TESTCENTRE
Stay sharp
Reading Glasses
COMPANY: SEEDEEP DIVING OPTICS PRICE: £ 70 WEB: WWW. SEE-DEEP. COM
Over the years I’ ve reviewed many different products which are designed to help those divers whose sight may be less than perfect. These have ranged from prescription lens masks, stick-on magnifiers and even inner spectacles. DIY-ers have even been known to glue in their own prescription lenses from topside spectacles.
Each of these have their pros and cons, but a new product from SeeDeep, a Netherlandsbased company, offers an alternative that is both simple and, as I found, most effective. Similar to the wet lens of an underwater camera which can be popped on or off asand-when required, these SeeDeep‘ reading glasses’ do pretty much the same job for masks.
Rather than the magnification / correction being on the inside of the lens, SeeDeep glasses are designed to fit over the front of your mask. Intrigued, I equipped myself with a ragtag and bobtail selection of different masks and took to the water.
The lenses are made from polycarbonate, while the nose bridge and end pieces( which retain the strap) are anodised aluminium. They are lightweight( 25g) but very robust and actually quite stylish, as their streamlined design means they don’ t appear as some unwieldy afterthought. Unlike fixed lenses, the SeeDeep version can be positioned wherever is best for the individual diver’ s wants and needs.
Lenses are available from + 1 to + 3 magnification in seven stepped increments, however SeeDeep’ s recommendation is to add 0.5 to your normal reading glasses strength. If you’ re primarily looking at gauges or computers, then the ideal position is the lowest point of the mask. This leaves the top two thirds for long distance viewing unhindered.
The‘ down’ position of the glasses gave me a sharper view of my wristwatch computer and also my camera’ s display, perfect for composing shots or changing settings. Shooting video, where I spend the majority of time looking at an external monitor I found that positioning the glasses in the middle or upper section of my mask worked very well.
This left the lower of the mask free to monitor my surroundings.
I tried the SeeDeep with twin lens, single lens, frameless and framed masks. At the surface, those with a larger nose pocket appeared to hold them in place better. However, once underwater this had very little bearing, as the silicone strap and tacky surface of the end pads made contact with the edge of the masks, holding the glasses firmly in place regardless of mask style or design.
If you only need help with your close-up vision from time to time, perhaps to observe some minute, colourful nudibranch, then you can remove the glasses from their supplied, clip-on neoprene pouch, easily place them over your mask and return them safely when you’ re done.
I was quite happy to leave them on permanently, situating them where they’ d be either most effective or alternatively, away from my line-of-sight until I needed them. Mask clearing wasn’ t an issue, and even changing between my various test masks didn’ t cause any issues, simply removing the SeeDeeps first did the trick.
Out of curiosity I removed the strap from one mask and found that the pressure of water combined with the SeeDeep’ s own strap was more than ample to keep everything in place. Feeding the spectacle’ s strap through the mask’ s own retainers / adjusters, either with or without the masks own strap, is also an option for a more secure arrangement. NH
SCUBA SAYS
SeeDeep’ s underwater reading glasses provide a simple, effective and inexpensive option for long-sighted divers. Designed to fit almost every diving mask, they’ re available in a range of magnifications. With the option to remove and replace these underwater vision-enhancers at will, they’ ll certainly sharpen up your underwater world.
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