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Photosensitive lenses (1 Viewer)

PatH

Second Unit
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Apr 4, 2004
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These are the lenses that go from light to dark in sunlight and vice versa. I suspect that shortly I'll be going into glass full time. Are these worth it. How well do they work? How long does it take to change states? How dark do they get in sunlight? How long does it take? How about the transition inddors? Are they clear inside or shaded? Any info from any of you with experience with thesw would be appreciated. What about glasre suppressance (I use a PC very much). Thanks very much for any input.

Pat H
 

Henry Gale

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Unless there's been some great advancement in transition lenses in the last 20 years, I'd avoid them.
When I had them they would never get completly clear. Tinted lenses really suck as a fashion statement.
Are you a good candidate for lasik or whatever they're calling it these days?
 

CharlesD

Screenwriter
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Mar 30, 2000
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I have them and they're great. They do go completely clear indoors and transition very quickly in each direction. In bright sunlight they go very dark and several people have assumed that I have 2 pairs of glasses and been suprised when the one pair turns into the other! :cool:
 

Danny Tse

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Charles is right. I am over my second pair of glasses with "Transition" lenses. Mine don't go completely dark in the sun, so they're not really substitutes for real sunglasses. But they're very convenient and held up quite nicely with daily usage.
 

Bob Graz

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I have friends who love Transition lenses. I will be buying them this year. Last year I tried those Johnson and Johnson Definity lenses that are supposed to give you a larger area of good vision. I don't like them at all.
 

BrianW

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There have been some great advancements in transition lenses in the last 20 years, and they work great. They go completely clear indoors, and the slightly heavier glass lenses transition almost instantly in both directions.

The plastic lenses I have transition to dark almost instantly and take about 30 seconds to clear up once I'm indoors. That's plenty fast for me, and I'd rather have the lighter lenses. Indeed, I prefer the non-instant transition to clear for those situations where I'm constantly moving in and out of the shade, like when I'm mowing the lawn. Having them instantly clear up every time I walked under a tree would be annoying.

One problem is that they do need exposure to sunlight. Sitting outdoors in the shade won't darken them, so as Danny said, they're no real substitute for a good pair of sunglasses in all situations. Even so, I wouldn't get anything else.
 

Jeff Ulmer

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I had these for a while and wouldn't recommend them, as I found that I became extremely sensitive to light after wearing them.
 

Francois Caron

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I've been wearing them for over twenty five years. In fact, my current photograde glass lenses are almost twenty years old! I've lost count of how many times they've been resized to fit the smaller and more stylish frames over the years.

I'll have to get new lenses the next time around. If I have these old lenses resized one more time, they'll be the size of bottle caps! :)
 
E

Eric Kahn

I have Glass lenses that are called "thin and dark"
they are about half the thickness of normal galss lenses and they get pretty dark in the sun, but they are not fast in changing states, I just could not stand plastic lenses anymore
they always seemed to have more edge distortion and scratch way to easily
 

Johnny Angell

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I'll be getting an eye exam this month and I think I need new glasses. I'm reviving this thread to get the current thinking on the transition lenses. Whenever I drive or am outdoors for any length of time I use clip on sunglasses over my normal glasses and they idea of having one pair of glasses do double-duty is appealing.

From what I read above the slower plastic glasses take 30 seconds to clear up indoors and darken almost immediately. I don't like heavy glasses so I would probably prefer the plastic and 30 seconds isn't bad.

How about driving a car, is there enough sunlight to darken them? Are the varying degrees of darkness to choose from? I think I like medium to medium plus in darkness. Are transitions available as progressives? From the commend above it would appear the transition effect does not wear out, they keep working indefinitely.

I wonder how well the transitions would work when snow skiing? I guess there'd be plenty of sunlight. What about an overcast day on the slopes, no direct sun, but there's all that white. Would they still darken.

Can they be polarized lenses, isn't a polarized lens better for your eyes?

Your thoughts are appreciated.
 

Parker Clack

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Johnny:

I have thought about getting those too but was told by my optomitrist that they don't work well in cars due to the shading that is already built into most front windshields. They just don't go dark in the car like the should. I am sure they have versions that work with progressive lenses and yes polarized lenses are better for your eyes. That is if the polarization is professionally applied. A lot of the sunglasses that are sold don't do a very good job protecting your eyes and can actually allow in more harmful waves that they prevent.

I would just talk with your doctor and discuss with him your interests and what options they have in todays market as improvements are made every day.
 

Johnny Angell

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Parker, thanks for the info. It's a good idea to ask the doctor about the transitions first. If they work well in all other situations, I suppose I could add my clip-ons to them in the car and take them off when I get out of the car.
 

Curtis Lotter

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Jun 21, 1999
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I searched and found this old thread & want to add my comments. I got my first glasses with transitions lenses about a year ago. It will be my last set with these lenses. The lenses do darken fairly well when outside, I don't have a problem with that. They also lighten fairly quickly when moving indoors. Under normal indoor conditions, the lenses are clear, I don't think anyone would be able to tell they are transitions. There are a couple things I don't like. Like others have mentioned, they don't darken when you're behind glass, this includes while driving in the car. (Pearl Vision was upfront about this) In fact, they don't even darken very much if I have my sunroof open and my sunroof moves completely back, leaving open air. What I really hate about them, is that they fully darken when outside on cloudy days. Basically, if I'm outdoors, they go dark.
 

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