Anyone wear Vari-focal specs?

[Ed DuffnerParticipant @edduffner79357]

Hi All,

I'm short sighted and over the past year or so my distance and very close vision has become a little worse. After visiting the Opticians this week I've been recommended for vari-focal lenses.

I was wondering if anyone uses these and how are they for model making and fine detail work? I also make model kits with brass etch detailing.

Regards,
Ed.

[Ed DuffnerParticipant @edduffner79357]

How do you find using them for model making/ Engineering?

[Brian StillParticipant @brianstill44962]

Hi Ed

I have had a pair of vari-focal glasses for about six weeks now. I have to say that I have struggled, more so with reading, with these. Fortunately I also had a normal pair at the same time and I use these for any lengthy reading or fine work. I was told that most people take 4-6 weks getting used to them. I find that for normal use they are very handy, not having to change specs each time and find driving OK with them. Thats just my personal opinion, others may differ.

Good luck anyway.

Brian

[Grizzly bearParticipant @grizzlybear]

Hi Ed, I wear varifocals, have been wearing them for about 12 years. I don't have to remove them for any reason, work or leisure. I trust that you wear glasses for driving and maybe TV viewing. Regards, Bear..

[Mark P.Participant @markp]

I've worn vari-focals for a few years soon got used to them, but I find that I cannot see if things are straight and level.Things seem to have a very slight bow in them.I have got round that by asking the wife "is that straight?'' But apart from that I have had no problems.

Mark P.

[Ed DuffnerParticipant @edduffner79357]

Thanks guys for your encouraging responses.

My current glasses are just the sinlge focal length and I wear them all the time. I'm like Mark in that I have trouble seeing theings straight and level with the curvature of the lens' , but I've been used to that for years.

Cheers,
Ed.

[Stephen BensonParticipant @stephenbenson75261]

I am a clock repairer and I have worn varifocals for a while and they work great with a optivisor for close work

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Ed

I've had varifocals for 20+ years with no problems at all but I guess the strength of your prescription(s) could affect how you cope with them. I don't remember ever having a problem but I can read OK without my glasses anyway and, if I'm reading in bed say, then I don't usually wear my glasses.

Norman

[JohnFParticipant @johnf59703]

Hi Ed, I agree with all the comments above and I to wear varifocals, only one extra bit of advice, make sure you get top quality lenses and not buy on get one free as many chain optitions sell. Go for Zeiss, Nikon, Varilux, or some other top make recomende by you optition–expensive yes but not in the long run–quality pays!

John

[Chris HeapyParticipant @chrisheapy71135]

The most expensive lenses do give you a better (wider) image but if your prescription is liable to change you might regret buying them. 12 months ago my £250+ varifocals were great, now they are just so much junk because I need a new prescription. I switched back to having 2 pairs of normal glasses.

Chris

[Gone AwayParticipant @goneaway]

Varifocals do take same getting used to (as do regular bifocals) since your eyes/brain have to train themselves to automatically look through the right part.Moreover they actually distort the image at the edges which your brain needs to tune itself for. They need perseverance at at first and I've known several people who simply gave up.

I've had mine for years and they are generally fine in the shop. For fine work (electronic soldering etc) I swap them for one of several pairs of cheap, single dioptre reading glasses (in different strengths depending on what I'm doing).

They (varifocals) are absolute crap for watching TV from a recliner! I actually have a single vision pair for that (I also use those for driving long distances – it's more comfortable). To complete the set, I also have a pair of prescription single vision reading glasses which, again, are more comfortable for extended periods.

My varifocals are still used 90% of the time though. I've been through the middle-age variability and my eyesight is pretty stable now.

I echo what Chris says: eyesight is generally relatively stable in youth and "older" ages but in the middle years it often changes rapidly. If yours is undergoing frequent changes, you would do better waiting some years for it to settle unless you like shelling out for expensive lenses.

