New coatings for glasses

[johnniet]

Some of us can spend $1000 on a custom that we'll use once a week or so, and never upgrade the kitchen knife that gets brutally used every day.

In optics, there are people who spend thousands of dollars on cameras for occasional snapshots, but never bother to find out how their eyeglasses compare.

Has anybody tried any of the name-brand coatings from Zeiss, Nikon or Pentax?

There's a teflon coating out that's supposed to help with rain and fog. (It may also help keep the lenses clean in general.)

There are new anti-reflective coatings out that are supposed to be much tougher than the old ones (don't scratch or streak as easily).

Maybe some of you have advice about different lens materials too. Some people don't like the chromatic aberration with polycarbonate, but some people say it's barely noticeable. Maybe one of the newer materials has some advantages of polycarbonate without the dispersion.

I'm about to get my first new pair in six years; my prescription hasn't changed much but I want to try something new.

 

[AlphalphaPB]

Kinda depends on how long your glasses and prescription usually last. Back when I had to get new glasses every year, I'd just get a cheap polycarbonate lens.

I tried glass lenses for a while and I really liked them, until I took a face-smashing fall. They cracked but miraculously I didn't get cut in the eye, only all around the eye socket. Glass is way cheaper (~$60) and easier to keep clean, plus there isn't much of a noticeable weight difference if your glasses are comfortable. I'll switch back to glass when I learn not to run around with drunk friends.

Right now I expect each prescription to last for at least 2-3 years, so I buy the polycarbonate lenses with the most features. I think it costs around $120 or so for just the lenses with anti-reflective and anti-scratch coatings. I can't remember the brand, could have been Nikon. With regular cleaning, mine have lasted for a year and half so far without getting the nasty pitting and scratches that polycarbonate lenses usually acquire. These also make you look less nerdy because they don't reflect as much light to other people looking at your glasses.

Oh, I buy my glasses in Hong Kong so the lens prices might be a little cheaper than those in the US.

 

[Sid Post]

I am very picky with my glasses and get them custom ordered. Yes, I care about heat treat to!

I specifically insist on heat tempering with the auto grey and auto brown lenses so that a little bit of the metal stays activated all the time to combat flourescent lights at work while indoors.

Changing light lenses are a must. Inside with plastics, I used a little bit of tint and then stepped outdoors and fumbled for sunglasses buried in the bottom of a bag....

Titanium frames are awesome. No allergic reactions and only the most extreme falls or hits bend and set the frames. The one time they bent, I was literally knocked out when a 6 foot steel pipe knocked me into next week.

Glass lenses have also saved my eyesight. I unfortunately caught a bolt welded on the end of a 6 foot piece of square tubing that was anchored at one end and kicked by a cow. It came right across my glasses with a glass lense catching it all. No cracks in the lense and it spread the force out on my eyeball until the tubing and bolt hit my skull and knocked my head into low Earth orbit. I didn't really remember pulling the lense out of the eye socket. That was one truely severe black eye

I am very picky with the lenses and construction of the frames based on limited extreme experiences like these.

I have Marchon Titanium and Wolverine Titanium Safety frames. The lenses are a custom ordered thickness (the eye glass shop thought I was crazy because of the weight) and heat tempered. That little "S" engraved in the corner is well worth the trouble. Folks at work are surprised at a suit and tie guy that doesn't have to grab Safety Glasses out the bucket per OSHA rules when we go into a production area

 

[johnniet]

Originally posted by Sid Post
Folks at work are surprised at a suit and tie guy that doesn't have to grab Safety Glasses out the bucket per OSHA rules when we go into a production area

That's awesome. What do the frames look like? Do they give you some protection from side blows too?

 

[Sid Post]

Wolverine Safety

The pair I have include solid detachable side shields. These work extremely well at keeping stuff out of my eyes that does not contain significant energy (i.e. windblown dust, metal shavings, etc.). No more bloodshot scratchy irritated eyes from particulate matter in windy condtions

These side shields would not stand up to a significant side blow but, in that case my eyeballs are not in the primary line of the threat to eyesight