Lots of folks like the Smith sunglasses low-light ChromaPop polarized yellow lenses for dark winter or dawn/dusk PNW fishing. With 33% light transmission, they offer a bit of tint while still cutting down the glare. And the light yellow base color helps with low light contrast. However, at $275 or so (using the classic Guides Choice model as an example), they can be a spicy meatball for some of our wallets. Especially if we're the type who has to consider sunglasses a consumable item because we lose them regularly.
Being one of those kinds of people, I don't own many pairs of expensive sunglasses. Instead, I have gone with those from the Suncloud brand. Suncloud is owned by Smith. I don't know how much of the parent company's knowledge and R&D leaks down to Suncloud, but it feels like a fair bit. I've found them to be optically solid sunglasses for a reasonable price, usually around $60 MSRP. And their customer service is the same high level as you get from Smith themselves (I have had reason to use each over the years).
For the past chunk of years, I've regularly worn a few pairs of Suncloud's Sentry model. A couple of years ago, they came out with a low-light tint light yellow base lens with 30% light transmission. I picked up a couple of pairs and they have become my winter/dawn/dusk sunglasses. I was just wearing them last night as I cast into twilight at a local bluegill pond.
Today I got curious about the light transmission numbers and while searching, happened to notice that the low-light version seems to be on closeout sale for $32. That link is to Amazon, but I also see them at REI, Backcountry, and a few others at similar prices. The "last chance" labeling on some of these pages makes me worry they are going to be discontinued, so I'm going to pick up another pair just in case. I would encourage anyone looking for a cheap low-light pair of sunglasses to grab them before they are gone.
I had intended to write a bit of a review comparing the Smith and Suncloud versions of low light lenses. But I guess this post will be as close as I get if they are actually getting discontinued. Perhaps that 30% low light lens will live on in future Suncloud models. But I'm not very confident about that, the highest light transmission lens they currently seem to have in other models is 25%.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BXVJ21LF/
Being one of those kinds of people, I don't own many pairs of expensive sunglasses. Instead, I have gone with those from the Suncloud brand. Suncloud is owned by Smith. I don't know how much of the parent company's knowledge and R&D leaks down to Suncloud, but it feels like a fair bit. I've found them to be optically solid sunglasses for a reasonable price, usually around $60 MSRP. And their customer service is the same high level as you get from Smith themselves (I have had reason to use each over the years).
For the past chunk of years, I've regularly worn a few pairs of Suncloud's Sentry model. A couple of years ago, they came out with a low-light tint light yellow base lens with 30% light transmission. I picked up a couple of pairs and they have become my winter/dawn/dusk sunglasses. I was just wearing them last night as I cast into twilight at a local bluegill pond.
Today I got curious about the light transmission numbers and while searching, happened to notice that the low-light version seems to be on closeout sale for $32. That link is to Amazon, but I also see them at REI, Backcountry, and a few others at similar prices. The "last chance" labeling on some of these pages makes me worry they are going to be discontinued, so I'm going to pick up another pair just in case. I would encourage anyone looking for a cheap low-light pair of sunglasses to grab them before they are gone.
I had intended to write a bit of a review comparing the Smith and Suncloud versions of low light lenses. But I guess this post will be as close as I get if they are actually getting discontinued. Perhaps that 30% low light lens will live on in future Suncloud models. But I'm not very confident about that, the highest light transmission lens they currently seem to have in other models is 25%.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BXVJ21LF/
