Posted by Brian Murphy on October 31, 2017 at 8:39 AM
Good morning,
I am wondering if cataract surgery has impacted anyone's photography. My right eye was done yesterday and my left will be done in about two weeks.
If you had the surgery, has it caused any focusing problems etc.? Please let me know if you don't mind.
All went well and the medical community sure has come a long way with this procedure.
Have a great day.
Brian
Posted by Dennis Plank on October 31, 2017 at 9:09 AM
Hi Brian. I think someone else asked this about a year ago. I haven't needed it, but my wife had both eyes done a few years ago and loves it. She had needed coke bottle glasses since the third grade and suddenly went to 20-20, though she does need reading glasses. I think there was a discussion on what lens to get when they do the procedure, but there wasn't a consensus on the subject. Anyhow, I don't recall any negatives as to photography.
Posted by John Tobias on October 31, 2017 at 1:08 PM
I brought this up last year before I had surgery on both eyes. I had a choice of near sighted or far sighted, I chose far, which meant I would need to use reading glasses for close up stuff. I did come to realize that it would take several weeks after surgery for my eyes to adjust. My last surgery was in august of last year, and I still have mornings where it seem like my eyes need some time to wake up! I do not regret having the surgery, wish I had done it sooner. The problem which I have with my photography is trying to use the LED for focusing and composition, as well as quick reviews of photos as I take them. For me it means putting on reading glasses or trying to hold the camera at arms length. This could be over come by obtaining bi focal glasses which are plain on top and reading on the bottom. I actually have a pair, but seldom use them. I hope this helps.
Hi Brian, I Have not had the surgery, but my husband has. He chose the option of one close and one far-sighted eye. Sounds weird (and, to me, unnerving) but people usually adjust fine and can see both near and far with both eyes open. He does need reading glasses, but his vision is near 20/20 with both eyes.
In Jim's case, though, he didn't think - and the surgeon didn't ask - which eye should be near and which far.Jim does a lot of microscope work, and the eye he uses for the microscope (left eye, and writing on the right side) was done as the far-sighted eye.
so now he has to use the right eye for the microscope and his 30-yr pattern of work is totally messed up.
Talk about ALL options carefully with your surgeon!
Good luck - the correction will be amazing.
Sandy
Posted by Brian Murphy on November 1, 2017 at 8:26 AM
Good morning everyone and thank you for the feedback. My right eye is done and the left is scheduled in two weeks. Everything went well. The medical community has come a long way with this procedure. I did opt for the type of lens to help me see distance and then use reading glasses. I took John's advice and bought a pair of cheaters at the drug store. I was a candidate for the bi-focal lens but I was told they are not very sharp and the price would be $2,500.00 per each eye out of my pocket.
Now I won't have any excuse for taking photos with a soft focus.
Brian
Posted by Jim Deasy on November 2, 2017 at 1:15 PM
Hi Brian,
I had both my eyes done last year. Before the surgery I wore glasses full time with a correction for distance and reading. I found that made using the view finder on my camera difficult at times. Since the surgery I only use glasses when I read for extended periods of time. My eye sight is 20/20 in one eye and 20/25 in the other. I find getting images sharper and using specific focus points and have the image to look the way I planned to much easier to accomplish.
I am not an opthomoligist (and I don't play one on TV) so I can't be certain but I would guess that the impact on your photography would vary based on a few things:
1) Cataract surgery is highly successful in most cases. I was told there was a small chance I not have a positive improvement. If you are in the large majority who have a positive result I would expect you find your photography easier and you can do it with more confidence. The degree of improvement would probably be impacted by how your eye sight was prior to the surgery and what the results you you get.
2) If you used glass before the surgery and are able not use them after I suspect you will see a bigger impact on your photography
3) If you did not use glasses before surgery then the new, clear lens will make a difference and allow you to do a better job on sharpness, seeing the internal display of the camera parameters.
I guess the summary would be the bigger improvement you see in your over all eyesight after surgery the more likely you get a good positive impact on your photography. If like me you shed eyeglasses as a result of the surgery using the SLR will be easier, and I found a big improvement in just looking for the shot before I ever raise the camera to my eye.
I hope everything works out for the best for you.
Jim
Posted by Ed Cordes on November 5, 2017 at 9:22 PM
Hi everyone, I am a retired optometrist. While in practice I did a lot of the pre and post op work for patients having cataract surgery. Here is some of my advice after 40 years in practice. Of course, your mileage may vary.
Do not get "bifocal" implants. They do not provide the resolution at either distance or near that obsessive photographers demand, and may cause haloes around lights. If you don't like the result you are "stuck" with them as a second surgery is problematic.
The same goes for the "accommodating" lenses which are designed to allow you to refocus for different distances. They are very expensive and will give you 20/20 at distance and near about 20% of the time. Reasonably good distance vision is generally achieved along with moderately good mid range vision is achieved in an acceptable number of cases, however, the accommodating ability sometimes reduces as years go by.
Most people get their lens implants focused for distance then wear readers or bifocal glasses to see at near.
Any and all implants in good surgical hands and precise work of the technicians will be able to get very close to the distance prescription or near prescription but will most likely not be exact. A bit of fine tuning for the absolutely best acuity will most likely be necessary.
Astigmatism correcting implants work exceedingly well with low to moderate astigmatism and in high astigmatism work quite well. In my opinion, if you have significant astigmatism the astigmatism implants are worth the relatively small premium price.
