Blond as a Baaat!

[Poptart]

Has anybody found a brand/series of contact lenses that work well for extreme nearsightedness? (Most lenses only work up to a certain power of correction and then no more.) I've heard of a custom lens that's popular with cameramen but I don't know any more about them.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Blond as a bat?

I think that's the problem, they're virtually impossible to find. I knew somebody who used those old glass contacts, and it was a pain, literally. Sorry I couldn't be helpful 🙁

 

[Jason_K]

How extreme are you talking?

 

[oftheherd]

Are you in the US? No matter, probably your best bet is to ask an optomotrist. You can probably get your answer by phone if you ask for the chief tech or the doctor.

 

[Poptart]

That's why the internets are here.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

That's why the internets are here.

LOL -- yes, George.

 

[Stephan]

How extreme ? Mine are -6 diopters, made by bausch & lomb. I understand thats a pretty strong correction for contact lenses.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

I've never seen a blond bat. Maybe I need new glasses.

 

[kmack]

Poptart -- I sympathize.

How extreme ? Mine are -6 diopters, made by bausch & lomb. I understand thats a pretty strong correction for contact lenses.

Not blonde, more of a silver bat these days. In my case they would have to be -9 to -9.5.

 

[jano]

I have -14 diopter from acuvue. Check with your ophthalmologist.

 

[Poptart]

How do they work at near distances? I got some B&L aspheric lenses in a -9.5 but I couldn't see at all up close . . .

 

[brightsky]

I had the same problem. Nearsighted, but lenses fit for 20/20 still required the use of reading glasses, which I despise.

So I found an ophthamologist who determined which eye was dominant and fit that eye for distance and the other eye for reading. It sounds weird, and does require some adjustment, but now it doesn't bother me at all and I don't need reading glasses.

The soft lenses I use are Bausch & Lomb SoftLens 66 Torics, which are disposables.

 

[eli griggs]

I've never seen a blond bat. Maybe I need new glasses.

Sure you have, remember "Ace Ventura - When Nature Calls" (1995)

That's why the internets are here.

That’s what I keep telling my wife, but at 3am, she's having none of it.

I had the same problem. Nearsighted, but lenses fit for 20/20 still required the use of reading glasses, which I despise.

I find this to be the ironic part of RF photography. Many of us have returned to or lately discovered the joy of rangefinders and in particular older cameras with tiny viewfinders, at a stage of life that demands dual corrected vision. It's sort of a mean trickster, life is.

By-the-by, to learn which eye is dominate, stretch out your arms and hold your hands up, palms forward as if pushing something away.

Bring your hands together until they form a single, small opening/hole between the thumbs and fingers. Focus with both eyes on something in the distance through the opening.

At moderate speed, draw your hands to your face without trying to control anything, still focused on the distant object. You will find that your hands will naturally go to the dominate eye as you continue to view your point-of-focus.

This is a rifleman’s trick that works well when helping new/young shooters starting out.

Cheers