Darker lenses similar to Prizm Trail?

[Makten]

VLT% is not nearly as useful a number as many think it is. It's possible to have any VLT in any tint, but the light transmission profile (LTx) is what actually determines the user experience.

Tungsten is the Iridium version of Bronze. It copes well with glare because of the Iridium coating, and the brown base lens has that yellow component to it. This is a common advantage of brown lenses over grey ones.

Prizm tends to standardize the FOV of the neutral base Iridium lenses. Sapphire without Prizm has a far more yellowy-green tint, and Prizm makes it rosy instead.

With Tungsten the lens itself is brown, so the LTx is already different, with a larger yellow component. The Iridium coating does not have the same relationship with the lens itself.

I can't see any Iridium coating on my Prizm Tungsten lenses. If it's there, it's so subtle that it can hardly be seen with the naked eye. This also means that anyone can see straight through them from the outside, which is a little bit annoying.

Got the Prizm Black Polarized today and it was a total disappointment. They are just plain gray with no "pop" to colors what so ever. My plan was to replace the Sapphire Iridium with PBP, but that won't happen. Oh well...

Edit: The problem with Oakley is that they don't provide reliable specifications to their customers. The LTx are very hard to find and the descriptions on the site are mostly just wrong (mixing up lens base tint with Iridium coating color).

 

[Rhymes]

I can't see any Iridium coating on my Prizm Tungsten lenses. If it's there, it's so subtle that it can hardly be seen with the naked eye. This also means that anyone can see straight through them from the outside, which is a little bit annoying.

Got the Prizm Black Polarized today and it was a total disappointment. They are just plain gray with no "pop" to colors what so ever. My plan was to replace the Sapphire Iridium with PBP, but that won't happen. Oh well...

Edit: The problem with Oakley is that they don't provide reliable specifications to their customers. The LTx are very hard to find and the descriptions on the site are mostly just wrong (mixing up lens base tint with Iridium coating color).

You thought Prizm Black looked like plain grey with no pop?

In my opinion and I think others would strongly agree that they pop ALOT, and not in a very favorable way for what I’d prefer from a black lens. The result is almost to unnatural in the way it increases contrast with the rosey base.
Compare Prizm Black with BIP and with grey and you’ll see the difference clear as day. Although you could perceive things much differently, if this is the case, all the Prizm lenses should look grey to you because Prizm Black is a basic base.
I love BIP and BI, they don’t increase contrast and that’s not what I want or expect from a blackout type lens. Prizm Black is far les blackout as well. Almost brown in some lighting from POV.
Perhaps the worker gave you the wrong lens to begin with.

 

[twelsch42]

If you can make a comparison with Tungsten and Shallow Water this would be great. I’m curious what the differences are between them.

I was able to test a PSW and found them to be really close to the Tungsten. Full sun was far away out the mall doors and looked very close to the same. The fluorescent lit shop seemed a bit more neutral with the Tungsten. With the PSW I noticed a bit more rose tint to the shop space. It’s always hard because mall environment sucks. My takeaway is that I was surprised how neutral the Tungsten was. After trying a bunch of lenses I still love the Tungsten and would probably be happy with any of them.

 

[Makten]

You thought Prizm Black looked like plain grey with no pop?

Yes. Somewhat similar to Prizm Ruby but without the green/yellow cast and darker. Less color than without a lens.

In my opinion and I think others would strongly agree that they pop ALOT, and not in a very favorable way for what I’d prefer from a black lens. The result is almost to unnatural in the way it increases contrast with the rosey base.
Compare Prizm Black with BIP and with grey and you’ll see the difference clear as day. Although you could perceive things much differently, if this is the case, all the Prizm lenses should look grey to you because Prizm Black is a basic base.
I love BIP and BI, they don’t increase contrast and that’s not what I want or expect from a blackout type lens. Prizm Black is far les blackout as well. Almost brown in some lighting from POV.
Perhaps the worker gave you the wrong lens to begin with.

The base is definitely not rosy on mine. Just plain gray. It could be fake, but I doubt it since I bought it from a large internet store that I trust.
However, I read in another thread that someone had PBP in two different frames, and one of them was rosy and the other one not. If that's true, they are not always the same. The Iridium on mine is also faint, and you can see the eyes pretty easily from the front.

Edit: Oh, and yes, they don't feel very dark either. Strange if these are the darkest lenses that Oakley make, because I wouldn't think they are dark enough in a very bright environment.

Anyway, on topic! The Dark Golf lenses will arrive today. Not sure what to do with them since it's very sunny right now, though. My plan was to put them in the frames that have Sapphire, but since I don't like PBP that plan is now revised. Sapphire is a zillion times nicer than PBP.

