The eyes canna take it captain!

[AndrewBeasley]

OK - before anyone says I know I’m getting a grumpy old man 

I’ve worn glasses for 40+ years (since misreading a bus number at school) but I swear the current Tau figures are smaller than the last lot I bought 5 or so years ago!

I’ve tried visors and arms with magnifying lenses and not been happy with either to date so the question is:

I know you can get long distance glasses for driving but has anyone spoken to their optician for a more powerful set of glasses specifically for close up work?

TIA
Andrew

[theoldschool]

I took one of my figures along to  the optician when I had my eye test a few years back and he  tailored a pair of glasses to suit my close figure work. Now I get them updated along with my other glasses when I need to. Much better than just magnifiers. I think it's fairly common.

[Captain Blood]

I’m having cataract ops on both eyes over the next two weeks. If all goes well I will have perfect distance vision restored and I will be eligible to apply for fighter pilot training 

Whether, on the other hand, my close up vision will survive and I will ever be able to paint another wargames figure, is apparently in some doubt. I suspect I will need to move to a special pair of specs for very close work, rather than painting with the nekkid eyeball as I do now.

So very interested to hear of anyone else’s experiences on this front.

I can’t afford to start paying Bugsda to paint everything for me 

[DS615]

I'm nearsighted, so just by taking my glasses off - boom! - +4 magnification!
I can't see anything on the table anymore, but the figure I'm holding is clear. 

In the past, I bought some "reading glasses" off the shelf for this, you can get all different levels of magnification for like $5.

[theoldschool]

Sorry to hear that Richard, I hope all goes well. I am horrendously long-sighted, it's not my eyesight, its just that my arms are too short.

I don't know much about the high street chains,  I use a local  optician and he has been great. He really took the time to understand what I needed and find a solution that worked.

[Dr DeAth]

I bought a set of +6.0 reading specs from Amazon for close up work, they do the trick!

[AndrewBeasley]

I never thought of the generic glasses - been hypnotised by the opticians for so many years obviously   

Captain, hope every thing goes well for you.  I took my father in law in quite a few years ago for the same and the results where life changing for him - he thought it was like the curtains being opened again.  The best news is he’s not had any issues again with either eye.

[Malamute]

I had perfect vision up until about 5 years ago. I wondered why I was struggling to paint or read. and it was put down to my eyes failing due to my age.

I went to the optician,and was told it was my eyes failing due to my age.  I now have glasses for reading and a higher magnified pair for painting miniatures.

Mind you it hasn't improved my painting and I suspect I need them tested again, but well worth you paying a visit.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

I found that from 45 onwards, my eyes got progressively and noticabely worse.
I am told that it stabilises when you get to about 60.

I bought LED lighting for my workbench which helps a lot. I have a cold LED bulb in a standard Ikea Anglepoise lamp and also a special ring light with magnifier lens.

I did use an Optivisor for a while but then I discovered that standard reading glasses are more comfortable and good enough.

I have bought several pairs of +1, and +2 reading glasses in Primark in the UK for about £2.50 a pair. I also have one +3 but I rarely need that.

[Jagannath]

Unfortunately part of presbyopia (the process by which we end up needing reading glasses) means that it generally gets worse (i.e the glasses you need get stronger), but also the range of the focal depth narrows (so you become more 'sensitive - or so it seems - to where things are in relation to where your glasses focus). It's all part of losing your lens losing it's accommodative power.

I used to make glasses for a living, so this is all second-hand (but pretty well informed) nerdery - best thing you can do (budget permitting) is get some specialist intermediary varifocals (progressive lenses for you folks across the pond) - they don't have a 'distance' section but do have a variation of focus between very near and about 3 feet. Talk to a good dispensing optician and optometrist and they'll see you right (I'd imagine an extra +0.50/+1.00 in the add and dropped off the intermediary portion would do the trick nicely) - specialised lenses ain't cheap though. Essilor always had a good range of more specific progressive lenses, I'd start there but prepare for a wallet shock.

@AndrewBeasley - you're short sighted though by the sound of it? Have you tried just taking your glasses off? It's unlikely that ready-readers will help in this instance (I'm totally guessing here based on what you're saying about the bus numbers).

@Captainblood - Good luck Richard. Almost certainly your near prescription will suffer (not the final quality of the vision mind, just your ability to focus) so specs may well be the order of the day afterwards. Nothing a good pair of specs won't solve, though I'd be specific with the optician about some close work glasses for painting (take a mini and show them your working distance). If your distance vision comes out perfect (should do with a modern cataract op) you'll be the perfect candidate for ready readers. Good news is cataracts are one of the most successful operations in the world now, super easy and super successful.

[Captain Blood]

Interesting - thanks Rory. Can’t pretend I’m looking forward to it, but it will need doing sooner or later, so figured I might as well get it done sooner. We shall see. (Hopefully  )

[ErikB]

When I was fitted for glasses we had a discussion about long vs. short range.  I am a firmware engineer and sit in front of a screen about 18" from my face all day long.  I had the glasses made specifically as a desk worker (as opposed to driving glasses).

So go have that conversation with your optometrist.  They're used to figuring out a focus distance.  That's normal for glasses prescriptions.

Good luck!

[Orctrader]

I wear varifocals and did before I started painting.

I use an Optivisor and have done almost from the moment I started painting.  (Where I worked at the time they were used by Production people working at benches on printed circuit boards - H&S requirement was they wore them for their 8-hour shifts to prevent eye-strain/damage.  Why I suppress a yawn whenever I read that using such devices causes eye deterioration.      Oh, and I was able to buy the Optivisor at a small discount through the firm. )

@Richard.  Good luck with the op.   

[Hammers]

I’m having cataract ops on both eyes over the next two weeks. If all goes well I will have perfect distance vision restored and I will be eligible to apply for fighter pilot training 

Whether, on the other hand, my close up vision will survive and I will ever be able to paint another wargames figure, is apparently in some doubt. I suspect I will need to move to a special pair of specs for very close work, rather than painting with the nekkid eyeball as I do now.

So very interested to hear of anyone else’s experiences on this front.

I can’t afford to start paying Bugsda to paint everything for me 

Dear me... Best of luck, Richard.