Favorite sunglasses tint?

MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
21,261
19,748
136
I gotta give it to brown. Serengeti brown driver's gradient lenses are the absolute best - color accuracy is good and they added contrast is phenomenal. Especially great when conditions change such as going into shade given from big buildings in a city to clouds or hiking and going in and out of sun and shade constantly, and then popping out into big sunshine and so on and so forth. Protected from the sun when sunny and when it gets darker, the crazy contrast they provide actually enhance your vision, whereas straight gray lenses don't do that so well in shade.

I also like a slightly greenish tint.

Lenses matter big time. I don't find ray-ban lenses to be as good as maui Jim's or the one ollld pair of Serengeti I have. Maui Jim has some great quality stuff, but to get a colored lens with plastic frames, the plastic frames are the same color as the lenses. I don't want brown or green shade frames to get a nice brown lens.

Different colors have different visual characteristics - even pink and blue and red and amber have their time and place.

What are y'all rocking lens tint wise?
 

SKORPI0

Lifer
Jan 18, 2000
18,409
2,318
136
I've had variations of prescription photochromic lenses (gray) since the early 80s. Glass then, now plastic. Tried a cousin's Ray-ban amber sunglasses, it was nice but not to my liking.
Had a Ray-ban aviator with those dark green lenses, but they didn't make prescription lenses during that time.
 
Last edited:

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
37,508
8,102
136
Don't know what they call it, but I like a yellow tint. Now I am color blind, "Strong Protan," so that's a giant factor.

I have gotten at Zenni: Vision-Ease SunRx® Polycarbonate Polarized Single Vision - Gray -tint at 85% with oleophobic coating.

Also from Zenni: Green 50% Yellow tinted

I have gotten polarized and non-polarized.

I figure gray is neutral tone, which philosophically works for me, but I enjoy yellow tinted, the world looks better to my color blind eyes.

If I could, I'd get glass lenses like I used to because they are infinitely more scratch resistant, but I don't know if they are attainable anymore. I have stopped wiping my glasses clean under any circumstances in any way except in rare instances. I now clean them with running water and a natural bristle brush with mild soap on it, rinse, tap most of the water off and let them air dry. I figure this, along with scratch resistant coating, should make them last way way longer witout getting much in the way of scratches.

I only wear shades when driving in sunshine, also on the golf course but I haven't golfed since the pandemic hit. May get back soon.
 
Last edited:

Ajay

Lifer
Jan 8, 2001
15,454
7,862
136
Used to use Ray-ban Aviators. Had Oakley cycling glasses with a reddish tint that really increased contrast even though the coloration of objects was weird. Now I have Oakleys, dark grey polarized. My eyes have become more sensitive over the years, so these work well (and cut out stray light from the sides).
 

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,276
10,783
136
Brown is the most practical however dark-grey blocks the most light/glare and for me at least polarization is required.

Amber/gold works the best for skiing in "flat-light". (when you can't see the surface of the snow clearly)
 
  • Like
Reactions: BudAshes

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,276
10,783
136
That dark green colour that's actually dark grey.

Those are my "b" choice for driving.... I find they're more of a problem than brown if you enter a tunnel wearing them for example. (real dark-grey is the worst for this)
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
37,508
8,102
136
Brown is the most practical however dark-grey blocks the most light/glare and for me at least polarization is required.

Amber/gold works the best for skiing in "flat-light". (when you can't see the surface of the snow clearly)
I wore my polarized shades bicycling in the city streets and saw a weird sheen that looked like reflection from water, so I stopped biking with them and use regular distance glasses now. Driving, no problem I'm aware of.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
52,856
5,729
126
I pretty much rock 1 of 2 Maui Jim prescription sun glasses that I have. One has the standard black lenses and one has the blue lenses. The black lenses definitely "work" better for blocking out the sun than the blue ones do. But both of them have pretty good color on em.

I have another pair that is prescription with blue lenses but I don't wear them as much. They are more dressy and I will wear them to weddings and things such as that. The other main two I wear are more sporty.
 

MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
21,261
19,748
136
I pretty much rock 1 of 2 Maui Jim prescription sun glasses that I have. One has the standard black lenses and one has the blue lenses. The black lenses definitely "work" better for blocking out the sun than the blue ones do. But both of them have pretty good color on em.

I have another pair that is prescription with blue lenses but I don't wear them as much. They are more dressy and I will wear them to weddings and things such as that. The other main two I wear are more sporty.
Yeah my one pair of Maui Jim's the lenses are super crisp. Very high quality , and light . I just would like one of their brown lenses to see how it is compared to Serengeti.

