DIY Fluid Goggles

[dimitris33]

To Nostres: Do you see above surface too when you have your goggles filled with water or saline solution or these lenses are only for below surface vision?

 

[Kin]

I read above that a type of telescope maybe binoculars too, have lenses that can be used in fluid goggles.
I wonder if there is a way to recognize the material of those lenses i mean is it polycarbonate (plastic with high refractive index) or some sort of hard crystal-glass.
It would be helpful for some that can't spend money for shipping.

An efficient way to find out would be to put your lips first on the lens and then on a piece of glass (glass spectacles or a glass bottle at room temperature). Comparing the temperature it is possible to know what material it is made of
Cold=glass (heavy material)
warm=plastic(light material)

One advantage of using lenses from a telescope or binoculars is that the have big diameter so automatically you got wide field of view.

 

[ericvrp]

Hi,

This is the latest iteration of my fluidgoggles. I choose this goggle model (Cressi Sub Galileo which is the noseless version of the Cressi Minima) because:

1. The lenses are in line which gives a better vision
2. The goggle covers more of my sinuses
3. There is enough room to fill unused space with silicone for cold water diving
4. The goggle is big enough to attach lenses on the inside for good vision on the surface too!

The silicone also helps keeping the lens distance holders in place. No glue is required so it's easy to cut out some of the silicone, re-adjust the lenses and put new silicone in again.

I assume this can be used in competition too because identical lenses are used as in other fluidgoggles. Maybe some of our resident judges could give their opinion about this?!

cheers,
Eric

 

[Aber]

It looks like the visibility of the divers eyes from a safety divers point of view is very limited with these kinds of goggles. Maybe too limited?

 

[ericvrp]

Meanwhile two highly ranked Aida judges were consulted and they both said this type of fluid goggle would be okay for competitions.

 

[peacenluv]

For AIDA competitions and records, is it ok to use goggles with clear lenses that turn to smoke color under the sun?

 

[apneadream]

Hi guys,
Thanks so much for this great thread!
Have been really enjoying reading and learning through your personal experience.
Finally I have made my first operational goggles last night!
Looks great though I only got to test in in the sink so far.
Was wondering,is there a way to align lenses so I would be able to see outside the water also?
Been using anchor 20\20 lens as recommended.

Will post a picture of my creation soon!

 

[Bill]

If the lenses are inside the goggles they should work in and out of the water.

 

[apneadream]

Hi,

This is the latest iteration of my fluidgoggles. I choose this goggle model (Cressi Sub Galileo which is the noseless version of the Cressi Minima) because:

1. The lenses are in line which gives a better vision
2. The goggle covers more of my sinuses
3. There is enough room to fill unused space with silicone for cold water diving
4. The goggle is big enough to attach lenses on the inside for good vision on the surface too!

The silicone also helps keeping the lens distance holders in place. No glue is required so it's easy to cut out some of the silicone, re-adjust the lenses and put new silicone in again.

I assume this can be used in competition too because identical lenses are used as in other fluidgoggles. Maybe some of our resident judges could give their opinion about this?!

cheers,
Eric

Hi,

Was wondering what is it you used for holding the lenses in place?
(the rubber with holes thing)

Made my own pair of fluid goggles cutting holes and placing the lenses in,vision was a bit blurred and also could not see a thing out of the water,I knew that would be the case but it proved to be harder then I thought.
going to try the galileo and place lenses inside as you did.

Made two models out of 2 different goggles and one pair was stolen a few days ago by at the red sea a bunch of scuba divers! unbelievable!!! after all the hassle getting the lenses from anchor.

well,have a pair of lenses still and will make them count!

 

[Tody]

Hi

this weekend i made my first working fluidgoggles with lenses from edmund in the uk. GREAT. HArd work to get the right angle with my enourmous head. hihi
Due to an ilness i have a lot time and looked in the internet and found this

JAEGERS 19MM DIAMETER PYREX PCX LENS, 20MM FL - Surplus Shed

perhaps this would be a good alternativ to the rather expensiv edmund lenses almost 20 $ vs 3 $!!!!!

Tobi

 

[qai4321]

Some of the cheaper lenses available arent medical grade and will not be powerful enough to provide a clear image.

 

[Kars]

Hi Tobi Would love to hear your experience with these $ 3,- dollar lenses.
1) Is it sharp across the whole vision, to the egde of the lens?
2) What is the Field of Vision angle you have under water?

As well as Eric's experience with his cressi sub gallileo.
How much space have you got from your eyeball to the inside of the mask?

1) What lens did you use?
2) Is it sharp across the whole vision, to the edge of the lens?
3) What is the Field of Vision angle you have under water?
4) Has the silicone filling any positive effect, such as insulation?
5) I got the impression that the cylinder shaped 'Hair curl roll' may limit the Field of Vision, can you confirm this?

- I would love to test it in a pool with you

Thanks!

