Lens Lesson!

An article by Lucy    292 Comments

You’ve probably seen sunglasses with different colored lenses. While on cheap plastic sunglasses color may be little more than a fashion choice, with proper lenses, the color can tell you more about the purpose of the sunglasses. Knowing the different kinds of lenses will help you make the best decision when choosing sunglasses.

• Photochromic lenses change color depending on the amount of UV light to which they are exposed, although for the most part, they appear darkly shaded when outside, and light or clear when inside. Photochromic lenses create the illusion of sunglasses and regular glasses in one package.

• Amber-colored lenses tend to block blue light. There is discussion about whether blue light is harmful to the eye, but outdoors lovers agree blue-blocking lenses are super on the ski slopes or while hunting or fishing.

• Mirror-coated sunglasses limit the light that reaches your eye, which may make it easier to see in very bright situations.

• Gradient lenses, as the name implies, are those that are tinted at different opacities from the top down or from the bottom up. Top-down gradient lenses in sunglasses are great for driving and viewing the controls clearly.

• Polarized and anti-reflection-coated sunglasses reduce the amount of reflected light reaching your eyes, which is great in super-bright situations such as in the snow on a sunny winter day.