Photochromic lenses

extrusion

Hi guys, advice needed.

I bought some power race sunglasses from planet x. They come with orange photo chromic lenses. However i believe they are not working as i have never seen them anything other than orange. Now it has been cloudy until today so i thought it was just the uv rays not getting through, but i have left one lense in the garden (about 7.30pm) and one indoors for five minutes, compared on a white piece of paper and could see no difference.

Am i right to presume that the lense should have darkened with the sun on it, even though the heat was dying?

I have emailed planetx and will be following up with a phonecall tomorrow but just wanted to make sure i wasnt going to make a tit of myself as never had photochromic lenses before (might not now! :roll: )

Cheers

danlikesbikes

as its quite sunny at the moment should be quite an easy one to test out - then lenses haven't moved then from yellow to grey at all? If not then would appear they do not seem to be working.

Yes they should work irrespective of the heat and are activated by the sun and its rays i.e a cold winter day with the sun low in the sky would still active the glasses even though the temperature might only be in single figures.

extrusion

Danlikesbikes wrote:

as its quite sunny at the moment should be quite an easy one to test out - then lenses haven't moved then from yellow to grey at all?

Not that ive noticed! Thanks for the reply, ill have a word with px tomorrow.

gloomyandy

Are you sure you are actually using the photochromic lenses? I also have a set of power race glasses. In my set the glasses came fitted with a nice blue reflective lens the photochromic lens was one of the alternate sets and looked clear, it was marked pretty clearly on the plastic bag that it was the photochromic lens. I've been using them today an they go from clear to grey in bright sun light...

Andy

singleton

Put them in direct sunlight and cover one lens with a cloth - should be easy to spot the difference.

I wear photochromic glasses all day every day, and if I'm in part sun, part shade then half my lens goes dark - feels really odd...

slowondefy2

My photochromics (Julbo Cat 2-4) hardly darken in most UK weather, even full summer sun. You could try wearing them on top of your head for a while so the lenses are angled toward the sun and see if that works, but even then I doubt mine would darken much.

I've only ever got full darkening of the lenses when I've been in the Alps.

extrusion

gloomyandy wrote:

Are you sure you are actually using the photochromic lenses? I also have a set of power race glasses. In my set the glasses came fitted with a nice blue reflective lens the photochromic lens was one of the alternate sets and looked clear, it was marked pretty clearly on the plastic bag that it was the photochromic lens. I've been using them today an they go from clear to grey in bright sun light...

Andy

Well, the web page said orange photochromic lenses. I tried the clear lens as well and they didn't seem to change at all either. Who knows, i prefer the red revo anyway, but planet x replied to email really swiftly and I have sent photo so shall see what they say.

Cheers

gloomyandy

Will be interested to see what they say... Looking at this:
http://www.power-race.it/tecnologia-det ... he-35.html
It would seem that all of the photchromic lenses are clear/grey, but who knows!

I've been using mine and they do not change that much, but the amount they do change seems to mean that you do get a comfortable light level all of the time....

extrusion

Found this link: http://www.power-race.it/scheda--Phantom-16.html

It says " ... orange photo-chromic and clear anti-fog. The photo chromic lenses go from orange (58% of light transmission) to dark grey (17% of light transmission) in only 8 seconds"

so should be the orange ones ...

8)

cougie

From the PX website - Three sets of very technical lenses: red or blue revo (depending on the chosen model), orange hydro phobic and clear photo chromic

So just clear is photochromic.

kayakerchris

I have oakley photochromic lenses and love them. They really do not darken much but the light transmission drops significantly.

I would try putting them in the sun and then put them on. Everything should go darker but not as dark as strong sunglasses.

Chris

gloomyandy

I think it depends which glasses you get I have the stealth model which definitely has clear photcromic. But the PX site says the following about the Phantom glasses...

Three sets of very easily interchangeable
lenses, you can replace them with your eyes closed,
packed in a very nice shock-resistant case: red or blue
revo (depending on the chosen model) orange photo-chromic
and clear anti-fog.

So looks like with those glasses the orange lenses are photochromic. So in your set what lenses did you get? In mine it was one blue chromed lens (which was the one fitted, think they call this finish revo), one clear photochromic lens and one smoke lens.

Andy

extrusion

Mine are Phantom glasses. Red revo, orange photochromic, clear anti fog lenses.

Px replied and asked for comparison image, i sent it and got the reply that they could see a difference and they were therefore photochromic. Fair enough. I put a lense in the sun again after i got home today and there was a much clearer difference thus time, not dark but it turned grey.

Fine by me, i prefer the red revo anyway so fnar!

jonf19

A very stupid question but how exactly do i change the lenses on the power race hercules sunglasses? It feels like im going to snap the frame. Any help would be great.

Crayfish

Also just bought the Power Race Eagles with 3 sets of lenses. The Photochromic lenses definitely don't work. Well, no more than 5% at the most - it's imperceptible.
I really like the mirrored orange lenses though, so I don't know if I'm going to send them back or not...

Sprool

photochromic dyes depend a lot on temperature - the warmer they are, the weaker the effect. Best place for photochromics is ski goggles where UV is really strong and temperatures are low, that way the transition to dark remains far more noticable.
If you are testing your glasses in sun on a really hot day and the lenses are relatively inexpensive then the effect may not be very strong; it's a bit of a gimick to get people to part with more money. Lenses in sports glasses tend to be thin polycarbonate and the dye is often dip-applied which only allows for a very thin coat of the dye on the lens, thus photochromc effect will be just noticable but not really much benefit. If you get a proper pair of prescription glasses with photochromic lenses then often the lenses are cast MMA resin (methyl methacrylate) and the dye is present throughout the lens thickness. This greater level of dye content means the lenses are more effective at blocking strong uv and change colour more noticeably.
[soapbox] I used to be involved in tech side of photochromic dyes if you're interested. Most thin sports lenses come from chinese factories sold on to the major italian company Luxxotica who owns all the big brands like Oakley, D&G, Chanel, Ray-ban, etc. etc. and no, oakley sunglasses are not worth all that crazy money by the way! They just get away with it due to people being prepared to pay for what they percieve to be a major tech brand.[/soapbox]

cougie

Has anyone tried the Walleva Transition lenses at all ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Walleva-P ... 460ea3e7d7

studiobod

I have the phantoms too, or at least did have until I had them losely in the vents on my helmet this morning, when they fell out, and got run over.

The Orange were the photochromic on mine. The only time i ever really noticed it, was when they had been on my helmet pointing skyward before putting them on. For about 30 secs I could hardly see a thing until they faded.

They were my favorite lense under all conditions, sharp when it was lower light and good in the sun.

Definitely good value for money. Thinking about ordering another set, unless someone can recommend something better at a comparable price?

earth

Danlikesbikes wrote:

Yes they should work irrespective of the heat and are activated by the sun and its rays i.e a cold winter day with the sun low in the sky would still active the glasses even though the temperature might only be in single figures.

My optician told me the thing about photochromic lenses is that actually they do not work as well in heat. The best conditions are the cold winter day you describe or on the ski slopes. Plenty of UV and low temperature.