Quote:
Originally Posted by Starkler
This has been my experience when attempting to use glasses for observing, along with the distraction of reflections from local light sources. I gave up on the idea.
Are such coatings available as an option from the larger optical franchises, or is this only available from a specialist shop? What coatings are recommended?
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Hi Geoff,
Any optometrist can supply the right glasses and coatings. However, someone that spends a lot of time prescribing reading glasses to older people may not be as conversant with the newer materials and coatings as someone who deals with a generally younger clientele, that demand the latest and greatest.
My glasses use Hoya EYNOA lenses which have an index of 1.67, which compares to the standard polycarbonate lenses with an index of 1.5.
http://65.161.187.167/index.php?SID=...5&page_id=7878
My previous glasses used Hoya EYAS material (1.6 index)and they were also very good. EYNOA was not available at that time.
http://65.161.187.167/index.php?SID=...5&page_id=7879
Similar high quality lense materials are available from Zeiss, Nikon and Rodenstock. My optometrist advised against some of the super duper higher index lenses (>1.7) because of "possible" chromatic aberrations.
Without question the best coatings available at present are Crizal Alizé® These are absolutely superb and unsurpassed at the present time. They can be applied to lenses from several different manufacturers.
http://crizal.com/Consumer/Crizal+Technology/
Now the bad news.
1) Be seated when you ask, "how much".
2) Don't visit the optometrist on an off pay week.
Not sure what the cost would be now but with 1/2 decent frames my present glasses were well West of $1k. However, that was nearly 3 years ago and EYNOA was a new product. With changes in the exchange rate and rapidly advancing technology, they may be somewhat cheaper now.
Cheers,
John B