Wearing spectacles when flying a drone

[CareyL]

I need to wear spectacles both for reading and distance and so have multifocal lenses (I could also have bi focals).

On bright sunny days it is beneficial to have those lenses tinted BUT that compromises viewing my tablet even when using a monitor hood as the tinting darkens the monitor.
Ideally the top of the lens (for distance) should be tinted and bottom (for close up reading) should be clear but I have never seen such spectacles.

Could anyone who need to wear spectacles for both distance and reading advise what they do.

Thanks

I wear bifocals and bought a pair of clip on sunglasses. I cut out the bottom area of the sunglasses. A cheap but effective solution.

 

[flycaster1]

Buy some window tint ( a scrap piece is all you need and might get it for free from a glass shop) and apply it to the top portion of your glasses. If it doesnt work, the tint will peel right off and won't harm your glasses.

 

[Soxer]

Wow what fast replies and I am grateful to each and everyone who replied.
I will check out the suggestions.
I had a thought after I posted that I could use those clip on sunglasses (they clip on over the spectacles) and cut each lense in half longitudinally so that when they are flipped down they only half cover the spectacles. The clip on are cheap so no harm in doing this.
Hey these would also help when driving a car as the forward vision would be tinted but but when looking down at the instrument panel.

Hi Jarnie,

That sounds like a great idea and certainly worth a try.

I have similar issues and wear bifocals with long distance upper 2/3rds and intermediate lower third - mainly for driving but useful elsewhere too (I can read fine without specs). The clip-on plastic "sunglasses" are really cheap now (I bought some from an online auction site with both Polaroid and light reacting coatings) and seem to be of usable quality. Cutting such lenses is easy with decent scissors.

I do agree with others though that bright sun will still be an issue on the screen so shading will probably still be beneficial.

 

[Drumsagard]

I wear prescription Transitions Varifocals which even on a cloudy day can go pretty dark, so I have the same problem trying to see my iPad mini 4.
I'm also looking at getting either a Smart Controller or a CrystalSky monitor. In the meantime I shoot in manual and keep a close eye on my histogram.

 

[DavidM]

My prescription sunglasses have a polarizing coating. Depending on the angle I hold my phone screen the sunglasses will completely block the display screen. The screen goes black! Same with my digital wristwatch. I keep thinking the battery in my watch just died, because the display sometimes fades completely black.

I know I'm supposed to keep VLOS on my drone, but if I wear the sunglasses on sunny days I can't see the screen display. Instead I wear my normal clear prescription glasses and find a shady spot to fly from.

Polarised lenses will not allow you to see digital screens. Any other sunglasses are fine just not polarised lenses.

 

[robforbes123]

I also use multi focal glasses. However, when flying my drone I wear contacts. The two lenses are different; one is for close up reading and the other eye has a long distance lense. This enables me to look down at my controller screen and look up at the drone.
I also sometimes wear sunglasses over them. A screen shade also helps on the bright days.

 

[Zbip57]

Polarised lenses will not allow you to see digital screens. Any other sunglasses are fine just not polarised lenses.

It's only when looking at the screen at a particular angle, fine otherwise. I first noticed it during a car rally. As we crossed the finish line of one rally stage, I glanced down at my wristwatch to note our time and got an enormous shock when the wristwatch screen was blank! Yikes! My watch battery is dead!

I need that timepiece to work! We rely on it for all our timekeeping, checking into stage starts on time, confirming our stage finish times are correctly recorded etc. Luckily I always carry a backup in my co-driver's bag. But then I noticed the watch was fine. Phew. It's just my polarized sunglasses that blanked out the screen. Huge relief.

 

[jarnie]

Thanks again everyone. Some more innovative suggestions and also some expensive solutions but I'm not "going there".

Could those who have used cut down clip on sunnies advise what they used to cut the plastic lenses as they are very flimsy.

Thanks again

 

[LivinLarge]

Thanks again everyone. Some more innovative suggestions and also some expensive solutions but I'm not "going there".

Could those who have used cut down clip on sunnies advise what they used to cut the plastic lenses as they are very flimsy.

Thanks again

For a straight cut, just use scissors. To cut out the inner corners as with the ones in my photo, use a Dremmel tool.

 

[Mark Waco]

I don't know your budget, or your drone, but maybe CrystalSky?



Edit: I do not wear glasses, so can't chime in there

I have trifocus plastic lenses, my bottom reading section does not darken all the way when not facing the sun, also the center is the same way just a bit darker then the bottom. I have been wearing glass lenses for years and will be going back to them, plastic always has a fine cloud on them no mater what i clean them with. Glass you clean and they were clean. The auto tint was faster and clearer. Hope this helps.

 

[aquasun]

I modified some clip on sunglasses to solve this exact problem. They work great.

Well done!

 

[mereflyer]

I need to wear spectacles both for reading and distance and so have multifocal lenses (I could also have bi focals).

On bright sunny days it is beneficial to have those lenses tinted BUT that compromises viewing my tablet even when using a monitor hood as the tinting darkens the monitor.
Ideally the top of the lens (for distance) should be tinted and bottom (for close up reading) should be clear but I have never seen such spectacles.

Could anyone who need to wear spectacles for both distance and reading advise what they do.

Thanks

Have posted about this before but in this case I again show my "masterpiece" took a while to make, but very comfortable to wear and extremely good vision in bright sunshine. Has 10" Samsung Galaxy A2 inside, with lower section of cover removed for hand access for on screen use.
Good resting pads for wrist also make controlling easier and more accurate....

 

[jarnie]

Wow! I'm impressed maybe even more so as you are older than me and I thought I was the oldest here.
Even a space for (is it) a checklist or flight plan. And it takes the weight of the tablet off the controller.
Well done and thanks sharing that. You should make more and market them. I want one.

 

[mereflyer]

Thanks for your kind words jarnie, If you have access to a workshop with good woodworking tools and machinery, I could possibly make the plans and materials list available for a consideration. Let me know if you and any others are interested.
I can absolutely assure you that this device transforms the enjoyment levels and improves "out of sight" the way you will fly when you start using my unusual harness.
PM me if interested...
Cheers!

 

[jarnie]

Thanks for your kind offer (plans).
I don't have such a workshop but if I decide to go ahead (I have a good friend who probably has the right tools) I will contact you.
I'm a bit worried thought that if I turn up with such a device at my local (large) park, other people might think it is the Ghostbusters (just kidding)

 

[mereflyer]

Dont know about Ghostbusters, but yes it can be a bit of an eyebrow raiser, even a bit quirky!
So far though have not had any problems with other comments. Anyway the advantages far outweigh the slightly bulky appearance.

I will go ahead and put some instructions and plans together in the coming days in case you (or anyone else reading this) do want to make one for themselves.
Just PM if you are interested and want more details!

 

[jarnie]

Thanks again. Once again I think the idea and design is great.

 

[Rockjok]

Kinda related but.... I put over the counter bifocal stickons on the upper part of a regular pair of distance glasses. This allows me to use goggles (without reading glasses) but still have instant distance vision thru the lower part when I flip the goggles up. More related, I've seen people with homemade half-sunglasses using cheap window tinting.

 

[Drone4]

I need to wear spectacles both for reading and distance and so have multifocal lenses (I could also have bi focals).

On bright sunny days it is beneficial to have those lenses tinted BUT that compromises viewing my tablet even when using a monitor hood as the tinting darkens the monitor.
Ideally the top of the lens (for distance) should be tinted and bottom (for close up reading) should be clear but I have never seen such spectacles.

Could anyone who need to wear spectacles for both distance and reading advise what they do.

Thanks

Have you tried or looked at a ipad hood like this? I use this w glasses and have no problems

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BLRL4D2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[caryg]

I have the same problem w/ close and distance focusing. I've solved it as follows:
1. Use an iPad rather than a phone as your screen; it's much easier on the eyes.
2. Place a sunshade over the iPad (usually but not always). I use a Hoodman Aviator and like it a lot, but there are others.
3. Place yourself in the shade, ideally under a tree (which also keeps you cool, and out of your pics and videos).
4. Position your iPad & controller so the sun isn't behind your shoulder; even under a tree, it will sometimes reach your screen and blind you.
4. Wear bifocals.

Polarized clip-ons will block out any part of your screen they overlap, so I don't use them. If you could find a light tint in non-polarized and cut them in half, as LL suggested, that might work...