Buying glasses - are upsold lenses worth the expense?

I am a very occasional glasses wearer for mild short-sightedness and I like to have a pair of specs in the car for driving and I sometimes wear them when out-and-about (less so these days with masks and the problems with fogging though).

When I've purchased both from opticians stores and online, a pair of glasses can triple in price when you are upsold the lens options. The biggest price rise seems to come from going from 1.5 standard lenses to 1.6 thin lenses. One site I was looking on had various options for anti-scratch, anti-UV, anti-glare lenses then when you got to the end of the selection process there was a second option for a 'special coating' that had exactly the same properties as you had just selected in the lenses!

Anyone tell me what is worth getting and if 'thin' lenses are actually worth the extra expense for mild prescriptions?

I'd say not. My prescription was around -8.5 & the high index glass made a huge difference to the edge thickness & weight but you probably wouldn't see much gain. I used to get the AR & anti-scratch coatings but didn't bother with anything else.

The thinner lens options really depends on your prescription, I have it on my glasses as without them I’m blind as a partially sighted bat and without the thinner lens mine would be heavy and chunky at the edges.

I also go for AR and scratch resistant coatings, never really had issues with these but of late i have noticed that the AR coating increases glare when driving in the evenings, optician reckons it’s to do with age?

I have a very mild prescription, being slightly short sighted and I’d say not at all worth it for mild prescriptions. If you are in the +/-5s and above it’s probably a noticeable reduction in weight/thickness for the thinner lenses (and a noticeable increase in price!) which will impact positively on comfort during wear, particularly if you happen to wear constantly.

What you will also find is one downside of the thinner the lenses you choose, being a convex/concave distortion in the vision of upright objects, especially straight ones, at the edges of the lenses.

With your prescription, and only occasional wear, I would just go for the cheapest single vision lenses, which is what I do.


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Thanks all, great advice.

Agree with what has been said, if you only need them occasionally then you probably don’t. Only exception would be a really thin frame to hide more lens.

I’m -2.25 on both eyes and go for a 1.6 index which is perfectly fine. I feel I can’t see without them, always amazed when I read -8 for others.


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If you don't mind online purchases with your prescription I think Money Saving Expert had a code hack that would get you two pairs for £49

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Just to confirm what many on here have said, going for thin lens only makes sense really if you have a high prescription beyond -2.

However, this can also depend on your chosen frames as well. If you go rimless then a thicker lens is generally better as it is more robustness at the edges but for semi rimless a thinner lens may look better.

I would also recommend the anti-scratch and anti reflective coatings. Nothing else is really needed. UV protection is a nice to have but blue light is a load of hogwash and so do not bother.

...but i've recently had an eye test (after 4 yrs!) and I'm about +4 in both eyes (+5 for near vision). I normally go for thin lenses, so I assume these are going to be expensive? :(

Anyone heard of the new sooper-dooper Japanese lenses? My Dad got sold them by his optician to keep the lens thickness down and quality high (apparently)!

Thanks

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Originally Posted by The Hack

...but i've recently had an eye test (after 4 yrs!) and I'm about +4 in both eyes (+5 for near vision). I normally go for thin lenses, so I assume these are going to be expensive? :(

Anyone heard of the new sooper-dooper Japanese lenses? My Dad got sold them by his optician to keep the lens thickness down and quality high (apparently)!

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High refractive index glass - which is what allows the lenses to be thinner - is always a premium over the ordinary range. If you're long sighted though it may be less of an issue as you don't have the same problem with the edges of the lense being very thick, which is what happens with glasses for short sight. Of course high RI glass will be lighter, which you might like (your wallet will be lighter as well).

All the glass I was offered was Nikon or Zeiss but I haven't had a new pair for a few years so I'm not sure what Japanese lenses your father may have been pesuaded to go for.