Aninfra #1

[Jackie L]

We were attending a weekend conference in Maine, yes Maine, and the speakers, Laurie Pierce and Debbie White were fantastic. (Darryl, Laurie used your new lens program during her presentation and it was extremely well received.....oooh, that P factor) Anywho, we talked about various tints for aphakia. Does anyone out there remember the bluish tint used on Lenticulars (at the time) by Cataract Lens Labs in Hialeah, Florida? It was called Aninfra #1. We can only assume it had something to do with "not infra" as in red light in the spectrum. We trusted our labs during the early eighties and we dispensed quite a few of those. Thank goodness we understand the needs of our patients more today. Any takers?

Jackie O

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Still a Maina for now

[JRS]

Was that the same as the old "Terminon" color? Not sure I spelled that even close to right, but hopefully someone will straighten me out...

[shanbaum]

Originally posted by JRS:
Was that the same as the old "Terminon" color? Not sure I spelled that even close to right, but hopefully someone will straighten me out...

That was "Therminon", which was manufactured by The Therminon Lens Company. Imagine, a company based on the manufacture of light blue lenses (all glass, of course). I believe that they went out of business in the 60's, before Roger McGuinn, who could have provided their salvation, came along...

As I recall, the lens color was identical to "unisol", which was the more common name. I remember really liking the color. I'd guess that they provided a more daylight-like color balance under tungsten lighting; they were similar in appearance to photographic filters designed for that purpose (hence the "unisol" moniker).

Now, who was Roger McGuinn (and what did he have to do with the optical biz)?

[JRS]

Gee Robert, the unfortunate thing about us even REMEMBERING this product is a true show of our age. Perhaps we should just be quiet and not talk about things made prior to 1980.

PS - my favorite color was the Cobalt Blue lenses (glass of course). Made a pair up, for my Outdoorsman frame, in 3.0 ct's. Man was I cool in the "60's". !!!

[This message has been edited by JRS (edited 10-18-2000).]

[Darryl Meister]

I also believe that the bluish-green color of Therminon, which has a transmittance similar to the sensitivity of the human eye, was marketed to improve night driving as well. I don't know that this was ever substantiated though. I think that "Crookes" lenses might have had a similar hue.

I am not sure about the "Aninfra#1" -- haven't heard of it. Your suggestion about "no infrared" seems quite reasonable though.

Best regards,
Darryl

[This message has been edited by Darryl Meister (edited 10-18-2000).]

[shanbaum]

Originally posted by Darryl Meister:
I think that "Crookes" lenses might have had a similar hue.

I'd forgotten about Crookes. You know, I always thought that what Nixon really said was, "The American people have a right to know if their President is wearing Crookes. Well, I am not wearing Crookes..."

[harry a saake]

The Crookes lens was a light blue lens that we were still fabricating in the mid sixties. it was somewhat popular with the hippies. It was invented by an English doctor or physicist, whose title i believe was Sir Thomas Crookes. We also had another oddball lens that was glass and it was purple in color. Never could figure out the purpose of that lens but maybe Darryl can enlighten us,as i am sure its related to some wavelength theory.

[John R]

Originally posted by harry a saake:
We also had another oddball lens that was glass and it was purple in color. Never could figure out the purpose of that lens but maybe Darryl can enlighten us,as i am sure its related to some wavelength theory.

Didyminum it was called and it is still avaible :D
Try x-cell optical from the links page. Think it is used in areas where there is a hot and bright light like a blast fernice.
Ah they were the good old days with crooks a, crooks a2, crooks b, crooks b2,
no problem matching lenses unlike now with thw diffrent photochromics

John "how did i miss this blast from the past" R

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Every day a grind
Every week a bind
www.iooi.co.uk

[This message has been edited by john r (edited 11-07-2000).]

[Darryl Meister]

Didymium is a specialty filter used for certain occupations, particularly glass-blowing. It has a "notch" in transmittance at a point in the visible spectrum corresponding to the transmittance of sodium flare.

Best regards,
Darryl

[Darryl Meister]

Sorry about the delay in this reply on Crookes... Anyway, I managed to find the full scoop on the first Crookes lens (from Stimson's "Ophthalmic Dispensing"). It was invented by William Crookes in 1913 (in Britain) for glass workers -- not unlike the Didymium lenses pointed out by John. The original Crookes absorbed UV and had a dip in the yellow end of the spectrum.

Best regards,
Darryl

[harry a saake]

If i remember right Bausch and Lomb also used a didiyum lens in some of there driving type glasses, and it created a lot of contrast, especially when you looked at red tailights. It was listed as a rare earth metal and the lenses were kind of amber and kind of expensive.