Which lens for a brighter look?

[BrooklynBoy]

I’m looking for a lens for my Flak 2.0 that will make things brighter in lower light, cloudy, overcast situations which seems to be the norm here in NYC.
Currently I have the Prism Black and Deep Water lenses which are great for bright sun.
I’ve been researching the Prism Daily, Road, Trail, etc but the more I read the more confusing it gets.
Any suggestions on the above lenses or any other would be appreciated.

 

[Fresh]

For overcast days I go prizm trail or prizm low light, they have a light base color and they help a lot when things are darker.
You could also try the clear photochromic lenses for your Flak 2.0, they get darker depending on the amount of uv rays hitting them or prizm golf, not intended for what you need but I’ve used mine while driving early in the morning and they work great

 

[BrooklynBoy]

I noticed that the Prism Trail has a 36% VLT.
Wondering if that’s too much compared to the Prism Road at 20%.

 

[SpliceD]

I like Prizm Golf for overcast days. Golf is at 30%. Don't let the moniker stop you from giving it a try. While it is tuned for the course, it still works great for every day low light wear.

I have two pairs with Prizm Golf:

Flak 1.0 - I actually use this one for Golf

X Metal XX TiO2 - I wear these casually on overcast/rainy days

 

[BrooklynBoy]

I didn’t even consider the Golf but I’ll take look now. Thanks.

 

[Fresh]

I like prizm road for regular days, not too bright not to dark. The thing is I’m not a huge fan of it because it is too light for sunny days and too dark for overcast, it’s right at the middle so I usually skip it. Trail is definitely for darker days, my only complain is that your eyes are visible to everyone while wearing the (I like mirror finishes).
And finally golf is a funny thing, built for the course, but I’ve found it super useful for overcast, karting, and even inside the house

 

[VirusSixZero]

The Prizm line is fantastic, however the sport-specific tuning means they are a bit muddled for when you're wanting to apply them somewhere else. For everyday wear, I'd avoid Trail myself, it bumps the contrast way up. Don't just look at the VLT %, you also want to look at the Light Transmission (LTx - my personal abbreviation) profile. Trail blocks almost all blue and green, and then spikes to allow lots of reds and browns through. This means in a typical everyday urban setting, the colours are going to be a bit goofy.

The Trail Torch lens has a 1% difference in VLT, yet its LTx profile is more even. It lets in more blues and greens, and blocks a little bit of the peak off the reds. The overall effect is that contrast is bumped up, but it is not as dramatic as regular Prizm Trail. This makes Trail Torch a bit more versatile in my opinion. It is designed for brighter trail conditions, and has a more pronounced Iridium (Ruby red) flash.

I wear Prizm Road, Prizm Daily, or Prizm Grey in overcast conditions right now. I find them to be pretty versatile. They are a tad dark when I'm under tree cover, so that's where Trail comes in handy. In the shadows of buildings might be comparable, but the contrast-heavy tuning is a turnoff for me in everyday wear. Prizm Grey is a little warmer due to the Prizm tuning, and it's pretty much a non-polarized version of Prizm Daily. Unfortunately it looks as though Prizm Grey is not available in Flak 2.0 mine are in Holston frames. I'm looking at Prizm Low Light as a near future purchase because I really do operate, rain or shine.

I do not have experience with the Prizm Golf lenses. By going with the Flak 2.0 frame, you have access to almost every lens Oakley produces, however.

 

[SpliceD]

The Prizm line is fantastic, however the sport-specific tuning means they are a bit muddled for when you're wanting to apply them somewhere else. For everyday wear, I'd avoid Trail myself, it bumps the contrast way up. Don't just look at the VLT %, you also want to look at the Light Transmission (LTx - my personal abbreviation) profile. Trail blocks almost all blue and green, and then spikes to allow lots of reds and browns through. This means in a typical everyday urban setting, the colours are going to be a bit goofy.

The Trail Torch lens has a 1% difference in VLT, yet its LTx profile is more even. It lets in more blues and greens, and blocks a little bit of the peak off the reds. The overall effect is that contrast is bumped up, but it is not as dramatic as regular Prizm Trail. This makes Trail Torch a bit more versatile in my opinion. It is designed for brighter trail conditions, and has a more pronounced Iridium (Ruby red) flash.

I wear Prizm Road, Prizm Daily, or Prizm Grey in overcast conditions right now. I find them to be pretty versatile. They are a tad dark when I'm under tree cover, so that's where Trail comes in handy. In the shadows of buildings might be comparable, but the contrast-heavy tuning is a turnoff for me in everyday wear. Prizm Grey is a little warmer due to the Prizm tuning, and it's pretty much a non-polarized version of Prizm Daily. Unfortunately it looks as though Prizm Grey is not available in Flak 2.0 mine are in Holston frames. I'm looking at Prizm Low Light as a near future purchase because I really do operate, rain or shine.

I do not have experience with the Prizm Golf lenses. By going with the Flak 2.0 frame, you have access to almost every lens Oakley produces, however.

Good info! I will say while the numbers help, it all comes down to preference as to what you're most comfortable with. Everyone's eyes are different. Like i mentioned i prefer Golf myself. The Rose base tint along with the Prizm color correction does change perception of the world, but i've found it to be a great lens for overcast conditions.

 

[BrooklynBoy]

Wow, quite an analysis and much appreciated.
Thank you.

 

[VirusSixZero]

Good info! I will say while the numbers help, it all comes down to preference as to what you're most comfortable with. Everyone's eyes are different. Like i mentioned i prefer Golf myself. The Rose base tint along with the Prizm color correction does change perception of the world, but i've found it to be a great lens for overcast conditions.

Absolutely, sunglasses are a subjective product. Golf is probably a great lens for overcast to medium light, I've just no 'eyes on' experience with it, or Dark Golf. G30 is one of my favourite lenses that I wear in the original Flak Jacket frame, and I assume Prizm Golf is the successor.

I meant more to caution against going with Prizm Trail. In my opinion, Trail is one of the most context-specific lenses Oakley has ever produced, along with Prizm Low Light. When used outside of their intended setting, Trail especially is quite hmm...odd. It almost behaves like when you first put on an orangey-persimmon base lens like Tungsten or VR22, but the initial eye/colour shock doesn't really subside. It is fantastic for trail MTB and running, but in an everyday context you aren't exactly studying the contours of the sidewalk. An urban setting like NYC is also full of concrete and asphalt; lots of greens and blues that you wouldn't want to filter/wash out. I honestly wish Oakley made the LTx profiles of the lenses easier to find so that you could see how they achieve their intended effect. I originally thought Prizm Torch Trail was just a Ruby Iridium variant of Trail, but it's actually quite more than that.

As a side note about LTx - yellow lenses are great in overcast conditions, but are not versatile. They actually accent light, so things like car headlights become blinding and irritating. Glare off puddles or wet asphalt becomes worse because it's reflecting headlights, street signs etc where as the light from an overcast sky is flat and doesn't typically cause glare on reflective surfaces. This is likely why even Oakley's Prizm Low Light is still a rose base, and not a yellow. The designers/engineers anticipate some urban use, or some artificial light sources and a rose base is far more versatile with those in play. Yellow lenses are best suited (similar to Trail) only in low light situations where the sky, often filtered through cloud and tree canopy, is the only source of light.