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Thread: Why is asphericity so expensive?

  1. #1
    Pomposity! Spexvet's Avatar
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    Why is asphericity so expensive?

    It seems like asphericity shouldn't be any more expensive to fabricate - is it the molds that make it more expensive? It seems to be much more expensive than it should be (IMHO). A higher index material is usually less expensive than the same material in an aspheric design. Any insights?
    ...Just ask me...

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    Master OptiBoarder Jedi's Avatar
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    I would imagine it is priced higher because of the benefits of improved optics and being cosmetically more appealling, rather than actual fabrication cost. Though according to our wholesale price list from Essilor TL16 and TL167 are priced the same whether they are aspheric or not.
    "It's not impossible. I used to bull's-eye womp rats in my T-16 back home."


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    Allen Weatherby
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    My thought is volume

    I would assume the volume for spherical lenses is much greater than that for aspherical designs and tooling costs are a part of the cost and tooling costs for a high volume lens are much less per lens than tooling costs for a low volume lens.

    Then there is also supply and demand. What the customer is willing to pay and what the competion charges.

    The more specialized the more expensive.

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    Master OptiBoarder Darryl Meister's Avatar
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    For starters, lens designers must be used to calculate and optimize the surfaces (this isn't necessary for spherical lens blanks). Secondly, the molds are more expensive to make. And, lastly, these designs are usually provided with high-index lens materials, which are considerably more expensive than hard resin.
    Darryl J. Meister, ABOM

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    OptiBoard Professional
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    I worked with a bloke who designed one of the first modern aspheric lenses.

    Surely they can't still be paying research costs twenty years on? Perhaps royalties?
    Optical technicians in Britain.

    http://www.optiglaze.co.uk/forum/

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    Master OptiBoarder Darryl Meister's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RGC
    I worked with a bloke who designed one of the first modern aspheric lenses. Surely they can't still be paying research costs twenty years on? Perhaps royalties?
    Unless everyone is using his exact same lens design, which they're not, it really wouldn't matter. There is no single universal aspheric lens design, and each design can be tweaked to accomplish a variety of optical and cosmetic benefits. This is especially true for polynomial or deformed conicoid aspherics, which many manufacturers use today.
    Darryl J. Meister, ABOM

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    Bad address email on file QDO1's Avatar
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    presumably the semi finished blank takes a lot more checking, and has a higer reject rate, and requires more accurate surfacing. If each material has its own set of tools / moulds, and the amount and type of ashericity varies accross the ranges, then the development / production costs would be considerably higher

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    Manuf. Lens Surface Treatments
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    Correct when molded..................

    Quote Originally Posted by QDO1
    presumably the semi finished blank takes a lot more checking, and has a higer reject rate, and requires more accurate surfacing. If each material has its own set of tools / moulds, and the amount and type of ashericity varies accross the ranges, then the development / production costs would be considerably higher
    When they are made in a plastic material................they are done and correct when coming out of the mold.

    Surfacing might tale a little more work and checking.

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    Pomposity! Spexvet's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by AWTECH
    Then there is also supply and demand. What the customer is willing to pay and what the competion charges.
    There is that. The problem is that, while we know the benefits of asphericity, it's an intangible for the patient. The benefits of a "flatter look" for hyperopes, and "a bigger sweet spot with less magnification", are not very "romantic" - patients have a difficult time justifying the additional expense.

    Quote Originally Posted by Darryl Meister
    And, lastly, these designs are usually provided with high-index lens materials, which are considerably more expensive than hard resin.
    Yet aspheric in the same material as spherical is radically more expensive.
    ...Just ask me...

  10. #10
    Bad address email on file QDO1's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Spexvet
    There is that. The problem is that, while we know the benefits of asphericity, it's an intangible for the patient. The benefits of a "flatter look" for hyperopes, and "a bigger sweet spot with less magnification", are not very "romantic" - patients have a difficult time justifying the additional expense.



    Yet aspheric in the same material as spherical is radically more expensive.
    I dont have any problems selling Aspherics, it is just a matter of presentation, who wouldnt want clearer crisper vision, in lenses that are thinner and lighter. I use a demonstrator, which shows the effect beautifully. If you do not have a demonstrator, order +4.00 in Std and Aspheric 70 blank, and hold them over graph paper, or a chequer pattern printed out on paper...

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    OptiBoardaholic
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    why are aspherics so INEXPENSIVE?

    Strange that this post should pop up today. I was just asking the opposite question yesterday. I deal with a couple of stock lens manufacturers that supply us with stock polycarbonate and 1.67 lenses. They claim (and it is on their price sheets) that ALL their poly and 1.67 lenses are aspheric ie: they don't even sell them as non-aspherics. Yet the lenses are very inexpensive and don't seem to reflect any premium on the price. However, when I order aspheric on my lab grind jobs, they tack on a whopping premium to it. My question is are these stock lenses truly aspheric? How come these cheapie companies don't carry non-aspheric poly and 1.67 lenses? Why am I paying such a fortune whenever I want aspheric in my non stock lens jobs?

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    Master OptiBoarder Darryl Meister's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris
    When they are made in a plastic material................they are done and correct when coming out of the mold
    No, but it would sure be nice if they did.

    Quote Originally Posted by Spexvet
    Yet aspheric in the same material as spherical is radically more expensive.
    Are they from the same vendor? Do they have the same coatings (e.g., an "ultra tough" type hard coating versus a traditional coating)? I can tell you that SOLA doesn't even offer high-index lens materials without asphericity.

    Quote Originally Posted by Spexvet
    The problem is that, while we know the benefits of asphericity, it's an intangible for the patient.
    As QDO said, it's all in the presentation. When I was dispensing, I met very few high hyperopes who wouldn't pony up the extra cash for thinner, lighter lenses that reduce the "bug eye" effect.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ilan
    However, when I order aspheric on my lab grind jobs, they tack on a whopping premium to it... Why am I paying such a fortune whenever I want aspheric in my non stock lens jobs?
    Have you asked your laboratory about it? Your lab probaby isn't using the same "cheapie" (as you put it) vendor for their lens inventory. Also, remember that semi-finised lenses are inherently more expensive than comparable finished lenses, so be sure that the "extra" charge is indeed solely for "asphericity."
    Darryl J. Meister, ABOM

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