Specsavers varifocals

iharding

Got my first pair of varifocals from Vision Express just over 18 months ago. After being warned of an adjustment period for first-timers I was pleasantly surprised to have no disorientation, and very minimal distortion towards the edges of the near and intermediate sections. I've been noticing softer focus in the distance recently. Had a sight test with Specsavers and sure enough, distance has changed from +4 to +3.5, with near add going from +1 to +1.5. New glasses ordered, and I've been wearing them for a week.

The distance vision is crystal clear, but near and intermediate is terrible. I can focus, but the clear corridor is very narrow. I have to move my head side to side to read across the page of a small paperback book. Sitting at arms length from my 27" monitor, the old glasses just have a slightly softer look at the extreme sides, but the new ones only have a 60mm width of clear text in the centre, at the edges I can't even see what the letters are!

Old lenses were Vision Express Advanced, new ones are Specsavers Elite, so both equivalent position in the range, one step down from the top.

I've been back. They adjusted the frames, but it hasn't made any difference. The person I dealt with said I could expect more noticeable distortion because of the increased near addition, which makes sense and I was expecting to some extent, but this seems an extreme difference. When I tried to explain how limited the clear corridor was, they fell back on explaining how varifocals work, and that this is normal. Very polite, and they want to help, but it's not as if they can put my glasses on and see for themselves!

So I was hoping to get some experience from other varifocal wearers. Does a small prescription increase really cause such a dramatic reduction in focused area? Is it likely to improve noticeably if I get top of the range Tailor-made lenses? If mine have been incorrectly made as a lower level lens, is there any way of identifying it?

Thanks!

matelodave

A big factor in how varifocals perform is in the lens size - bigger lens have more space for the transition between the focussing areas whereas smart designer glasses with fairly narrow lenses are nowhere near as good.

I've had Specsavers varifocals for around ten years and the only ones that were less than perfect were the poncy designer ones that I thought made me look cool. They possibly did but they weren't as easy to get on with so I've reverted to larger lenses which again are perfect.

iharding

That's interesting, neither optician mentioned that when I was choosing frames.  Both old and new are conventional rectangular lens frames. Lenses are the close to the same width and height within a few mm, not particularly large or small.

PterionPterion

Few options.

1. There are different varifocal designs within the elite category at Specsavers. Could try a different one. 
2. Upgrade to tailor made or go back to vision express. Stores use different manufacturers and lens designs. 
The vision express varifocals in the higher price brackets are generally better than the specsavers'

Floss

Go back, and ask for the measurements to be rechecked. The varifocals I am wearing took 3 attempts & a change of frame to get right, but all my problems were dealt with efficiently & without question.

kirtondm

I suspect the VE lens is a better one. The Top VE lens will not nesseraily equate with the top specsavers one and it is not really as simple as comparing them in that way. Sometimes people prefer lenses which are on paper worse.
Their is also some truth to the fact that increasing that add will increase the distortion.

I would suggest that the options are either swop to a better lens design or get a separate pair for VDU if that is the main problem

harrys_nan

I'm a bit late reading this but here is my take.
I have worn varifocals for years and I cannot get on with the lower end of them. I always have to have the top ones as does my partner. He always had bifocals but tried varifocals and couldn't get on with them so went back. A couple of years alter tried them again and had to top ones fitted and has worn them ever since.
I had to have new glasses at the end of last year and I had to ask them to retest my eyes as I could not focus my eyes at all and they wanted me to take them home and " try " them to get used to them but  I asked for a complete retest, cut a long story short, they had completely got my measurements wrong for the varifocals. The new prescription was good but it has put me off going there