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I wear prescription glasses but do not have astigmatism. I have had my current glasses for about 10 months but just recently started working with red dots again. I have noticed that with my glasses I get a little bit of bloom on the dot. I don't get this without my prescription glasses. Is this normal? Is it something I can correct with my prescription?
It isn't a huge deal until I start stretching out the distance with my issued rifle and CCO. At 200 meters plus it becomes a bit of a problem.
Depending upon what part of my glasses I am looking through, I may see some bloom. I use Varilux progressives. I try to disregard bloom and look at the target. I can see this being more of an issue with a 5.56 than a pistol.
I'm at the age where I have to wear progressive lenses and depending upon how my glasses are angled when looking at the dot, I can sometimes see a bloom like dot. I have to ensure that I am using either the middle or upper part of my lense to see the dot.
For progressives, try using the distance portion of the prescription, rather than the intermediate or close in prescription -- for looking at the target. I have trifocals -- I can't use progressives. The top, distance, prescription has a clean dot. If I use intermediate or close, the dot fuzzes.
What @GJM said.
Old guy, bad eyes, thick lenses with multiple corrections (me, not GJM). Basically, you'll be looking at the target, bringing the dot into view. I'm sure I'll say this poorly, but here goes: If you "train" your brain to target focus, and consider the dot a secondary "view", you'll not worry as much about whether the dot is sharply focused. Your objective is to bring the dot onto the target, not to focus on the dot.
And somewhat going counter to the past comments, while I can see some differences in the dot's appearance when I move my (yes, progressive) lens around, when you're shooting you're mostly putting the center of your eye on the target. I'd think it very difficult to think about viewing the dot through a particular area of your eyeglasses when shooting - - - 'cause then you'd be looking at the target through that same particular area of your specs.
(That said, I regularly prove myself to miss the target, and the point of conversation.)
Good points @GJM @Tod-13 @gtmtnbiker98 and @flyrodr. Hadn’t thought about it but I am paying attention to the dot instead of finding a spot on the target. Thank you all.
With holosun I have experienced the opposite phenomena.
Without glasses the circle is kind of fuzzy and dot is slightly bloomed.
If I put on my prescription glasses (or sunglasses) everything gets razor sharp.
Scrip is low (-.25) so maybe that’s the reason?
I have the worst type of astigmatism for red dots, and they are still my favorite sighting solution. I hear most guys saying the dot blooms, or looks like a comma. What I see varies from a cluster of grapes to the star of Bethlehem. I'm also cross eye dominant, so that's cool...
The desire to see a perfect dot is a futile endeavor. Very few people are blessed with a perfect cornea shape on both eyeballs. I wear gas permeable hard contact lenses, which are considered the best non-surgical solution for correcting astigmatism, and I still don't see a perfectly round dot. The point of the red dot is not a crisp and perfect reticle. It is to give a small aiming point that is so bright and eye catching that you can focus on the target and still see it floating where you want to shoot. However the dot is distorted, it is still covering 2 MOA of the target. Having it too bright might have it extend out to 3 or 4 MOA. I visualize it this way, I'm painting a tiny red brush stroke where I want to hit. The more light there is in the environment and the more focused on the target you are, the less distorted the dot will be. When taking long distance shots, flipping up and looking through the rear BUIS small aperture will get you as close to a perfect dot as you can get, and will eliminate parallax.
I want to add an update to this. I shot a Guard match last weekend. For the rifle, I used an issued Aimpoint CCO. The pistol was an M17 with issued night sights. I shot the first two days with my regular everyday progressive lens glasses. Morning of the third day one of the range safties "suggested" that I switch to a proper set of safety glasses. The only other set of glasses I had with me were an old set of single vision glasses that look like safety glasses. They were set up for computer use. Good anti-reflective coating and a little bit of blue light blocking. The prescription is too weak to use as readers but they work very well for distance vision. I don't have a strong prescription, to begin with, but my eyes have become accustomed to having the extra help that my progressives provide.
I started the day with the pistol. It was early and overcast so lighting wasn't that great. To my surprise, I didn't find the single vision glasses a hindrance at all. I was able to see a clear target and my front sight was a little blurry. Speed and accuracy didn't seem to suffer at all. Next was the rifle. The stage was a team against team match to steel set at 200 meters. Again the glasses surprised me. The targets were nice and clear and the red dot was clean and clear. No bloom at all. With both eyes open I had a perfect focus on the target and a nice clean dot.
It just so happens that I'm due an eye exam this month. I'm going to talk to my doctor about my experiences with the red dot and see if I can come up with a new set of glasses that are specific for shooting. I don't like shooting without a real set of safety glasses and it's time to make that investment.
A quick follow up question if anyone is still reading. Is anyone using a set of transition lenses in shooting glasses? I really miss being able to shoot with sunglasses but I'm not sure if transitions lenses work well for sights and red dots.
