High tech mask glass?

[АлександрД]

Hi guys!
Before I will explain my idea about using antireflecting (coating) optics, I will tell you one nice story...

Spoiler: nontolerant story

There was in SDI times
I heard that tale somwere, at this moment I could not remember where...

Whes States inventing space lasers, attack satelites, etc... one student just explaned one idea:
"If you put one bucket of nails or screw nuts to the orbit, and will explode it there - it will destroy all satelites..."
According to the rumors, late was counted price of bucket of nails and price of reseach of lasers, satelites etc - program was closed...
it is just a tale and rumors, but...

Another more real story

about pen and pencil in the space
During the height of the space race in the 1960s, legend has it, NASA scientists realized that pens could not function in space. They needed to figure out another way for the astronauts to write things down. So they spent years and millions of taxpayer dollars to develop a pen that could put ink to paper without gravity. But their crafty Soviet counterparts, simply handed their cosmonauts pencils.

And this is not a rumor, really, Alexey Gagarin in his first flight used pencil (I did not found color images of him, but here Tereshkova flight logbook)
Just next generation of spaceships Soyuz had used pen.... it was bought from States...

My father was the optics expert in the family, but I learned a lot from him. I also use best grade optics for hunting and shooting and I can tell you that there is a reason Zeiss or Leica scopes and binos are $2500-$3000 dollars or more, performance...period, end of story. I have spent way more than the average person on good glass and I pray my wife don't sell my stuff for what I told her I paid for it when I am gone!!!
Glass is glass, but it is not all equal. Basically, all glass is made from silica sand. The glass in a spy satellite is chemically no different from the glass in the windows of your house. But, there are very big differences otherwise. So called optical grade glass is different in that it was fluxed and stirred constantly while kept in a molten state for a long time. This removes inclusions and impurities. The flux is a chemical that helps the impurities to "leave" it while molten. Once all the impurities are out the glass block is allowed to cool very slowly and it gets cut in to sizes to make lenses or whatever. This is half the battle to great optical glass. It takes a long time and is very expensive to do. Once cut and ground, depending on the future use it receives coatings that further enhance the performance. The best optical glass is made in Germany and comes from a company called Schott.
This is the glass used in Atomic Aquatics and other high quality masks. Germany perfected the processes for purifying the glass itself and the coatings for enhancing performance before WWII and continues to make it better. Japan runs a close second because they received information during the war when they were allies with Nazi Germany. Germany didn't share quite all the secrets to making great optical glass though and to this day while Japanese glass is for sure fantastic, it does not equal or exceed that made in Germany.
Bottom line, it is not a gimmick at all, Atomic Aquatics masks use Schott glass and since the glass is clearer you can see a little better when you look thru them. Personally, I don't care for the reflective "ARC" coating. The best you can do is get something like 99.4% light transmission thru the finest optical glass. Various coatings, such as those found on rifle scopes and binoculars enhance some of the light and make it appear "better" to the human eye, such as for low light performance. But each coating has it's price and detracts from the basic light transmission. Schott glass, like used in the masks with no coatings transfer 99.4% {minus maybe a very small amount} while other glass used in other masks may only transfer less than 90% to your eye. ARC coated masks will for sure make some colors under water appear brighter, but it's a trade off in low light conditions or in less than stellar visibility.
ARC looks good in Bonaire in the middle of the day at 20 feet...not so good in the late afternoon at 80-90 feet depth at a dive site with less visibility. On a night dive I would say forget it, this is where a Schott glass mask will shine.
All this said, the finest, most expensive, perfectly clear optical glass is negated to "zero" when your mask leaks. I love and appreciate fine optical glass, but I'd take a cheesy green tinted $20.00 junk glass mask that don't leak over any other mask no matter what it's made of on a dive.

Edit: I should add, it appears that the use of optical glass and possibly various "performance" coatings are just now starting to hit the scuba mask scene....like all matters of money, I expect to see more offerings along the lines of optical glass and light performance specific coatings in regards to dive masks....if the market is there they will latch onto it....I am surprised it has taken this long!!!! Who knows what we will see glass wise in the future????

I just would like to explain you my opinion about coated optics and ... another kind of mask.
Normal window glass has light transmission around 0.7-0.8 (depends on thickness of glass packet)
So, lets have allowance that we can make 99.999% clean optics.
For mask (with glass thickness around 4mm) we will have just 20% difference.

Please, read this my message about Aquasphere mask (how it works). According to its shape - it shows you real sized objects undervater, opposit to "normal" mask, that makes objects underwater around 30% bigger (and same time 30% less bright!).

So, you can invent sophisticated glasses, extra innovative coatings etc... but using cheap plastic with spherical shape can break all you inventations...

Sorry, I do not want to touch anyone's feelings, it`s just phisics...

 

[peterak]

Hi guys!

Please, read this my message about Aquasphere mask (how it works). According to its shape - it shows you real sized objects undervater, opposit to "normal" mask, that makes objects underwater around 30% bigger (and same time 30% less bright!).

So, you can invent sophisticated glasses, extra innovative coatings etc... but using cheap plastic with spherical shape can break all you inventations...

Sorry, I do not want to touch anyone's feelings, it`s just phisics...

I wish it were so. Unfortunately, the Aquasphere masks are curved only along the horizontal axis—the vertical axis is flat, as shown in your other post. The result is severe astigmatism, which is why I quickly rejected the Aquaspheres. Fine for swimming laps, etc., but if you want a good look at the fish you're swimming past during open water swims, forget it.

 

[АлександрД]

I wish it were so. Unfortunately, the Aquasphere masks are curved only along the horizontal axis—the vertical axis is flat, as shown in your other post. The result is severe astigmatism, which is why I quickly rejected the Aquaspheres. Fine for swimming laps, etc., but if you want a good look at the fish you're swimming past during open water swims, forget it.

NO Aquasphere in front surface has spherical shape! It`s my selfmade FFM has cylindrical glases, but Aquasphere - spherical.
Yes, on sides it has more short radius, but you eyes did not sprawling, because only one eye can see to the side, other is closed by rubber nose.
For the first-second dive it could looks uncomfortable, but just because most men become accustomed to normal, flat masks, that increase object sizes underwater.
Late you will not change Aquasphere to any other mask
Only one negative it has - it is plastic and easy scratchable, but underwater you did not see any scratches.