# Eye Damage from Digital Photography



## happyday (Jul 18, 2007)

My girlfriend has been a photographer her whole life and is now attempting to start a professional business.  Recently Ive noticed that her left eye is not able to remain focused i.e. it moves to the left.  It is worse when she is tired or not concentrating.  She always takes photos with her right eye and I think some imbalance has developed.  When I try to use her digital camera if gives me a headache after a few shots, I think the focusing is the worst part.  Sorry for not using the correct photography language, but I am very worried for her.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


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## ScottS (Jul 18, 2007)

Well, i don't think that the camera has anything to do with it. It sounds like she just has a "lazy eye" 

as far as headaches... is it a heavy DSLR that you hang on your neck? 
Or, are you squinting really hard when you look through the viewfinder?


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## Garbz (Jul 19, 2007)

Even a professional photographer would not spend any large portion of the day looking through the viewfinder. So even if say the dioptres on the viewfinder was wrong causing eye strain I hardly think it could possibly cause damage to vision.


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## MarkCSmith (Jul 19, 2007)

I have the same problem with my left eye when I'm looking to the right, it tends to not focus and get wonky lol. It's not "damage", it's probably something she has had all her life, but compensated for it at a young age and just doesn't notice it, I didn't until my optometrist told me a few years ago.


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## gtkelly (Jul 19, 2007)

What you're seeing is a lazy eye. I had it and my son has it. It's a muscular thing and it is much more apparent when the muscles become tired.

She should see an optometrist. Glasses can correct this condition easily.


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## TLI (Jul 24, 2007)

Garbz said:


> Even a professional photographer would not spend any large portion of the day looking through the viewfinder. So even if say the dioptres on the viewfinder was wrong causing eye strain I hardly think it could possibly cause damage to vision.


To the contrary, your eyes, like your brain, are malleable. They change as situations and environments do. Say you had 20/20 vision, but for some reason decided to wear glasses, your eyes would adjust to them to give you the 20/20 vision, now no longer having 20/20 without them. So to say that the constant looking through a viewfinder if the diopter is not correct will no hurt your vision is wrong. However, as diagnosed from above, it does sound like a lazy eye condition, but do to the recent onset sounds as if there was some outside cause, and not a hereditary one.  My recommendation is consult your optometrist sooner than later, since after a certain age the condition can become hard if not impossible to reverse


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## tr0gd0o0r (Jul 24, 2007)

When you use her camera, does the focus look off?  If so, do the images come out sharp when you look at them?


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## Alex_B (Jul 24, 2007)

digital photography is not different to film photography in this respect.

most pain caused to me these days is my neck from sitting in front of the computer ...


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