lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

I have had many pairs of Transitions eye glass lenses. No real issue when using my DSLRs as I usually remove my glasses and use the diopter adjustment on the eye piece. They can make it harder to view a SmartPhone, as a camera or other use. Once sometime ago I tried a pair of glasses with both Transitions and some other sort of polarizing effect. Those were a no go as I could not read half the readouts on my car dash. Seems some of the "clear" plastics have polarized light effects already. So you may have issues with LCD screens in bright sunlight. But that occurs even with out any eye glasses.

Ernie Misner Loc: Lakewood, WA

Transition (sometimes called photo-grey) types get darker when exposed to UV radiation in the light. Blended bifocals is a different topic. Personally I find the transition type good for wearing as a type of sunglasses and they provide great protection for your eyes. But I have also heard that regular non-transition glasses filter out UV radiation very well also. The transition type however makes viewing the camera LCD, viewfinder, and menus much more difficult when in bright sunlight or around snow especially because they are so dark. Another downside to the transition type is that they are not as clear or sharp appearing when worn indoors in the evenings or for photo editing in the evenings. That is my experience with many pairs but YMMV.

tcthome Loc: NJ

Same here. Shouldn't be a problem.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

I've been wearing progressive lenses with transition coatings for years and have never noticed any loss of clarity or sharpness indoors in the evenings.

jims203 Loc: Connecticut

They don t work well and all you see is black if using a polorizing or variable ND filter.

KTJohnson Loc: Northern Michigan

I have progressive lenses that are also transitions. I've never experienced any problems with them except while driving long distances on a bright sunny day. In that case I put on my prescription sunglasses. Outside, the transitions actually get darker than my sunglasses. I rarely use the LCD on my camera and it has a bright EVF (Sony), so no problems there either.

There is one other condition where the "transitions" are not great and that is when working under a car or in the engine compartment while outside in the driveway. The sunshine turns them dark and then it is hard to see the little parts in the dark crevices of the car. BTW, the "progressive" part of the lens doesn't work too well under this condition either.

DJphoto Loc: SF Bay Area

This has been an interesting discussion. I currently have half frame reading glasses, clear progressives and progressive sunglasses. I'm about ready to order two pairs of glasses and have been trying to decide what to get. I have the viewfinder set up for no glasses, but if I want to make adjustments on the camera, I need my glasses. I had been seriously considering progressive transitions and another pair of reading glasses. Now I'm thinking maybe clear progressives and progressive sunglasses. My current glasses are still fine. I mostly need the reading glasses, as my distant vision is about 20:30. I use the half frame reading glasses a lot, such as reading my lecture notes with the glasses while looking at the class and board over them and watching TV while using my laptop. Decisions...........

therwol Loc: USA

If you get transition lenses (Light inside, dark outside) you need to understand that you're pretty much always wearing the equivalent of sunglasses outside, especially in bright sun. You have to decide if this is what you really want. I hated it. I'm not a big fan of sunglasses except maybe on the beach.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

That's not entirely accurate. Sunglasses are dark all the time. The amount of tint on transitions varies with the amount of sunlight, which is very different from a pair of dedicated sunglasses. They are at their maximum darkness only on very bright sunny days, and even in the bright sun, while they may look very dark the view through them is not as dark as sunglasses. They mostly reduce glare. Most of the time on bright days I don't even realize they're working until I notice how dark my lenses appear in a mirror or window reflection. And in less than bright sunshine they get lighter. On cloudy days they don't tint at all. However, I'm not pushing their use by you or anyone else.

DJphoto Loc: SF Bay Area

I always wear sunglasses outside; it sounds like I should stay with them rather than transitions.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

You've go to do what works for you. My progressive lenses with transition coatings are the right decision for me. Only a fraction of the time I'm outside is my eye actually looking through a viewfinder. or an LCD screen. The rest of the time I'm just living my life. Many folks here are treating this subject as if we are spending 95% of our time outside looking through a view finder. Yes there is a down side. On a very bright and sunny day when my transitions are at full tint my viewfinder becomes dark and seeing the shooting info on the bottom of the viewfinder is difficult. On those occasions, and only on those occasions, I take my glasses off and change the dioptor to a setting which accommodates my eye without my glasses. I never really have to change settings on my LCD screen because the intelligent viewfinder of my Canon 7D Mark II shows all the relevant shooting information and the camera's extensive control configuration allows me to modify almost every settings that might need adjustment without taking my eye off the viewfinder. But for others, what works for me might not work for them.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

If you prefer sunglasses which stay dark regardless of the amount of sun then you should stick with them. My wife doesn't care for the transitions and has two pairs of progressives lenses, one with no transition and the other a dedicated pair of progressive sunglasses. The sunglasses are mostly for driving since transitions don't turn dark with sunlight through normal tinted windowshields.

DJphoto Loc: SF Bay Area

This has been very helpful. I'm going to stay with progressive sunglasses. BTW, one of the reasons I really like them is because I can read with them outside in the sun. I have worn sunglasses as long as I can remember, as my eyes seem to be very sensitive to the sun.

Ernie Misner Loc: Lakewood, WA

Well, you wouldn't notice the difference at all unless you had a 2nd pair that was clear, top quality with anti reflective coating on both sides that you could put on in the evenings and for photo editing. I see a big difference. There is a price to be paid for having the compounds in the transition type for indoor/night time use.

tjw47 Loc: Michigan

I have transition glasses, when I am inside the car they go clear- just the same as non transition glasses.
Why would you need to take them off since they are clear...

By the way there is a version of transition glasses made for driving.

Transitions® XTRActive lens darken by bright light not by UV light. They will darken inside the car ( as long as it is bright outside )