[Rahul Bhalgat]

I need to buy a new set of eyeglasses with a new frame.

So far, I have been visiting a small optician shop where the owner would check my number and offer me a few frames to choose from. He would also offer me a variety of lenses to choose from and insist upon making a decision, in 5 minutes, based on what stuff he told me.

And based on that 5-minute presentation, I won't believe in him and shell out few thousands extra. So I always ended up in buying "normal" glasses with anti reflective coating. No UV protection, no special index (I buy 1.56).

It happens this way because I am not sure of the following:

1. Whether I need all the features advised by him.
2. Whether he is charging me a correct price.
3. Which company charges just for the big brand name without additional technical benefit?
4. If I will get what I paid for (especially the index)

I have these doubts because he pushes me to decide on the basis of what he tells me in 5 min.

Typically I have -2 number with around +0.5 for reading. I am already using progressive lenses.

If the prescribed and delivered specifications are perfect, spending more is not a problem for me.

Can anyone advise me on this? Which shops in Pune are more knowledgeable, honest and trustable?

[Guite]

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat

He would also offer me a variety of lenses to choose from and insist upon making a decision, in 5 minutes, based on what stuff he told me.

And based on that 5-minute presentation, I won't believe in him and shell out few thousands extra. So I always ended up in buying "normal" glasses with anti reflective coating. No UV protection, no special index (I buy 1.56).

It happens this way because I am not sure of the following:

1. Whether I need all the features advised by him.
2. Whether he is charging me a correct price.
3. Which company charges just for the big brand name without additional technical benefit?
4. If I will get what I paid for (especially the index)

Can anyone advise me on this? Which shops in Pune are more knowledgeable, honest and trustable?

If you do not make up your mind in five minutes what can the optician do? Increase price? He will not deny you service just because you took ten minutes to decide.

These days I never make lens purchase on first visit to optician. I first find out what is available in the market and then come back to do internet research.

Most lens material these days, except glass, have inherent UV protection. 1.56 is not exactly a low index, as in “normal”. What are the features which the optician sold you? You can always find out more on the brand website.

I am brand conscious, so usually go for Zeiss or Essilor. There are Japanese and Israeli brands also available, in addition to homegrown Titan. Choose a good brand because lens quality matters a lot. Clarity, sharpness, and accuracy of what you see depends on it, apart from comfort.

[Rahul Bhalgat]

Originally Posted by Guite

I am brand conscious, so usually go for Zeiss or Essilor. There are Japanese and Israeli brands also available, in addition to homegrown Titan.

I am conscious for quality. If a brand offers it, I don't mind. But I won't like to pay extra for the ordinary goods just looking at a famous name. Are these "brands" exaggerating the benefits just to command a higher price? To assess the quality, we need some study and knowledge. I visited the websites of some famous brands but they present the basics of vision and lenses more from a sales perspective.

So I thought I will seek an unbiased expert opinion here, to save time. On this forum, we can trust the fellow members.

So, if you have some domain knowledge and experience of working in this field, please guide. Otherwise I am already aware of what you told and I am seeking advice here because of it's limitations.

[Thad E Ginathom]

There are two things... Paying more for a brand of lens which is made by a world-famous and long established specialist in optical technology and, paying more for a frame which may or may not be well made, but carries some high-fashion name. The former might be a good idea, the latter belongs to psychology and vanity

And here is my question for the eye specialists here, concerning progressive lenses:

I recently changed from only needing reading glasses to needing glasses for distance too. I find that bifocals do work well for driving, because the outer, lower corners of each lens give me clear distant focus into the orvms.

If I shift to progressives, I understand that this area of the lens won't give me useful vision of anything.

How do wearers of progressive lenses cope with that and the other peripheral-vision needs of driving?

[Guite]

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat

So, if you have some domain knowledge and experience of working in this field, please guide. Otherwise I am already aware of what you told and I am seeking advice here because of it's limitations.

I certainly do not have domain knowledge and experience of working in this field. Sorry if I have come across as masquerading. I was just trying to help.

