Digital Photography

Does your camera have a viewfinder? If so, it probably also has something called a diopter adjustment feature. Translated into the language that normal people use, that means that you can adjust the viewfinder to your eyesight. If you don’t take this step, what you see through the viewfinder may look blurry when the shot is actually in focus, and vice versa.

You make the adjustment by using a little dial or slider that’s typically located next to the viewfinder. The red box in the left photo here, taken from my book Nikon D60 For Dummies, shows you the location of the control on that particular model, for example. Your camera manual will spell out the exact procedure, but usually it works something like this: 

1. Turn the camera on and take off the lens cap.
2. Aim the lens at a plain surface.
   An empty wall, for example, or piece of blank paper works well.
3. Look through the viewfinder and concentrate on the markings inside the viewfinder frame.
   I’m referring to the markings that indicate autofocus points, metering areas, and so on. Again, using the D60 as an example, you would look at the three autofocus brackets shown on the right side of the figure here. Don’t pay any attention to the scene in front of the lens — just those markings.

4. Move the diopter adjustment knob or slider until the marks appear sharp.
   

If you have serious vision problems, you may need to buy an add-on diopter that extends the range of the adjustment you can make. Check your manual to find out whether you have this option. (Lost the manual? You can probably download one in the PDF format from the manufacturer’s web site.)

Now if someone could only provide a similar adjustment so that I can read the settings in camera LCD panels and monitor displays without my reading glasses . . .