I am a customer, not an optician or eye care professional but I'm hoping to get some advice regarding a new pair of progressive bifocal glasses. I know SOME technical stuff, but not a lot. (E.g., I've read about "swim" and "corridor" in this forum but I don't know what they are.) I have two major constraints: (1) optical (2) personal comfort.
Optical constraint:
+8.00 -4.75 45 +2.00 (old Rx: +7.75, went up 0.25)
+6.75 -1.00 80 +2.00 (old Rx: +7.00, went down 0.25)
PD 65
Personal comfort: For about 2 years I've been wearing progressives in
similar (not identical) power in a Revolution RE005 50-20-140 frame.
The RE005 glasses are too big, keep slipping down my nose, etc. See:
<http://www.framesdirect.com/
framesfproduct.asp?listingid=101761&ftype=p&page=
0&singledisplay=1&numberorder=2>
My old pair of single vision glasses is a 48-17-135 Bugle Boy BB-15 (made by Marine Optical) and those are VERY comfortable and, I think, look good. I think those are around +7.50 and +6.50. Admittedly, the lenses are a bit thinner and lighter than the progressive lenses.
I wear my glasses very high up on my nose and close to my face and I'm thinking that the 17 mm bridge is very helpful in that regard. I'm short, so I think I need a lot of lens 'on top' because I am normally looking 'up'. I wear my glasses almost all the time and even fall asleep reading.
Frame-wise, I have found that a new pair of Brooks Brothers BB325 49-19-135 to be VERY comfortable in every store where I've tried them on "off the shelf" so I would have to go with that or something VERY similar.
I have been to almost every optical shop in my area and browsed the internet and have been offered MANY choices of lens. My current lenses are Zeiss Gradal but I don't know which "flavor" (Top, etc.) with AR coating.
If I go with Zeiss again using my local independent optician, it will be my most expensive option by a substantial amount so I am considering the others. Here is where I am hoping to get your input, technical and otherwise.
I've got quotes that range from around $250 to WAY over $500. The lens types are:
Pentax 1.67 (LensCrafters)
Seiko Proceed 2 (several places)
Zeiss Gradal
Essilor Ovation (Costco)
Varilux Panamix (several places)
J&J Definity - 1.60, NOT a 1.67 high index lens
Hoya WIDE - I think this is a 1.70 or 1.71 RI lens
etc.
I understand that different lenses and grinding designs have advantages for different purposes (high +; high -; high add; good peripheral vision; etc.) In general, which lens material / design would you recommend for my specific Rx? I mostly do office - reading - writing - computer work, but I am also somewhat active, moving about throughout a normal day. I am NOT a professional athlete or anything like that.
Some people say to stick with Zeiss if I'm already adapted to it. (My Rx has changed slightly: I think the old Rx is OD +7.75 -4.75 45 +2.00; OS +7.00 -1.00 80 +2.00.) Do you agree with that idea?
Just how different are all these lenses anyway? Maybe some fancy electro optical instrument can tell the difference to 6 decimal places but my eyesight is so bad, will I be able to tell the difference? Even one "brand" has many different "flavors": Essilor / Varilux: Panamic, Airware, Comfort, Ovation ... what's the difference?
Are there just a few labs that will actually cut this complicated Rx lens? That is, this is not a "1 hour" in-store LensCrafters Rx. Will everyone send out my order to the same regional Zeiss, Seiko, Essilor, Pentax, etc. lab to have this lens made up? If so, it wouldn't matter if I got the Zeiss from Store A or Store B, right? Or, are there a lot of independent labs that can do this Rx with, perhaps, variable quality regardless of brand?
Cross-referencing my "Costco" post, Costco will let me provide my own frame (e.g., the BB325) and put Essilor Ovation lenses in them for an $18 fee and that is still, by far, one of the cheapest options ($270, total), although that's the standard AR coating, not Crizal or Alize. If I'm accustomed to Zeiss Gradal Top will Essilor Ovation be as thin and light? What other differences might I notice? Is it worth (>$200 difference) the risk to try the Ovation lens?
Thank you very much for your help and advice.
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