• We propose the macular photostress test for the evaluation of macular function in the office setting. Eighty eyes were tested and divided into four diagnostic categories: background diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema, age-related macular degeneration, and normal. The recovery times for the eyes with age-related macular degeneration were longer than for eyes with macular edema (P=.03). Age-matched patients with age-related macular degeneration had longer recovery times than did those without age-related macular degeneration (P.0001). A possible explanation is that the prolonged recovery time in the eyes with age-related macular degeneration reflects that the anatomic lesion is located in the retinal pigment epithelium—photoreceptor complex. In comparison, the eyes with macular edema, whose lesion is in the inner retina and not the retinal pigment epithelium, show a less-prolonged recovery time than the eyes with age-related macular degeneration.