Picture: Courtesy Smith Optics
Smith Optics’ latest body and lens combo has been out for some time now, and I’ve had the nice fortune of sporting them for 4 or 5 months.
Sun shades are exhausting to evaluate as a result of they’re arguably probably the most subjective piece of drugs for anglers. fly rod is often acknowledged as good, even when it’s not everybody’s cup of tea. Sun shades, although? They’re actually the lens by which we see the world, and folk will all the time differ on what they like and don’t like.
That stated, I’d be shocked if somebody didn’t benefit from the Hookset frames, paired with the Brown Inexperienced Mirror ChromaPop Glass PolarChromic lenses. Sure, that’s a mouthful, however these lenses are what makes this new pair of glasses value consideration.
Smith spent the previous couple of years working to launch the primary true revolution in sun shades expertise in years. Sure, new lens tints have been launched, and each producer has new frames able to drop at a second’s discover. However for the reason that introduction of ChromaPop, 580, or Prism lenses a couple of decade in the past, has there been an intuitive leap ahead in sun shades design?
Probably not. That’s, till the ChromaPop Glass PolarChromic lenses.
These lenses marry Smith’s proprietary ChromaPop expertise with a brand-new PolarChromic lens that modifications its tint based mostly on the quantity of UV mild hitting the glass. Which means the lenses loosen up in low-light conditions, and darken when it’s brilliant and sunny. Basically, you’re getting two units of lenses in a single.
It’s not only a advertising and marketing gimmick, both. Like I discussed earlier, I’ve worn these lenses for 4 or 5 months now, and so they’ve rapidly grow to be my go-to lens, displacing even the brand new Gold Mirror lenses from Costa. That’s not a knock on Costa in any respect, as a result of I really like their lenses (the Gold Mirror, particularly, are simply implausible for trout fishing). Slightly, it’s a little bit of reward to Smith for elevating the bar so excessive. With the ChromaPop Glass PolarChromic lenses, I can put on my sun shades even in low-light, overcast days such as you usually expertise in Alaska, and never want one other pair when it will get too sunny.
The brand new frames are extremely comfy, as effectively. The Hookset frames are a superb center floor between the larger-framed Information’s Selection that Smith makes, and a few of their slimmer fashions.
Total, I’m impressed as all get out with these lenses, and I sit up for seeing what’s subsequent from Smith.
