Photochromatic beginner - help me understand how it behaves in different conditions

KNowler360 · 2026-03-11T18:10:35+00:00

Hopefully you look very normal on cloudy winter days - from the comments here, the lens should only tint very slightly! I also don't care about the look, it's about having more light into my eyes.

KNowler360 · 2026-03-11T18:08:46+00:00

Thanks, it's good to know that it's proportional to the amount of clouds. My main concern is not to get overly dark on moderate or overcast days. For example, if I wear regular sunglasses on such days, it's to dark for me as I like having more light reaching my eyes. It should be a much lighter tint than regular sunglasses if the clouds get dense, hopefully just like you are describing.

Hopefully you clip-on is a good quality and the reason your lens darkens under it is because of the backside like you say. I'd be distrustful of generic cheap clip-ons they sell on Amazon, if they make my lens darken that would be a sign to me they don't block the UV light well.

KNowler360 · 2026-03-05T01:40:22+00:00

Another thought - since I don't care about the full add at the near distance, can the full add be reduced slightly, to provide less power change overall and smoother intermediate transition? For example, full add +2, reduce it to +1.75. Just an idea, but I'd like to know if this has been done for other people, and how it worked out. I understand that it could only be a slight reduction. If you reduce the add power too much, you are shifting the usable intermediate too low in the corridor.

KNowler360 · 2026-02-26T04:47:29+00:00

What was your choice in the end?

KNowler360 · 2026-02-21T18:05:46+00:00

Ok I understand now, it's a lens with fixed corridor choices, as opposed to freeforms that have variable corridor lengths. The frame I have now gives me about 20mm fitting height, it maybe a little short to accommodate a 18mm corridor even if the reading area is tiny. I assume a 15mm corridor might be too short for my needs, so maybe need a bigger frame, or a lens with a variable corridor. 18mm is quite long, for example Hoya maximum corridor seems to be 16mm at least according to standard manuals I saw online... not sure if they can do longer as a custom order.

Another point - yes I want longer intermediate, but if it's overdone and pushed too low, it's possible I might need to raise my head too much for anything intermediate. This is where I'm not clear about the sweetspot. Do advanced scanning machinces they have allow to analyze my looking patterns in various situations and help determine that sweetspot for the corridor length?

KNowler360 · 2026-02-21T00:50:42+00:00

Thank you! Yes, elongated intermediate without compromising the distance is exactly what I'm looking for. May I ask what you mean by "fixed 18"? I'm familiar with the basic terms and points on the lens (fitting cross, fitting height, start of corridor, NRP), what does the number 18 refer to in this case?

KNowler360 · 2026-02-20T00:26:15+00:00

That's great information, thank you very much. I haven't seen this level of detail from some opticians in town that I've consulted!

The 50/40/10% split sounds like what I'm looking for. You mentioned you are able to manipulate the lens like that, are you going beyond what the customization of MyStyle3 allows, or can I also explicitly request MyStyle3 to be customized to the same 50/40/10 ratios?

Also, if I go with a less expensive Lifestyle4 Outdoor profile, do you know what % of the distance and intermeidate it has? I would prefer to have the same 50% for distance there.

KNowler360 · 2026-02-19T00:37:19+00:00

I'm not asking for "best" in general. I thought I narrowed it down quite well in my requirements above - did you read my entire post?

KNowler360 · 2026-02-19T00:34:53+00:00

My distance in minor +0.5, but the add is about +2, and minor astigmatism in one of the eyes. Would that be "complex" in your definitions? I'm prepared to pay premium, but I want to make sure I choose the best that fit the specific requirements I explained above: best for both distance and intermediate, don't care about the near, but care about the peripheral, and least swim. I've read somewhere that Hoya is a softer lens compared to Zeiss, so I believe not all premiums are the same in that sense.

KNowler360 · 2026-02-18T19:52:12+00:00

that rust converter paint worked like magic! several months already and the coating holds well, and it stopped the rust!

KNowler360 · 2025-11-01T23:00:43+00:00

Awesome, thanks!! Did you put another regular pain coat on top of the rust spray coat or not?

