Those of you with eyeglasses: Who still wears glass lenses?

[maddoc]

I wear eye-glasses since being 6 years old, 40 years in total now ! 😱

Initially glass but since I moved to Japan always some kind of plastic (polycarbonate ?) made by Nikon. 😀 My problem is that I now have a combination of astigmatism, myopic and recently also hyperopic. Additionally, while my left eye only needs 10% correction of myopic, my right eye needs over 80%, making the eye-glasses very unbalanced when using glass (even high-refractive index glass).

So my solution are plastic progressive-addition glasses with a hardening covering and I can use them with a Leica and see the 35mm frame lines with some effort (0.72x VF).

My biggest problem are theses dreadful rubber rings on modern M Leicas, they soak up grease from skin and smear the eye-glasses in no time. Therefore I much prefer the old metal eye pieces, the hardening coating can take up the metal-contact quite easily.

 

[n5jrn]

I use glasses to drive (nearsighted) only. Used to insist on glass because of superior scratch resistance, then years went before I got a new prescription, when I did glass was a special-order (and extra cost) item so I decided I'd give plastic plus antiscratch a try. Worked fine for me so far.

 

[Lflex]

The opticians seemingly loves polycabonate - and I also have to suffer their attempt to convince me not to choose glass every time. My wife has -8 and greatly benefit from glass, as it can be made much thinner than plastic. My eyesight is not so bad, around -2, so the glass/plastic thickness is almost the same.
If you choose your frames with care you can also economize with the weight. Glass and plastic lens thickness grows almost exponetially towards the edges, thus choosing frames with the least possible diameter will drastically reduce the weight. In my experience the price of glass and plastic is comparable, but glass last years longer thus making it a much better choice for me.

Edit: I should add that my personal experience with polycarbonate dates almost 10 years back - advacements in scratch resistence may have changed since then.

 

[dave lackey]

Jeez, been wearing hard contacts exclusively since 1965. Change the prescriptions about every 5-7 years and never had a problem. They are perfectly comfortable, better optics than soft lenses and cheaper by far! Haven't had a pair of glasses since I was 15 years old.

I used soft lenses on a whim for almost a year around 2007 and found them to be more of a hassle, less performance optically and very expensive to replace month to month. Comfort was not any better than the hard lenses. So, I still wear the gas permeable hard lenses and couldn't be happier.

That said, I had monocular lenses and lost one about two years ago and substituted an older lens, so now, I find myself with a pair of reading glasses for time to time needs but can't wait until I get a new prescription so I can ditch the spectacles.

 

[axiom]

My eye glasses are Zeiss glass lenses on Zeiss frame. The glasses have some shatter protection so when it breaks, it cracks like a car windshield and stay together.
I have dropped it on concrete numerous times, surprisingly there isn't even a single scratch.

 

[sepiareverb]

I sure remember hundreds of one-eyed and eyeless folks wandering around when I was a kid and I suppose you just don't see them any longer thanks to plastic lenses.

I wore glass for years and years, but ended up with plastic this last time. They're still too new to know how they'll wear, but the old glass ones are going strong after at least twelve years with nary a scratch. I had a pair of rimless glass lenses that I wore for a long time. Had to sign a waiver with the optician who made them. He predicted they'd not last six months, I had them for at least ten years and dropped them to the sidewalk twice. One lens had a tiny chip in the top edge- and they lasted that way for five years or more. Finally lost them when I left them on the roof of my truck after scrambling out to photograph a moose and yanking them off. Completely forgot they weren't on me head till I was about thirty yards down the road. Couldn't find them in the fallen leaves all over the side of the road.

 

[shimokita]

Tom, do you think that your multifocal lenses have been part of the reason for your two falls? I remember reading (in one of AA books), about the potential problem of multifocal lenses and tripping on the tripod legs??? I tried dedicated reading glasses, but found that in my case I can read better with no glasses and just use them for walking around or watching TV.

The same plastic lenses for the last four years with no problems at all... but I almost never clean them ;-).

Casey

 

[Peter Klein]

The standard resin plastic is actually the best optically.