Still searching for the near perfect fluid goggle experience I had in Egypt with Timo's homemade design. WIDE FOV, sharp from the centre to the edges, under and ABOVE water.

 

[Tody]

I used the Edmund lenses like nearly everybody. I found those cheap lenses today during internet surfing. Since i have 3 spare lenses there is no reason for to buy those cheap ones. but i thought it was a good idea to post it, perhaps anyone else can do a test.

My lense holders are very similar to eric's (my have an angle of 10 degrees) but as far i could see there was no limitation to the field of view.

Tell us someting about Timos goggles. Lenses in or out? Distance from eye. My view is still a bit unsharp above and under water. Perhaps i habe to compare it with an unmounted lens.

Tobi

 

[watts]

It is possible to make really clear fluid goggles with just some old goggles and some crystal marbles and just drill the lenses out and position the marbles the right width apart.
The downside with the marble version is that they have to sit very close to the eye to be effective and your eyelashes hit them but for a few bucks tis worth the discomfort and the vision is better than most fluid goggles. Ill try get some photos.

Nat...

 

[azapa]

Nostres. Great post, thanks. Are these lenses in paira or each for that price?

Shabbat shalom!

OK fellow freedivers, I come here with good news. Final solution for great goggles is here! It is confirmed, tested, nice and simple. It comes from Anchor Optics and it catalog number is:

AX23086

Anchor Optics - Commercial Grade Plano-Convex Lenses (PCX) , Uncoated

From all different lenses and companies this particular one is by far the highest quality finish and sharpest image. How sharp is it?

I see clearly underwater to the point that I read smallest digits on my Suunto!
I had it both in pool and lake and it works great, couldn't be happier about it.

Few pictures below:
1) Product package and number
2-5) Process of making - aquarium silicone used to glue lenses. Weird lever thing is basically weight needed to keep goggles flat and leveled while glue was drying.
It is OK to glue lenses outside goggles using one drop of glass glue (super glue kind) but field of vision is compromised. Same sharpness but less view.
Mounting lenses inside, flat side towards eye gives better field of vision.
I have them so close I touch them while blinking but I am fine with it.

 

[Kars]

And with these 20mm lenses (Focus length 20mm):

1) What field of vision did you achieve?
2) Can you see sharp close by as well as far away?
3) How is the sharpness from the centre to the edges of your fov?

 

[efattah]

I want to make it clear that your field of vision depends on a few things:
- How close the lens is to the eye
- Refractive index of the glass
- Style of lens (plano-convex [curved one one side, flat on the other], or meniscus [curved on both sides, concave one side, convex the other])

The common edmund lenses use SF11 glass (refractive index n=1.78), and are plano convex. This is the highest index glass that you will find in any pre-built (non-custom) lens. You will never build goggles that have better vision than these lenses without custom lenses. Any surplus or overstock lenses will, at best, match those lenses in performance.

The biggest field of view goggles ever made were a single prototype of a meniscus zinc sulfide lens (n=2.35) that I used for my record in 2001. Those had a field of view bigger than most masks. I sold them for around $600 in 2002 to a guy in the UK when I was short on money...

 

[jome]

What would be the downsides from using a zinc sulfide lens except the price?

Asking out of curiosity because for me the major annoyance of any fluid goggles I've tried is the narrow field of vision & magnification. The best was your nirvana2 after hours and hours of diligently adjusting the lens (and it was great that it could be done with such precision), but managed to break those eventually...

 

[efattah]

What would be the downsides from using a zinc sulfide lens except the price?

There are two problems with zinc sulfide:
1. Price
2. Rainbow effect

The refractive index varies with color, so in your peripheral vision you get a rainbow effect where objects are surrounded by colored edges. Underwater it doesn't happen since everything is pretty much blue/green.

We don't mass produce zinc sulfide goggles since the price is high ($450-$550 per goggle). I currently use a pair of experimental zinc sulfide goggles with two lenses in each eye. However the experiment was not that successful, the quality of vision is about the same as the current Nirvana goggles. Nothing beats the goggles I made in 2001. They used a meniscus ZnS lens that was 'floating' in a polyurethane elastomer, bonded on the far side of the lens only. So there was not even a lens mount to impair your vision. The polyurethane also offered thermal insulation so it didn't hurt when diving in cold water.

 

[Kars]

Does it need to be a magnifying lens?

Would a plano concave lens provide a more natural vision nully fying the image enlargement? Oh bonkem I forget it's not the refraction of glass into air. I seriously need to find out how this works again (I did had some of it in high school - but cannot recall the formula) I think I now understand that -in general- the heavier the glass is, the bigger the refraction index, the wider the field of vision. Correct?

How does the lens radius come into play? Hoe does a marble of the same material stack up to an almost flat lens of the same material? In my estimation one would have a big lens distortion where the centre is magnified hugely and the edges compressed.

I would much rather have a large fov without the magnification and edge distortion.

Thank you Eric and others for your insightful replies!