Glare affecting target acquisition

hi all,

i wear prescription glasses and live in Australia, I have noticed that if I shoot with my normal clear glasses versus my prescription polarised sunglasses  (not shooting specific glasses, purely prescription sunnys) my scores are consistently higher with the sunglasses. My question being, in bright light your iris contracts to allow less light in, but does it also shallow your depth perception like on a camera?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

I wear prescription glasses and wish I lived in Australia. Anywhere would do, as long as it's warm, but I could do without those nasty biting spiders and snakes!

I never shoot in my normal everyday glasses. Specialist shooting glasses are just that. They make things better when you are shooting. I have a choice of tinted lenses to suit the light and background conditions which are placed in front of a prescription insert, so I have perfect clarity.

I can't comment much on the bright light problem you have. I only experience that for one day in a year in England, and I'm usually stuck at work on that day.

I can confirm that I do shoot as well as I can when I use my shooting glasses, and seeing the target clearly is everything! 

Thanks for the reply Ian, you get used to the spiders and snakes after a while  :wink:

I'm looking to get some prescription shooting glasses at the moment but have concerns if inserts will work with my prescription as I tried it with some oakley style glasses a few years ago and it didn't work due to the aggressive angle of the glasses and the astigmatism correction I require.

I'm currently weighing up later surgery compared to prescription glasses annually for my shooting (then another pair for fishing)

Contact lenses?

Luked, I have astigmatism in both eyes (seriously rugby ball shaped eyeballs!) and also short sighted, and use Bi-focals for everyday glasses. Never, ever get Varifocals to use every day and then change to single vision for shooting. You may as well use someone else's prescription and it screws your brain and ruins your shooting big time!! I use Randolph Ranger XLW with the insert and have found them to be superb. The most important bit though is to get an optometrist that understands shooting and can centre your eye on the prescription insert when your head is in a "gun to the face" shooting position. The only drawback with the insert system is the occasional refraction of light between the two lenses, but this is reduced to a minimum by wearing a cap with a good peak to keep the direct sun out of your eyes (not that it's too much of a worry in the UK!!).

Charles P (above) has just suggested contact lenses. I tried them too once. Never again! I never got any clarity at all and when I blinked, they kept falling off my eyes due to the curvature. That may not happen to you but bear it in mind.

Best of luck finding what suits you. Try all you can before you buy or it can become expensive. :smile:

thanks all, i have tried contacts several times but always struggled to get them in so gave up.

i'll have a look at the rangers, been looking at everything at the moment as i want to get it sorted

There is an excellent set of shooting glasses made in Australia with interchangeable lenses High Scorers. Choose 3 standard tints for testing then get your optician to make your lens. He can even reduce the height so they are clear of the gun mount. They sell over here for £140 and I notice Ian Peel carries a box of theirs.

http://www.gun.co.uk/product-category/shooting-glasses/

Hello Luke! In bright light, the pupil reduces in size, constricts, to dampen down the disabling effects of glare to the retina. 

Constricted pupils increase both depth of field and depth of focus.

Your pupils will be larger behind polarised lenses so this "bonus" will be reduced, but then your visual system will potentially be a lot more comfortable and the retina will not suffer from "bleaching" as severely as it would without the specs on.

Regarding appropriate methods of correction, do you know what your exact prescription values are?

Ed

I'm about to have a new eye test done to see where it is at currently and will advise.

Thanks all for your input

Glare? that's caused by sunshine isn't it? No worries mate, we don't get that here :lol: