Photo tip: viewfinder and diopter adjustment
Your camera's viewfinder is equipped with a diopter corrector. If your glasses are only slightly corrected, take them off and adjust the sharpness directly in the viewfinder!
Many people prefer to photograph without glasses. In bright sunlight, incident light from the side is particularly annoying. So the closer your eye is to the viewfinder, the better. However, if you have very poor eyesight, it is impossible to adjust the diopter of the camera's viewfinder. To remedy this, there are eyepieces with dioptre correction, but they are not really in demand, perhaps because people don't know they exist? In any case, these look like this:
Whether you're photographing with glasses or corrective lenses (or even if you can see perfectly), the viewfinder may be set incorrectly. No matter how hard you try to focus, the image in the viewfinder will never be sharp.
Dioptric correction
A small knob with plus and minus signs, usually located next to the viewfinder, is used to adjust the dioptric correction. Nearsighted people will need to turn to the minus, farsighted people to the plus.
To correct, look through the viewfinder as you press the shutter release halfway. Then you play with the diopter correction dial. However, you don't look to see if the pattern is in focus, you pay attention to the information that is displayed during focusing: exposure time, aperture, etc. With an SLR camera, this measurement data generally appears at the bottom of the screen. They allow you to judge sharpness, which will not be altered in the event of slight movement or loss of focus.
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David Lee
Senior Editor
David.Lee@digitecgalaxus.chMy interest in IT and writing landed me in tech journalism early on (2000). I want to know how we can use technology without being used. Outside of the office, I’m a keen musician who makes up for lacking talent with excessive enthusiasm.