Monovision (one eye for distance and one for near) works very well about 80-85% of the time. I never recommended this unless the patient tried it with contact lenses first. you can pitch a contact lens but cannot easily re do the surgery.
While focusing at near the reading distance is most likely going to be different than the computer monitor distance. So if you opt for monovision you really need to have a detailed discussion as to what near distance you want the close up eye to be focused at. Many like it to be focused for computer distance and then wear readers for the more close distances, like reading at 12-16 inches, but the power of the near glasses will be different from eye to eye, so over the counter glasses may not work as well.
What I have chosen to do myself is to have both eyes focused for distance. I have about 20/25 or so uncorrected and wear glasses to get the extra acuity to 20/15. I then wear bifocals to get me the 20/15 distance vision and great near vision. I also have "photography glasses" to focus my eyes for the monitor at my workstation.
As with all things medical insist on a detailed discussion with your surgeon and optometrist to ensure you have a complete understanding of the expectations you should have.
Thank you, Ed. I personally appreciate you taking the time to share this. I haven't had the need to have surgery, but have been told I have the beginnings of it, so I figure I will need it some time in the future. I have copied and pasted your note into a Word Doc and will save it for future reference.
Discussion
7 repliesI am wondering if cataract surgery has impacted anyone's photography. My right eye was done yesterday and my left will be done in about two weeks.
If you had the surgery, has it caused any focusing problems etc.? Please let me know if you don't mind.
All went well and the medical community sure has come a long way with this procedure.
Have a great day.
Brian
Good luck!
In Jim's case, though, he didn't think - and the surgeon didn't ask - which eye should be near and which far.Jim does a lot of microscope work, and the eye he uses for the microscope (left eye, and writing on the right side) was done as the far-sighted eye.
so now he has to use the right eye for the microscope and his 30-yr pattern of work is totally messed up.
Talk about ALL options carefully with your surgeon!
Good luck - the correction will be amazing.
Sandy
Now I won't have any excuse for taking photos with a soft focus.
Brian
I had both my eyes done last year. Before the surgery I wore glasses full time with a correction for distance and reading. I found that made using the view finder on my camera difficult at times. Since the surgery I only use glasses when I read for extended periods of time. My eye sight is 20/20 in one eye and 20/25 in the other. I find getting images sharper and using specific focus points and have the image to look the way I planned to much easier to accomplish.
I am not an opthomoligist (and I don't play one on TV) so I can't be certain but I would guess that the impact on your photography would vary based on a few things:
1) Cataract surgery is highly successful in most cases. I was told there was a small chance I not have a positive improvement. If you are in the large majority who have a positive result I would expect you find your photography easier and you can do it with more confidence. The degree of improvement would probably be impacted by how your eye sight was prior to the surgery and what the results you you get.
2) If you used glass before the surgery and are able not use them after I suspect you will see a bigger impact on your photography
3) If you did not use glasses before surgery then the new, clear lens will make a difference and allow you to do a better job on sharpness, seeing the internal display of the camera parameters.
I guess the summary would be the bigger improvement you see in your over all eyesight after surgery the more likely you get a good positive impact on your photography. If like me you shed eyeglasses as a result of the surgery using the SLR will be easier, and I found a big improvement in just looking for the shot before I ever raise the camera to my eye.
I hope everything works out for the best for you.
Jim
Do not get "bifocal" implants. They do not provide the resolution at either distance or near that obsessive photographers demand, and may cause haloes around lights. If you don't like the result you are "stuck" with them as a second surgery is problematic.
The same goes for the "accommodating" lenses which are designed to allow you to refocus for different distances. They are very expensive and will give you 20/20 at distance and near about 20% of the time. Reasonably good distance vision is generally achieved along with moderately good mid range vision is achieved in an acceptable number of cases, however, the accommodating ability sometimes reduces as years go by.
Most people get their lens implants focused for distance then wear readers or bifocal glasses to see at near.
Any and all implants in good surgical hands and precise work of the technicians will be able to get very close to the distance prescription or near prescription but will most likely not be exact. A bit of fine tuning for the absolutely best acuity will most likely be necessary.
Astigmatism correcting implants work exceedingly well with low to moderate astigmatism and in high astigmatism work quite well. In my opinion, if you have significant astigmatism the astigmatism implants are worth the relatively small premium price.
Monovision (one eye for distance and one for near) works very well about 80-85% of the time. I never recommended this unless the patient tried it with contact lenses first. you can pitch a contact lens but cannot easily re do the surgery.
While focusing at near the reading distance is most likely going to be different than the computer monitor distance. So if you opt for monovision you really need to have a detailed discussion as to what near distance you want the close up eye to be focused at. Many like it to be focused for computer distance and then wear readers for the more close distances, like reading at 12-16 inches, but the power of the near glasses will be different from eye to eye, so over the counter glasses may not work as well.
What I have chosen to do myself is to have both eyes focused for distance. I have about 20/25 or so uncorrected and wear glasses to get the extra acuity to 20/15. I then wear bifocals to get me the 20/15 distance vision and great near vision. I also have "photography glasses" to focus my eyes for the monitor at my workstation.
As with all things medical insist on a detailed discussion with your surgeon and optometrist to ensure you have a complete understanding of the expectations you should have.
I hope this helps.