What Office Lens Should You Choose?
What is an office lens?
An office lens is a multifocal lens similar to a progressive lens. Instead of helping you see distance, intermediate, and close-up, an office lens specializes in intermediate and close-up vision.
Who can benefit from an office lens?
Many people! Whether you’re spending your day working on a computer, knitting, or playing the piano, an office lens will be more comfortable than a progressive lens for long periods of close-up vision.
Why is an office lens better for close-up work?
When using a progressive, distance vision needs to be clear when looking straight ahead. This works well for driving, playing sports, bird-watching, and many other activities. Because the “straight head” vision in progressives is best when looking far away, it can’t be as good close up. To see up close when wearing any progressive lens, you tilt your chin up. This both creates neck strain and forces you to look through a part of the progressive lens with a narrower viewing area, which can be uncomfortable.
How do office lenses work?
Office lenses eliminate the distance part of the lens entirely; they aren’t meant for driving or other distance-focused activities. Instead, the whole upper portion of the lens is your intermediate prescription. This means that you have wide, clear vision while playing the piano or working on a computer, without lifting your chin.
Office lenses are often made with different “distances”. What does that mean?
Many office lenses have different “distances” in meters or feet to choose from. These are usually 1.3m (4ft) , 2m (6.5 ft), or 4m (13 ft). What you’re choosing is the maximum distance you’ll be able to see clearly in the office lenses.
Why would I choose anything other than the longest “distance” available?
Office lenses with shorter viewing distances won’t let you see as far away, but they will have much wider, clearer vision with less peripheral distortion. Office lenses with longer viewing distances let you see further away, but your field of vision naturally narrows as the viewing distance grows.
What “distance” should I choose?
Most people feel most comfortable in a 2m (6.5ft) office lens. But the distance you choose depends on what your needs are, and how you’re using the lenses!
1.3m/4ft: Very close-up work like piano playing, knitting while listening to music, or model building. Any task where you can almost use a pair of reading glasses, but they’re just not quite good enough. These lenses have a short enough viewing distance that some people find it uncomfortable to walk around in them
2m/6.5ft: Working on a desktop computer, one-on-one meetings in a small office, or working at home in your kitchen. 2m lenses are much more comfortable to walk around in than 1.3m lenses
4m/13ft: Large group in-person meetings, greeting people across a large room, watching television from your couch, or doing yard work
If I have a set of office lenses, do I still need a progressive?
This depends on your situation, but office lenses do not replace progressives! For instance, you can’t drive in office lenses, because they’ll be blurry when looking off in the distance.
