"Transitions" eyeglass lens treatment

[xboxist]

Around last Thanksgiving I went in for a visit to have my eyes checked. My prescription ended up changing, so off to buy new lenses I went.

They had a promotion on Transitions, so I asked the guy there about it. There was always a random super sunny day that would drive me crazy when I tried to drive, so I thought that maybe I should consider Transitions.

The salesman told me he had them, and that he enjoys them. He tried to warn me that they maybe weren't as impactful as some may hope they to be, and I appreciated his honesty. But the sale was so good, I decided to give it a go.

After a couple months of use, I regret to say that I would not buy these again. I can see them being GREAT for the right kind of person, but that person is not me.

They DO work, but not as well as I'd like. If you're walking outside during a sunny day, they go dark within seconds, (and fade within a minute or so after stepping inside). But while driving in a car, they don't work that well. The window glass absorbs much of the UV rays, therefore not giving the lens a strong activation. I'd guess that they go about 10-15% dark. So they essentially don't make it any easier for me to drive on a sunny day. They require direct, non-shielded UV rays to work to their full potential. So someone with a landscaping job, or anything where you're outdoors for extended periods of time would benefit greatly from Transitions.

If you're considering sunglasses for purposes of driving, you'd be better off getting a pair of actual sunglasses. Transitions do not provide the convenient 2-for-1 in that regard.

Just an FYI if any of you were curious. Never saw a topic on here before about them.

 

[vi edit]

Transitions aren't polarized either which is about 90% of the reason for having sunglasses while driving.

Get a quality set of perscription polarized sunglasses and be done with it. Yeh you have to trade glasses in and out, but it's not that big of a hastle once you get used to it.

 

[fire400]

I thought they were hype. I've always thought about how cool they might be. Looks like I'll be spending my extra money on contact lenses ... the transition-type, lol~

I hate wearing glasses unless they're sunglasses. Contacts are the way to go.

GL HF DD DS

 

[Spacehead]

I'm not sure if mine are Transitions also, but i have the same problem... they don't work in the car

I still have a pair of covers that clip on glasses(from my old pair that didn't tint) that i use occasionally. I need to hunt for a better pair.
Fortunately, we don't have many sunny days around here.

 

[xboxist]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
Transitions aren't polarized either which is about 90% of the reason for having sunglasses while driving.

Get a quality set of perscription polarized sunglasses and be done with it. Yeh you have to trade glasses in and out, but it's not that big of a hastle once you get used to it.

Yep, and that's what I'll be getting. Part of my purchase was a return policy that allows me to bring them back if I didn't like them.

Not being able to wear contacts FTL.

 

[MrPickins]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
Transitions aren't polarized either which is about 90% of the reason for having sunglasses while driving.

Get a quality set of perscription polarized sunglasses and be done with it. Yeh you have to trade glasses in and out, but it's not that big of a hastle once you get used to it.

I buy cheapo clip-on sunglasses, but I always make sure they are polarized. :thumbsup:

OP: Thanks for the warning. I had been looking into a pair of transitions for my next set of glasses.

 

[herbiehancock]

I had the predecessors to those lenses about 30 years ago. Transitions are just the newest incarnation of this. I found that, if you throw the glasses on a black light for a while, they will get much darker than before the black light treatment. But the lenses years ago were slower to darken and slower to lighten.....the Transitions are definitely an improvement, but they try to be-all when they end up, like all these types of lenses, mediocre at best in all situations.

 

[Brainonska511]

My parents have transitions for when they are outside (not in a car), but sunglasses for the car (or really sunny days), as the transitions do not work well with car windows.

 

[SKORPI0]

Originally posted by: herbiehancock
I had the predecessors to those lenses about 30 years ago.

Same here, got my first Corning PhotoGray lenses with a RayBan Aviator golden frame late 1979. Ever since then, I've been using various reincarnations of these types of lenses. Of course I've changed to little frames that are more in style these days.

Photochromic and Color Lenses
Ray Ban Aviator

 

[Kaieye]

The Transitions lenses don't activate inside the car because the auto glass absorbs a lot of the UV rays which activates the lenses to turn darker. We are now on our fourth or fifth generation Transitions lenses now and each time has been a marked improvement.

By the way, Transitions are not sunglass lenses. They are marketed as a "comfort" lens.

 

[dude8604]

Have you looked into these? They're like transition lenses but they're designed for driving. I don't know if they work when you're not driving though. But they darken even behind a windshield and are polarized. I don't know much about them, but I found it when I was looking at the transitions website.

 

[Futher]

I had transitions and I hated them. They would get dark while I walked to work, then stayed that way for 20+ minutes while I was inside. I was told you can "train" them to change back and forth faster, but it's still not fast enough for me. You'll always look like a serial killer for 10 minutes or so when you first go inside.

 

[IGBT]

..I have a pair of AmberMatic rayban's and I wish I could get a pair of 1.2 readers in them. They go from light amber to dark brown nearly black and work well when driving. rayban doesn't make reading glases unfortunately.

 

[boomerang]

Transitions here for outside with clip-ons for driving. A number of frame makers offer them these days with their frames.

My last pair had polarized clip-ons which were really really nice until I got a car with a HUD. The polarization made the display totally invisible.