As a watch restorer I do all my work using magnification of one type
or other. Much of it I do using binocular microscopes of 10 and 20
times magnification but, for other stuff and particularly for such
jobs as filing wires and big bits of metal, I just use ‘ready
readers’ - the cheap, off the peg, reading glasses you find at the
drugstore. My favourites are 2.99UKP a pair and all plastic; they are
rectangular half lenses so that I can easily see over them if anyone
walks in… I buy several pairs of different magnifications and just
swap them around to suit the distance I am working at. My normal
reading prescription is for 1.25 but I regularly use a 3.00 for close
bench work or even a 5.00 for close inspection. The advantage over an
opti-visor is that they are light in weight, they sit easily on your
face and they are inexpensive so it is no major problem if they get
scratched or broken. I also bought a card of a couple of dozen cheap
neck cords from a ‘pound shop’ (like your ‘five and dime’ I suppose)
and each different pair has a different colour neck cord so that it
is easily distinguished - black for normal reading, pink for 3 times,
purple for 5 times etc. HTH
I recently purchased a pair (@$14) of wrap-around safety glasses
that have magnifiers built in. I’m using their 1.5 magnification, but
they have other powers available. I still use a five-power Optivisor
for close-up work. The glasses also have fully adjustable temples
that not only extend, but also pivot up and down! The company is
Elvex and the model number is RX-100. I have included a link to their
bifocal page: http://www.elvex.com/reading-safety-glasses.htm
I just want to point out that the numbers on Optivisors are not
the amount of magnification. In other words, #4 is something like 2X
or 2.5X magnification. I don’t have a catalog handy, but the info
should be there. So, #10 is not 10X, like a loupe, though it is
strong.
Well, I know I’m kind of late on this thread but here is my two
cents worth.
I was told by a hand engraver whom I took a course with and also my
eye Dr. (I wear glasses and have since I was 3) that the best thing
for your “eye s” is to get a stronger prescription, (one with more
magnification) for close up work. That way you still have your
prescription that your eyes are use to but stronger. Yes, it is a pain
changing glasses but I can tell the difference in my vision between
wearing an optivisor and an eyeglass prescription with more
magnification.
Well, I know I'm kind of late on this thread but here
is my two cents worth. that the best thing for your "eye s" is to
get a stronger prescription
I’ve always been told that your eyes get ‘used’ to a pair of
magnifiying glases and cannot easily return to their original sight.
That’s why people continually have to get stronger glasses. Makes
sense. I find this true. Thomas
I've always been told that your eyes get 'used' to a pair of
magnifiying glases and cannot easily return to their original
sight. That's why people continually have to get stronger glasses.
Makes sense. I find this true.
According to the opthamologists and other doctors I consulted when
writing the safety book magnification is not a problem, and does not
alter the eyes.
There are issues with a lower level of blinking when using
magnificaton that results in dry eyes and thus pain and irritation,
but the ones I consulted said that if you are hurting your eyes they
will let you know. And having said that I do know a photographer
whose eyes apparently altered because of looking through the lens
with one eye only. best Charles
Charles Lewton-Brain/Brain Press
Box 1624, Ste M, Calgary, Alberta, T2P 2L7, Canada
Tel: 403-263-3955 Fax: 403-283-9053 Email: @Charles_Lewton-Brai1
I am in the market for an optical visor, so I thought I would bring this thread up to the top as it is many years old! What is out in the market today and what do people use and recommend?
I love the Mag- eyes visor. It’s fairly inexpensive, has several strengths of eyepieces available, and since it goes on like a sports visor instead of all the way around your head, it doesn’t give you visor hair. I have progressive bifocals, and in combination with the mag- eyes, I can get various focal lengths by moving the eyepiece hinge so I look through different parts of my glasses.
I use one from Craft Optics that I got from @RioGrande . The underlying glasses can be made to your prescription (I took to local glass shop) They can make you kind of queasy initially, because the field of vision is so narrow, but you will see a lot of things that were never visible for me with an optivisor and they are more comfortable. The ones from Rio had been returned and did not have lenses, which if you are having prescription lenses made, you don’t need. The advantage was they sold as Open Box and were at a discount from the Craft Optics website.
I have had mine long enough to go back and get updated prescription lenses. (hell to get old), and I still love them.