Costa Del Mar makes the best lenses for very bright and long exposure conditions. The Green Mirror lens is the highest contrast dark lens Costa makes.
Check out the lens on Amazon (which is often cheaper than Costa's website).
If you want to know more about how brown lenses work, click here.
This Costa 580 Green Mirror lens review is for the Costa 580G (glass) lens, not the 580P (polycarbonate).
In This Review
Lens Specs | Costa Del Mar 580G Green Mirror |
Technology | 580 Technology |
Lens Color | Brown/Copper |
Mirror Color | Green |
VLT | 10% |
ABBE | 58 |
Coatings | Anti-reflective, Scratch-resistant, Oleophobic, Hydrophobic, UV, Infrared and Blue-light blocking |
Material | Glass |
Weight | Moderate |
Scratch Resistance | High |
Prescription Available | Yes |
2 |
The clarity offered by Costa's 580G lenses is truly outstanding.
While these lenses are made from glass that is thinner than the average, I do notice that Costa's glass lenses are a touch heavier compared to brands like Maui Jim or Serengeti, although they still remain comfortable to wear.
Costa includes all the essential coatings in their lenses, and based on my experience, they use the highest quality for these treatments. Both water and oil bead off the surface with ease, and the anti-reflective coating works as efficiently as any other I've encountered.
A notable feature of Costa's glass lenses is that the mirror coating is layered between two sheets of glass, instead of being applied to the exterior. Since the mirror coating is usually the most prone to scratching, this design helps to protect it more effectively than with most other brands. To my knowledge, only Revo does something similar, and they only offer two mirrored glass lenses at present.
All of Costa's lenses are polarized. One of the things that sets Costa apart is their transparency—they're one of the few brands that openly share their patent numbers and encourage consumers to look into the technology behind their lenses. This level of confidence and openness is refreshing, especially because my experience consistently aligns with their claims.
Is it eligible for prescription?
Yes. Costa is one of only a few brands that offers glass lenses (with color-enhancing tech) in prescription. For some higher prescriptions where glass will not work, they use Trivex, a top alternative.
For non-prescription, Check out the Costa Blue Mirror lens on Amazon (which is often cheaper than Costa's website).
How does the lens look?
The front has a brilliant deep green mirror.
The back has a green shine from the anti-reflective coating. The tint is reddish brown. The added green mirror adds a purple/rose effect to the tint that makes the brown even redder.
What does the view look like?
Generally, it is better to add some warmth to a lens to make the world more colorful and vibrant. This is because blue light, which brown lenses transmit less than green and red light, is cooler and has higher energy, making it annoyingly prevalent and hurting our ability to see other colors clearly. In addition, we like to add warmth and color to the view because it makes us more alert, energetic, and happy.
The Costa Green Mirror lens does an excellent job of this. The lens has a redder brown tint than many other brown lenses, especially due to the green mirror, which reflects green light away and moves the tint closer to a rosy brown. The lens boosts reds and greens while significantly impacting blues to be darker and redder.
Unlike other brands that are almost exclusively focused on manipulating the light spectrum to get the most beautiful views, Costa is first and foremost about comfort in very bright light environments. That isn't to say the view is not very nice with Costa, but it is a secondary consideration. They do this by removing annoying light in the 580 yellow range of the light spectrum, as well as HEV blue light. Though many other brands claim to do this, when wearing any Costa lens it is apparent that the lenses aggressively remove harsh and annoying light.
The way the Costa Green Mirror lens removes glare is unlike any other brown lens I have tried. It’s not just about the amount of light that is being managed, it’s how that light is being processed. The annoying light is just gone, with no trace of it being there. It is almost like going indoors while outdoors. Not many other lenses are listed at a 10% VLT, but with the 580 technology that number is not the whole story. Since it removes more "bad" light and lets in more "good" light, to some degree the lens feels even darker than 10% VLT when dealing with glare.
There is a sort of "sunset effect" with this lens, as it can manipulate the colors to roughly imitate the warm setting the sunset gives off. This is most apparent when facing away from the sun.
This is a brown lens that is meant for contrast enhancement and color boosting in full sun environments, where comfort and protection are the highest priorities. That is why this lens is a favorite for inshore fishing and boating as it boosts contrast as well as any very dark lens. This lens does work in overcast situations, but it is not the best brown for that and is more geared towards bright conditions.
Sunny Conditions
These photos are what Costa and other sources have used to show the view. Keep in mind that photos will never look as good as the real view looking through the sunglasses with your own eyes.
Interested in experiencing the Costa Green Mirror lens for yourself? Check out Costa on Amazon (which is often cheaper than Costa's website).
This is the visual Costa uses for all lenses on any product page. It is nice, but it is not particularly accurate, especially since their lenses are very different from each other and one picture cannot possibly represent all the views.
Costa seems to have a hard time showing what their lenses look like. This simulation, which they used for most of their lenses and seems to be done with little effort, is not even close to accurate. They have since removed it from their website and currently have no display on how specific lenses look.
