Varifocal lenses

[fred]

Is there a limit to the size, top to bottom, of varifocal lenses. What is the max size available ?

[Tricky Dicky]

Don?t know about a maximum size I do know there is a minimum limit as happened to me when I wanted some nice slim ones only to be told it was not possible. As far as the maximum there may not be a limit just think of snooker player Denis Taylor and his special glasses.

Richard

[newshound]

I suspect there is a standard size for the round commercial blanks. I am fairly sure they are less than 75mm.

[R D S]

Varifocals come in a variety of corridor length, you can get quite shallow ones but the limits of a more shallow lens should be obvious. The longer corridor ones will require you to rotate your eyeballs further than you might like to read anything.

In my experience a frame 30-odd mm in depth with with pupils 2-3mm above vertical centre and a medium corridor varifocal provide best results.

[ARW]

I believe Taylor's were special as the varifocal lenses were upside down so that he viewed close up objects by looking up through the top of them.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

By size what exactly do you mean? I think that there is a finite spread of the correction you can have in them, before things get far too distorted to be of much use to the brain. My lat father had some and still needed reading glasses. Brian

[fred]

I have always preferred frames which perched low on the nose allowed me to look over the top of the frames, essentially for long distance viewing. Trouble with that is that it places the varifocal lens in the wrong position for computer use. The lenses are about 32 x 60 (Its hard to read a tape meaure without glasses). I just wondered would an increase of the 32mm dimension allow better use of the vaeifocal element. At presnt I need to tilt my head for best computer screen viewing or keep pushing the glasses up my nose.

I also have a pair of reading glasses for reading in bed, especially a Kindle. As I dont sit up to read the varifocals were not the best for this job.

[NY]

Which grade of varifocals did you go for? When I was offered VFs by SpecSavers, I opted for a middle-of-the-road grade of lens: the better the gradation from one focal length to the other across the surface of the lens, the better the image.

I found that my eyes/brain couldn't get used to VFs at all. I gave them a full week's trial before reporting back that I was seeing slanted verticals which changed direction depending on which way I moved my head: rectangles changed into parallelograms. It was *very* disconcerting and didn't improve over time.

Specsavers re-tested my eyes and checked the exact dimensions/spacing of my eyes to make sure that the centre of each lens exactly matched the position of the pupil. But still the same symptom. They said that they'd never had the symptom reported, and were most interested in the sketches that I drew of what the effect looked like - the optician said that she was going to report it to the opticians' community to see if anyone else had ever had it reported to them by a patient.

So they offered me two separate pairs of glasses - distant and reading - for the same price. Ironically, as I've got older, my need for distance glasses has diminished to the extent that my distance glasses have no discernable effect, but I need stronger and stronger reading glasses. When I first got reading glasses about 10 years ago, I had to take them off to read the computer screen but needed them for reading a book. Now it's a struggle to read print on a computer screen even though it's further away. I really need to go back and have my eyes tested again because my present reading glasses may need a stronger prescription again.

I know what you mean about having glasses perched on the end of your nose so you can see over them for looking into the distance. Perhaps I ought to have some of those really naff half-moon glasses like my old headmaster used to have ;-)

[Dave Plowman (News]

Were they Varifocals - or simply frames that allowed him to see the pocket when looking straight at the ball?

Most frame are more designed to allow you to look down - to read etc - rather than up.

[Michael Chare]

When I first got varifocals I did not like driving through narrow gaps whilst wearing them. Then I went on holiday to the USA and frequently had to change glasses to look at the map and phone GPS. I got fed up having to do that and tried just using the varifocals as the roads are quite wide. I got so used to that when I got home I was able to continue to just use varifocals to drive. These days I keep them on all the time so don't lose them, unlike SWMBO who takes hers off much of the time and then can't find them.

The lenses I use are not very big and I can see over the top if I really want. I originally got glasses just to drive, so that I could be sure of clearly seeing something like a cyclist in the dark. These days I need them for seeing anything close to me. Working on the car can be awkward if I have to twist my head and still have to look at an extremet angle.

[John Rumm]

As I find to my cost when wiring things up at ceiling level, unless I remember to take a pair of reading glasses with me!

[ARW]

Maybe RDS knows. He did my varifocals and did mention upside down ones for my work with lights at height.

I actually was fine with what I was prescribed.

The polarised sunglasses RDS provided are of course are a nightmare on a FIAT Scudo dashboard as FIAT have a polarised dashboard screen at 45 degrees to his glasses.

The sunglasses work fine in the Skoda, Maserati and VH Viva that I have also driven.

I don't think the Viva has a polarised dashboard screen:-)

[fred]

I think I got the best ones. Its been some time

I use the reading glasses only for bedtime use, Kindle etc. They are useless for reading elsewhere as in bed I lie down flat and hold the book on my chest. They wouldn't work with a computer screen for me.

I at one time used to use a very expensive optician, but went off him big time when he started discussing his helicopter and saloon car racer, apart from which I never found his glasses very good. Problems with using a computer screen etc. I switched to Specsavers and never had any more problems

I have no problem with distance viewing with my varifocals except when they get dirty but I still peek over the top of them

Originally I wore 1/2 frame glasses when I only need in them for reading

[newshound]

I take my varifocals off; and then of course get plaster dust in my eyes.

[newshound]

Yeah, my other car is a Porsche etc

:-)

[John Rumm]

I have long sight and astigmatism, so I get a small blurred image along with the plaster dust!

[Tim Streater]

SWMBO has just got varifocal contact lenses; we'll see how that goes.

[Dave Plowman (News]

I tried them years ago and didn't get on with them. But to me the whole idea of contact lenses is normal vision where possible. Just like an older person with perfect eyesight who needs reading specs through age.

A pal has one lens for reading, the other for distance. All depends what suits you.

[ARW]

The Skoda is mine, the Maserati is my MD's and the VH Viva is my mates restoration project.

Only one of them does 50MPG.

[Jeff Layman]

Where does he store the tanks of rust remover? (My first car was an HB. I know all there is to know about rust!)

What is a "VH" Viva?