Another factor to consider is the actual lenses and coatings or a lack thereof. Certain coatings can help prevent or reduce the likelihood of reflections. I'd have to imagine bloom could be affected by that as well. Maybe better lenses could help, where that's an option? For reference, I have an astigmatism and wear glasses as well. I never really get dot bloom. Not sure if that's just me, or the fact I usually max out the options for lens quality and coatings whenever I get new ones. Currently wearing Rudy Vulcan's with the Direct in-frame lenses and full AR coatings on both sides which are the best I've had yet.
My current lenses that cause bloom are Varilux Physio with their anti glare coating. It could be that the lenses are slightly off but I’m not sure I could upgrade to anything better otherwise. My eye doctor is a shotgun only so getting him to understand why I wanted a sharp and clear front sight was a little difficult. Hopefully he can help me get what I want.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sig_Fiend
My Transition glasses with progressive lenses should be in soon. I'll let you know how they work. I primarily wear soft contacts and have astigmatism. I'm cross dominant and shoot with both eyes open. I get bloom with my red dots depending on how bright the dot is set. Oh and I have old guy eyes....Quote:
Originally Posted by MGW
With vision correction via glasses or contacts sometimes a compromise is preferred by the shooter. If correcting for distance vision ( - prescription) reducing the strength of the correction can be very helpful. In effect you are changing the focal distance of the prescription to accommodate the distance to your sight/s. It's real easy with contacts, "hey doc can I have a few packs of contacts that are .5 less than my number I need them for ..."
I would definitely like to hear about you experience with the transitions @MDFA.
@JohnO I talked to my eye doctor last year about making a set of glasses that were set for front sight only. He put a set of lenses in frames I already had. It sounded like a good idea but in actual practice I didn’t like it. My front sight was in sharp focus but the target was very blurry. I didn’t like that at all.
I kind of feel like this conversation ties in a little bit with the target focus shooting thread. I’ve found that if I can have a soft focus on the sights and a clear target I can shoot very well at speed. On longer targets I have to slow down just a little bit to make sure I’m seeing my sights but my accuracy is still there. Now that I’m stepping into the world of dots I think having glasses that let me see a clear target are more important than anything.
I wish contacts would work for me. I fight dry eyes and allergies.
@MGW it sounds like our vision is similar. At 50 I pretty much have a fixed focal length, luckily right around front sight or computer use.
I don’t use any glasses at all seeing patients in office or using computer.
I use single vision with a light distance correction for outdoor activities, shooting and driving.
But for surgery I need to use bifocals to sharpen up close vision while allowing me to see a screen across the room as well.
I tried progressives and it was hopeless. I really prefer a simple bifocal. And I generally only use that in surgery, but they definitely help me score target as well, and are no hindrance shooting dots or irons.
My uncorrected vision is the opposite of yours. Distance vision is very good but near vision is not. The bad news is I spend a lot of my day needing near vision.Quote:
Originally Posted by Doc_Glock
I don’t think there is going to be a perfect answer. No matter what I choose there is going to be trade offs.
Just putting this out there as it may assist someone.Quote:
Originally Posted by MGW
I know a few folks who's vision with correction is right on the hairy edge for seeing their sights. They are contact wearers with distance correction. They just knock off a .25 to .50 of correction and it enables them to see their sights and doesn't have a significant impact on distance vision. Perhaps with glasses the sweet spot would be to cut a prescription between a normal distance value and the front sight value, a compromise if there is enough range to get between.
Additionally I know someone who wears the slightly less powerful contact in his shooting eye and full value in the other eye. I know there are people who can handle one eye for close and one for distance and the brain adapts. I've seen that where an individual who needed distance correction had a lens replacement in a single eye for a cataract. Same ( different eye focal distances) concept occurs when using a magnified optic. For example: looking through a scope with both eyes open the brain keys in on the magnified view. What the eye without the scope sees is ignored or is relegated to peripheral info.
I'm not him, but I have transitions in Rudy Project Stealth Z87+ frames, where the prescriptions are trifocal lens inserts, inside of the protective lenses.Quote:
Originally Posted by MGW
Transitions seem fine -- I don't notice them while shooting, and they dim the light just a touch outdoors.
I've had my new glasses for a few days. I gave it time for my eyes to adapt to the new prescription. I don't think the Transitions treatment has any effect on the appearance of the dot. I get the same shape of the dot with my left eye whether I wear glasses or contacts. My left eye is the dominant eye and has the worst astigmatism of my eyes. I shoot with both eyes open. If I use my right eye I get a nearly perfect dot. If I use my left eye or both eyes open I get a dot which looks like a "cone headed stickman" best way I can describe it.... I have noticed that I sometimes get a good round dot with my left eye, but I think that depends on how tired my eyes are.Quote:
Originally Posted by MGW
I have noticed that my RMR and Holosun seem to have the same appearance, but my DDP seems to have a better dot, perhaps due to differences in lens coatings or treatments.
I think the best any of us can do is to focus on the target, and place the dot and press the trigger ignoring the dot as much as possible. Which of course is already the best practice in dot usage and training.
I need to go boot that cone headed stickman in the ass now.....:rolleyes: