Positive Red Iridium Old vs. New

[madhatta246]

I avoided positive red in the past because I did not think I would like the red and never looked closely at them in person. I recently got a pair of M2 frames in +red polarized and really love the way the color looks on them. I also got a pair of +red heaters for my regular M frames. I have read some posts where people say they prefer the look of the 'old' +red. I tried to do some searches but could not find much information or any images. Can someone explain or show some pics of the differences in the current vs older +red iridium? Thanks!

 

[Ventruck]

Old +Red was more consistent vs the Purple/Blue and fade-to-yellow/orange variants. Fire was more consistent too, and straight up a burnt orange vs gold.

If I got the story straight (it was in an old thread somewhere), the original Iridium finishes took more time to apply. Against growing production demands, that wasn't sustainable. Bottom line is they'd still function the same, it's not like quality actually dipped. You'll find inconsistencies between each batch of lenses produced even today. PITA to get the exact one you may want, but there's some charm to it perhaps, knowing you've got a lens that isn't like the all the rest.

 

[Rustpot]

I don't think I have one of my older +Red lenses, so I'll have to go try and dig up photos...


Here's a newer one. Somewhat recent Heater


And an old one. More purples, red mirror effect is much less pronounced. I think a lens like this has a lot more character, but people really don't like their lenses being semi-transparent (something I don't really get).






And to echo Ventruck, here's a somewhat older Fire (granted this is a flat, small lens).


Where the new stuff is a lot more colorful in terms of shifting red/orange/yellow.

 

[Rustpot]

Here's another photo. You can see on the right two different +Red lenses. The one in front is the same 'newer' one posted above in the crystal red frame. Behind it is another old one. Can't recall if that's the one pictured in the crystal black Gen2 frame above or not. It doesn't appear to be.

Wildly different in color, though. The old one was a richer, deeper red. But red lenses have always been a very wide array of colors and intensities.

Also note the old Blue on the riser in the back. Good stuff, that old blue color.

 

[Lexkempo]

Yup... I've taken a pic before of three different pairs of glasses with the same lenses...

Older M frame was a lighter transparent red/purple (mostly red and less purple)
A newer Frogskin is a mostly opaque purple/blue with hints of red
A recent radar I have has an awesomely wicked mirrored red with a tiny bit of purple...

You'd never know they were the 'same' colour lens

 

[Patient_Cero]

The first gen of radars and a few other frames using + red polarized is > all other +reds since then.

 

[Carrera1963]

There seems to be a belief that old +red was largely red without much purple. It may have been for the odd batch of two but my +red Frogs from '94/5 had just as much purple and the odd flash of red as my more recently cut Juliets. Or the older of the pairs Rustpot shows. Still a great lens, whatever colour it is.

 

[madhatta246]

Thanks for the great replies and pics. I actually do like the looks of the current +red with the purplish in the middle and the gold/fire towards the edges, but I can appreciate how the old ones look as well.

 

[madhatta246]

Also note the old Blue on the riser in the back. Good stuff, that old blue color.

Nice ! My first pair of Oakley's were M frames with the blue heaters. I got them when I was really into mountain biking in the early 90s and even though they don't block as much light in full sun, I got so used to them that I wore them for all conditions for years. I had not really noticed that the current blue doesn't look exactly like the older- the newer blues seem to have a bit of purplish in them.