Fly Fishing

emsmith

About to buy a new pair of Costas because my brother took my extra pair. I had green mirror and blue mirror 400 lenses, he took the blue mirror.

I am trying to decide what type of lens I should get on my new glasses. I am going to go with the 580 lens and I am trying to decide between mirror and non mirror and lens color-amber or grey.

I have somewhat sensitive eyes to light and do not walk outside without sunglasses on. I was thinking about going with the 580 copper glass but want to make sure I am blocking enough light while still getting the maximum benefit of the lens. Is there any disadvantage to the copper lens?

I have tried on all the lenses in the store but without water to look at and real use fishing it is hard to say

Shakeyfly · Location: MA

I used to work at Lenscrafters WAAAYYYYY Back in the day, actually making the glasses, so I'm trying to dig up what I can from my memory.

It's not so much the color of the mirror finish as it is the actually lens. For bluewater to really bright conditions(this includes the glittery surface of a trout stream) Grey lenses remove more light. Brown lenses are more ideal for slightly overcast/cloudy days or moving into lower light conditions because it allows more light to come through.

The polarization of the lenses where the key factor. Polarization is a film that covers the lense on the outside. Some companies have better filters than others. Costa Del Mar has some great filters as does smith, oakly and maui Jim.

From what I read on the Mirror Finish, Green - Blue do offer a little more resistance in regards to reducing light, while colors like red and yellow do not reduce it by much. but in my opinion the mirror finish doesn't greatly make a difference. I would be more concerned with light bouncing off the mirrored lenses and spooking the fish I'm looking at. I've never had that happen but it's always on the back of my mind.

The only other suggestion I would offer is look or ask if the Lenses have AR coating on the inside. This is the Anti-reflective coating that helps with Glare.

I'm hoping someone more knowledgable and update on the subject can Chime in as I would love to have my 10+ year old info updated. but just offering my .02.

I will say, I prefer Glass Lenses over all others. That include polycarbonate or Plastic. They have less distortation, less prone to scratch, and I just like the heavier feel of them.

emsmith · Posted: Thu 01/27/11 5:32 pm Post subject:

well I went with the Zane 580 green mirror amber lens. Love costas, i'm sure these will be great

alfredo01 · Posted: Mon 02/28/11 5:26 pm Post subject:

ok, so each glasses have different goods and bads but try to get the most basic color, like amber, black because i have blue costas and the blue is decoloring but if you dont mind about it well just buy any of them, even though the decoloring do not affect the visibility