Polycarbonate has some advantages for some kinds of prescriptions where standad resin would violate some safety standard (U.S.). But polycarbonate lenses generate chromatic aberration. I once had an optical technician sell me on polycarbonate, only to find that I was seeing colored fringes on high-contrast objects, including all printed matter. It didn't help focusing an RF camera, either.

I took the glasses back. Why didn't he tell me about the CA? "Oh, most people get used to it."

I asked for another technician, who apologized. They redid my lenses for free. I just had to sign a waivier that I wouldn't sue them if the lens broke. Evidently my prescription was at some limit where standard resin was legal, but they wanted a "CYA" document.

 

[nighstar]

i've been wearing glasses almost all my life and haven't had glass lenses in them in forever. if i went with glass my lenses would be embarrassingly thick (so high is my prescription) and i don't think that transition lenses (a must!) are available in glass anyway....

who needs glass, seriously. 😛

 

[Noserider]

I've been wearing glass since 1993 or so, once getting Carl Zeiss glass blanks cut in the US and with different (average) coatings. About 2002 or so I noticed that it became really hard to order glasses, with nobody giving any definitive answers about why. I finally got to speak via telephone with a Carl Zeiss VP of Optical Products and he told me that the FDA changed the diameter of the stainless steel ball used in the drop ball impact test, from like 3mm to 5mm, which then made every glass lens fail and every polycarbonate lens pass, so glass lenses from Carl Zeiss were cut out of the US market. (My personal opinion is that was due to oil lobby, rant off). He suggested getting them made in Germany or E.U., and that's what I do, I have in-laws in a town that has a CZ distributor and each time I go there I get a pair made. I'm lucky that I have somewhat of a milder prescription strength, so I am able to choose from a few types of glass. I use a Tital pair for critical work and Punktal for my daily pair, all with the Super ET coating front and back which is the eyeglass version of CZ T* coatings, looks just the same. I also have another pair with Punktal lenses and the Excellent Umbra coating with Super ET for a pair of prescription sunglasses.

There's is no way I'm never not ever going to get the highest quality glass for my eyes, the difference is like a ZM 50 Planar and a 28-70 4.5 Tokina zoom, with the off brand UV filter attached *and dirty*.

 

[njos]

i had my glasses for 8 years, i used plastic lens that can change when there is an UV light..
from clear-to-a bit black lens, i play sport (soccer) with my glasses attach (not using special glasses or anything) the plastic lens kinda scratch-proof (or maybe there is a coating ?)..
i think its good for daily activity.

*to be honest glass lens is good but not for me..

 

[sevo]

I took the glasses back. Why didn't he tell me about the CA? "Oh, most people get used to it."

People do indeed get used to it, or rather, the brain learns to suppress it, like it suppresses the much stronger (given the higher dioptre) CA of the eye itself.

If you need different glasses for different situations, it may be hard for the brain to "learn" your glasses - but YMMV as to whether a switch to mineral glass will help. Arguably plastics lenses are thicker and have a lower RI, two factors that will aggravate CA. But on the other hand you'll get aspheric polished-to-measure lenses only in plastics - and these are much less subject to CA and distortion than any lens currently made from mineral glass.

 

[dct]

For sports and for extended photo sessions I use daily soft contacts. Wearing those I need reading glasses for close-up focus. That's why I'm inclined to mechanical interfaces even for digital cameras: I hate the small icons and characters interface on a back LCD of most digital cameras.
For my daily work I use coated plastic glasses since 5 years. The decades before I had only real glass specs.
The problem with glasses of any material is the reduced field of view through the VF. I know no simple solution which would work for all my different VF cameras.

 

[Vincent.G]

I worn glasses for 20 years already. All my lenses were plastic ones because they are lighter and more affordable. I have dry eyes and wear contact lenses comfortably. My eyesight has stabilized to -3.0 over the years and but both eyes still suffer from astigmatism. My previous hoya lenses got scratched up pretty badly after i started using leica rangefinders. My latest pair of glasses are Zeiss multicoated high index plastic lenses in a German-made frame. It is my first time trying zeiss glasses. I usually go for higher quality frames and lenses since I wear my glasses everyday and depends on them so much.

