Question for Jim...

[hcjilson]

Jim,
Out of a clear blue sky, starting yesterday, I had three complaints about trans NG.What was unusual is that they have been the only negatives I've heard since they've been released. The complaints were all the same and occured within the last day and a half in my office. (coincidently the first time we've seen the sun in a long time)

The complaint: Transitions do not get light fast enough when folks go inside. They are complaining of not being able to see well enough inside. I'm wondering whats been different in the last day and a half and can't come up with anything out of the ordinary.

Have you heard other complaints of this nature?

hj

PS I still love mine!

[Jim Schafer]

Hi hj,
I hope all is well.

You described a basic winter photochromic lens reaction.

I suspect what has happened is the groundcover of snow, combined with sunshine are maximizing the darkness level of the lens. This is late winter too, heading into spring... your uv index is begining to climb. I checked your uv index for New England, it was a 3 yesterday...it has been a 1 or 2 since December, but mostly a 1.

The greater the uv index, the more energy available to darken the lens. With all that brightness and temps freezing or below, the lens needs to warm to ambient room temp and have good visible light to quickly reverse the chemical reaction.

Being winter and the high cost of fuel oil/utilities, I am sure people are not lighting their homes as bright or setting the thermostat above 68° F / 19°c ( I grew up Ohio's snowbelt, I know winter!). This will impede any photochromic lens bleaching abilities.

I am a huge fan of NG Brown. It has the same performance of NG Gray. People look great in it. The bonus is that although Brown is dark as gray, the higher contrast makes going indoors a non event.

This is a good thing to note for people who need more light to see well. Our customer service has ahad several success stories of ecps who fitted Brown on people who had problems with Gray.
regards,
Jim