…and have any opinions you might want to share?
I am getting new glasses next week, and am considering these, as they’re covered by insurance. They will be my ONLY pair, and I’d love to not have to wear sunglasses over my regular ones all the time. I live in Southern California, and yeah, sunglasses are necessary.
I am just wondering if they work well enough to be worth wearing all the time.
Any opinions?
I got a new pair of them a couple of weeks ago. So far I’m loving them. They don’t get dark enough to handle sunny days, but they darken enough to mellow out the glare the rest of the time. I still wear my Ray-Bans when driving in the sun. I’d say get them, but don’t ditch the sunglasses.
Is photochrome the same as transitions lenses? If so, I love mine. I don’t need sunglasses anymore, and the wait time for the transition has never been a problem. They get a lot darker in winter when I’m looking at snow than they do in summer sunlight. Odd.
Thanks for the help! And yep, Transitions is a brand name for the type of lenses. The glare is what really kills me, when driving in particular. And I drive a lot to work and back. I think I will give it a go, and keep the sunglasses around for days I’m in the sun proper.
Thanks 
I have transition lenses (autodarkening) and they’re fantastic. Because they darken in response to UV they don’t work if you’re behind glass - for example in a car.
If I spent a lot of time in high-glare conditions (on the water or in the snow is all I can think of) I’d probably get some prescription sunglasses with full coverage, but other than that I really dig my glasses, well worth the extra cost.
I wear prescription lenses prety much all the time and I have thought about getting some “transistions”.
I have seen people in transitions before and they are almost always slightly darkened in normal light, a weird look that I don’t like at all. I want a lens that is either “on” or “off”, transparent or fully darkened, but I guess such a thing does not exist yet.
I had the years ago, and while I liked them, I wished I’d chosen photo-gray, rather than photo-brown. The brown ones just looked yellow when they weren’t darkened.
I bought my Transition lensed glasses several years ago (hmmm… guess I need to head back for an updated scrip), and things may have improved with the tinting since then…but one thing I HATED was that behind glass, such as a windshield, the lenses failed to darken at all. If I’m stuck wearing them while driving on a sunny day, I end up having to hold them out the window at a stoplight in order for them to darken! But again, hopefully they’ve improved!
Tried 'em a few years ago. Bottom line then: they really don’t work well enough to be usable.
As everybody else said:
I would not be surprised to learn that #4 has been improved since I bought mine. But nothing I’ve seen leads me to beleive they’ve made any meaningful progress on 1-3. With a full 100%-money-back-if-not-satisfied-after-a-month guarantee I’d try some again. Otherwise, no.
I had them on my last pair of glasses, but didn’t get them on my newest pair for the reasons cited above – specifically not working in cars and the slowness of the transition.
One other drawback – although I now telecommute and no longer smoke, at the time those lenses made it pretty damn obvious to everyone in my office that I had just ducked outside for a smoke.
They’ve greatly improved both #1 and #4. My current lenses are clear as glass (sorry) in dim light, and they transition in seconds from bright light to a dimmer room, and vice versa. They can’t get dark enough for being outside for a long period of time, but they do the job when I am walking between buildings and the like. Otherwise I keep a pair of Ray-Bans on hand for bright days.
I tried them quite a few years back, and found mixed results. With high index, strong prescription lenses, the transition was even slower than with non-high index lenses and I’d still be either somewhat blinded or the lenses would be too dark for more than five minutes. I also got them, hoping they’d be helpful for driving-- no dice, as they didn’t help at all unless I was in a convertible with the roof down.
These days, I have a variety of cheaper prescription glasses, some with slight tint, one pair with dark sunglass tint, and some with no tint whatsoever. It’s easier for me to just switch glasses when needed than deal with the minor pitfalls of photochromic lenses.
Hated 'em.
I, too, mostly wanted them to be sunglasses for driving - but neglected to do any research and didn’t realize they wouldn’t change behind the windows. They were OK for other times I was outside, but I also learned I like my sunglasses bigger than my regular glasses, so they covered more of my eye area. They never really got dark enough for me, either.
If you really want a prescription pair of sunglasses, you might try looking for a sale at Lenscrafters or one of those places, often they have second pairs for half price if you’re already buying one. Or get a regular pair of glasses covered by your insurance, then get a pair of prescription sunglasses from a place like Zenni Optical for cheap.
I got a pair of glasses with Transitions just last year. (I lost them just last week :() So my pair were using a newer generation technology than some of the posters here.
When I get a new pair (I have to get an eye exam since I’m due) I will get Transitions in those as well. My glasses were perfectly clear inside a building, so that is much better than older generations. But they still didn’t change when driving.
My wife is an optician that sells all this type of stuff. She told me a couple days ago that there is an even newer generation of Transition lenses that will change in the car, but they also have a bit of a tint when you’re out of the sun. My insurance won’t cover that generation of Transitions yet, so I won’t be able to report back about that.
Since my wife works there, I may see what kind of magic she can do to get me a pair of sunglasses with polarized lenses for cheap for driving.
I have them and I really like them because I don’t have to switch glasses all the time. However, in really bright and sustained light or when driving far on a very sunny day, polarized lenses are much better. But I rarely use my polarized lenses because they’re too much trouble.
I had a pair, oh, 15 years ago. I didn’t like them. The change was pretty slow and they were reactive enough that even on a cloudy winter day they changed. Not sure if that would happen here (as opposed to in the desert a mile above sea level) or with the latest generation or lenses.
Looks like as usual, I am in the minority here.
I have not been without them for probably 25 or 30 years. I love them! They have gotten bettern and better thru the years. The pair I have now is about a year and a half old; they stay nice and clear inside, and when exposed to the sun, change very quickly. They are a little more expensive but worth every cent to me!
Wow, thank you for all the opinions! I love this place; you’re guaranteed to get a broad spectrum of unalloyed opinion, and I really appreciate it
As it turns out, I’m waiting another month on new glasses, so will take it all into consideration. I am now heavily leaning towards getting the exam, and then looking online, or at least around, for a place that will do a half-off second pair kind of deal. And then make those Transitions. 
They are not dark enough to use as sunglasses. I have prescription sunglasses for driving and I loves them.
I have them, and find that they transition dark quickly , and are plenty dark enough for the brightest winter day, full sun on bright snow. They also clear very quickly after I come into a building.
Mine are just a few months old, so I would assume pretty recent technology. This is my second pair, and I have no complaints - really like them.
As others have commented, don’t expect to use them for driving. I have a pair of prescription sunglasses I use in the car.