JK Rowling respondeu isso em uma entrevista com os repórteres cubanos de Edimburgo em 2005 (ênfase minha):
If you see a basilisk and you are wearing glasses, will they protect you? And if they do, why did Moaning Myrtle die, and if they don't, why not?
That is a really good question. And I have been asked that before. I had to decide the glasses couldn't protect you. I just had to, because obviously there would be quite a few people at Hogwarts who were wearing glasses and I thought that might cause me plot difficulties, so I decided that glasses alone wouldn't protect you.
But as you know, I had Justin protected by the camera lens, so I think I am open for criticism there, but the way I explained to myself he was looking through several lenses and wasn't actually seeing the thing directly, it wasn't through his eyeline, when you look through a camera you are looking through the lens, it is a little distorted. You can argue with me on that and I wouldn't blame you but that is how I explained it to my self at the time.
Eu assumo que quando ela diz "Justin" ela quer dizer "Colin", já que Justin estava realmente petrificado através do Nick Quase-Sem-cabeça.
Isso também toca na discussão de câmeras nos comentários sobre a resposta de Thaddeus. Acrescentarei que Hermione acreditava que ver o basilisco através de um espelho era suficiente para evitar a morte, e muitas câmeras continham matrizes de espelho, o que poderia protegê-lo.