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Revant Optics HC3 Elite lens impressions and review (Jawbone/Racing Jacket)

Ventruck

I am Jim Jannard...
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*I'm making a separate thread as the request thread is getting big and still ongoing. It'd just be much easier for anyone to access reviews especially for specific frames. That being said, anyone who got the Jawbone/Racing Jacket lenses are welcome to posting their own reviews in this thread too. Also, I would like to thank Kevin @Revant Optics for giving members at OakleyForum.com this opportunity to sample and review their lenses.

***Post has been edited after getting some solid time with these Revant HC3 Elite lenses. Long post, but there's a tl;dr at the end of it.


I don't represent or affiliate the brand in any way. Revant Optics has their own intro thread and has willingly answered questions regarding the company.
Hello from Revant Optics in Portland, OR | Oakley Forum

Specifications:
For minor convenience, the "Stealth Black" HC3 Elite lenses are spec'd as follows:
8% LT
100% UV protection and Polarized
Taper Corrected
$52.00 (USD) before shipping and taxes

"HC3" referring to High Clarity, Comfort, and Contrast (note that is 3 "C"s son)

From what I understand, the taper is an exclusive to the HC3 Elite lenses vs. the rest of Revant's entire selection. I wouldn't be totally sure what else would attribute to any improved performance over the original lenses, and can't confirm if they're base-in prism.

At the time of this review, "Stealth Black" is the only available color for the HC3 Elite Line. There is no MirrorShield (Revant's "Iridium"), but they have a nice shine to them and at least with tighter-fitting sports pairs, all my creepy dudes are rest-assured to have hidden eyes. :p

revant hc3-4.jpg


Unboxing and Install:
Unboxing is the same story as @OakleyBoss described in his review, so I won't really go into it myself.
Revant Optics HC3 Elite Holbrook Lens Review | Oakley Forum

I got the white box, and the bag is a pretty one.

As also mentioned by @ptownphil in a post below, fit was on-point. No fusses to get them in and no visible gaps (except the vents of course) both in respect to size and thickness. Edges are finished a bit straighter than OEM lenses but no ridiculously sharp corners. Vents seemed to match the original profiles, too. Bottom-line, it's a pretty accurate cut and fit — at least for the Jawbone/Racing Jacket.

revant hc3-3.jpg


If I had to make ANY nitpicks, I did catch minuscule defects on my right lens. It's not a bubble or scratch, and it took the OCD side of me to spot it. It's the kind of defect that can be found on some of Oakley's own lenses when new, and even smaller than one I've accepted before. That small.

Visual Performance Review:
A good share of testing these lenses was on the bike, and fortunately in solid sunny conditions which these were intended for.

As I said in my initial impressions (now deleted), my only gauge of true clarity was to refer to a window grid line. I rotated, shifted, and tilted the lenses in all directions. The changes in alignment and magnification seemed very similar to my original Oakley Jawbone/Racing Jacket lenses. I also attempted to test against distant objects like described by @InfiniteHero in this thread:
Romeo 1 Lense Swap Question | Page 2 | Oakley Forum

I personally saw no mismatches in behavior to Oakley's own, and I was seriously looking for it. So are they actually base-in-prism? I don't know, but I'd really like to. Not to go on a tangent, but OakleyBoss put out a disclaimer in his review that Revant gave him a green light to be dead-honest about his opinions; I assume those terms are the same for the rest of the testers at this board. That being said, I won't hesitate dropping a fat deuce in this review if I found/find a real problem with the lenses. I take my eye health seriously, and generally am a bit obsessive with things.

My only other basis to judge clarity was in actual use while riding. My local hill has a rough descent where I do have to register a lot of small debris to evade, and behind the HC3 Elites that was no problem. Didn't miss a beat and everything seemed very clear. I'm not saying that like "oh these are working", but legitimately need to be proven otherwise. Even though this really can be said for Rudy Project, Smith, and pretty much any higher end sport brand lens, it's safe to say these are nothing like a cheap gas station pair.

Now while I can second-guess myself endlessly until clarity can be confirmed via testing with a projector — and that is something I really hope gets done — the color and contrast quality was unquestionably impressive. This is something that can't really be measured by a metric, but rather perception. I saw no detectable wash-outs and everything looked notably distinct. No intent to offend anyone, but for reference I'm not color blind as I make this judgement.

