Smith sunglasses and Christmas marital discord

[Kurt P]

Does anyone have the "polarchromic" sunglasses from Smith? I was excited to get them for Christmas and they are great in every way, except I can't detect ANY color change between dim conditions and bright sunlight. Before I ask the giver of this very nice gift (my wife) what retailer she got them through, let me know if this is all the color change I can expect from Smith polarchromic lenses (I honestly can't see ANY). If it is, I'll just keep my mouth shut and be happy with them. But if, like I suspect, the glasses were mislabled somehow and don't have the polarchromic lenses, I'll pursue the return/refund path inspite of the marital hazards I will thus risk.
The whole reason I asked for those glasses was that when I fish in overcast conditions I have to do so without sunglasses cuz its just too dark to see.

Here's a photo of the glasses within 2 seconds of being removed from complete darkness:
http://www.kiene.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=39&pictureid=177
Here's a photo of them more than 2 minutes after sitting in direct sunlight:
http://www.kiene.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=39&pictureid=178
Before re-sizing the images for attachment, the word 'polarchromic' is clearly printed on the earpiece.

What do you think, should I shut up and smile, or should I raise a stink?

Kurt

[SHigSpeed]

Looks suspect to me. Looks like the same photo twice!

_SHig

[Kurt P]

Yeah, they do, but that's because I didn't move the camera between shots. I wish I had put my wristwatch in the frame so you could see that time had, in fact, passed between the shots. You'll just have to take my word for it, I guess. :rolleyes:
If I do risk upsetting my wife and contact the retailer or Smith, I'll repeat the photos with the watch in it, or may send a video.

[SHigSpeed]

After looking around, only the Passage glasses with the tortoise shell frames with the copper mirrored lenses come with the photo polar lenses.

Is that what those are? Wonder if the lenses got swapped by some loser?

BTW, though I can see some differences in the photos, the meta data will show timestamp differences in the un-resized photos.

_SHig

[jbird]

I got some photochromatic habervisions. If I lleave them on my dash in the sun and the croakie is across the lense, there will be a difinitive stripe across the lense that takes a couple minutes to fade. You could try puting them in the sun with a penny or something on the lense for 10 minutes or so and take it off and see if the lense changes under the penny...

[michaeln]

I have a pair of the Smith "Chamber" glasses. The box is clearly marked "PHOTOCHROMIC POLAR OPTICS", and the frame is "DARK ALE". There are several other Photochromic models too. I count 22 models at:

http://www.smithoptics.com/Polarchromic_Category_32.html?fl=true

Mine have polarchromic copper mirrored lenses, and they certainly do change density depending on the external light level.

[SHigSpeed]

After looking around, only the Passage glasses with the tortoise shell frames with the copper mirrored lenses come with the photo polar lenses.

I should have said:

The only Passage glasses with the photo polar lenses have the tortoise shell frames with the copper mirrored lenses.

My bad!

_SHig

[Kurt P]

Those are exactly the glasses I got (Passage tortoise shell frame with copper polarchromic mirrored lenses). I suspect someone changed the lenses on them and I guess I'll have to ask my wife if she got them on ebay or something. Bummer. Tomorrow I'll try Jbird's suggestion about putting something over part of the lens and setting them in the sun again, see if there's a color difference. If that test fails, wish me luck boys, I'm going in. (Actually my wife is really quite reasonable and I suspect she'll be peaved with the retailer she used, not me.)

[SHigSpeed]

Do you by any chance have a UV goo cure light? You could do some neat tests using that on the glasses.

Are the fronts of the lenses truly mirrored looking? And copper tint and not brown? If so, then it very well could be a factory defect thing as I can't find a mirrored copper non-PC lense.

_SHig

[Kurt P]

SHig,
Yes, the lenses are copper colored and mirrored. I hadn't thought to search the Smith site to see if they offer non-polarchromic copper colored mirror lenses. That's a great way to know if it's a factory error, versus some vender switching the lenses. Since Michaeln's Chamber model clearly change denisty, there must be SOME kind of problem with mine.
I guess what I can do is search the Smith website and then e-mail them the photos I took, see what they say. From what I hear, their customer service dept is top-notch.
Thanks for the great input.
Kurt
Oh yeah. No, I don't have a UV goo cure light. That was a good thought, too.

[Kurt P]

Smith Optics replied very promptly and recommended using a post-it note to cover part of the lens, similar to Jbird's suggestion. The test showed a dramatic density difference between the covered and uncovered part of the lens, so I am very happy with my Smith sunglasses.

[SHigSpeed]

Interesting... Operator error and reverse-placebo effect strikes again!

Quick question to put in your back pocket for when you're out on the water next time: I've heard that the PC Polar lenses have "less polarization" to allow for the less tinted phase. Can you compare back to back with your old full polar glasses at high and bright conditions to compare glare cutting capability? I may get my next prescrip polaroids made with a similar lense (Drivewear) depending on what you find out.

Thanks!

_SHig

[Rick J]

I actually think I see a difference between the two photos - the second looks lighter to me

[Kurt P]

Shigpspeed,
I find the polarization function of these Smiths to be VERY good. I took them right down to my pond Christmas morning and could see underwater structure better than with my non-photochromic polarized sunglasses. I tried it again just the other day when the sun peaked through the fog for a few minutes and the glare-cutting capability was impressive. Furthermore, the general clarity of the glass lenses is much better than any other sunglasses I have had, but this is the first time I've ever owned a pair that cost more than $30 (In fact, I'm so happy with them that I'm a bit nervous about wearing them outside the house for fear of losing them.)
Kurt

[SHigSpeed]

Shigpspeed,
I find the polarization function of these Smiths to be VERY good. I took them right down to my pond Christmas morning and could see underwater structure better than with my non-photochromic polarized sunglasses. I tried it again just the other day when the sun peaked through the fog for a few minutes and the glare-cutting capability was impressive. Furthermore, the general clarity of the glass lenses is much better than any other sunglasses I have had, but this is the first time I've ever owned a pair that cost more than $30 (In fact, I'm so happy with them that I'm a bit nervous about wearing them outside the house for fear of losing them.)
Kurt

Cool! I'll have to see if my insurance will cover the Rx ones.

Thanks,

_SHig

[huntindog]

i have returned 3 pairs of smiths because the coating on the lens bubbles. i hate the things...they keep sending me new glasses so i keep using them. The customer service person i talked to said "they know it is a problem and were working on it."

[michaeln]

I have had two pair of Smiths and no bubbling on either pair. The only reason I replaced the first pair is that I scratched the plastic lenses really bad through carelessness. That's one reason I got glass lenses in the second pair.

[FISHEYE]

Try Habers and you won't be disappointed. Use affinity code fisheye for the best deals.

[michaeln]

I'm not disappointed in my Smiths.

[flygolf]

I have those exact same glasses. They do change, but very little. Mine came with a sticker on the lens, if you leave the sticker on and put them in the sun you can see a slight change. When looking through the lens the change wasn't noticeable at all.