Best camera for someone registered as blind !!!

[sanfairyanne]

Ok so my father just bought a Canon R5. He's registered blind and while he can walk about the house ok, he needs a white stick to walk on the sidewalk. He owns far too many cameras, cameras that just sit in a mountain of gadget bags doing nothing (A7r A7r2, A7r3 A7r4, Leica SL etc). I wouldn't want people to think I was concerned about my inheritance, but this expenditure seems a complete waste of money, especially because he only tends to use these cameras to photograph old ones to put on ebay.
His argument for buying the R5 is that he says he can use a magnifying glass to see the LCD display on the top of the R5. I wondered if anyone can suggest a more appropriate camera for someone who struggles to see the LCD screen, after all the R5 LCD is postage stamp sized at best. The old man doesn't do any video but of course as a life long camera owner (not a photographer) he has to have access to all the gizmos; lenses are a must! So he won't go for a point and shoot (he'd think they're for amateurs). From my own personal experience I know how to use my D810 in the dark, I know how to use it by feel.

Any ideas?

[MyCams]

Just some points that come up in my mind concerning how to design interactive products for customers with limitations in sight / hearing etc.

- make controls: specific to functions
- make feedback for interactions explicit (in case of sight limitations use e.g. sounds)
- create controls that rely on "learned interactions"


--> What comes to my mind Leica Q2: set in the menues only once your prefered settings

--> switching the different modes is done by the controls on lense (Aperture) and on the body (for shutter) just two dials that also each can "click" into auto
      That way different modes like P, Tv, Av etc. can be reached

--> same applies for switch between AF and MF

--> one "manual" change to Macro mode available for special use.

... and it is all straight forward if you are used to "traditional" cameras. No need to find your ways in detailled and complex menues...


And also the image quality is top notch

just my 2 cents
Helge

[sanfairyanne]

Helge,

Thanks, it would be a 5K camera  I was hoping someone would suggest something far cheaper! He's a Leica fanatic, so I might ask him if he considered this option. Sadly he'd probably go out and buy one to go alongside the R5. He's like a teenage girl who buys more lipstick than she'll ever use.

[Jim Metzger]

If he is able to see an enlarged image you might want to look into an auxiliary screen like an iPad with a Camranger. I use one for architectural photography with an iPad Mini, it is like using an 8x10 camera.

All the camera controls are adjusting on the iPad including shutter, aperture, ISO, focus point, etc.

This would not work if you are using the camera handheld, primarily for use on a tripod.

[sanfairyanne]

That's a very good point Jim, I will mention that to him.

[Alan Klein]

If he is able to see an enlarged image you might want to look into an auxiliary screen like an iPad with a Camranger. I use one for architectural photography with an iPad Mini, it is like using an 8x10 camera.

All the camera controls are adjusting on the iPad including shutter, aperture, ISO, focus point, etc.

This would not work if you are using the camera handheld, primarily for use on a tripod.

Would VR eye wear that you put on your head display the camera screen as well?  That way he can walk around without a tripod.  Also, cameras have zoom mode to help focusing.  That might eliminate the need for a magnifying lens.  There's another photographer, Drew Bedo, who has trouble seeing and still is an enthusiast of large format photography shooting 8x10 film cameras..  I think its great.  Maybe you can contact him and ask for advice. Drew is on Large Format photography. https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/member.php?8995-Drew-Bedo

He also has a personal webpage. https://quietlightphoto.com/

[sanfairyanne]

Thanks Alan for the suggestion. He wouldn't want to go to large format. He's not strictly a photographer, I mean he's had cameras all his life. He wouldn't go to the dentists without taking a camera (or two) with him, but he very rarely ever takes a photograph. I suppose my question was a little dumb, I guess i had hoped some company made a camera with the ability to enlarge the text on the LCD in a way similar to how you can do this on a smart phone. I mentioned using Cam Ranger to him, but he didn't appear interested. I think it's a lost cause, he just wants to buy cameras and uses lots of excuses to buy more than he could ever use.

[MichaelKoerner]

From a (very basic) psychological point of view, buying/possessing/carrying high end cameras could help your father coping with his defective eye sight - in terms of "Hey, see? I'm still in the game!"

Coming from that assumption, he would/could not reflect on a camera "for the disabled", but on "as normal as possible, even professional" ones. Your description sounds like that.

In that case I would leave him with his habit - if it makes him happy (and family budget allows it ;-)) ... There are worse methods of coping with deficiencies.

My best wishes for you and your dad!

[sanfairyanne]

Michael, I think your psychological assessment of my father is probably correct. Oddly though he has a fascination with other items such as white sticks, magnifying glasses, gadget bags etc. My mother jokes that when he dies she's going to get one of those chutes like you see outside a building site. She said she's going to fix it to the house and just drop all his camera equipment into a series of skips (yeah it would take a few). Anyway, I should not take up more time on the forum as this is not a place to discuss psychoanalysis. Perhaps I can return to the forum one day with a large list of cameras to sell.