In this article, I am telling you about my experiences with the new Rodenstock Freesign 3 Pro progressive lenses. First of all, we should talk about the exact configuration of the lenses because there are definitely some features to talk about.
Here is exactly what is built into the frame:
| Progressive lens type | Impression Freesign 3 Pro |
| Material | 1,6 410 |
| Coating | Solitaire Protect Plus 2 X-Tra Clean |
| Design Choice | Allround |
| Biometrical Data | yes, DNEye Scanner was used |
The most outstanding thing about those lenses is the coating
As an optician, I have several dozen types of coatings in my hands every day. Customers get their glasses readjusted to make the fit perfectly. Of course, every one of these frames gets cleaned in our shop.
So most coatings play in the same league when you want to clean something off the surface. With the new X-tra Clean coating, it feels like your microfiber cloth is floating over the lens surface while you wipe it. Truly amazing. I had a customer who complained about his lenses clean coat. His exact words were:
I do not think the grease on the lens surface stems from my skin. The lenses surface gets dirty so fast again after I wiped them. I think the grease must be exuded by the lenses itself.
A customer from me
The customer and me we both had to laugh about his theory. But after he complained about his old lenses I just showed him my Rodenstock lenses with the X-tra Clean coating. He was thrilled right away after he wiped my lenses himself. So he ordered a pair of lenses with the same coating. In addition to this experience of my customer, I have to clean less compared to my other lenses. That is definitely the case.
The coating itself has a really inconspicuous green reflex on it. You can spot it if bright light and a mirror is directly in front of you. But it is very minimal compared to other coatings of progressive lenses.
The blue-blocking options from Rodenstock in the Impression Freesign 3 Pro
I really like to wear them and ordered the blue-blocking option 410 with it. This blue blocker is built into the material and is blocks a range of the light spectrum. This always comes with a yellow/brown minimal tint as you look through the lenses. If you tilt the lenses to the side you will notice a slight purple tint in the lens material, which always comes the 410 blue blocker.
The alternative blue-blocking option is to order another coating. It is called Solitaire 2 Balance and it comes with a blue reflex on the lens surface which is more dominant as the green one I already mentioned.
I was first not a big proponent of blue-blocking lenses but I have to admit that with this 410 lens material I have to dim the monitor less compared to not using the glasses. PC work just feels a little bit easier. But as my Add is actually pretty low (+1,25) I am still able to focus on the PC monitor easily. If your Add value is higher than mine I would not recommend this lens for long PC work.
The reason is, of course, all the support you can expect in the near range from the Rodenstock Impression Freesign 3 Pro is in the lower half of the lenses. If your PC screen is on the same level as your eyes you can not get any support out of the lenses because you are looking through the upper half of the lens. And there is just the prescription for the distance.
If you want to get a better alternative for PC work only you should check out the Ergo line in this article.
How much is the Rodenstock Impression Freesign 3 Pro?
The Price of the Freesign 3 Pro in the configuration I ordered is 1407.00€ for both lenses. There is also an option which comes with a little bit thinner material (1,67) for 1487.00€.
My experience on these progressive lenses
I ordered the Allround option with balanced near intermediate and distance fields of view. First of all the Pro feature which matched my biometrical data from the DNEye scanner to the progressive lens design did not change the optics. I still try it during the day and at night if it is sharper with or without them (because I don´t have any prescription for the distance) but I can not see an effect here.
I actually expected to have a little less dazzling during the night from headlights. Which they do in a really minimal way. But the reason therefor is the 410 blue-blocking option. Because most of the problematic light sources come from LED or lasers which shine with a certain amount of blue light in their light spectrum.
What I really like is that straight lines appear very straight. The time for me to getting used to the lenses was pretty minimal. I put them on and just left them sitting on my nose. That was pretty quick. But of course with new progressives, you can expect to have an easier time if you always remember to point your nose into the direction you want to see sharp in.
I mentioned the straight lines because usually when I get new lenses with my prisms I expect the bottom to look a little bit like a sphere. Which is not the case at all with these lenses. And that is definitely impressive because I even had single vision lens designs which gave me that unnatural feeling of shapes in mine environment.
Should I Buy the Rodenstock Impression Freesign 3 Pro?
In comparison to other progressive lenses, I have not seen a coating that is easy to clean. I love it really. There is really minimal need to clean them. With my other lenses, I oftentimes did not know where the grease came from on the surface of my lenses but it suddenly was there. With these lenses, this happens to allot less.
And in addition to that, I am always amazed by the smoothness of the surface when rubbing it. As the Pro feature did not change a thing for me in enhancing my vision compared to lenses that did not use the surface of the cornea I have mixed feelings about that. That does not mean it could not be beneficial for you. Every eye is different and I personally do not have the DNEye Scanner in my shop.
That is why I visited the headquarter from Rodenstock in Frankfurt Germany to get the measurement with the mentioned device. This matching of the cornea to the lens designs can theoretically improve your vision. But as the lenses can only hold one prescription. This optimization is only perfect in one situation, as you look into a certain direction in a fixed illumination.
I could go more into the detail about the specifics here but this would blow up the article too much. The question, in the end, is would I recommend the Rodenstock Impression Freesign 3 Pro and the answer is yes. Would I also recommend the Freesign 3 without the measurements taken by the DNEye scanner with the same good feeling? Definitely yes.
One thing that bothers me aesthetically though is Rodenstock´s R Trademark which a little too visible to me as you can see in the picture above. You can see it from some angles and my friends mentioned the scratch or something on the lens surface. But no it is just the R from Rodenstock.
If you choose to order the blue-blocking option with your lenses you should not work in the graphic design or printing space. The reason is the slightly changed perception of colors. Everything has a slightly warmer tone with these lenses. That is of course totally fine for the normal daily usage.
I personally did not get a lot more sharp field of view in the near zone compared to other premium brands. Frankly spoken the straight lines I mentioned were impressive. No doubt about that. I hope this little review of the lenses gave you some little insights about the lenses and makes your decision about what you buy a little bit easier.