I still go for branded items because highly visible brands have reputation to protect. So there is assurance of quality. Most of the technology they sale are not just gimmick. There is a thread in this forum on Zeiss DriveSafe lens. A lot of users have vouched for it.

[drpavan]

Hi everyone, I am an Orthopedician, done Fellowship in Joint Replacement of both Knees and hips from SUNSHINE HOSPITAL HYDERABAD.
I am a newbie here. If anyone of our fellow members require suggestions regarding Ortho problems, will be able to help.
Regards
Pavan.

[Traveler]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

There are two things... Paying more for a brand of lens which is made by a world-famous and long established specialist in optical technology and, paying more for a frame which may or may not be well made, but carries some high-fashion name. The former might be a good idea, the latter belongs to psychology and vanity

And here is my question for the eye specialists here, concerning progressive lenses:

I recently changed from only needing reading glasses to needing glasses for distance too. I find that bifocals do work well for driving, because the outer, lower corners of each lens give me clear distant focus into the orvms.

If I shift to progressives, I understand that this area of the lens won't give me useful vision of anything.

How do wearers of progressive lenses cope with that and the other peripheral-vision needs of driving?

I am a progressive wearer and have spent a fortune try out various combinations when I started wearing specs. I tried separate glasses and found it to be too cumbersome, next I tried bifocals and got two pairs of executive bifocals specially made. The image jump between near and far in the bifocals put me off. Finally I tried progressive and my first couple of progressive specs were not good. I was trying run of the mill lenses to try out and they did not work out. The near viewing area was very narrow and i had to constantly move my head around even when reading emails on my laptop. Ultimately i went in for better lenses and there was a vast difference not only in width of the near / reading corridor but also the optical clarity was great. I now wear Japanese Tokai progressive with a grey transitions coating and they are really good.

My suggestion is to try a good quality progressive lens from a reputed optician. The measurements for making a progressive are very critical and they are fitted as per the frame and ones pupiliary distance and height of the frame. Don't bother with cheap progressives as they are a waste of money.

Peripheral vision improves with time and in a week or 10 days you won't notice anything.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Traveler

I am a progressive wearer and have spent a fortune try out various combinations when I started wearing specs. I tried separate glasses and found it to be too cumbersome, next I tried bifocals ...

That is a really helpful description of your experience. Many thanks!

One thing with me is that I took to bifocals within an hour or so. I think that my first experience with stairs was a bit odd, and the second was fine. I am vaguely aware of the line, but don't really feel any jump. If progressives just got rid of the line and further smoothed the, erm, progression, then I could go for that.

On the other hand, I find having to look down while reading tiring. Bifocals for the convenience, but reading glasses win for extended time with book, phone screen, etc. I don't think that progressives will help with that.

So I am putting progressives back on the yes-but-not-now list . And have spent my current nest egg on a new AC machine

[Traveler]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

That is a really helpful description of your experience. Many thanks!

One thing with me is that I took to bifocals within an hour or so. I think that my first experience with stairs was a bit odd, and the second was fine. I am vaguely aware of the line, but don't really feel any jump. If progressives just got rid of the line and further smoothed the, erm, progression, then I could go for that.

On the other hand, I find having to look down while reading tiring. Bifocals for the convenience, but reading glasses win for extended time with book, phone screen, etc. I don't think that progressives will help with that.

So I am putting progressives back on the yes-but-not-now list . And have spent my current nest egg on a new AC machine

The jump will be more apparent once the near and distance power increase with age. With progressive there is no jump. The lens alters its power gradually from top half (distance) to lower centre (near). The transition is very smooth. The only problem is that due to being a single piece the lower edges (peripheral vision) become blurry. These area will be wider on a cheap lens and narrower on a top quality lens. So you basically have a corridor that starts from the center middle and goes towards the bottom for the reading powers. The more expensive the lens the wider this corridor becomes and hence smaller the distortion on the edges. Have a look at this image http://64.50.176.246/progressive_len...ges/Slide8.GIF to understand better.

Cheers.

