Curved mask lens?

[RedSeaDiver2]

I know that lens on a scuba mask tends to be flat, but I'm wondering if that is just a historical thing from the days when glass only came in flat, and whether a mask with a curved plastic lens would work - or whether it would be horrible optically?

 

[tursiops]

I know that lens on a scuba mask tends to be flat, but I'm wondering if that is just a historical thing from the days when glass only came in flat, and whether a mask with a curved plastic lens would work - or whether it would be horrible optically?

HydroOptix makes/made such a mask. The curvature makes it act like a lens.
This may be a dead link; I don't think the company has existed for years.

 

[Still Kicking]

Aqualung makes the Sphera mask, which has a curved plastic lens. Some freedivers love it for its ultra low volume and wide field of view. Personally, i was bothered by the distortion and uneven refraction.

 

[Damselfish]

I had a curved plastic mask when I was a kid that I used in the pool. It was kinda weird.

 

[RedSeaDiver2]

Aqualung makes the Sphera mask, which has a curved plastic lens. Some freedivers love it for its ultra low volume and wide field of view. Personally, i was bothered by the distortion and uneven refraction.

I was wondering about whether there would be distortion or not!

 

[Scuba Lawyer]

HydroOptix makes/made such a mask. The curvature makes it act like a lens.
This may be a dead link; I don't think the company has existed for years.

Is that the mask where you had to be fitted for contact lenses which would close-focus on a virtual image created by the curvature of the mask? I seem to recall somebody trying to market that concept many moons ago.

 

[Still Kicking]

Is that the mask where you had to be fitted for contact lenses which would close-focus on a virtual image created by the curvature of the mask? I seem to recall somebody trying to market that concept many moons ago.

Yes. It was a tough sell. Too tough.