Not all brown lenses are created the same and I've been using my really old Serengeti drivers lenses here and there lately and there's nothing like you when you drive.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
52,856
5,729
126
Yeah my one pair of Maui Jim's the lenses are super crisp. Very high quality , and light . I just would like one of their brown lenses to see how it is compared to Serengeti.

Not all brown lenses are created the same and I've been using my really old Serengeti drivers lenses here and there lately and there's nothing like you when you drive.
The latest glasses I got are SUPER light and feel great on my head. It was a pretty noticeable difference compared to my other ones.

I would like to get my lenses replaced on my older ones because the mirror finish has basically chipped away and they are scratched quite a bit. They are probably 6-7 years old at this point and have been used a lot.
 

herm0016

Diamond Member
Feb 26, 2005
8,393
1,025
126
polarized amber / brown for me. most used driving, doing farm work, and being an electrician on jobs outside.

my one pair of maui jims had fantastic lenses as well. I may need to antiup for another after a few mediocre Costco pairs. aviator style as well.

i have terrible eyes and could not function in society without glasses.
 

Pohemi

Diamond Member
Oct 2, 2004
8,841
11,314
146
Oakley 'Prizm Black Polarized'

I believe it is one of if not the lowest light transmission of any lens that Oakley produces, or at least it was 3 years ago when I bought them. My eyes are super sensitive to light; I often keep them on inside brighter establishments like restaurants etc. because otherwise I can't see and get bad headaches.

I've had various pairs of Oakleys over the past 30 years and always liked their lenses. I'm not sure they're quite the same quality they once were (Oakley got bought up and much of their IP was let go, like their proprietary X-metal used in their frames.) I think the best lenses for vision and contrast that I ever used from them were the Ruby Iridium lenses in the Oakley Juliets I had around 20 years ago.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Captante

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,276
10,783
136
I wore my polarized shades bicycling in the city streets and saw a weird sheen that looked like reflection from water, so I stopped biking with them and use regular distance glasses now. Driving, no problem I'm aware of.

Unfortunately it's pretty easy for labs to screw up polarization especially if you have strong RX lenses made for you and it sounds like that's what happened to yours. (same kind of issues are common with cheap polarized non-RX lenses too)

My last pair of custom RX lenses (Seiko branded) took 3 tries to get "right".

BTW my all-time favorite sunglass-lenses were in fact Maui Jim branded dark brown polarized RX's which tragically got stolen @ a Mets game by some crackhead. (these cost +/- $400 15 years ago too btw!)

My current "daily driver" sunglasses are a "Hobie" branded steel frame and medium-brown Seiko RX (made in Japan) polarized lenses.... they work very well. (and set me back a bit over HALF the price of another pair of Maui Jims)
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Pohemi

Ajay

Lifer
Jan 8, 2001
15,454
7,862
136
Oakley 'Prizm Black Polarized'

I believe it is one of if not the lowest light transmission of any lens that Oakley produces, or at least it was 3 years ago when I bought them. My eyes are super sensitive to light; I often keep them on inside brighter establishments like restaurants etc. because otherwise I can't see and get bad headaches.

I've had various pairs of Oakleys over the past 30 years and always liked their lenses. I'm not sure they're quite the same quality they once were (Oakley got bought up and much of their IP was let go, like their proprietary X-metal used in their frames.) I think the best lenses for vision and contrast that I ever used from them were the Ruby Iridium lenses in the Oakley Juliets I had around 20 years ago.
Pretty sure Luxottica bought them out, and nearly every other popular brand:
Eyewear Brands: our glasses | Luxottica

They also bought up allot of retail stores.
 
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: Captante and Pohemi

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
37,508
8,102
136
I'm "thinking about" checking out EnChroma special glasses that are said to possibly improve the color vision of people like me (strong protan color blind). They would easily be at least 4x what I've paid for in recent years for any pair of glasses. They have a presence in my town, I'd have to go down there. I presume they can hand me something and I can make a snap decision if I want to order. Or maybe they will lend me something to put over my regular glasses for a week or something.
 

Scarpozzi

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
26,389
1,778
126
I prefer the brown/amber lenses that are polarized.

However, since I've been flying, I've read that you want to avoid polarized lenses and go with the green/gray tints because they are more forgiving. Additionally, polarized lenses fight with tech, so if you're using screens, you may end up having trouble seeing some displays. That's what my new Ray Bans are.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Captante and Pohemi