any know of HydroOptix Mega 4.5 DD Mask
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francousteau
Contributor
mlat:
I own this mask and can tell you a few things about it.
The good news: The hype surrounding this mask is true. It actually does what the advertisements say that it will do. It gives a wider viewing area and helps eliminate the "claustrophobic" feeling that you might get. You also get a true feel for where things are at and their size in the water column. I can grab the smallest object that's floating in the water column, on the 1st try with them. I'm not sure why, but colors also are better with them.
The bad news: They're kind of a pain. Since I need to wear contacts with them and then wear the corrective glasses to counteract the contact script, when on the surface, it's a bit cumbersome. When you're finishing your dive and on the water surface, you have to wear these other corrective lenses that attatch to the mask. This is a pain, because you have to take them off of the attached storage (I bungee this storage unit and slip it over my left arm) and then clip it onto the mask. The counteracting glasses that I wear during the surface interval always give me a slight headache. Then there's the issue of what happens if they get kicked off during the dive??? Because I'm wearing contacts for this mask, I can't just pull out my spare mask and put it on because it's not a "hydro mask", so I'm screwed there.
Best opinion: They're good for truly recreational "blue water" divers who only want to look at the fish, coral and things like that. If your diving style is otherwise, i(e: wreck, cave, cavern, hunting) you might want to take a pass on this mask.
If your the "blue water" only diver, you can PM me and I"ll sell you my setup. I bought it in January '05.
HTH
ArthurGerla
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scharffenberg
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I have the mask and really like it. And, it does have a very wide field of view. Now, since my vision is about 4.25, this mask is almost near perfect diopter corrective fit for me. I see about 20/20 in the water. And, there I do not notice any magnification in the water that I do with my other mask. Topside, I have to put on my glasses. On the downside, the mask is quite a bit larger than my low volume mask.
If you have 20/20 vision topside, you have to actually degrade your vision to use this mask underwater. Only wretched myopes like myself can use this mask uncorrected underwater - I'm a -6.0, so I still had to use some contacts to get 20/20 underwater.
There are reports of people with 20/20 vision who use this mask with contacts - mostly serious cavers from what I've heard.
There are reports of people with 20/20 vision who use this mask with contacts - mostly serious cavers from what I've heard.
francousteau
Contributor
Tom, just a question for you, please. Do you know what these "serious cavers" are doing for redundancy when using this mask?Tom Winters:
Darned if I know - this is what I heard from the Hydrooptix people. I couldn't imagine degrading my normal vision for underwater correction to begin with.
Now just for one hypothetical instance, let's say a 20/20 guy did splurge for the mask, went through the contact lens ordeal, and was diving in a cave. If he did have a mask problem, he could ditch the mask for a backup and just pop the lenses out.
One thing in the mask's favor - I got three of them from the factory - is that it is awesomely made. The curved mask lens is polycarbonate, and if you managed to hit something scootering or moving in a fast current that could crack that lens, you'd be speared by a normal glass mask.
Plus the lens is screwed on - you can change it out with an Allen wrench.
I almost eyeballed myself one night on a deep wreck when something hit my leg. Swinging around, I just missed a thin metal pipe sticking out of a bulkhead. I might have scratched the Hydrooptix lens, but I would have shattered my Sea Vision for sure.
So out of my three masks, I gave one away to a tech outfit in Provo to play with, I sold one on eBay, and now I'm down to one. I didn't like it in the ocean, especially looking for the boat after surfacing, but it might actually be kinda cool in freshwater caves.
Now just for one hypothetical instance, let's say a 20/20 guy did splurge for the mask, went through the contact lens ordeal, and was diving in a cave. If he did have a mask problem, he could ditch the mask for a backup and just pop the lenses out.
One thing in the mask's favor - I got three of them from the factory - is that it is awesomely made. The curved mask lens is polycarbonate, and if you managed to hit something scootering or moving in a fast current that could crack that lens, you'd be speared by a normal glass mask.
Plus the lens is screwed on - you can change it out with an Allen wrench.
I almost eyeballed myself one night on a deep wreck when something hit my leg. Swinging around, I just missed a thin metal pipe sticking out of a bulkhead. I might have scratched the Hydrooptix lens, but I would have shattered my Sea Vision for sure.
So out of my three masks, I gave one away to a tech outfit in Provo to play with, I sold one on eBay, and now I'm down to one. I didn't like it in the ocean, especially looking for the boat after surfacing, but it might actually be kinda cool in freshwater caves.
capybara
Contributor
Pros: you get a wider field of view and less distortion. Plus you look really cool. Cons: you have to wear contacts to make your vision worse if you're 20/20 (but I'm nearsighted so I can wear it without anything), your vision is blurry at the surface unless you bring along the snap-on glasses (too much hassle), and the mask is high-volume so more prone to leaking/fogging problems. I still like it but sometimes I go back to my old prescription mask, it's just easier.
I went to monovision with contacts - my right eye is normally corrected, but my left eye can read my gauges and watch now.
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