 

[Makten]

I was able to test a PSW and found them to be really close to the Tungsten. Full sun was far away out the mall doors and looked very close to the same. The fluorescent lit shop seemed a bit more neutral with the Tungsten. With the PSW I noticed a bit more rose tint to the shop space. It’s always hard because mall environment sucks. My takeaway is that I was surprised how neutral the Tungsten was. After trying a bunch of lenses I still love the Tungsten and would probably be happy with any of them.

I agree with Tungsten "feeling" neutral! It's only when you compare them to something else you notice the tint. Very nice allround lens, IMO.

 

[Jerome]

The base is definitely not rosy on mine. Just plain gray. It could be fake, but I doubt it since I bought it from a large internet store that I trust.
However, I read in another thread that someone had PBP in two different frames, and one of them was rosy and the other one not. If that's true, they are not always the same. The Iridium on mine is also faint, and you can see the eyes pretty easily from the front.

Edit: Oh, and yes, they don't feel very dark either. Strange if these are the darkest lenses that Oakley make, because I wouldn't think they are dark enough in a very bright environment.

These are my PBP. They are darker than my Prizm Sapphires and they do have a slight rose tone to them but you need to look carefully to see the rose over the grey.

 

[Makten]

These are my PBP. They are darker than my Prizm Sapphires and they do have a slight rose tone to them but you need to look carefully to see the rose over the grey.

I inspected them again, and it might be av veeeeery slight rose tint. But I still think they are just gray.
Anyway, I really dislike the FOV and funny enough it got me to like Sapphire better.
There are several flaws with this specific pair, so they are going back to the seller anyway. No more PBP for me.

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And on topic! Got the Dark Golf lenses and they seem really nice. Not 100% what I was looking for, but probably close enough. I'd say they are right in between Prizm Trail and Prizm Tungsten. More red and less yellow than Tungsten but "colder" than Trail. More rose than persimmon, so more reds than oranges. It's sunny right now but I'll probably still prefer Trail for overcast, and I suppose there just isn't a lens with similar tint that is darker.

Now I'll have to figure out how the heck I'm gonna get a spare Crossrange frame only. I got several temples already and I want to keep the Sapphire lenses in the current frame since the PBP is out of the question. Hmmmm...

 

[VirusSixZero]

In my opinion and I think others would strongly agree that they pop ALOT, and not in a very favorable way for what I’d prefer from a black lens.
I love BIP and BI, they don’t increase contrast and that’s not what I want or expect from a blackout type lens.

I agree. I like Prizm, but I also like neutral lenses sometimes, and now Oakley slaps Prizm on everything.

I do like Prizm Grey because it basically looks like Warm Grey, although the contrast is higher. When I slip on BIP though, I want it blacked out and neutral, not contrast.

I understand why stores can't stock double the Oakley, with both plain and Prizm versions. I do resent the assumption that contrast is universally desirable. Luckily the SI stuff seems a bit shielded from the Prizm onslaught, as colour perception is pretty important in some conditions.

 

[Makten]

I agree. I like Prizm, but I also like neutral lenses sometimes, and now Oakley slaps Prizm on everything.

I do like Prizm Grey because it basically looks like Warm Grey, although the contrast is higher. When I slip on BIP though, I want it blacked out and neutral, not contrast.

I understand why stores can't stock double the Oakley, with both plain and Prizm versions. I do resent the assumption that contrast is universally desirable. Luckily the SI stuff seems a bit shielded from the Prizm onslaught, as colour perception is pretty important in some conditions.

Wouldn't it be possible that they revised Prizm black because it was "too much" or something? As I stated earlier, I read about someone that had two frames where the lenses were clearly not the same, even if they were supposed to. I can't believe that anyone would say that the ones I got gives any "pop". If anything, they dull out any bright colors and is very antipop. I can see that this is desirable to some people though, and I do think they are very comfy for the eyes in bright light (even if they are not particularly dark).

 

[Rhymes]

Wouldn't it be possible that they revised Prizm black because it was "too much" or something? As I stated earlier, I read about someone that had two frames where the lenses were clearly not the same, even if they were supposed to. I can't believe that anyone would say that the ones I got gives any "pop". If anything, they dull out any bright colors and is very antipop. I can see that this is desirable to some people though, and I do think they are very comfy for the eyes in bright light (even if they are not particularly dark).

Then you don’t have Prizm black lenses. That’s it’s. The difference in lenses has been a subject of discussion worth Oakley for decades. But mostly is affected by the iridium coating and not the base. Prizm has very little iridium compared to legacy and lens blanks with standard Prizm are made thousands at a time so It’s not common with Prizm base.

Prizm black on Left
Black Iridium on right

Very clearly rosey on the left