different options, there are fixed lenses and variable lenses as the two main types. The variable lens has “rings” of different focal length that allow a few different ranges of focus, where the fixed lenses are set for one focal length. I have heard the fixed length is clearer and the variable is not as sharp and usually has slight halos at night.
As someone who photographs a lot, at first I thought a variable lens would be best, but searching around seemed to suggest the fixed are sharper and better light input. Then I thought that if I had a fixed length, far distance, would I have to have glasses to glance at my phone? Since I have worn glasses all my life, I don’t mind wearing them afterward with different prescriptions, so that may not be an issue.
I had cataract surgery about 10 years ago now. In my case, I wasn’t given a choice of variable lenses, but the ophthalmologist was very against giving me 20/20 vision in both eyes, so it wound up being something like 20/20 in one and 20/30 in the other. It was much worse (nearsighted) before surgery, and I always wore glasses or contacts before. The hardest part was all of the before and after surgery eye drops.
I no longer need glasses for most things, like driving, bicycling, hiking or skiing. I do have a pair of glasses, with progressive lenses and lenses that darken in sunlight (transition?). I wear them daily, usually when using screens, usually when driving, and they make things a bit clearer, but I no longer need them. So I don’t think you’ll have trouble looking at your phone; I certainly don’t with my 16 Pro.
I’m a retired photographer (among other even more questionable things), and I have had the Alcon “Clareon PanOptix Toric UV IOL” (variable rings) since June of '23. My wife got them a year or so before. We love them. I see better than I have seen in years.
For many years going into this, I had three pairs of bi-focals (tri-focals and progressives were a bust). One pair was distance/midrange, one was polarized sun-glasses with distance/midrange, and the last were my “desk” glasses with midrange/reading. The PanOptix do all of that better. There is some night halo, but it has been steadily improving,* and not near as bad as with cataracts.
For her whole life, my wife’s eyes could not be corrected better than 20/30. She is seeing better than she has literally her entire life, actually even a little better than me with my PanOptix, which gives her great satisfaction.
And they are a heck of lot better than trying to press a pair of glasses to a viewfinder!
Don’t even ask me about contacts. The one time I tried contacts they literally may have cost me a newspaper job.
*There is literally “brain-training” involved with your brain learning to interpret all those concentric rings. This can continue to improve for over a year.
Anyway, WE think they are WAY COOL. We tell folks we have been assimilated and now have Borg Eyes… ;-)
If you’re not already a member go check out the free forums at backcountrygallery.com. Steve Perry the wildlife photographer runs them and there have been a bunch of great discussions about the various cataract solutions. I’m eventually going to have to do them myself but haven’t seriously considered which way to go as a hints may change by the time I get there.
I had cataract surgery three years ago and opted for the fixed length lens. After extensive examination I was given the option to choose between 20/20 eyesight to be able to see perfectly everything at a distance or a slightly lesser correction for what they called middle distance. I chose middle distance because it allows me to work on my computer, read books, cook, repairs and do all that kinda of mid length activities without assistance of eyeglasses…I can even drive and watch TV with no problem if necessary. I only use my eyeglasses for when I’m driving (specially at night), at the movies theater (specially for subtitles), mostly because it’s less of an eye strain…and this is because we all have one eye that is the dominant one (test to determine which is the one is very simple) so when they correct your vision they place a stronger lens on one and a weaker on the other. At a middle or close distance this goes totally unnoticed (your brain adjusts for it) and it helps a lot.
A friend of mine got corrected for 20/20 vision and he does see perfectly at a distance, but he needs reading eyeglasses to even operate his iPhone or anything less than a meter or so.
BTW, I’m also a long time photographer and I can now operate all my cameras without eyeglasses…no problem either through the viewfinder, the rear screen of the camera or any of the buttons.
Perhaps @charles4 (Charles Maurer) has some thoughts here since he was a professional photographer and has published extensively on vision and perception.
I had cataract surgery in both eyes just a few months ago. I think my biggest reaction that is pertinent to photography is “Whoa, so that’s what color white really is!”
I’ve worn glasses for over 50 years, and I had no aspirations of getting rid of them with this surgery, so I opted for the “standard” lenses. I can see now see well enough to pass the driving exam without glasses, but I need them for reading anything closer than about three feet away. Another plus with glasses (they are progressives) is that a good optometrist can really dial in the prescription so that even my distance vision has a slight adjustment, making it practically perfect in both eyes, along with the benefits of the UV coatings, etc.
Only downside is that I have what the surgeon calls “negative dysphotopsia,” which manifests as kind of an arc-shaped shadow on the outer side of the field of vision in each eye. Apparently it’s super common, and they say it usually goes away with time (or you just get used to it). I really don’t notice it when I’m wearing glasses, since those frames make way more noticeable lines in your field of view anyway.
Three points. (1) You don’t always get what you pay for, including the results of cataract surgery. (2) Many digital cameras with viewfinders let you adjust the focus to suit your eyes. (3) From the perspective of the eye, viewing a camera’s display and controls is usually close work. How easy that is will vary with the amount of light. In dimmer light the pupil enlarges, reducing the eye’s depth of field.
I am happy with my fixed lenses. Had the cataract ops about 8 years ago after wearing multifocal glasses for decades.
