Fancy shooting glasses

[jabberwo]

Funny title, but I'm serious in learning about them. E.g. Olympic and Knobloch.

Do you find them better for pistol shooting then regular frames? Why?

Is it simple to replace the lens with another? If I have multiple lens holders can I replace without wasting too much time? This is interesting to me because the front sight goes in and out of focus on different days.

thanks,
Jab

[Marc Orvin]

I have both Champion and Knobloch. Both are easy to change lenses in without resorting to needing extra lens holders. One screw loosens up the circumference of the lens holder and the lenses are in and out in a heart beat.

Just find the brand you like with the features you like and go for it. You will not be sorry.

[micken]

I'm currently having a lens made to suit a pair of pre-loved Knobloch framed that I acquired a few weeks ago. When I was at the optician's last week I was amazed at the difference between my daily varifocal spectacles and the single prescription lens for shooting. The single lens was much easier to focus through to get a clear frontsight that remained focused.

I did refrain from my optician's suggestion to go into the main part of his shop and try pointing my LP10 across at something 10m away. I mentioned that causing the arrival of an armed response unit is not one of my daily aspirations :-)

I'm now looking forward to collecting and using the new lens.

Best regards,

Mick

[REESE]

The "shooting frames" really do make a difference, as long as they are comfortable over a couple of hours.

I just replaced all my different lenses (about $400 worth over the years) with the Variolens. I got tired of fiddling with lens changing depending on where my eye was that day. The Variolens offers +/- 3.5 diopters and is very sharp and clear, and depending which pistol I'm shooting (3" or 9" barrel) or the rifle, I can adjust for a sharp front sight. Trick is to keep from playing with it; just another distraction, set it a leave it alone. Comes with all the hardware you need for most all the different frames. Nope, not a salesman, just a satisfied customer.

[toddinjax]

I did refrain from my optician's suggestion to go into the main part of his shop and try pointing my LP10 across at something 10m away. I mentioned that causing the arrival of an armed response unit is not one of my daily aspirations :-)



I just had an eye exam a few weeks ago at a local Lenscrafters. I called and told them what I wanted in addition to my "regular" prescription, explained that the gun is not a "firearm" , (stressed pellets and "Olympic" paper targets) and will have a weed eater line through the barrel and cannot possible by fired. They said sure, bring it with you. I brought it in a case and when I went into the room with the doctor I made sure the door was closed and repeated everything to him. He said "thank you for that" and proceeded; he took a great interest in learning a bit about the sport ( "That's interesting, because it lookslike it would be so easy" he said with a smile] and insisted I send him a follow up note letting him know how my prescription worked out for me.

[ShootingSight]

When you go through the optical math, it predicts that the best lens to use for pistol is +0.75 diopters added to whatever distance vision prescription you use. This will draw your focus back close enough that your depth of field is centered between the rear sight and the target, so they are equally clear, and the front sight will be more solidly inside the depth of field, so it will be the clearest.

Once you get this lens, the lens is doing all the work to focus your eye at the right spot, so the eye can stay relaxed, and you avoid eye strain an d drifting focus.

I can source lenses if needed.

Variable focus lenses are a bad idea for shooting. The evident width of the blur line depends on your focal point, so if you tip your head slightly, or the glasses shift on your face slightly, the apparent size of the sights change. You are centering the bull over the post to estimate windage, so a fatter or thinner front post will not harm alignment, but if the top of the post changes height, it will drive your elevation all over the place.

Art Neergaard
ShootingSight LLC

[micken]

When you go through the optical math, it predicts that the best lens to use for pistol is +0.75 diopters added to whatever distance vision prescription you use.
Art Neergaard
ShootingSight LLC

Hi Art, I've seen your previous posts on this issue and those of others who offer alternative perspectives and read them all with interest. My optician took a great deal of time in discussing my needs and taking all the variables into account. I took the MEC "Olympic Pistol Shooting" book along with me to show him the sight picture needed. He allowed for the greater offset from the eye of the shooting frame lens compared with my normal specs, etc. Can't remember the actual figures right now but I'll get a copy when I collect the lens and post them on this thread.

Best regards,

Mick

[Spencer]

When you go through the optical math, it predicts that the best lens to use for pistol is +0.75 diopters added to whatever distance vision prescription you use. This will draw your focus back close enough that your depth of field is centered between the rear sight and the target, so they are equally clear, and the front sight will be more solidly inside the depth of field, so it will be the clearest...

Or, there is 'the front sight, and only the front sight that is important': your inherent 'centering' abilities will take care of the rest - if you let it.

Just another opinion.

[micken]

Or, there is 'the front sight, and only the front sight that is important': your inherent 'centering' abilities will take care of the rest - if you let it.

This is what I do. It will be interesting to see what my optician has come up with numbers-wise.

[David Levene]

Or, there is 'the front sight, and only the front sight that is important': your inherent 'centering' abilities will take care of the rest - if you let it.

Ah, the voice of experience.

Sounds good to me.

(I've been known to shoot at the hole in the backing board, not realising that the target had fallen off)

[jabberwo]

Do most shooting glasses allow you to move the lens closer and father away from your eye? If not all, which ones do?

My optician is really trying to get a lens that gives sharp focus of the front sight. When I sight in his office and he holds up different + lenses in front of my existing "shooting glasses" (regular aviation style size frames) he can get a sharp focus. But every time they make a lens, its less than perfect. They've tried 3 so far. I think its because the lens is a different distance from my eye and they are just amazed I can tell that little difference. But I can.

thanks,
Jab

[seamaster]

Champion shooting glasses will allow you to move the lens forward and backward.

Changing vertex distance will allow you to add or detract diopter to get a clear front sight.

[jabberwo]

Champion shooting glasses will allow you to move the lens forward and backward.

Changing vertex distance will allow you to add or detract diopter to get a clear front sight.

All Champion's, including the cheaper Olympic pair, or only the Super-Olympic model? I see that the expensive ones say they have 4 distances adjustments but they are little expensive for this hobby shooter.

thanks,
Jab

[seamaster]

Both of them will do vertex adjustment.

On Champion Olympian, just unscrew, move lens stick to the front hole or back hole, then tighten.

This option of moving lens closer or further away is an excellent way of adding or decreasing diopter on the lens. Proverbial +0.75 lens is good, but never quite exactly right. So move it forward or closer to your eye to get that relax, crispy view on front sight.

[conradin]

Used to have knobloch...pain in the arse to do adjustment. Then I switch to Champion, everything can be adjusted on the fly since very few adjustment requires a tool.(hex). Can't live without it :) Of course price is a consideration.

[Gwhite]

One thing to watch out for is that most optical shops only grind lenses to relatively loose tolerances. +/- 0.25 diopter is not uncommon.

I measure my shooting glasses lenses, and they are usually good to +/- 1/8th of a diopter, but I can only measure the focus of the entire lens. Given how close the lens is to your eye, you only look though a small portion in the center. That can be off a bit relative to the whole lens. I need a much brighter light source & a coarse aperture to measure smaller regions.

My eye doctor (now retired) used to let me test my lenses on his lens measuring device. It measures in a small region, but the finest calibration on the dial was 0.25 diopter, so it wasn't super precise. I have lenses in various 1/8th diopter increments, and some of them overlap. For example, I have a 5/8 diopter lens that is actually stronger than a 3/4 diopter lens I have. I've also found lenses with noticeable astigmatism.

Some people claim you can't tell the difference down below 1/4 diopter, and I can tell you that is nonsense.