Is Transition brand worth the extra money compared to other light sensitive lense? And other related questions.

[Mr.Nobody]

Hi all, new to this group but started read the glassyeyes a couple of
years ago. Got my first online glasses off zenni after Costco
declined to relense my Burberry frame because they were too afraid to
break it, LOL.

Anyways, now I'm about to get another pair before my university
insurance expires this Aug. Basically I could get up to $100
reimbursed toward optical hardware purchase. Worked flawlessly last
year for my zenni glasses. My situation is, I need a fairly large
frame (at least 54mm in lense width) and I prefer a narrow looking
lense (lense height smaller than 29mm). And I want to try out color
changing lenses with my a little strong prescription (so index
1.59-1.61 is my target)

Apparently, based on my criteria, it came down only to 39glasses and
zenni. Problem with 39 glasses is they had very little selection of
medium/large frame, and cheapest frame cost 39.99, with their
Transistion VI lense (1.59 index), without AR coating ($25), it would
be around 110 after the $20 discount.

With Zenni, I got more choices of frame, and I could actually find a
$8 cheapo frame that fits me, however, their Transition VI lense (1.61
index) is super expensive, $139+$4.95 AR coating, so we are talking
about $150 range glasses with a cheap frame (might break easily). But
they also have their own color changing lense (not Transition brand),
for quite cheap.

Enough for the background, here comes my question:

1. For the transition lense, my major concern is if it could look
like a "normal" glasses indoor, while maintain some adequate tint
outside for protection. I heard a lot of complaints about transition
lense (mostly lenses from those websites own brand other than the
Transition brand) that they always had say 10% tint indoor, making you
look like wearing sunglasses indoor. Does the Transition VI lense
worth the extra money compared to other in-house brands? We are
talking about hundred dollar versus say 20-30 dollar range, which is a
huge difference.

2. Is AR coating necessary for transition lense to achieve better
color changing, most importantly keep it clear indoor?

3. Which color would be better in terms of eye protection, gray or
brown? I asked a friend of my father's who's been in prescription
glasses industry for over 10 yrs, and he suggest gray. However from
this forum and other online resources, I've seen multiple positive
reports on brown color. So which one based on your own experience?

4. Based on your previous experience, which site would provide better
transition glasses overall, 39glasses or zenni? For Zenni, with $150
I got a higher index lense and AR coating, but with a real crappy
frame I suppose. But with 39glasses, I end up with a OK index lense,
also a crappy plastic frame, but I'll get closer to my budget ($100),
suppose the AR coating is not that essential for my criteria. It's
hard to decide.

Thanks very much for any input.
Thanks very much.

[sage...@mindspring.com]

I have three pairs of glasses with photochromic lenses, from
39dollarglasses, Eyebuydirect, and Framesdirect, all gray. The ones
from 39dollarglasses are the clearest indoors. None of them change as
fast, or get as dark, as I would like, but they are convenient for
some occasions. They are very inconvenient in other situations, such
as walking from bright sunlight into a restaurant.

My prescription is quite strong, and I use hi-index lenses. I have
many pairs from 39dollarglasses, all excellent, but I agree that frame
selection is limited, and their service can be slow-ish sometimes.
They are my favorite.

Zenni does and excellent job on the lenses, but frame quality is a
crap shoot.

I have found Eyebuydirect to be uneven in lens and frame quality, but
usually a decent value for money.

I also have several regular tinted sunglasses, in gray and brown.
Brown has a very slight edge in contrast and clarity, under certain
glare conditions, but distorts color perception. Red lights do not
stand out when seen through some brown lenses. I much prefer the more
natural colors through gray or G-15 (green-gray) lenses. You might
want to look through some non-prescription sunglasses in a store,
before you decide on color.

Good luck!

[sage...@mindspring.com]

I find Transitions and generic photochromic lenses to be more or less
equal in performance. They all retain a slight tint indoors.
Transitions VI takes a few minutes less to darken or lighten, but none
change instantly. All photochromic lenses offer UV protection,
regardless of color.

AR coating does not affect the UV protection of a lens. As for the
clarity of a photochromic lens, the AR coating doesn't seem to affect
the photochromic properties.

However, while you have a clearer view wearing AR coated lenses, the
coating itself is visible at some angles, as a greenish or purplish
film on the lens. The coating might add slightly to the tinted
appearance of a photochromic lens that isn't 100 percent clear
indoors. On the other hand, AR does make your eyes much more visible
to others.

I have three pairs of glasses with photochromic lenses, from
39dollarglasses, Eyebuydirect, and Framesdirect, all gray. The ones
from 39dollarglasses are the clearest indoors. None of them change as
fast, or get as dark, as I would like, but they are convenient for
some occasions. They are very inconvenient in other situations, such

as walking from bright sunlight into a dark restaurant.

My prescription is quite strong, and I use hi-index lenses. I have
many pairs from 39dollarglasses, all excellent, but I agree that frame
selection is limited, and their service can be slow-ish sometimes.
They are my favorite.

Zenni does an excellent job on the lenses, but frame quality is a crap

shoot.

I have found Eyebuydirect to be uneven in lens and frame quality, but
usually a decent value for money.

I also have several regular tinted sunglasses, in gray and brown.
Brown has a very slight edge in contrast and clarity, under certain
glare conditions, but distorts color perception.

Red lights do not stand out when seen through some brown lenses. I
much prefer the more natural colors through gray or G-15 (green-gray)
lenses. You might want to look through some non-prescription
sunglasses in a store, before you decide on color.

I hope this helps, and good luck!

On Jun 24, 6:24 pm, "Mr.Nobody" <raypat...@gmail.com> wrote: