I just got my third pair of Transitions lenses and they're nowhere near as dark as the previous pairs. I've spent the weekend reading up and learned some things I didn't know before:
(1) Reduced effectiveness with age. I hadn't really noticed, I had my last pair for 3 years.
(2) Reduced effectiveness with heat. Again, hadn't really noticed.
(3) Different effectiveness with different lens materials. Previous lenses were polycarbonate, so I assume NG. My current Pearle receipt shows "Transitions Thin 2"... not sure if this means Hi-Index.
Granted it's been warm since I got my new lenses, but then again, it was just as warm with my previous lenses. My 3 year old lenses were darker than my new ones. Looking at the info at the Transitions website, it sounds like Hi Index should be the new V w/ ESP, which are claimed to perform comparably to NG.
So, I'm thinking either I got old stock using previous gen Hi Index, or I got a 'dud', or current gen is just more sensitive to heat than older gen. I was out in the direct sun one day mowing the lawn, no trees, no shade, and I'd estimate they were about 60% what I'm used to. It used to be after an episode like that, I'd go inside and couldn't see they were so dark. That's not an issue anymore.
Any thoughts?
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