Are anti-reflective lenses worth the extra money? I don’t really notice any problems with my glasses now, but will these lenses help with eye fatigue and other things? Will it be one of those situations where I say “I never noticed a problem but my eyes fell better” or “Wow I can see better” or is it just a marketing scheme?
We may not be talking about the same thing, but I have a non-reflective coating on my non-work (single-vision) glasses—and I wouldn’t get it again if they gave it away with a kilo of Wheat Thins. Not only are they next to impossible to keep clean (the general effect is something like an oil slick), but I happen to have somewhat bushy eyebrows, which means that the upper corners of the lenses turn into a particularly repellent mess.
Oh I dunno, I find my A/R coating to be really worth it, bushy eyebrows and all. Maybe it’s my peculiar prescription but I find non-coated lenses tend to flash a lot, like the evil Nazi guy’s glasses in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The A/R coating tends to make the glasses a lot more invisible.
I have anti-reflective coatings on mine, but it’s been a long time since I had uncoated glasses so I can’t really comment on the difference. I’ve found that the plastic lens itself is the limiting factor for durability and ease of maintenance. The lens gets scratched long before the coating degrades, so you might as well get the coating. If you’re looking at glass (not plastic) lenses, I guess the coating makes a big difference in ease of maintenance.
I lve my anti-reflective lenses! I haven’t worn glasses at all for too many years, and I mostly just wear them for long stretches reading or on my computer. My first pair didn’t have anti-reflective coating, but the subsequent pairs have. To me, they are a huge help for the eyestrain of monitor glare. It made the difference between having stinging eyes at the end of the workday and not having stinging eyes at the end of the workday.
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- I have plastic lenses that don’t have A-R, but someone else who did commented that the main thing they liked best about them was that in photos, you could actually see their eyes, and not the reflection of the camera flash on the lenses of their glasses.
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- I have plastic lenses that don’t have A-R, but someone else who did commented that the main thing they liked best about them was that in photos, you could actually see their eyes, and not the reflection of the camera flash on the lenses of their glasses.
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- And I had refused the coated ones in the past because I was under the impression that they scratched easier–and I tended to wipe mine off with paper towels and Windex anyway, because that was what was available at work. … but… then they switched to generic crap “window washer fluid” that doesn’t work for s*** anyway, so I buy the packs of lens wipes now and keep a few around, and they cost money ($10/60) but they are really more convenient and work far better anyway. So maybe I should…
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I bought the lens coating on mine, and it seems to have made my glasses harder to keep clean. Plus you can’t use glass cleaner on them. I’ve not seen any benefit.
I wash mine with dish soap and dry them with a lens cloth, and it seems to work fine and hasn’t damaged the coating yet. I’ve had my current pair for about 2 years.
I do the same thing Eva Luna does. They are kinda hard to keep from smudging though. Do this, if you’ve got a newer computer monitor, turn it off and look at the smudges. The coating on the monitors is similiar to the type they use on glasses. So it looks like that most of the time. But there is definately a difference in clarity. Especially watching television. If you’re into working on cars or working with chemicals, get a non-coated second pair.
I tried the AR lens coating - once and regretted it for years, until I could, in good conscience spend the money for regular ‘glare equipped’ glasses. Not only couldn’t mine be kept clean, but they’d give me these lovely oil slick shimmerings in bright light.
I never had the anti-reflective coating till I got the most recent prescription filled. The eye doctor recommended that I get it. Maybe she gets a kickback from the dispensary, who knows?
Truthfully, I don’t think it makes a difference one way or the other. I don’t have a problem keeping my trifocals clean (the little cleaning cloth they gave me does the trick just fine).
If there’s no compelling reason to get it, I’d say save your money or spend it on better frames.
I don’t see the point for me, reflections don’t bother me much. Does that vary depending on prescription? My bad eye isn’t all that bad, in the grand scheme of things, and my good eye is almost normal. (It made adjusting to glasses interesting for a few days, let me tell you, but I couldn’t use contacts anymore because my eyes were just too dry.)
I had the anti-reflective coating put on my glasses once, and it did cut down on the extraneous images in some environments. But the coating had artifacts of its own, noticeable when cleaning as others have mentioned. My optometrist had so many complaints that he offered to remove the coating free for anyone that asked, so I did and he did.
Of course, that was years ago, and there may be new formulas now. If you are tempted to get it, just get a guarantee that you can have it removed cheaply to cover your ass.
I have the AR coating on my glasses. I haven’t noticed that I can see any better with it. But I sure do look a lot better since you can see my eyes and not reflections. So, out of pure vanity, I’d get it again.
No no no no no, never again! I had that stuff on a pair of glasses once, after a period of time it starts to “crack” and you end up feeling like you’ve got net curtains on your specs …