Visual impairment can reduce an individual's ability to complete activities of daily living. However, the relationship between measured visual status and task performance remains unclear and poorly quantified. We, therefore, measured the relationship between degraded vision and functional sensorimotor performance. Experiment 1 explored whether monocular viewing (vs binocular) resulted in impaired sensorimotor interactions with planar targets. Notably, we were able to quantify decrements in performance despite the task having no stereoacuity requirements. Experiment 2 used Bangerter foils to mimic the type of visual deficit typically associated with cataracts. Functional task performance (peg placing and water pouring) was reduced and, in general, the effect was greater when vision was degraded in both eyes. While some adaptation to vision loss may occur over time, these results suggest that binocular vision may confer major quality of life benefits; even where eyesight is well preserved in one eye. These functional benefits are likely to be particularly important for groups at risk when performing manual tasks (e.g. cooking), such as older adults, where the ability to complete such tasks may be the difference between independent or assisted living.