Magnifying Lenses for Myopic Folks

[1972coronet]

Like many others in my age group - and older , my eyesight is, well, ageing. I have a devil of a time clearly seeing small(er) details which require painting or assembling; it's to the point where I've considering giving up the hobby due to frustration.

I know that there's got to be a resolution.

I'm looking for recommendations for , let's say, jeweller's 'magnifying' glasses. Now, I'm far from having deep pockets (plus I'm a skinflint Welshman) , so please limit recommendations to reasonably-priced items.

Thank you.

[tbill]

Go to Amazon and check out yoctosun, these things are the bomb, 5 lenses and a built in light. Game changer for me, and they are like $20. Comfortable and you can wear glasses while wearing them as well. Lens angle and light angle are adjustable, I love them.

[NOBLNG]

I got these off Amazon. I wear the 4x constantly while performing normal building tasks, and the 6x for really fiddly stuff. I asked both my GP and my optometrist if wearing them could accelerate the decline of my vision and they both said no.😬

[atomicholiday]

What has worked for me is a pair of 3x reading glasses.  Best thing to happen to my model building skills in years!

 I also recently picked up an optivisor from Harbor Freight for around $10.  Pretty good piece of kit for the money.

[atomicholiday]

Just now, NOBLNG said:

I got these off Amazon. I wear the 4x constantly while performing normal building tasks, and the 6x for really fiddly stuff. I asked both my GP and my optometrist if wearing them could accelerate the decline of my vision and they both said no.😬

Hey do you happen to have a link to those?  I was trying to find a pair with higher magnification than 3x on Amazon and couldn’t.

[NOBLNG]

17 minutes ago, atomicholiday said:

Hey do you happen to have a link to those?  I was trying to find a pair with higher magnification than 3x on Amazon and couldn’t.

I don’t see the 6x listed anymore where I got mine? Just type 6x reading glasses into the Amazon search bar. And 3.25x is the highest power any local store sells.😕

https://www.amazon.ca/BLUEMOKY-Reading-Glasses-Men，Sport-Computer

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B086PZRTLX?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

Edit: Here’s some.

https://www.amazon.com/Magnification-Readers-Reading-Glasses-4-00-6-00/dp/B01LYQGG5E/ref=

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by NOBLNG

[Miatatom]

1 hour ago, tbill said:

Go to Amazon and check out yoctosun, these things are the bomb, 5 lenses and a built in light. Game changer for me, and they are like $20. Comfortable and you can wear glasses while wearing them as well. Lens angle and light angle are adjustable, I love them.

I'll second this recommendation. Additionally, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the light works.

[atomicholiday]

Side note to this subject.

Don’t know if this is true for everyone or not.  I have tremors pretty bad.  I find that the magnification actually seems to “scale down” the shaking.  I still shake, but it seems more controlled for some reason, allowing me to still do some fairly detailed work with the glasses on.

[Sidney Schwartz]

Another vote for these guys...

Amazon.com: YOCTOSUN Rechargeable Magnifying Glasses, Head Magnifier Glasses with 2 LED Lights and Detachable Lenses 1.5X, 2.5X, 3.5X,5X, Best Eyeglasses Magnifier for Reading and Hobby : Health & Household

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Sometimes the universe takes a hand. Not too long ago, I just happened to step off the hiking trail and saw something glinting in a sunbeam. It was a pair of drugstore magnifying specs that had very obviously been there for some time, judging from the vine growing around one temple and the crusty dirt in general.

Normally I'd put something I found on the nearest trail marker, in case anyone came back looking for it. But these had been there so long, the odds of someone coming back at this point were nil.

I started to just toss 'em in the trash when I got back to the truck, as they looked pretty grotty, but my little voice said "self...you recycle and reuse all kinds of castoff stuff, so why not take these home, clean 'em up, and see if they're of any value?"

Well fellers, remarkably they cleaned up just dandy, the lenses were damage-free, and the magnification was perfect for occasional use on the bench. My very small fabrication and detail work has improved dramatically.   

 

[peteski]

Sometimes it makes sense not to be thrifty.  I'm a huge Optivisor fan, and my hobby would not be the same without it.  I tried mutiple low-price headband magnifiers, but they all stunk!   So instead getting few model kits (or with today's prices not that many kits, and some paints) I would recommend saving the money and getting an Optivisor.  Nowadays (as I aged) I usually wear my reading glasses under the Optivisor.

relatively speaking, Optivisor is not out-of-reach expensive.  The magnifiers dentist use can run $500 and up. They work great (my dentist let me try his on), but those are too spendy for me.

