"Zeiss Experience" Lenses

What the devil are these? It seems unlikely (to me) that Zeiss would
retool just to do a lens for Walmart. But I see all kinds of
speculation that lenses sold by WM are just renamed existing lenses -
some of which are high end.

So does anyone know what these are? Renamed Gradals? Renamed duds
from the discontinued bin? Essilor ovations? (that's a joke -- I
hope)

 

I am not sure about the Zeiss Experience, but the NikonEyes Customized sold
by Walmart is really the Essilor Accolade Freedom, which is the Essilor
version of the Varilux Physio 360 (Essilor owns Varilux). Essilor obtained
the marketing rights to the Nikon brand in the USA through a joint venture
with Nikon.

 

Yeah, that's a good case in point. I have seen this information
posted many times, but only once has someone cited their source, and
it was a Walmart "buyer" on a car phone--which leaves me pretty
unconvinced. The "Essilor owns Varilux" appears alot too, but that
doesn't mean anything in itself. Of course, it makes it more likely
that there could be a relationship between products if the companies
are part of the same parent, but often it is cited as evidence that
they work together--and separate corporations owned by the same parent
are often (actually, VERY often) competitors just like everyone
else.

By the way, none of this is to question you or your sources personally
-- it is just an illustration as to why I brought it up: I saw it
posted somewhere the the Zeiss Expereince is really the Gradal Top
(can't remember the rationale) -- same thread a little later, someone
says it is a lens specically made by Zeiss for WM, and cites a
telephone call with a Zeiss exec.

So is everyone guessing, or is there a way to find this out for sure?

 

Since I am the one who personally spoke to the Wal-Mart buyer on the car
phone (call was transferred from the headquarters in Bentonville AR), I can
tell you that the information posted was correct. I spent a fair amount of
time talking to the buyer, and he knows what he is talking about. In fact,
the lenses are made in the Essilor Avisia lab in Dallas instead of the
normal Walmart lab (I believe in Indiana). Even your local Walmart store can
verify the lens comes from the Essilor lab in Dallas.

Anyone in the optical business will tell you that the Essilor Natural is the
Essilor version of Varilux Comfort. The technology in the Varilux does
trickle down (on some lenses) to the Essilor brand. There may be slight
differences, but it is basically the same. One reason for keeping the brands
separate is the Varilux is sold through independent opticals and the Essilor
lenses are sold by the large national chains. The reason for this is that
independents do not like to directly compete against the large chains or
otherwise they would not agree to carry the Varilux brand.

It may be that Zeiss is trying to follow the same dual branding strategy to
expand in the big box opitcals, and they have a new model name for the one
sold in Walmart that is different name for the same lens sold by independent
opticals. Or the Zeiss Experience could actually be a Sola or AO lens
instead of Zeiss, since Zeiss bought Sola (and Sola previously bought AO).
Zeiss (like Nikon) is a more well known and prestigious brand than Sola or
AO (because of their long association with camera lenses).

 

Let me clarify one thing. I spoke to him on his regular cell phone, while he
was driving in his car traveling between cities. It was not a "car phone".

 

Thanks for the clarification, Mark. Like I said, my little diatribe
wasn't intended to be directed at anyone in particular since I don't
know one way or the other -- and the WM buyer on the carphone/cell
phone is a bad example, it turns out -- but it is similar to what is
sometimes posted, and then directly contradcited, etc. etc. So that
leads me to wonder if there is some objective source, and I tend to
think there is not. Looks like you gotta know somebody, like you
apparently do in the case of NikonEyes.

 

I did not know him. I contacted several Walmart stores to find out what the
NikonEyes lens really was (not listed on any Nikon website). After a few
days, one of the regional optical mangers gave me a number at Walmart
Headquarters to call. After exchanging a few phone calls with people in the
optical purchasing department at Walmart HQ, they finally transferred me to
the guy on his cell phone who knew all the answers.

As I recall, the NikonEyes Customized costs about $375 at Walmart just for
the lenses. That is not exactly cheap, so I have reason to doubt his story.
The Varilux Physio 360 normally costs about $500 at independent opticals
(depending on material type), and the price difference is about what I would
expect for Walmart.

BTW, I am not sure what contradiction you have seen. Let me know and I will
clear it up.