Lens tints and its properties

Lens color not only look fabulous but also determines how the eye reacts to light once light is already gone through the lenses. These are examples of the most popular lens colors

• Yellow - excellent for sports in cloudy weather or in snowy and rainy conditions. Solid ultraviolet protection is provided. Yellow lenses might make some colors such as green look bluish. Improves contrast, reduces glare, preserves sharpness. High Intensity tint for maximum sight performance during low light driving. Excellent for Night riding, overcast, haze, or fog conditions. The brightness of this lens makes it the choice of many mountain-bikers, shooters and cross-country skiers. Yellow enhances contrast by filtering out the somewhat scattered, out-of-focus blue light from the scene. Hunters, pilots, and tennis players find them helpful for this purpose.

• Grey - very popular and versatile. They decrease light intensity in natural manner while filtering out UV light. Colors with gray lenses stay true without distortion. For General Purpose use, the Dark Grey/smoke lenses are the most popular. They reduce glare to provide day-long comfort, and reduce ultraviolet (UV) light to a safe level. If you go to an eye doctor for a sunglass prescription, he'll most likely recommend Dark Grey/smoke lenses for general purpose use. The Military has been using Dark Grey/smoke lenses for over 45 years.

• Amber/Brown: Amber - superior contrast by blocking off most of the blue light which is found to cause eye distractions. Popular in sports such as sharp shooting, hunting etc. Amber lenses also distort colors. Brown - also very general-use. Brown softens the warm colors and provides good level of contrast. Perception of dept is improved and they are recommended for various sports which involve speed and fast moving surroundings. Especially good at blocking the blue light commonly found in diffused light such as one might experience on a cloudy day. Brown/Amber can improve both contrast and depth perception, reduce glare and is a good all-around choice if you live in an area with changeable weather patterns. Brown is great for applications where distances need to be constantly judged, like tennis or golf or skiing or other sports requiring acute visual perception and contrast differentiation. Brown is also best for lower light situations, like fishing in the late afternoon or early morning. Brownish tint lens helps highlight the different contrasts in green colors and enhance visual acuity on the golf course

• Black - good for situations of extreme brightness. Black lenses could decrease contrast and most sources advise against driving with such lenses. If you have to go through a tunnel with your black lenses on, you would be taking a little too much risk of not being able to see well.

• Rose Lens: Help block blue light, thereby improving contrast. Offers high contrast and very soothing to the eyes. Improves road visibility. Many people feel that rose tinted lenses are more comfortable for long periods of time than other lenses. Great for computer users to reduce eyestrain and glare.

• Clear : Very handy for night skiing or other sports done after sunset. Some applications of these lenses can be found in safety goggles.

• Blue or mauve: Blue is a contrast lens and reduces glare from visible white light (such as light reflected from mist, fog, snow, water). They provide good protection in moderate sunlight. Blue-tinted lenses are endorsed by the USPTA for tennis professionals and were provided to linepersons in the 2000 French Open.

• Mirror Lenses: Good at blocking glare without changing color perception. The wearer perceives no difference in vision regardless of what color the coating is. Only those looking at the person wearing the glasses can see the color of the mirror coating. Mirror coatings are generally applied over sunglass-dark lenses. Obviously, a highly reflective flash coating prevents others from seeing the eyes of the wearer. Flash mirror lens have 100% UV 400 Eye Protection.Adds an attractive fashionable look that does not hide the underlying lens color. Enhances protection by complementing the basic lens color. Highly reflective and greatly reduces the amount of light that reaches your eyes.
  

The following is a guide for specific uses and the lens color that provides the best protection for that activity.

* Baseball, Football, Soccer, and other outdoor action sports
(grey/smoke, or brown/amber)
* Beach Vacation ( grey/smoke)
* Boating/Sailing (grey/smoke, or brown/amber, with added mirror coating)
* Fishing in bright sun (grey/smoke, or brown/amber, with polarizing filter)
* Golf (smoke/grey on sunny days and amber or yellow on cloudy days)
* Hunting (yellow, with anti-reflective coating on cloudy days;
and smoke/grey in sunlight)
* Racquetball (amber or yellow, with anti-reflective coating or clear)
* Skiing/Snowmobiling (smoke/grey, or brown, with added mirror coating)
* Tennis (amber or yellow indoors or cloudy days; smoke/grey on sunny days)