The present institutional study was undertaken in order to determine whether testing of colour contrast sensitivity is valuable in detecting early functional changes in patients at initial stages of age-related maculopathy (ARM). The study included 27 patients with soft drusen as an early sign of ARM and 29 age-matched normals. The area occupied by drusen was determined using a computer program. Colour contrast sensitivity was measured with a computer graphics system. Visual acuity, central visual field (Humphrey Field Analyser) and colour vision (D-15 panel) were normal in both groups. Mean colour contrast sensitivity was significantly lower in patients with early ARM (for the protan axis: p = 0.00019, for the deutan axis: p = 0.000078 and for the tritan axis: p = 0.000096) than in the controls. Interindividual variations were large. There was a tendency towards a bimodal distribution for all three colour axes, most evident for the tritan axis. We found a correlation of the drusen area with the protan and deutan thresholds for the fundus colour photographs r = 0.5 (p < 0.01) and r = 0.4 (p < 0.05), respectively, and with the tritan threshold for the angiograms r = 0.5 (p < 0.05). The findings suggest that colour contrast sensitivity may offer an additional possibility of predicting exudative ARM. Whether the patients with the highest thresholds are those who will be the first to show progression with indications of exudative ARM is not yet known. The patient group will be followed up in order to elucidate this question.