For those that wear glasses

[Derrel]

I was so unimpressed after a week I took them back, quite angry about having been sold the idea of progressive lenses without an adequate explanation of what exactly I was being sold.

 

[Derrel]

The head movement aspect was particularly a big pain in the ass for me as was the extremely small area of each lens that was designed for intermediate viewing

 

[Winona]

This is good information. I have strugglesd with glasses as well and next week go to see about retrying bifocals. Nice information about progressives since I had not heard of this option. Right now I use the diopter set to my distance vision, take the picture, and hand the camera to my daughter to see if it’s in focus. Lol. But, I really need to start wearing glasses full time.....

 

[AlanKlein]

I wear progressives all the time including when I'm shooting. Taking them off to look through a diopter on the viewfinder but then having to put them on to see everything else was a pain. Progressives take some getting use to. Eventually your head moves to find the right spot in a natural way. Downside when you're looking at a monitor or even a big TV screen is that you can't see the entire screen in focus at one time. The further from the center where you are looking either up or down or right or left gets out of focus the further away from that center point. But even that you get use too or at least I did.

Also, with glasses on, I lose some of the full view through the eye finder. Even there you have to look around a little to see the edges although that happens with all glasses even non-progressives. When I scuba dived, I had corrected lenses glued on the inside of my face mask. Gosh. To be young again.
Scuba_15 by Alan Klein, on Flickr

 

[RVT1K]

I had LASIK 20 years ago now and I recommend it to anyone. I couldn't read the big "E" on the eye chart when I walked in, and walked out 20/20. But now I need reading glasses and just use the cheaters you get at the dollar store.

I have to take them off to take a shot. I have the adjusted the diopter control so I see the image in the viewfinder clearly without them.

But...I have to put them on to see the image well or make an adjustment on my camera.

 

[SquarePeg]

This input has been really helpful. I’m leaning toward getting the progressives and I appreciate the info on the pros and cons to wearing them. Most of the cost is covered by my vision plan at work so if I really don’t like them, there’s not much of a loss there other than forfeiting a second pair of really nice prescription “readers”. I can get them and not wear them when shooting or so what I do now and push them on top of my head to get them out of the way. Unfortunately Lasik is not an option for me so I will be wearing glasses it’s just a matter of how often and for what reasons.

 

[ac12]

Us photographer tend to be more critical visually than the average person.
I recall getting my prior eye doc a bit upset, since I was much more fussy than his other patients.

I insisted on GLASS lens, and he kept saying plastic was optically just as good, NOT.
I had tried plastic, did not like it, went back to glass.

Same eye doc tried to push me to get progressive bifocals, I insisted on standard lined bifocals.
And now that I've use progressive tri-focals, and don't like them, I'm going back to lined tri-focals.​

Progressives is something that you have to try, to determine if you will like them, or not.

I've been using them, and do not like them as I did my bifocals, which is why I am considering lined tri-focals for my next glasses.

Some people, both men and women, are put off by the look of the lines on a bifocal. They think it makes them look OLD, so they don't want lined bifocals for cosmetic reasons. And depending on your business, that may be a valid reason.

Others have trouble adjusting to the sudden RX shift at the bifocal line. The progressive makes that transition easier.​

 

[AlanKlein]

The other things about progressives is that just like focusing a camera lens, you can find the exact focal point for the distance. With fixed prescription lenses, bifocals or trifocals, there are only one, two or three exact focus points.

 

[ac12]

The other things about progressives is that just like focusing a camera lens, you can find the exact focal point for the distance. With fixed prescription lenses, bifocals or trifocals, there are only one, two or three exact focus points.

What I found odd and irritating about progressives is exactly that.
I have to move my head around to find the EXACT spot (in vertical and horizontal axis) where the clock is in focus, so that I can see the clock.
I never had the problem with bifocals.

 

[RowdyRay]

Since my previous post, I've gotten used to them. It was just weeks earlier. I was tired of lifting my glasses and caved. Glad I went with the plain bifocals. No grey area. I'll stick with these going forward.