Family: Transition
Date: 2006

 


Perkasa -
I needed a pair of photochromic sunglasses to replace my expired one (expired, as photochromic lenses usually stop working after few years), so gave this lens a try.

It behaves like usual photochromic lenses by Transitions Optical:
- Fast enough to darken, but smoothly, so you will never realise it darkens (your eyes adapt faster than the lenses darken)
- A bit slow to lighten. You feel it most when you are going indoor and it feels dark.
- UV Activated, so they won't darken inside cars (not a problem for me, as I have another pair that does).
- How dark and how fast they darken are affected by ambient temperature, humidity etc.


Pros:
- VR50 when lightened, dark enough to sooth, yet light enough to wear when driving into tunnels or into parking building
- Brown, 10% transmission, is perfect. They feel brighter being a contrast lenses, unless you are used to contrast lenses.

Cons:
- I have BIG problem: When light hits under certain angle (say, for instance, under 45deg), they create flare/ghosting/internal reflections (I really don't know the right term). I can even often see reflection of my eyes blinking! There is a possibility that this only happens with certain frames (in my case Crosshair), and won't happen with "more enclosed" frames such as Monster Dog. This "ghosting" happens 60% of the times. I compared these with my old photochromic lenses, and apparently these Oakley lenses are not coated on the inside (my old photochromic lenses show rainbow coloured coatings on the inside)
- I wish these lenses are more "see through" from outside when lightened (note I am not talking about light transmission, Titanium Clear and Gold Clear have similar 50% light transmission, yet they are more see-through), so I can wear these indoor without looking like "trying so hard to look cool".

CONCLUSION:
- Coat the inside to fix the ghosting effect, make it more see-through, then we will have a winner.
- Other brands have done photochromic polarized, my photochromic polarized sunglasses even darken in the car, come on Oakley!

2 out of 5, mainly due to the ghosting at 60% of the times.
jumpman73 -
The transition lens is a great idea for people who need to be in an environment when light is changing. I like to go on long bike rides so this was a great lens option for me when I started in the afternoon and had to deal with sunset. I felt like the lens itself was really true to adjust to lighting conditions. I didn't feel like the lens blocked too much light when it was dark. On the other side, I felt like it blocked enough light when it was bright. I never found myself having worry about light at all. The one thing I thought could be improved on is how fast the lens made the transition. I tested it from going from a real dark setting to a very bright setting and it took awhile to make the transition. That drastic change of light will probably never happen when you are using like for a bike ride, but it was fun to see how fast it could make the transition. I think this is a great acquisition by Oakley and hopefully we'll see a lot more transition lenses out for more frames.
oakley boy -
Have radars In vr 28 and they are awesome and also cool text frames
Wally J -
Have had Transitions for almost 2 years now and it's a love/hate relatinship. I wear glasses full time and it's a convenience to have glasses that do double duty. The downside is that they DO NOT CHANGE tint anywhere near as fast as shown in the ad with Kenny Perry. That is pure false advertising. I actually remove them when I first step indoors so I don't trip over something I can't see. They are EXTREMELY difficult to clean and they smear very easily. I doubt if I will purchase another pair.
SANTRAGO -
I JUST BOUGHT ONE MONSTERDOG VR50 TO BROWN TRANSITION AND I FIND THEM VERY DIFFICULT TO USE IT INDOORS AND WHEN I USE IT IN THE CAR OR WHEN I TAKE TE BUS THE LIGHT DOESN'T TURN TU BRIGHT SO I HAVE TO TAKE THEM OUT HOWEVER THEY ARE PERFECT BETWEEN 5PM AND 7PM WHEN THE SUNLIGHT IS COMING DOWN. AND SOMEHOW I LOVE THEM A LOT AND I USE THEM EVEN AT NIGHT.
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