[condor]

Originally Posted by Traveler

Finally I tried progressive and my first couple of progressive specs were not good. I was trying run of the mill lenses to try out and they did not work out. The near viewing area was very narrow and i had to constantly move my head around even when reading emails on my laptop. Ultimately i went in for better lenses and there was a vast difference not only in width of the near / reading corridor but also the optical clarity was great.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

If progressives just got rid of the line and further smoothed the, erm, progression, then I could go for that.

So I am putting progressives back on the yes-but-not-now list . And have spent my current nest egg on a new AC machine

@Thad, you could go for progressive. I am now looking at my second set due to change in power. My optho who I would trust with my eyes closed has asked me to go for one that covers a wide angle of view. These will be a little more expensive, but will be comfortable. Btw, before anyone reads into the doc's instructions - No, the glasses will not be thru my doc's clinic.

[Thad E Ginathom]

While I was in UK, I suddenly developped a rather bad "floater," so I went and got it checked out, and yes, it was one of the 99% harmless ones, but I paid for a full eye examination, and when I lost a whole lens in my specs due a loose screw, thought I might as well get the cost-of-test-off-your-specs and get a new pair. Then there was the buy one get the frame for another free.

So I came back from London with two new specs, one bi-focal general, and one finger-tip-intermediate computer. Here's the thing: they were so much better than any lenses I have had got here for the past several years. Somehow, none of the optical shops or eye docs here, in those recent years, have got my astigmatism just right. Don't know how this can be! I had a pair of reading glasses made here, to that prescription, and they are great too. And I got the lenses in the lost-lens frame replaced too.

So I'm quite well equipped for specs just now! But what got me thinking about progressives again was that I wanted driver's glasses, as in photo-chromic-that-works-in-cars. Shops were telling me I could have single-vision or progressive, but they did not do bifocal. And VisionExpress told me they actually did a 30-day money-back-if-not-happy offer on progressives, which I had not come across here before. So I got thinking...

But no. I'll stick for now, with what I have, because it does work for me. But the advice is much appreciated, and I'll maybe go that way in a couple of years.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat

So far, I have been visiting a small optician shop where the owner would check my number and offer me a few frames to choose from. He would also offer me a variety of lenses to choose from and insist upon making a decision, in 5 minutes, based on what stuff he told me.

My question is to any opthamologist in the group. If I go to a proper hospital, they first dialate my eyes, take some readings and then ask me to come the next day to take some more readings without the dialations and then prescribe the power. Whereas an optician does the job in less than five minutes. I don't believe that the run of the mill optician has a better equipment than a good hospital. So what is the difference?

[condor]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

My question is to any opthamologist in the group. If I go to a proper hospital, they first dialate my eyes, take some readings and then ask me to come the next day to take some more readings without the dialations and then prescribe the power. Whereas an optician does the job in less than five minutes... So what is the difference?

The optician would be checking your eyes for reading clarity - whether you need glasses. The optho is checking your eyes for health. Dilation is to be able to see inside - the retina.

[agambhandari]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

My question is to any opthamologist in the group. If I go to a proper hospital, they first dialate my eyes, take some readings and then ask me to come the next day to take some more readings without the dialations and then prescribe the power. Whereas an optician does the job in less than five minutes. I don't believe that the run of the mill optician has a better equipment than a good hospital. So what is the difference?

Originally Posted by condor

The optician would be checking your eyes for reading clarity - whether you need glasses. The optho is checking your eyes for health. Dilation is to be able to see inside - the retina.

The correct way to check the refractive error is by using the mydriatic/cycloplegic eye drops and getting the full correction that one needs to put in glasses. The check up on following day is to confirm that even when the accommodation is active, the power from the previous reading gives good results since that is the real life scenario that you'll be using all the time. In some cases, it is better to undercorrect a little, so that can only be checked the next day when the effect of drops wears out.
The optician mostly only does the work using Auto ref machine. And while they do know the whole procedure, you don't always need it as a part of routine check up.

Checking the Retina is not a part of routine check up for younger patients. That's not why the drops are put in.

Also, as an added note, the checkup with the drops is of utmost importance since they have a higher muscle tone and thus a higher accommodation.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Your optician is just doing the prescription, not a full eye-health examination.

My eye doc does the whole thing in one sitting.

The optical shop I went to in London also did a full examination, and also did it in one sitting.