Dioptre Adjustment

Have you ever looked through the viewfinder of your camera and thought that the info at the bottom of the screen was a little blurred or out of focus? Maybe, the scene itself appeared blurred – even though the camera was actually getting focus on something – you heard it beep to confirm focus.

Beside the viewfinder, there is a small dial called the Diopter Adjustment?
I have come across so many people that were struggling to see those letters and numbers at the bottom of the viewfinder. When I showed them this, the whole concept of f-numbers and the metering gauge was a lot easier to understand. And now, they could trust what they were seeing when taking a shot.
I hope this post will help just one of you out there so you can enjoy your camera a little more.

Most DLSRs have a dial of some type near the eyepiece. Nikon’s are often big and obvious. The dioptre adjustment on Canon cameras is more discrete. But they all function the same.

This adjustment knob works to correct focus in the viewfinder. It does not affect the focus of the camera when you are taking a photo. It only affects how your eye sees the image in the viewfinder. It makes those meter reading easier to see.

That dial usually has an adjustment range of -3 to +3. If your eye-site is anything less than average the dioptre adjustment allows you to see these settings clearly.

To set the diopter to suit your eyesight, you need to point the camera at something and depress the shutter button to grab focus. This makes the meter reading in the viewfinder show up.

Then turn the diopter dial until the image is in focus to your eye. The meter reading at the bottom of the viewfinder screen should also be pin sharp.

I know it seems simple, but sometimes even a small adjustment can be helpful.