My vision is the same in both eyes and I can see distance and close without glasses. For reading I have difficulty in low light, especially print less than about 10pt but don’t need reading glasses for the phone, macbook or iPad.
Some friends who have had the operation have not been so lucky and have some lingering sight problems.
I did need some minor laser surgery about a year after the operation as some “skin” started to grow over the artificial lenses. Apparently that is quite common and I might need further treatment every few years.
Everyone is different, each eye is different, I have a pair of progressive lenses in my glasses, my main issue is close up but my eyes vary more when it comes to distance even if the correction is not that much.
Can’t speak to cataracts surgery bar my mother’s announcement that she now has Technicolor vision so I guess contrast, brightness and saturation get an impact!
@charles4 is right, the diopter in your camera’s viewfinder should be adjustable to your eye unaided and will probably be sufficient. I have friends who use their glasses and the diopter. I have a pair of cheap readers with a set magnification on a loop around my neck for looking at the screen.
I also shoot large format and I have a set of extreme readers 4X for checking the ground glass under the dark cloth when I don’t have a proper loupe.
Progressives are not for everyone, but I quickly got used to pointing with my nose at what I wanted to look at, I have been impressed with the quality but given what I paid for them they should be. You need deep frames for smoother transitions between magnifications. Your brain also plays its part in working all this, it’s much more seamless than it sounds. Takes time though. I have been less happy with them at night driving, my distance vision doesn’t need that much correction and another sheet of glass between me and the road, lights etc doesn’t help, but I need to see the dashboard so…
I also got a pair of fixed lenses targeted at my computer working distance so my wide set of 27” monitors are crisp and no nose pointing required.
I am not quite at that stage yet but have given it some thought. I’ve always been nearsighted, I started wearing glasses in 5th grade and contacts since 9th. My vision with contacts is 20/20 or 20/15. Of course my reading vision has changed in the last 15 years too, but my naked eyes can see closeup pretty good so if I need to do detail work I’ll just pull a contact out.
I have heard varied reports about progressive lenses so I’m not sure I would go that route, but technology is always changing.
I bike so I do need my focus to be pretty quick. I experimented with a multi-focal contact lens for a couple of years and didn’t feel it focused quickly enough for me. If I sat at a desk all day it may have been fine but we tried to adjust it for biking and I still had to wear readers at the desk.
Without talking to a doctor, I would almost think I’d rather my vision be corrected for distance and I’ll continue to wear readers but I would not be able to read in bed anymore bare-eyed, or do the detail work without magnifying glasses I guess.
Currently I have my camera adjusted for my contacts. The phone is difficult to see without readers.
I had fixed lens cataract surgery with focus at infinity several years ago, and am happy with it. Before the surgery I was a severe myope requiring correction of 8 1/4 diopter in my right eye and 6.5 diopters in my left eye. That means I could see clearly for only a few inches beyond the tip of my nose, and failed the draft physical. Now I can go drive, walk around, bicycle and do many other things without glasses, which I love after 55 years looking through the tunnels of the small lenses you need with severe myopia. I do need reading glasses up close. I have three types, a 1.5 diopter fixed lens to use with my desktop Mac screen, 2.5 diopter fixed lenses for reading books, and progressive lenses when I need depth of field for working with my hands or shifting between objects. That’s what works for me.
One type of cataract surgery that I have not seen mentioned here was described by Jerry Oltion in Sky & Telescope some years back Cataracts and Amateur Astronomy The surgery gave his wife one eye with long focus and the other with short focus. The goal was to let her see at both long and short distances, but the result gave her strong scattering because the two lenses focused at different depths. I don’t know if this is still done, but if you work seriously with your eyes you should make sure you avoid it. They were both amateur astronomers and his wife had to have a second surgery to implant identical fixed-focus lenses.
I am a retired family physician and an avid photographer.
There is a dizzying amount of choices when it comes to choosing cataract lens replacement. Here is a series of 9 short videos that explore choices. Cataract Surgery with Dr. Olsen - ECNC
Basically the only reason to go for one of the “premium” lenses is to free oneself from glasses. I have worn glasses all my life, so for me that wasn’t an issue. I can well afford a “premium” lens, but I wanted the best, clearest vision possible. For that goal, monofocal intraocular lenses with glasses was the answer. I opted for far vision lens implant in my dominant eye and intermediate vision lens implant in my non dominant eye. That allows me to get by in situations without my glasses. And it was quite easy for my brain to adjust. (I had an advantage of knowing my brain adjusted to one far and one near contact lens a decade ago when I commuted by bicycle to work every day, often in the rain and fog causing glasses to fog up. When I moved a few years later I went back to glasses as that gave me the best vision.) An out of state photographer friend who is a cataract surgeon told me that he routinely recommends distance lens in dominant eye and intermediate in the other eye and has a great deal of patient satisfaction with this.
All the interocular lenses available today are amazing feats of technology. You really can’t go wrong with any choice. In the factory environment of a surgeons office, you probably are not going get a lot of explanations and hand holding, especially on which monofocal lenses to choose. If you opt to try free yourself from glasses, your ophthalmic surgeon’s guidance is essential as the amount of myopia, astigmatism, and other eye conditions can affect choice of which “premium” lens.