[AndyfParticipant @andyf]

When I first got varifocals 12 years back, Ithey took a bit of getting used to. If I looked at a fixed point on a tiled floor and swung my head from side to side, the perswpective of the grout lines seemed to change. After two or three weeks, that stopped but I still have trouble with things like holding a saw so it will cut vertically. I have a cheap pair of reading specs to my prescription, which I use sometimes and they seem to help. They certainly assist with overhead jobs like wiring a ceiling light fitting, where I would otherwise be trying to look up through the long-distance section.

Since my mid-fifties, my prescription has changed little; presumeably the lenses in my eyes reached the point where they couldn't get any stiffer.

So, if you do get varifocals, persevere with them. Then you won't have to go through the sort of pantomime I did in art galleries, admiring a picture through a "distance" pair of specs, then exchanging them for my reading pair so I could read the explanatory label attached to the wall beside the work.

My lenses are also "Variolux" so they darken in bright light. That helps when driving and reading in bright sunshione.

Andy

[Thor 🇳🇴Participant @thor]

Hi Ed,

I too have used varifocals for over a decade. As Sid and Andy says, it takes some time to get used to them. For most of my work I use my varifocal glasses, sometimes for small work a magnifying lamp in addition since I also need more light. I guess that's getting old.

Thor

[Ray LyonsParticipant @raylyons29267]

I know its a pain but I prefer two pairs of glasses and switch as needed. My wife has for many years been using varifocals, usually things are ok but she has to be careful when approaching kerbs or steps. I have seen a few people have nasty falls as a result of misjudging the pavement edge.

[CrankParticipant @crank]

JohnF is spot on with this and the quality of the lense is the biggest factor. High quality lense will give good all round vision but the cheaper ones give only perfect vision in the centre with distortion to the edges. Unfortunately the optitions don't fully explain this.

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

I slide my glasses up and down my nose to adjust the focus.

Neil

[AndyfParticipant @andyf]

Fair point, Ray. My near and far vision must be nearer to overlapping than Mrs Lyons's. Through the distance part of my varifocals, I can read this with my eyes 15" from the monitor. Standing and looking down at my toes through the reading section, I can see obstructions on the floor – a bit blurred, but perfectly distinguishable, so tripping up isn't a problem for me,. I suppose it all depends on the .individual, and I'm just lucky in that respect.

Varifocals are expensive and prescription only, so unfortunately you can't try before you buy.

Andy

[CHRIS WOODS 1Participant @chriswoods1]

The only time I have difficulty with my varifocals is when I have to do close work above my head – as when trying to wire something under the baseboard of my model railway layout. Any other slight difficulties, such as straight lines appearing a little curved, you will get used to and work with.

Your optician can make up a pair of single-vision glasses for particularly close work using one of your old frames if necessary, especially useful if you have an odd prescription as I do (one eye significantly stronger than the other).

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

> (they are coming back into fashion)

About time too! I hate looking through a letterbox, it's amazing how fashion can make millions of people tolerate a less than satisfactory solution for such a critical purpose.

Neil,

[MetalhackerParticipant @metalhacker]

I had been myopic for years and wore glasses all the time. Then I had a cataract op and for a couple of years 'made do' with over the counter readers. I got fed up with carrying around 3 pairs of glasses however. I got top of the line varifocals and persuaded my optometrist, afriend, and the local vicar, tomake some varifocal safety glasses. Magic! You can see almost everything and infocus without the grubbiness of over the lens ones. For really small work I have one of those magnifier lights which is also good, bbutfrequently trips the RCD when starting which can be a pain. I would say go for it everytime in regards to. The varifocals. Afew days of peculiar vision but then it is almost like seeing was when you were 21 rather than 61!

Andries

[RobboParticipant @robbo]

I have worn Varifocals for 30+ years, and use them all the time. I do have a pair of single vision (near focus), but if I look away from the item being studied then I get dizzy and fall over!.

Best go for Varilux, and the bigger the lenses the better, the only disadvantage with bigger is they get closer to your face, and so get grubby/sweaty quicker.

I do have 2 pairs, one with Reactive coating, darkens in the sunlight, this doesn't work in the car as the windscreen has a UV filter in it, one without Reactive for use indoors and in poor light, as the Reactions are very sensitive.