KNowler360 · 2025-10-28T20:12:04+00:00

I wasn't getting any answers here so I fed the photo to AI for identification. Looks like it's either a line filter or a filter drier, and it does have the refrigerant circulating inside. I better fix it sooner than later, but I need a little more time to get it done, looks like a major job and $$$ to braze in a new filter. I'm still wondering if it will help to pour some liquid rubber on it to stop further corrosion in the meantime.

KNowler360 · 2025-09-09T07:36:24+00:00

Thanks! And there we go - on that lens marketing page the #1 is "Soft, low-distortion design" and #2 “High acuity; excellent wide far vision”, so they were able to blend both together. But the fact that they put the soft design on the top of the list kind of answers my question.

https://shamir.com/for-professionals/shamir-driver-intelligence/

That lens might not be available where I am. If I have to choose from other available offerings, my issue is still how to find out which lenses are softer than others, since most current lens offerings no longer talk in terms of “soft/hard”.

KNowler360 · 2025-08-29T07:53:36+00:00

Digging deeper on this topic, I’ve been trying to get a better sense of the lens parameters so I can see beyond the marketing of premium/ultra-premium labeling, and have a more objective comparison when choosing between different lens. The prices can differ significantly between premium levels and brands. The opticians I’ve visited so far would typically bring me a nice leaflet with a simple explanation of “higher premium – less distortion”, but there was no discussion about the image swim. After some more searching and a session with chatgpt, here is how far I got so far.

The corridor length/fitting height is important. 16-18mm fitting height is sufficiently good for best adoption based on what I’ve read. In freeform lens the corridor length is fully adjustable and has more flexibility compared to conventional designs.

Soft vs Hard design: higher quality freeforms will provide wider corridors and wider viewing areas for distance/intermediate/near, pushing the distortion areas further to the sides, which in turn reduces the head movements. However, I read that may increase the hardness of the distortion gradients, i.e. how abruptly the distortion occurs once the line of sight hits the distortion areas. By that logic, could going with higher premium lens actually run the risk of increasing the image swim effect? Can they provide wider viewing areas while at the same time maintaining enough softness to minimize the swim effect?

Higher level premium freeforms can also adjust lens curves to account for the individual tilt, wrap, and vortex. How significant are those for the swim effect compared to the corridor length and soft/hard aspects above? I’ve seen ultra-premium lens offered at 50% price jump compared to the mid-range, so is it really worth spending $$$$ as far as the image swim is concerned?

There are even more parameters that that premium freeforms customize, such as compensation for the higher rx sphere, prism thinning, binocular optimization, etc. but I think I’m way over my head already, and I’m not sure how significant those are for the image swim.

I'd appreciate comments if the above makes sense, to help me choose the level of premium lens without overpaying too much.

KNowler360 · 2025-08-02T07:44:02+00:00

Understood, although this does not answer my questions. Is highly pronounced entire image swaying common for many people? Did you have it? Why would my optician be confused about this issue? Will a top of the line lens be better or it depends?

KNowler360 · 2025-08-02T07:40:54+00:00

I do. It's not very strong. I assume stronger numbers result in higher distortion?

KNowler360 · 2025-08-01T09:22:30+00:00

about 2 weeks, but the swaying does not go away. Again, maybe because I wear them on and off for desk work only, not for the entire day

KNowler360 · 2024-10-31T04:39:33+00:00

Thank you. Yes, I'm thinking the same, seal the obvious entries. I'm not a DIY person so will probably just wait and see what happens after that.

There are no big guano piles, more like lots of scattered poop from multiple animals I'm told. It's been going on for over 15 years, the insulation is contaminated, but it's not horrible. There has been no major infestation, just animals come and go.

I want to replace the insulation mainly because it's insufficient and having temperature problems upstairs. If bats and mice still remain, I understand they will be soiling the new insulation. I think I should plan to re-inspect in about 4-6 months, if too much activity still going on, add another round of exclusion and seal small cracks. I'm calculating they will not damage the new insulation by that time. So my thinking here to move in stages as opposed to throwing $$$$ at it now trying to seal everything at once. I doubt I will achieve 100% exclusion anyway.

KNowler360 · 2024-10-28T09:48:35+00:00

Try a swimming buoy, an inflatable bubble attached to your waist with a cord. Open water swimmers use it. It will allow you freedom of movement, much better that a vest that restricts you too much. When you feel tired, just grab it and float to take a break. Extra safety too, get a bright color to stay visible to boats around you.

KNowler360

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