What Lens are truly Freeform?

[mpuzio34]

We are in the process of reorganizing our optical price structure to a Good, Better, Best system. What are considered the Best lens that use true free form tecnology? Zeiss Individual, Hoya ID lifestyle, and Physio Enhanced are some of the products we are considering. Is the Reveal Freeform truly a freeform lens?

[Fezz]

I like Seiko.

[anthonyf1509]

I like Seiko.

+1
I've been told physio is not free form

[Judy Canty]

Optimized free form: Autograph, Autograph II Fixed, Element, Spectrum, Succeed, Supercede, GT2-3D, SightStar365, Unique, Comfort DRx, Physio DRx.
Individualized free form: Autograph II Variable, Individual, Surmount.

[rdcoach5]

We are in the process of reorganizing our optical price structure to a Good, Better, Best system. What are considered the Best lens that use true free form tecnology? Zeiss Individual, Hoya ID lifestyle, and Physio Enhanced are some of the products we are considering. Is the Reveal Freeform truly a freeform lens?

Yes , but if you read the forum , it is not the most current design. In fact, as I understand it is the original Autograpgh 1 design, or similar. Zeiss Individual is way better in my Rx than Physio enhanced , FWIW. So is Autograph 2

[Judy Canty]

Bear in mind, when you read all the marketing, all free form designs are produced digitally, but not all digitally produced lenses are free form.

[mpuzio34]

Ok, so we will take out Physio Enhanced from that "Best" Category. From the free form lens that are truly customized what gives the greatest "wow' factor? We are leaning towards Zeiss Individual at this point in time. I just wanted to see what other professionals had experienced.

[EyeMaster]

All About Freeform:
The industry really has 3 levels of technology with ALL processes using the same basic equipment.

Level 1: <Not Freeform> Digital processing of a conventional lens (progressive design all on the front), with the design “enhanced” as one mfg says. This process doesn’t do much for the lens design, so a crummy progressive design that is digitally process will still be a crummy lens.

Level 2: <True Freeform> Process turns a semi-finished single vision lens into a progressive (progressive design all on the back) . This is the Seiko-Epson process and is what almost freeform is today. Seiko-Epson licenses the lens companies who in-turn sub-license the production labs. So the lab process is the same with all products with the only difference from one progressive product to another being the lens design.

Level 3: <True Freeform> Process starts with a lens that is neither single vision or progressive (progressive design partly on the front and partly on the back) This HOYA process uses both sides of the lens to create their so-called iD progressives. This process offers advantages and also provides some availability issues when compared to the “Level 2” process/products.



Summary/My Opinion:
Level 1 is not free-form (forget about it). Faux Freeform

Level 2 products are all the same Seiko-Epson process so they're all made the same way. Sample them all for lens design differences and advantages/disadvantages. Great product availability and best for larger eye sizes/base curves because they start with just about any semi-finished single vision lens. True Freeform

Level 3 products may provide less distortion and better optics for dress eyewear because of their front/back design. This process has some availability issues with larger frames and base curves that Level 2 products like Shamir might address. True Freeform

[TLG]

Check out this chart of digitally surfaced lenses. It describes the front and back surface of each to help give you an idea of what is truly freeform.

thelensguru.com/digitalChart.php

[EyeMaster]

How do you define "standard" front surface? I think you're wrong about the HOYA iD LifeStyle product.
as I recall the Individual produced in this country has a spherical front surface starting with a semi-finished single vision lens. Higher power prescriptions on lenses only produced in Germany can be cut on the front surface only. As I understand Zeiss does not digitally cut (surface) both sides of the lens as you describe.

[Judy Canty]

http://www.ecpmag.com/1webmagazine/2012/01jan/content/through_the_lens/digital-or-free-form-lenses.asp

[EyeMaster]

Of course I asked TLG how he defined a "standard" front surface since the blank of the HOYA iD LifeStyle front and back surface is neither single vision or progressive. The design of the blank before freeform cutting is "unique" since they do not start with a single vision or a progressive blank.

Zeiss unless something has changed recently does not free-form cut on BOTH sides of the Individual as TLG indicates. Zeiss uses the same technique as most of the industry to produce their freeform product, that is starting with a SFSV blank and cutting all of their progressive design on the back. ON some HIGH POWER prescriptions, and only those processed only in Germany, Zeiss will place all of the power/lens design on the front of the lens. So it's an all on the front or all on the back deal with Zeiss - they do not cut both surfaces (of the same lens) as TLG indicates.

[EyeCare Rich]

Currently, EyeMaster is correct, Zeiss Invididual in the U.S. is all on the back surface. The original Individual in Germany/Europe is on both surfaces. Not sure what is to come or what is being processed in Germany currently, hearing some rumors though.

I'm glad someone knocked the Physio Enhanced off the list earlier. Isn't it interesting the different levels of education vs. marketing that happens in this industry. How some will just take what is packaged up neatly and handed to them, without doing a little research and educating themselves.

[TLG]

Zeiss unless something has changed recently does not free-form cut on BOTH sides of the Individual as TLG indicates.

There are two "Individual" lenses in my db; the "Gradal Individual" version is euro and surfaced front and back. The "Zeiss Individual" is US and all back-side, as stated on the link I posted. You are correct on the HOYA lens and I will get that corrected - thanks.

[sharpstick777]

Level 3 products may provide less distortion and better optics for dress eyewear because of their front/back design. This process has some availability issues with larger frames and base curves that Level 2 products like Shamir might address. True Freeform

I would digress a bit. Some of Hoya's lenses are cast on the front, digital on the back, so I would consider those products Hybrid lenses, not True Free-form.

Also, I believe that unless the patient is very high Hyperope, it results in lower potential distortion to keep the front of the lens clean and spherical. Concave curves will impact light to a greater degree against a convex surface (front) than they will on another concave surface (back). Hoya, by adding base-up/base-out prism to the corners (concave on convex) of the lenses does reducing geometric distortions, but at the cost of rendering some of those corner less clear. Its a trade off.

I don't believe just because its dual sided, doesn't make it inherently better, until you get into powers over a +5.00 sphere. Then the numbers change and moving some of the add power to the front makes sense. At that point the back gets so flat the distortion on the back exceeds that of the front, and even in Free-form we don't often use 14 base blanks.