We examined 447 hypercholesterolemic and 108 normocholesterolemic Eastern Finnish men, aged 42, 48, 54, or 60 years, who were participating in the Kuopio Atherosclerosis Prevention Study. Two newly developed lenticular opacity grading methods, the Lens Opacities Classification System II and Lensmeter 701, were compared. There was fair agreement between the two grading methods for nuclear color and opalescence, but the agreement was weaker for cortical and posterior subcapsular opacities. The Lens Opacities Classification System II grading of nuclear opacities explained 48% (for the right eye) and 32% (for the left eye) of the variation of Lensmeter readings. Attributable fractions were lower for the other types of lens opacities.