My Photobucket links seems to be disappearing lately, but hope this works out. But yeah, wanted to get a close to the 1st Gen Ruby Iridium look for my Romeos while also getting the benefits of a polarized lens. After much research and posting here decided to give Linegear's Premium Red a try. After nearly a month in US customs, they've finally arrived. They come in a package which protects them well and Daisuke clearly labels them. Sorry for crappy pics by the way.
Started out life as this, Fire Iridium lenses with the real Ruby Juliets in the background. When I take pics of the Premium Red later on I don't even bother comparing to Rubies because it's so obviously more a match for the Oakley's Positive Red rather than the original Ruby Iridiums.
And this are the results after putting new lenses in:
At the very onset you notice that naked and with a same conditions and lighting above, the mirror is super reflective but it's just not as "thick." You can clearly see the stems through the lenses whereas with the Fire Iridium lenses you can barely see them. Hard to describe, but it's just not as reflective, kind of like the difference between a car that has been waxed vs. a car that has not.
Also, you'll notice that with no background to it it does kind of look like the 1st Gen Ruby lenses. Deep purple spot in the middle fading out to red and this sort of sunset orange.
However putting a black background behind it to simulate it being worn, the lenses become of a different animal with deep royal blue fading out to a bit of purple and then to this very rosy sort of pink. Not much in the way of a Cyclops sort of red. Very unexpected sort of effect, but awesome. Really grown to love them. Never ever had real Oakleys positive iridium lenses so I don't know if this is how they go about transitioning with different angles.
Wearing them out in public they are a real showstopper. Super beautiful lens to behold outdoors, but given how I work in a city, I was too embarrassed to selfie myself out in public. The darkness of the lens really contrasts the plasma frame well.
Thoughts on the lenses themselves?
Well... to look through they are a perfectly clear and fine. I know Infinite Hero has done tests under extreme zooming that shows they are not as clear, and I respect him for that, but to me they seem fine. The tint is surprisingly similar to the greenish-brown sort of tint you'd get through Fire Iridium. Not super dark, but not super light either. I prefer this actually to blackish grey tints.
Never had real Oakley polarized R1 lenses before, but compared to my BIP in my Juliets, the polarization effects doesn't seem nearly as strong, which is a good thing in my view because with the BIP in my Juliets I would struggle to see my nav screen while driving or my phone. With these I can, although my iPhone screen tends to look a very flat sort of pink. I don't know if there are differing degrees of polarization or if this is because of the nature of Romeos vs. Juliets, but these are very noticeable differences to me.
Overall thoughts, they are a splendid lens. I love them. Waiting so long for them in US customs I asked Infinite Hero to cut me real polarized Ruby Iridiums and thought about returning these, but I think I'll keep them and swap between the two. They are really a quality lens to me, but there is something about them that tells me they are not real Oakley lenses. It's a "hardness" and extra polish on it that these just don't have. Not necessarily a bad thing because with Oakley lenses I frequently tend to see a reflection of my own nose bridge whilst wearing them.
If you can't afford or get custom cuts, I feel you'll really not be disappointed with these.
Started out life as this, Fire Iridium lenses with the real Ruby Juliets in the background. When I take pics of the Premium Red later on I don't even bother comparing to Rubies because it's so obviously more a match for the Oakley's Positive Red rather than the original Ruby Iridiums.
And this are the results after putting new lenses in:
At the very onset you notice that naked and with a same conditions and lighting above, the mirror is super reflective but it's just not as "thick." You can clearly see the stems through the lenses whereas with the Fire Iridium lenses you can barely see them. Hard to describe, but it's just not as reflective, kind of like the difference between a car that has been waxed vs. a car that has not.
Also, you'll notice that with no background to it it does kind of look like the 1st Gen Ruby lenses. Deep purple spot in the middle fading out to red and this sort of sunset orange.
However putting a black background behind it to simulate it being worn, the lenses become of a different animal with deep royal blue fading out to a bit of purple and then to this very rosy sort of pink. Not much in the way of a Cyclops sort of red. Very unexpected sort of effect, but awesome. Really grown to love them. Never ever had real Oakleys positive iridium lenses so I don't know if this is how they go about transitioning with different angles.
Wearing them out in public they are a real showstopper. Super beautiful lens to behold outdoors, but given how I work in a city, I was too embarrassed to selfie myself out in public. The darkness of the lens really contrasts the plasma frame well.
Thoughts on the lenses themselves?
Well... to look through they are a perfectly clear and fine. I know Infinite Hero has done tests under extreme zooming that shows they are not as clear, and I respect him for that, but to me they seem fine. The tint is surprisingly similar to the greenish-brown sort of tint you'd get through Fire Iridium. Not super dark, but not super light either. I prefer this actually to blackish grey tints.
Never had real Oakley polarized R1 lenses before, but compared to my BIP in my Juliets, the polarization effects doesn't seem nearly as strong, which is a good thing in my view because with the BIP in my Juliets I would struggle to see my nav screen while driving or my phone. With these I can, although my iPhone screen tends to look a very flat sort of pink. I don't know if there are differing degrees of polarization or if this is because of the nature of Romeos vs. Juliets, but these are very noticeable differences to me.
Overall thoughts, they are a splendid lens. I love them. Waiting so long for them in US customs I asked Infinite Hero to cut me real polarized Ruby Iridiums and thought about returning these, but I think I'll keep them and swap between the two. They are really a quality lens to me, but there is something about them that tells me they are not real Oakley lenses. It's a "hardness" and extra polish on it that these just don't have. Not necessarily a bad thing because with Oakley lenses I frequently tend to see a reflection of my own nose bridge whilst wearing them.
If you can't afford or get custom cuts, I feel you'll really not be disappointed with these.