Not to worry. Here is my simulation of how the lens looks:
The glare is gone and the colors, especially reds and greens, are boosted and more defined. The view has a very "hot" feel to it, which is energizing but can be somewhat exhausting after prolonged use. That is why in this kind of mid-day blinding conditions many prefer to use a grey lens, which keeps colors neutral, like this:
This lens is designed for full sun use and does as great a job as any brown lens in bright conditions. This is especially true of bright conditions where we want to boost contrast, like bringing out the green hue of a lake surrounded by forest.
Cloudy Conditions
The versatility of the Green Mirror lens is apparent when it is cloudy or in mixed conditions. The lens performs well with lower contrast lighting, changing the colors to brighten the view. When a grey or green lens is too dark and dreary, this lens adds warmth and color in a very pleasant way.
However, it is a dark lens and does not perform as great as some other brown lenses in cooler conditions. It works - well - but not perfectly. It is a bit too red and too dark to thrive in these conditions.
The lens is an interesting mix, as it is among the best browns in full sun, when often a brown lens is not the best choice, and it is not the best brown lens for overcast when a brown lens is usually the right choice.
Optimal and Suboptimal Viewing Conditions
The Green Mirror lens is best for bright conditions when contrast and color should be enhanced. That means driving, inshore fishing, and fast-paced activities.
If I lived in a very bright place that had less overcast days, this lens could be my main brown lens.
The lens performs well in full sun and lower light, and even performs adequately in winter, where the redder brown does a good job boosting color where there is little. There really isn't a scenario where this lens is bad.
Sports
Because of the exceptional performance in bright light, the Green Mirror is an excellent choice for sports, where warmer colors and added contrast is an advantage. It will also work well in overcast for sports.
It is best to not wear glass lenses for sports, as they are not as impact-resistant as other materials. Whether or not fishing and boating are impact-risk sports depends on the individual person.
Interested in experiencing the Costa Green Mirror lens for yourself? Click here to buy on Amazon.
Comparison to the same brand - Costa Del Mar
Costa Del Mar 580G Gray Silver Mirror
The Gray Silver Mirror, and the Gray without a mirror, are similarly dark lenses with the colors crisp and sharp, but without the warm hue and with a nuetral view. The glare reduction is excellent and the color boosting is pleasant but much more subtle. This lens will feel much fresher, cooler, and calmer than the Green Mirror, but only performs well in full sun.
Costa Del Mar 580G Blue Mirror
The Blue Mirror is the grey lens overlayed with a blue mirror that reflects blue light and has a bit of amber effect that boosts greens and reds. This makes the Blue Mirror an in-between lens from the Grey and the Green Mirror, as it is not neutral but not a full brown either. It thrives in full sun and performs even better in those conditions than the Green Mirror for general use, but is not as versatile in mixed or overcast conditions.
See here for the full Costa 580 Blue Mirror review.
Comparison to the Brown Lenses of Different Brands
Serengeti Drivers
This is one of the lens that can easily compare to the versatility of the 580 Green Mirror lens, and the view is much nicer as well. The colors are even more vivid, the clarity is off the charts, and the view is stunning. This lens is photochromic, so it gets much lighter than the Green Mirror but never gets quite as dark. The Drivers lens is better in mixed or overcast conditions, but the Green Mirror is more comfortable in full sun. Keep in mind, as mentioned above, that the Green Mirror is a comfort-first, beauty-second lens, and the Drivers is the other way around.
See here for the full Serengeti Drivers review.
Maui Jim HCL Bronze
One of the best brown lenses in the world, the colors are vivid, the clarity is off the charts, and the view is stunning with the HCL Bronze. This is the lens that can best compete with the 580 Green Mirror, as it performs well in full sun, with more natural colors, and is much better in mixed and overcast conditions. The lens is more yellow-brown, which means reds are calmer and greens are more highlighted. I find people who like the Maui Jim do not enjoy the Costa Green Mirror and visa versa. Some people just enjoy the redder lens more.
See here for the full Maui Jim HCL Bronze review.
Ray-Ban B15 Polarized
The Ray Ban B15 is an excellent brown tint that is actually not too far off in hue from the HCL Bronze lens, just slightly redder. The HCL having the PolarizedPlus2 technology included makes the big difference, as the colors are noticeably richer and more pleasing. It also does not have any other coatings besides anti-reflective.
See here for the full Ray-Ban B15 review.
Conclusion - Costa 580 Green Mirror Lens Review
The Costa 580G Green Mirror lens is built for those who demand the best performance in bright, sun-drenched conditions. Its ability to enhance contrast and boost colors while keeping your eyes comfortable under intense light makes it a top contender for outdoor enthusiasts. With its durable design and advanced light-blocking technology, this lens is perfect for anyone who spends a lot of time in the sun and wants to experience their surroundings in a richer, more vibrant way.
If you're interested in trying out the Costa 580 Green Mirror lens, you can find it on Amazon, often at a lower price than Costa's official website.
