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[OT] Varifocal glasses

Thank you - but I was more thinking "old crunchy wanker with poor taste in clothes"

I suppose I must now surrender and buy a cardigan.

Thanks for that - all most intersting...

Reply to
Tim Watts
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That turns out not to be the case.

I tried a pair. My distance vision is fine; better than most people in fact. It's just that I can't see anything less than a couple of metres away. I found that straight ahead they were great, for reading they were great, but anything looking out of the side of the glasses was distorted and unfocused. It looked like cylindrical aberration to me, AKA astigmatism.

I gave up.

I'm currently reading this screen with a pair of pound shop readers (+2 IIRC... but if I take them off to look I can't read the number...) It doesn't really matter when I wreck them :)

Andy

Reply to
Vir Campestris

Well that just doesn't work. You need to measure the pupil distance, the height of each eye (they are frequently different) at the minimum.

Reply to
dennis

I tried them and thought they were dangerous for driving so I took them back and got a set made up for working at the computer so I don't have to sit too close.

E.

Reply to
eastender

My solution is to carry a monocle everywhere. Small, easy to carry....

Reply to
Bob Eager

Ive been wearing varifocals for a very long time now, longer than I care to remember and have had no problems with them. Apart from one occassion when I went for a cheaper lens rather than the more expensive one, that made a real difference but the optician was happy to upgrade them to either Nikon or Zeiss paying only the difference in cost between the cheap and the more expensive. My advice would be to go for a quality lens if you haven't already done so.

In terms of querying the prescription, many opticians will offer free or cheap eyetests so you can always get a second opinion on prescription at nominal cost.

Could be a combination of things here - firstly that the measurement between eyes and lens were incorrectly specified which may be one reason why you find it easier to drop them further from your eyes and secondly that the transition point was poorly marked. I generally have to go through various 'read this. look at that' scenarios whilst dots are marked on the lens to show where I look in such scenarios - did this happen with you? If not it could be they are wrongly marked up.

Reply to
Mark Allread

Tim Watts wrote: I can no longer read the ingredients on food jars (which is

No one can read the ingredients on food packaging. Similarly the usage on a container of Boss white, I opened today.

Reply to
Capitol

Yeah, I was told that would happen in old age when I first started to wear glasses at about 13 or something but it hasn?t happened yet and I'm heading into the 70s now, still getting worse.

But I have just been told that I have cataracts so its all academic now for me.

The only real problem I find with that approach is that its not easy to read the labels when stuff is on the shelves with the small type. Have to pick it up to read it that way.

I normally read stuff like a book without my glasses but now find that it?s a bit close to my face to be very convenient so will just get some reading glasses for that.

Reply to
john james

I have had bifocals for years and got used to them after a day or so. No trouble looking down for steps, etc. or for driving, but could be a problem when I used to repair cars - underneath trying to look back over your forehead. :-)

Reply to
Old Codger

It seems mine are OK for distance "above the horizon" and that suits driving. But I'm less keen on not seeing the floor clearly when I walk...

Reply to
Tim Watts

I believe the basic prescription is fine - I think it's the dispensing that's gone wrong - or I just don't get on with them... Not sure which.

There was not a lot of that - certainly not with my main use cases...

Reply to
Tim Watts

Apparently you can now get varifocal lenses for cataract ops...

Reply to
Tim Watts

In article , Tim Watts writes

I tried them a couple of years ago and I couldn't get used to them so back they went. My conclusion was that I was and still am too active adn my head movement was too quick and I felt giddy momentarily when I turned my head. I'll maybe try them again when I get really old..

Reply to
bert

And not being able to find them!!

Reply to
bert

The normal problem with glasses is that the optical centre is not the vision optical centre. My experience is that the optical centre is pitched 4 - 6mm too high if you are in a laid back position. It sounds like you have the same problem. I find that two pairs of glasses worn at the same time are best for close up work. I use off the shelf 1.5D glasses when necessary. The main pair provide the astigmatism correction, the second pair the magnification. A separate pair focussed at 30" is best for computer work IME. I have doubts about some prescriptions. I suspect that the lenses are grouped similarly to resistors, and if you need an odd value, it doesn't exist within some dispensers stocks.

Reply to
Capitol

I couldn't get used to mine:

The transition from the short sight correction to normal was too high up and made long distance vision too fuzzy unless I tried really hard to look out of the top half, but when used with a computer screen (which is why I really need them) the glasses suffered from glare from the screen, so I found it much easier just to take them off.

Fortunately, I had got them on a 2 for 1 deal and I opted to have the second pair as single vision, so I use them for long distance and take them off for close up work. The Varifocals are kept in the drawer for an emergency spare.

No-one ever mentioned a "satisfaction guarantee", but I will certainly look out for that next time as it's becoming apparent that my close vision is no longer 20/20 and I shall soon need that corrected as well :-( (oh the horrors of old age!)

tim

Reply to
tim.....

Going back to the monocle..it's on a cord, hung round my necy, and kept in a shirt pocket.

Reply to
Bob Eager

most shops offer various "grades" of VF. You are right, the lowest option is "cheap" at about 30 quid extra but an upgrade to the best grade will cost you an extra 200 quid.

God know what you get for that money

perhaps that does solve the problems but, "do you feel lucky!"

tim

Reply to
tim.....

Taking them off for 5 seconds to read labels on Jars is one thing.

Taking them off for 3 hours at a time to work on your computer is a real PITA. You put them down somewhere and then forget where that somewhere is. And you know what, they can be a real bugger to find if the thing that you put them on contrasts with them.

(yes I know, I need to be more organised about where I put them)

tim

Reply to
tim.....

IMHO It depends what for. For a long time I would not drive with them on because the distortion was very apparent if I drove my car through a narrow gap.

I also noticed that my steel rule appeared to have a bend in it

Then we went on a driving holiday in the US, and I needed to be able to look at my phone GPS and a map as well as see where the car was going. The American roads are quite wide (unlike our local lanes) so there was no narrow gap problem and I started to wear my varifocals for driving. I have continued to do so ever since.

The lenses have got better over the years. The latest ones I got 18 months ago are not so 'pointy' but they were a ridiculous price. I now wear them all the time.

My experience might reflect the fact that I originally had good vision, my eyesight has just changed with age.

Reply to
Michael Chare

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