 

[bobbyrab]

For sports and for extended photo sessions I use daily soft contacts. Wearing those I need reading glasses for close-up focus. That's why I'm inclined to mechanical interfaces even for digital cameras: I hate the small icons and characters interface on a back LCD of most digital cameras.
For my daily work I use coated plastic glasses since 5 years. The decades before I had only real glass specs.
The problem with glasses of any material is the reduced field of view through the VF. I know no simple solution which would work for all my different VF cameras.

Like you, if I'm wearing contacts I then need reading glasses for close to vision, or I need to remove my perscription glasses if I'm wearing those. The trouble I have with wearing glasses when photographing, is I hate not being able to see the whole VF, so I end up with my glasses pushed up against my face then I am constantly cleaning them.
I've found a solution that works for me at any rate, give it a try I promise you will get used to it quite quickly. Just wear the one contact lens in your shooting eye, in my case my right, the left eye then does all the close reading work. Your normal non photography vision is compromised, but not as badly as you might think, it's not something I do if I was just out and about with a camera, but if I'm working in a studio or shooting a wedding, even for a portrait session I would find it difficult to work any other way now.

 

[BobYIL]

My eyesight is -3, having eyeglasses since more than 50 years. Tried plastic lenses of various sorts and brands, they get scratched easily. The best lenses IMO are the thin glass ones with high refractory indices. They are light like some plastic lenses but very scratch resistant. I used Zeiss and Rodenstock thin-glass lenses but also some from other brands (far less expensive), frankly I could not notice any difference.

Another point: With thin-glass lenses I see toward the extreme sides better than any other types. Even for regular size frames I insist on ordering them with 70mm diameter glasses so that the glasses are centered to my eyes precisely but also the glasses after cutting end up with thinner peripheries.

 

[RioRico]

Spectacles for almost 60 years; polycarbonate (Lexan) for a long time, likely since 1990 or before; photogrey or similar since 1975.

 

[batterytypehah!]

So, to wrap this up (as far as I'm concerned), I got my new pair today. The plastic lenses are noticeably poorer optically, in terms of off-center sharpness and color fringes. Remember this is with a virtually unchanged prescription in the -4 range both sides.

But as already mentioned, the safety argument (car accidents/airbags) in the end did convince me, and I'll keep the glass pair to use with vintage cameras.

The anti-glare coating is very good, and they are indeed a little lighter. It's very nearly a wash, though. The old, full-rim pair weighs 26g, the new, half-rim pair 19g. I'd say about half that difference must be in the frame. Ah, progress. To think I've been carrying 7 unnecessary grams around all these years. 😛

 

[40oz]

Plastic lenses are a waste of money for most people. I am in no way convinced glass lenses present some sort of safety hazard. Unless of course you are already constantly boucing projectiles off your eyeballs. And be aware that unless your plastic lenses are safety-rated, they are not some sort of magic shield that is impervious to breakage. A good friend has scars around his eye from his plastic lenses sending shards into the flesh surrounding his eye socket in a fall while rollerblading.

If you buy plastic lenses you need to pay for an anti-scratch coating that lasts a couple years at most, on top of anti-reflective coatings. One can purchase a UV-blocking layer for glass lenses the same way one NEEDS to purchase anti-scratch coating for plastic lenses. I'm not seeing a fundamental advantage for plastic.

The glass used for eyeglasses absorbs most UV-B and a good chunk of UV-A. Anti-reflective coatings can improve UV-A absorbtion. UV coating provides full protection.

I just don't see the economic advantage of replacing my glasses every two years, especially when the weight difference between glass and plastic in my prescription is very, very small. And since these aren't safety glasses, I see no reason to believe that plastic is somehow safer. If I was concerned about facial impacts, I'd buy safety glasses or wear a helmet.

 

[batterytypehah!]

^ Well, you're coming a little late to this thread. I recommend you read it.