I had progressives lenses with the usual distance/middle/close prescriptions, but also an additional section on the bottom with the middle prescription, to make it easier when going down stairs.
In article , Tim Watts writes
Snip I broke the frame of my varifocals and took them to a local chap* who specialises in dispensing lenses. He fitted them in a new frame. (the old frame was titanium and it would have cost £45 for a soldered repair). He took a lot of trouble adjusting the frame and the result was a great improvement on the original. Chatting with him he said that most of the problems people have with varifocals are because high street opticians don't take enough trouble to get the lenses aligned correctly with the eyes. He reckons that most of his customers are happy wit them whereas a fair proportion of people who get their glasses elsewhere give up on them. After my next eye test I went to him to dispense my new prescription (including prisms) and got top of the range varifocals with all the coatings etc. in titanium frames for about £250 or half the price of the equivalent from the usual places.
*The Fakenham Eye man in Norwich St, Fakenham
Sure, I fixed that by deliberately getting a single focus prescription that works best for the computer screen that I keep as far away from my face as the tips of my fingers with the arms outstretched to the screen and accept the fact that the long distance vision is less than perfect. That last really only affects how close you have to get to read signs in the far distance.
Yeah, I do get that problem when pulling something to bits, works much better with no glasses on, but can be a real problem finding the glasses if you aren't careful about where you put them down.
That's fine when say reading a book but not so easy when pulling something to bits when its an appliance etc. Even having them on a thing around your neck doesn?t work that well because it tends to get in the way of what you are doing. The current ones don?t stay on top of my head for long. Some of the previous ones did that fine.
PD isn't part of the prescription they have to hand to you. Yet it's an important parameter for varifocals. It's like they keep it a secret. I wonder why?
I have had expensive ones and cheap ones.
I bought my last lot from asda, they were £170 for two. They had similar free form multi-coated lenses as the expensive £340 pair I had before. I can't see any difference in the vision they provide.
It's very easy to measure yourself.
I doubt they have stocks myself given the combinations seen with astigmatism correction involved.
The satisfaction (or more precisely the "non adaptation") guarantee is with Essilor. I am not sure on how much leverage one has with an optician, but if the lens maker is sure enough to offer a no quibble guarantee, it could make life easier.
How "no quibble" remains to be seen...
It takes weeks to get used to them.
The lenses are made as circular disks, the person that cuts the disk to fit in the frame determines where the boundarys are. This can't be shifted thereafter, the specs can be moved up and down your nose, that's all. Varifocals don't work well in very narrow (vertically) frames. If you have deepset eyes, that's a problem too. Also position of ears relative to eyes affects the way they work. As you get older they work less well too because the difference between close and distant lenses increases. (ie, your eyes get worse.)
Not for varifocals, you need to mark the frame where the pupil is on both eyes so the reference marks on the lens align so you can machine it to fit in the correct place. If you don't do that then someone is going to have to try and bend the frame bits to get the alignment correct.
They have extensive stocks at the distributers and can grind them to order if needed. From what I was told you can get them from stock with about +-10 sphere and +-5 cylinder.
On 16 Apr 2015, "john james" grunted:
+1 +1 Actually in that respect I find myself at an advantage over my non-myopic peers. When SWMBO is out and about withut her reading glasses and needs to read something, she's completely screwed; I just remove my coke-bottle- bottomed specs and can read anything provided I hold it a couple of inches from my nose end. Have to say it does make me look a bit of a muppet when reading a restaurant menu though.It's also a bit of a bad habit to get into. The other day I was doing a bit of soldering, and before I knew it, I caught myself using the soldering iron 3" from my naked eyeball. What the FUCK are you doing??, I asked myself.
I bought my first varifocals a couple of years ago from my local optician, at enormous cost. I do use them all the time for every day use, but I find them a huge compromise - basically I hate them but put up with them purely for the convenience. I have since bought a dedicated pair of prescription reading glasses, and more recently a pair of computer glasses as well - when I'm working on something for a protracted length of time I find it infinitely better to use those.
My prescription started to weaken slightly once I passed 60.
At my eye test four years ago I was told, much to my surprise, that there were signs of cataracts, and put on yearly checks. They then increased it to 18 months and this year said 2 years was OK.
Apparently there are still detectable signs, though if I had to choose my worst eye, it would not be the one they say looks worst. I am still not aware of any actual vision problems.
I did ask a bit about what was happening and the view seemed to be that, by their nature, these things do not change particularly rapidly, so frequent precautionary checks are somewhat pointless, especially since if I experience any difficulties, then I simply pop in for an examination at that time.
Chris
For anybody still working, if screens are involved, you may well be able to get an employer's contribution to such a pair, I had one or two this way.
Chris
Mine are OK for driving, but for long periods, especially at night where it is more critical, I find that it can be uncomfortable having to bend my neck to ensure I peer through the top section, and have a distance pair to hand.
I also use these to get a full field of view at the theatre, or in a setting where I may need to lift my head to look over people.
Chris
I have certainly been offered different lenses. It is hard to be sure exactly what one is choosing between, but I agree that the best is unlikely to be the cheapest. Has anybody ever actually done any comparative testing?
As I favour fairly shallow frames, I need a compact lens, which limits the options (and probably increases the cost). However, it means that the head movement from top to bottom of the lens is significantly less than if I had something in 70s style, the size of a bay window.
Chris
This is also apparent with single focus lenses - pincushion or barrel distortion.
Years ago, when I found myself waiting for someone at Manchester Piccadilly station, I tried to work out if the concourse roof spans had some inbuilt curvature, and never came to a satisfactory conclusion.
Chris
People vary - some never get used to them. I find mine usable for readable and computer use, but I also have a second pair just for that.
That was one of my main specifications - so that would make them a bit useless for me...
The only case I was prepared to accept would not work was DIY for all the usual reasons including distortion and needing to see close up out the top or far out the bottom. But my plan there was to buy an el-cheapo single focus pair as they'd be subject to dust and grit anyway.
That's not the PD, that is where you want the transition to be.
Not even possible.
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