Dark Blue Mirror
Polarised · UV protection · Front-surface mirror · Open water, midday sun
A mirror coating over a dark base. Turns away a slice of light at the front surface, before it ever reaches the tint.
What it does to the scene
A front-surface mirror reflects part of the incoming light rather than absorbing it, so a mirrored lens can reduce more without the tint beneath needing to be heavier. It earns its keep where light arrives twice: once from the sky and again off the surface you are looking at.
The pair with this lens
Questions, answered
What is a dark blue mirror lens for?
A mirror coating over a dark base. Turns away a slice of light at the front surface, before it ever reaches the tint. A front-surface mirror reflects part of the incoming light rather than absorbing it, so a mirrored lens can reduce more without the tint beneath needing to be heavier. It earns its keep where light arrives twice: once from the sky and again off the surface you are looking at.
Is it polarised?
Yes. Every lens in this range carries a polarising filter, which removes the horizontally polarised glare that comes off water, roads and glass. The tint and the filter are two separate things doing two separate jobs.
Is this the darkest option?
We have not measured the transmission of any of the five, so we are not going to rank them by a number we do not have. What we can say is what each is built for: grey for flat bright sun, driving, everyday; brown for variable light, hiking, judging distance; dark blue mirror for open water, midday sun; ice blue mirror for water, snow, high glare; red mirror for patchy light, cycling, ball sports.
The other tints