The problem with Varifocals is that the near vision is at the bottom of the lens, and if you're bending down and looking up under a machine, then you can only see through the top part, the long focus, so it's all blurry.

The answer to this is a pair of clip-on magnifying lenses, especially those that only cover the top part of the lens (I thought I'd been short-changed when these arrived, but after I got anothr pair of "full-size" ones I found that the short ones were better). Then you can look through the top part of the lens, through the magnifier, and for close (12" work it's great. Then you can move away looking through the bottom half without the world spinning, until you flip up the clip-ons.

Phil

Where do these bloody smileys come from?

Edited By Robbo on 15/06/2013 10:06:59

[GaryMParticipant @garym]

Hi Ed,

I would echo the comments about your prescription changing. I have vari-focals and because my prescription is high, around -8, I paid more for Zeiss high index lenses. The trouble is, if you're in your fifties, then as others have said your near vision might change fairly quickly and then you will need to replace them which is not cheap. I've resorted to using an older pair of single vision glasses for most activities apart from driving. I also resent the way we are restricted to letterbox frames because of fashion. These are pretty useless for vari-focals and I've been searching for some round frames for years.

One last thought, don't throw your old pairs out. As your near vision gets worse they become useful again.

Gary

[OuBallieParticipant @ouballie]

Varifocals have improved over the years.

The first set I had, which where first generation, I had to give up on as the field of vision was so narrow they made me feel sick, even after weeks of persevering.

Now, however, I wouldn't be without them.

Two cataract operations 15 odd years ago gave me long distance 'lenses', so I only need the glasses for reading and workshop etc.

As mentioned, it does take a while to acclimatize in their use, especially having to move your head instead of eyes only to look at thinks. You have to focus through the comparatively narrow field of undistorted vision, compared with natural vision, in order to keep things from distorting, if that makes sens., When reading you have to move your head and not just eyes to follow the printing etc, otherwise,  looking through the edges of the lenses will distort things appreciatively, which was the problem with the first generation. I'm now on third, and they are absolutely fine.

The one negative, however, is having to tilt your head back to focus close up on things above eye level, but that has become so automatic I find myself doing so even when not wearing the glasses.

The real, real, REAL pain in the ar6e, however, is having to focus on something when you have to adopt an awkward position, and that's when single lense glasses come into their own, the worse is lying on your back or side or head down, and looking up at something fairly close, sush as behind a dashboard or under a car or such like.

Getting the motor assembly into the Boxford shaper was such a time, especially connecting up the V- belt and motor tension adjusting bits and pieces.

Persevere with them, and unless you are extremely unlucky, you will be fine with them.

Really small, and delicate work will need special single focus lenses as my Dad had made for him, for his modeling of historic Man o'War sailing boats.

Geoff – Typing this on an iPad 3 wearing varifocals with no problem at all

Edited By OuBallie on 15/06/2013 10:44:01

[Ed DuffnerParticipant @edduffner79357]

Thank you all for the additional replies.

I started wearing glasses when I was 11, couldn't see the blackboard in school clearly and had to sit nearer the front of the class. Fortunately I didn't get any stick from other kids when I got my first pair of specs. I had progressively stronger prescriptions about every 5 years up until I was about 30 and things settled down. I'm 47 now and things are changing again.

These new spec's will be from Specsavers as I'm unemployed and taking advantage of their current deals. The Lenses (lens' ) are Pentax which I suppose should be good as they made optical gear for NASA. Specsavers offer a range of vari-focal types and my understanding is that the better, more expensive varifocal you go for the less of a transition there is between the different focal areas. Because I have a strong prescription I can also have thin, light glass (optical plastic) with anti-scratch and UV coatings. Apparently I can't have darkening lenses for sunlight because the plastic is too brittle for the frameless style I'm going for.

Cheers,
Ed.

Edited By Ed Duffner on 15/06/2013 11:31:55

[OuBallieParticipant @ouballie]

Phil,

Where did you those those clip-on magnifying lenses?

They sound like the perfect solution.

Geoff – About to rain here in South Norfolk

Edit: Its raining heavely with lightening and thunder

Edited By OuBallie on 15/06/2013 10:45:53

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