Costa 580 Lenses
- This topic has 6 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated May 9, 2009 at 11:03 pm by
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Have any of you guys tried these things?
I recently picked up a pair with the silver mirror lenses and quite honestly, I am blown away by the clarity of these lenses. I own a couple other pairs of polarized glasses that I have been quite pleased with, but the 580’s are way sharper than anything else I have ever worn. I am not really the type to get excited about gear, but these are cool enough that I thought I would share.
Just curious if anybody else has tried these lenses. I am interested to see what experience others have had with them.
Andrew
Andrew
I have been wearing a pair for 6 months and they are a quantum leap ahead of anything else I have used.
how do you think, or anyone esle for that matter, they compare to the Oakley Radar polarized glasses?
I do not have the luxury to have several pairs of glasses so I have the amber/brown lense in the Oakley as an all around pair.
Are these 580s good enough to warrant a second pair just to fish with?
Maybe Zach can chime in since he recently went to the Oak plantHey Keith –
A lot of the difference in lenses, in my experience, has more to do with what the lenses are designed for and how you use them, than anything else. The Costa 580s are apparently glass, which I was surprised to learn as they are by no means heavy. Oakley’s lenses are polycarbonate (at least all the ones I tried were). I can’t tell a difference on my face weight-wise.
What makes a huge difference though is lens color and where you are. I have a pair of yellow Costa 400 polycarbonate lenses that I use on forested mountain streams. The Oakley folks provided me with a pair of their lenses in yellow as well. I am more likely to use the Oakleys next season simply because they are the kind with no bottom rim on the lens, and I think they will fog less. If you took either of those yellow lenses out to the flat, you’d be blinded in no time. Yellow lenses have like 30% light transmission as compared to 12% for regular shades, but those numbers don’t reflect how bright they seem to me. I often think the world looks brighter period when wearing yellow lenses.
The Costa Silver Mirrors that Andrew and Brett are describing have a kind of magenta tone due to how they filter out blue light (at least that’s my understanding). I’ve used the pair I have on a variety of streams ranging from muddy warmwater up to wide open Caribbean flat. The magenta coloration takes a bit of getting used to but I would definitely agree with Andrew that these are exceptionally clear lenses. Of course, the Oakleys were also very clear; what I discovered when I was swapping all of them out was that I saw through the veil of the flat better with the redder tones (like the Costa Silver Mirrors) than with a more even gray or brown town (usually called “amber” in sunglass-speak).
All in all, I do think the Costa Silver Mirrors or an equivalent high-end lens will make a difference in your fishing. If you are used to cheapo $10 throwaway polaroids, the true high end glasses are a million percent better; just night and day. If you are already wearing nice sunglasses (usually $100 and up), then, just like with any high performance product, the price to take the next incremental step grows higher for each successive boost. But I will say this; now that I have a pair of the 580 lenses, which are the highest-end ones Costa makes, I barely use my older Costa 400s (brown ones that I have had for several years) at all while fishing; those have become my driving glasses.
Keith,
For me, these glasses would fall more into the category of a want instead of a need. If you have a decent pair of polarized amber lenses, then you really don’t need anything else. There are plenty of other lens options out there that would maybe give you a little better edge in certain situations, but at that point you just have to weigh the cost against the added benefit. If you are considering a new pair, I would just try them on and see what you think.I will warn you though; I wouldn’t try them on unless you are prepared to spend some money.
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