[Ace-Garageguy]

34 minutes ago, peteski said:

Sometimes it makes sense not to be thrifty.  I'm a huge Optivisor fan, and my hobby would not be the same without it.

I have an OptiVISOR. I also have a positionable, illuminated, large-diameter magnifying lens, very much like what a dentist uses.

Though you CAN drive a nail with a wrench, it's not necessarily the BEST tool in every circumstance.

Different tools sometimes work better for different jobs, and the relatively inexpensive (found) drugstore magnifying specs have proven themselves to be a very worthwhile addition to MY arsenal of tools.

My only point is: don't overlook a potential highly functional solution just because it's cheap.  

EDIT: Another aside...the single most helpful addition to any modeling bench (or machine tool, or fab shop, or just about anything involving making things) is sufficient light. I have four 100-watt-equivalent LED bulbs in reflectors, daylight-color-balanced, that I can put exactly where I need them relative to my model benchtop. They also provide enough illumination for decent photography without flash.

Edited April 20, 2023 by Ace-Garageguy
TYPO

[peteski]

44 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

My only point is: don't overlook a potential highly functional solution just because it's cheap.  

Believe me - I do.  I specifically mentioned that in my post.  I also agree about never having too much glare-free lighting.

I'm not talking about the dental magnifier you are describing. That sounds like something 19th Century dentist would use.  The ones I'm talking about look like eyeglasses with miniature telescopes embedded in the glasses.  It gives a stereoscopic magnified view.  Here is an example (for $1300).

 

And here is my workbench.  I have a magnifier lamp (which I mostly use for illumination, small goose neck halogen spot work light (which I can position at the most advantageous location for whatever I'm working on), on the right you see part of a boom holding a zoom stereo microscope (with its own ring light), for when I need a lot of magnification.  My Optivisor hangs to the right (not visible in the photo). I didn't just buy all this equipment at once. I acquired it all over couple of decades.

http://classicplastic.org/image/Pete-workshop-5.jpg

Edited April 20, 2023 by peteski

[NOBLNG]

1 hour ago, peteski said:

The magnifiers dentist use can run $500 and up. They work great (my dentist let me try his on), but those are too spendy for me.

Heh Heh…if your dentist is wearing these, you might want to run away fast!😬

[tbill]

The thing I like about the yoctosun is the depth of field, I tried optivisor, magnifying lamps etc., but these things don’t send me off the range, I can comfortably work with them on without getting discombobulated ( as in I’m holding something, then try to find my other hand within the magnified area, if that makes sense), and you can’t beat the price.

 

[Steve H]

Micro Mark sells “eyejusters”. I bought some about a year ago and love them. They adjust from 1.5-4 using small dials at the outside of the frame. They’re not too heavy, and what I like is having the 4 for detail work, then simply turn the dial when for the not so detailed or close up stuff. I used to have 2 pairs of glasses on the bench, these ones do both. 
 

 

[NOBLNG]

51 minutes ago, Steve H said:

Micro Mark sells “eyejusters”. I bought some about a year ago and love them. They adjust from 1.5-4 using small dials at the outside of the frame. They’re not too heavy, and what I like is having the 4 for detail work, then simply turn the dial when for the not so detailed or close up stuff. I used to have 2 pairs of glasses on the bench, these ones do both. 
 

 

Cool.😎 Now if they could motorize those dials and add some laser range finders so that everything you look at is in focus….😜

[yh70]

On 4/20/2023 at 9:53 AM, tbill said:

Go to Amazon and check out yoctosun, these things are the bomb, 5 lenses and a built in light. Game changer for me, and they are like $20. Comfortable and you can wear glasses while wearing them as well. Lens angle and light angle are adjustable, I love them.

i bought a set a couple years ago . i dont like them. they just dont fit right for me. have not put them on over 5 times..

[1972coronet]

Thank you one-and-all for the suggestions/recommendations. I feel that the +6,000 reading glasses would be the best bet for me. 

[CabDriver]

So, you guys who own Optivisors - which lenses do you like for them?  I see they have various magnifications (with varying respective depth of fields…)

 

[randx0]

I had a hard time using the kind you wear , this one has a dimmable light .  MagniPros 3X Magnifying Glass... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FSR8HFT?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share