I mentioned initially that there's a bit of a blue hue on what it is a neutral base, but it levels off with use and blue light is totally regulated when the lenses are up in your face. It's very much working in the same way as Positive Red in my opinion, but a bit darker and warmer. I tried to capture the difference, but photos do no justice since my phone (LG G3) camera just adjusts exposure automatically. The HC3 Elites doesn't look that dark, and there's way more contrast and color definition, but for the sake of anyone's curiosity:

revant hc3-5.jpg

(even if you look for it, the "Elite" etching has virtually no presence when looking through)
revant hc3-2.jpg


Like I find with Positive Red, the HC3 Elites rather look bright from a general standpoint. Part of it is perhaps the byproduct of enhanced contrast, but for an 8% LT lens it just doesn't seem as dark as I anticipated. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, though. Just didn't expect that as Black and Ice Iridium feel darker to me even though they're rated at a slightly higher 10% LT. I didn't struggle with shaded areas nor did I find a difficult immediate transition from brighter environments. Post-ride and walking indoors, there's no compelling need to remove my glasses right away. This overall brighter perception isn't provoking any squinting or fatigue at all, so I really narrow this down to lens treatment as opposed to questioning the legitimate LT rating.

The polarized filter does its job and angled at +45 degrees. Glare is controlled with the reflection on shiny surfaces flattening out. As someone who kinda has a bobbing rhythm when cycling, there was no serious issues with fluctuating exposure. Same goes with the occasional head turn while in the drops. In more casual situations there's really no notice of it period.

Other small comments are that fogging wasn't an issue. I even rode with a face mask for a bit and like any other lens it stays clear as long as you're moving. I've cleaned the HC3 Elite lenses with Oakley's own solution and cloth. No signs of delicate nature, and they clean up well.

Conclusions and further thinking:
Revant seems to take their campaign for the HC3 Elite seriously in both drawing appeal and in how to improve, and so I figured they deserved the effort in an elaborate review. That being said, I'm not trying to make a jab at anyone who kept their reviews brief because this did take a bit of time to type. Just saying if anyone's wondering why this is so long.

Coming into this review, I've generally been a stickler against aftermarket. Every review gave me the impression those kinds of lenses flat-out sucked or were bearable at best. Even promising impressions of lenses at this forum get debunked by a projector test — much to users' surprise.

Strictly based off my perception, the HC3 Elite lenses perform very convincingly through use. I surely find them better in the color and contrast departments than Black and Ice Iridium, and my RP Laser Black lenses for that matter. In all fairness none of those are polarized, but this is strictly drawing on what I have experience with. The HC3 Elites aren't going to make me ditch my Positive Red and Jade Iridium lenses that I regularly use, but they really are impressive in this regard and it's a stand-out feature for sure. On top of that, fit and finish are on-point, leaving me to have the honest opinion right now that these are pretty decent aftermarket lenses.

tl;dr version:
+very impressive color and contrast quality
+no hassles or headaches when in use
+installation fit and finish are really good.
-while seemingly very clear, we don't know how it fares in a projector/clarity test right now
 
Last edited:
I got mine today too. Wondering where to update initial thoughts.

I have no problem if you want to share initial thoughts and long-term in this thread. Like I said, I just pulled out of the other thread because they still have requests going on.
 
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Since it mite be awhile b4 my review, my initial reaction was other than what was posted is these lens were a breeze to put in! I am a novice when it comes to lens changing, last time I changed a pair, it took 15 mins and bloody index finger. These took 5mins and look, no bloody finger! I took me longer to wipe these than to install these!
 
View attachment 131388 View attachment 131389
Since it mite be awhile b4 my review, my initial reaction was other than what was posted is these lens were a breeze to put in! I am a novice when it comes to lens changing, last time I changed a pair, it took 15 mins and bloody index finger. These took 5mins and look, no bloody finger! I took me longer to wipe these than to install these!

Yeah, fit was something I forgot to address as it was a complete non-issue for me too and it also worked out for OakleyBoss without thinking - although I am aware of horrible fit being a common issue with aftermarket lenses. While this is a big step up if consistent, I also feel like it should be a bottom-line expectation.
 
@Ventruck Can't thank you enough for sharing this! Incredible feedback and we really appreciate the time and effort you put into writing this up. Also love that last picture of you looking out the Elite lenses. Where is that at?

@the_owl Thanks for calling this out. Just posted in the original thread to try and help clarify. Feel free to post your reviews in the original thread, your own thread, or right here! -Kevin
 
been trying to tell yall that Revant makes awesome lenses...

good to hear more and more people will potentially be looking at Revant for their aftermarket lense needs :)
 

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