Lens Color for Shooting

[rdtompki]

I've finally settled on 2 diopter for my iron sight shooting which, strangely enough, is less than my 3 diopter prescription for distance. This assumes the lighting conditions close down my pupil. Even cheap 2D safety glasses work just fine, but I'd like to find a lens color with a lower transmission that enhances target contrast for use in really bright days. Shooting steel challenge in Idaho the targets are white and the backdrop a light sandy soil which unfortunately isn't that far from white. I'm currently using yellow lenses as well and while these don't degrade the contrast they don't enhance the white versus background; one possibility would be yellow lenses with, for example, 50% transmission. So I'm look at a 2D right eye in clear and a 2D right eye in a TBD color/transmission for the brightest conditions. Maybe a neutral gray for the high brightness given the poor inherent color contrast between target and background? Anyone care to weigh in? FWIW I don't even need a prescription in my post-cataract surgery left eye with 20/15 and only 1D of cylinder so life ain't all that bad.

[DDTSGM]

Pricey in Rx, but I've found that the Oakley TR22 and TR45 prizm lenses are good. The numbers 22 & 45 are percentage of light transmission, TR45 is probably what you would use. Have not had the 'Prizm' shooting lenses in Rx, though.

https://www.oakleysi.com/en-us/colle...prizm-shooting

I had the shooting lenses in Rx before Oakley came out with Prizm, don't remember if the numbers are the same. They were GTG. Early age cataract surgery made them worthless to me and I don't know what happened to them.

I've also found that their Prizm Road lenses are good, for me anyways, shooting lenses. Again, haven't tried them in Rx. Also, great for riding and driving, as they are advertised.

https://www.oakley.com/en-us/prizm/road

If you can find a generic 'persimmon' (sp) that is also good tint for contrast, IMO.

[JHC]

Pricey in Rx, but I've found that the Oakley TR22 and TR45 prizm lenses are good. The numbers 22 & 45 are percentage of light transmission, TR45 is probably what you would use. Have not had the 'Prizm' shooting lenses in Rx, though.

https://www.oakleysi.com/en-us/colle...prizm-shooting

I had the shooting lenses in Rx before Oakley came out with Prizm, don't remember if the numbers are the same. They were GTG. Early age cataract surgery made them worthless to me and I don't know what happened to them.

I've also found that their Prizm Road lenses are good, for me anyways, shooting lenses. Again, haven't tried them in Rx. Also, great for riding and driving, as they are advertised.

https://www.oakley.com/en-us/prizm/road

If you can find a generic 'persimmon' (sp) that is also good tint for contrast, IMO.

I have the Oakley Prizm and they seem to work well for their stated purpose. I've also used Oakley Persimmon for many years and especially liked those for woods hunting. My Persimmon lens are pretty beat up now but I'm not sure they weren't superior to the Prizm.

MagPul offers a "rose" tint in an APEL rated option that seems the equal to those as well.

[Trigger]

Pile on. Oakley Prizm Golf is about perfect for me. For shotgun glasses (Decot Hy-wyd) I prefer light Target orange.

[BobLoblaw]

[Shotgun]

Check out this lens color guide from Decot: https://www.decot.com/shooting-glass...s-color-guide/

Surf around these two sites as well:

https://pillasport.com/pages/shooting

https://www.reranger.com/pages/claysight-lenses

[professor]

Here is a Oakley lens chart of the Prizm non-polarized. The “Trail Torch” works the best for me in outdoor shooting. I like the “Road” also works well but is too dark for everything but the brightest light. I find the Trail Torch adds the most contrast and depth for me. I tested the bottom 6 in non-prescription before ordering prescription lenses in Trail Torch and Clear/Photochomatic I use the clear in indoor ranges and night driving. I’m very happy with my results.

[CraigS]

Based on our experience w/ choosing fiber optic color where my wife sees red the brightest and I see green the brightest I think your best bet is find a way to test colors for 'your' eyes. The professor's experience of testing 6 colors doesn't surprise me at all.

[Jim Watson]

I have been wearing Light Target Gold for a long time.
But I can't imagine what would make a white plate contrast with a sandy berm.
I have been grumbling at the indoor USPSA, they seldom paint the poppers and a bullet blasted gray against the black rubber trap is not quick to pick out, either.

[rdtompki]

I'm going to test my large assortment of Project Rudy lenses tomorrow. I have very little astigmatism so I can actually see both sights and targets well with the simple 2D safety glasses. If I can find a color that does manage to increase contrast slightly I'll go with a pair of clear and a pair of TBD. Photochromic would work, but the standard transmission ranges are not what I need. I need a transmission that tops at at near 90% at thick overcast; There probably isn't a market for that since the transmission range isn't all that large so if you factor in 90% on one end the lower end won't be satisfactory for most folks in bright conditions.

FWIW, Sight for Sport Eyes (Portland, I believe) can make Rudy Project lenses with a specific transmission in most any color so I might just pick a color and take a stab at 50%.

Great replies BTW.