I saw the fresnel lens discussed within another thread. I thought it deserved a thread of its own. For those of us who are over 6 feet tall, seeing a traffic light while stopped at an intersection can be a contortion challenge. The small lens is affixed to the upper portion of the windshield, acting like a fish-eye lens and refracting light from a broad area, thus allowing one to see objects above the roofline; such as traffic lights. I have had mine for a few weeks, now believing it should be standard equipment on any mini with tall drivers. It was a solid $25.00 investment, attaching to the inner surface of the windshield with only the application of water. I got mine through Cravenspeed, as was suggested on the prior thread. https://www.cravenspeed.com/highlight-for-mini/
What are thoughts about this causing damage if the car is out in sunshine. I googled "fresnel lens" and it came up as part of a survival kit for focusing sunlight to start a fire!!! I'm a little attuned to this as I was given a crystal lens ball as a gift, which I left on my desk. When I came back one afternoon it had focused the sunlight to burn a sizable hole in the plastic of my docking station
Yes, this is necessary for me and very useful. I got mine from lightinsight.com, but it looks like the cravenspeed one might be a bit better if it doesn't have a dumb logo on it.
There already is a thread about fresnel lenses. Despite having a heading, "Specifications," the Light in Sight website doesn't specify the size of their lens. If there's a forum member who purchased this lens, can you please reveal the secret size? The Cravenspeed lens is 7" wide, which seems large to me. Would a 4" lens make the red spot from the stoplight too small to see? If you were trying to read a high-mounted sign (eg. No Turn On Red), I can appreciate that a large lens might be helpful. Is the Cravenspeed lens large enough to read a high-mounted sign?
Mine is also 7" wide. It seems like about the right size to me in regular use. Here's what it looks like from a driving position and also from the outside. (Yeah I need a wash.)
Thanks! It appear that after experimentation, both vendors decided 7" was the sweet-spot for fresnel lenses (unless one vendor simply copied the other). Every time you post a photo, I enjoy the great look of your all-black SE! However, I've owned black cars and they seem to need a wash even while you're still washing them. The black top on my SE reminds me of that.
I’m 6’ 1” tall but tall enough to not see red traffic lights with SE small windshield when I’m first in a line that lens is my neck safer Thanks to member who put this here.I HIGLY recommended for peoples who have the same issue
Heck, I’m 5’7”, shorter than average, and I still can’t see stop lights at certain intersections. And I sit with the seat adjusted to the lowest position possible. Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
I am glad you are finding the lens useful. The more I use it the more I think it should be a standard safety accessory. I was interested to read about the history of the lens, initially used in light-houses!!!! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresnel_lens drive with pride
I’ve had mine for a couple of weeks now and I find it a little hard to see since everything is a little distorted and small. Jury is still out on whether I keep it or remove it.
I've been wondering if it were mounted on the rear window if it could show the brake lights, to see when the regenerative braking is active.
I'm not sure that's true for the upper "third eye" brake light. The rear window is curved, and if you mount the Fresnel lens at the bottom by the wiper it might be enough of an angle. If I had a lens I'd experiment.
Here's a pic of mine in action. I'm 5'10", average height in the US, stopped at the white line where you are supposed to. I held the phone at eye level - you can tell from the rearview mirror view. You can see the horizontal light bar coming in from the right well out of viewing range but clearly visible in the lens.
These lenses have been around for MINIs for decades; if they were starting fires in cars, we'd have heard about it by now. Should be fine.
