Zeiss Officelens, Zeiss DriveSafe progressive and Zeiss Digital Lens
About 2 to 3 years ago at about the age of 40, I noticed that I couldn’t see things clearly whenever my daughter thrust my handphone or objects in front of my face. I have to pushed them out to about 40cm away before i could see things clearly. I thought it’s my time to start wearing corrective lenses for my lao hua (老花眼） or presbyopia. I am mildly short sighted and so even with mild presbyopia, I can simply remove my specs if I need to see something clearly up close (in the range of 20 to 30 cm), especially those prescription labels on medication or instructions. I can do without progressive lenses.
Like many other people (especially my customers), I have heard how progressive lenses can make you feel giddy or uncomfortable or difficult to get used to. However, I have been fitting progressive lenses for more than 10 years and with a drop out rate of less than 5%, the experience of wearing progressive should not be as bad as what some people have described. So I decided to take up the “challenge” .
There are so many brands of progressive lenses in the market, which one should I try? I have fitted many budget and premium progressive lenses and most people do not have a problem with them. So which brand should i choose?
While attending a product launch by Carl Zeiss Vision Singapore, some new products were launched, which include the Zeiss individual 2 and also the Zeiss Officelens. Participants were each given a pair of Zeiss officelens to try and so I thought why not . It was a pair Zeiss officelens Individual and I got it customised to my prescription and spectacle frame.
When i first put them on, I did not notice any swim effect associated with progressive lenses that can cause giddiness and adaptation problems. Distance vision straight ahead is a little bit blurry (because it’s an office lens). When I glance to the side without moving my head , the vision is also a little blurry. As I was used to very clear and wide vision for the distance, the slight blur at the side wearing the progressive lens was quite a big deal initially. However, as I slowly got used to them, my eyes, or rather my brain, do not really notice the blur anymore.
Near vision with the Zeiss officelens is extremely wide ( I can read at least 2 pages of the Straits Times clearly without moving my head side to side, the width of the reading and intermediate zone is dependent on the reading prescription ). I have the “room” version of the Zeiss officelens which allows me to see up to about 4 m clearly. Although the distance vision is slightly blur, I wear my officelens all the time, driving etc has not been a problem (especially on Singapore roads). But since I am in the shop most of the time and staring at computer screen, the Zeiss officelens is very comfortable. I have fitted more than 150 pairs of the Zeiss Officelens and satisfaction rate is more than 90%. We fitted many people who have problem wearing a general progressive lens to the Zeiss officelens due to the easy adaptation and wide reading and intermediate zones. See our case study here .
Is the Zeiss Officelens really that good ? With a wearer satisfaction or more than 90%, surely it can’t be wrong. Our customers who own both the officelens and a general progressive lens (like the Zeiss Individual 2 and Essilor S series) remarked that the Officelens is better for near work.
Carl Zeiss Vision recently launched the Zeiss DriveSafe lenses and they are kind enough to send me a complimentary pair of Zeiss DriveSafe progressive lens to try. The Zeiss DriveSafe progressive lenses are supposed to be ” Up to 43% larger mid-distance zone for easier focus switching between the dashboard and mirrors. And up to 14% larger far-distance vision zone for a wider view of the road.”
I updated my prescription with slight increment for the reading. Even though there is not much changes to my prescription, when I first put on the Zeiss DriveSafe progressive, it felt a little bit funny. As I have been very comfortable with my Zeiss Officelens, I started making comparison with the new Zeiss DriveSafe progressive. Distance vision is definitely clearer. Side vision for distance is also wider for the DriveSafe. However, near and intermediate is not as good as the Zeiss Officelens and I do noticed that I tilt my head up more compared to when wearing the officelens, where my head posture is more natural. After wearing the DriveSafe progressive lens for a few days, the funny feeling went away.
I can say the DriveSafe progressive is quite easy to get used to as the distortion level below the distant zone is quite low. After getting used to the Zeiss officelens, I made a pair of Zeiss Digital lens and thought that everything will be ok but it turned out that i don’t really like it at all as the distortion level is quite high compared to the DriveSafe progressive lens and the Officelens.
It can be seen in the above comparison that the Zeiss Digital lens has much more distortion and narrower viewing channels compared to the DriveSafe progressive lens, even though the prescription is about the same. I never quite got used to the Zeiss Digital lens as I don’t really like wearing them. However, for reading power below 1.25, the Zeiss digital lens actually performs quite well. You can read more about Zeiss Digital lens here .
In conclusion,
- Progressive lenses are not as bad as what you heard and most of the time you can get used to wearing them. This is provided that they are fitted correctly with the correct prescription.
- It may take some time for you to adapt when there is a change in prescription. For some progressive lenses you may adapt to it faster compared to others.
- Different progressive lenses serve different purposes. There is no one progressive lens that does it all if you want to perform optimally for specific tasks.
I will be doing more progressive lens comparison in the future when I get my hands on them Thank you for reading.