One of the most interesting and useful lens colors is rose, a high contrast, energetic tint.
I am sure more people would wear rose lenses if they understood what they could do (and if they kept them on their faces for more than two minutes).
In This Article
How Do Rose Lenses Work?
When I was looking into how rose lenses work and why they are so contrast-enhancing in some environments, but downright useless in others, I discovered that magenta, rose, purple, etc. do not exist at all.
Magenta is an ‘extra-spectral color’, meaning it is not found in the visible spectrum of light, which is why it is not in a rainbow.
You can “see” an object when light reflected from an object enters your eyes and strikes the photoreceptors inside them. I explain this in much more detail here. But briefly, we have three types of cones in our eyes that are sensitive to blue, green, and red light.
When your brain sees red light your red cone fires. Same with blue and green. If your brain gets yellow light, it makes both the red and green cones fire partially, and your brain will interpret that combination as yellow, since it is in between red and green. This is really astounding, as your brain is perceiving something real it cannot actually measure.
In physics, you cannot mix photons. But in biology, the brain can mix what the eyes pick up. That's how we can see hundreds of shades of color. And that's why you can see yellow even if there is no yellow light present since a mix of red and green would result in the same yellow perception as yellow light itself. And that is why computer or phone screens only need red, blue, and green lights to make all the colors you are seeing right now.
When it comes to the color of materials there is a lot of misunderstanding. Many people think that a yellow object, for example, reflects only yellow wavelengths (those at about 580nm) and absorbs the rest. But it isn't like that.
Most of the colors that we see do not correspond with one wavelength of light but are composed of a mixture of wavelengths.
This can be shown using a reflectance spectrum, which is the best way to see what light makes up the color that we see from an image.
We can measure a reflectance spectrum using a reflectance spectrophotometer. This instrument illuminates the object with light at all the wavelengths in the visible spectrum and measures how much light is reflected by the sample at each wavelength. This gives us spectral reflectance factors which generally range from 0 (total absorbance and no reflectance) to 1 (total reflectance) at each wavelength.
Let’s take something purple and see what the spectral reflectance looks like. First, this is the purple I am talking about.
Now let’s look at the reflectance spectrum.
Notice that reflectance is lowest at around 540nm. This is in the green region of the spectrum. Purple objects generally absorb in the middle of the spectrum and reflect both long and short wavelengths. But notice that the reflectance factors are less than 1 at every wavelength. This means that to some extent the object is absorbing light right across the visible spectrum but the absorption is strongest in the middle of the spectrum. Most crucially, notice that the purple object does not only reflect the blue and red wavelengths. It reflects strongly in the orange region (around 620nm). There is appreciable reflectance (around 20%) in the yellow region (around 580nm). There is even about 5% reflectance in the green region.
Light is not colored; it just looks colored. The distinction is critical to understanding color. Objects don’t look a particular color because they reflect the wavelength that corresponds to this color. The vast majority of things (look around your room now; almost all of those) have quite broad reflectance spectra; they reflect lots of different wavelengths.
Purple is different than yellow though. Yellow wavelengths do exist, though we cannot see them. Our brains see a mix of red and green light and ascertain that what we are seeing is yellow - and it gets it
right. Purple is a mix of blue and red, short and long wavelengths, and our brain makes up the color purple, but there is no actually corresponding wavelength. It wants to see a color that makes sense to be in between blue and red, which would be green. But our green cones are not firing, so it cannot be green. In other words, purple can be described not only as a mix of red and blue but in terms of optics, it is also simply the relative lack of green light.
And that is why rose lenses are some of the most interesting and useful lenses out there (you knew we would get here eventually).
The sensitivity of the human eye varies with wavelength or color. Because of the physiology of the human photoreceptors, the sensitivity of the eye falls off rapidly for colors in both the blue and red ends of the visible spectrum and is highest for wavelengths near the middle of the spectrum. This means that considerably higher quantities of blue or red light are required to elicit the same sense of brightness as, for instance, yellow-green light. A plot of the relative sensitivity of the eye as a function of wavelength is known as the relative luminous efficiency function. During the day, the eye is maximally sensitive to yellow-green wavelengths near 555 nm; this is the photopic response of the eye.
Now look at a rose lens spectral profile.
And when we overlap the two:
Rose lenses almost perfectly inversely correspond to the sensitivity of the human eye. While we get a much higher brightness from green light relative to red or blue light normally, with the green light reduced relative to the red and blue light the result will be a similar brightness through all colors.
Put another way:
The lens principles are as follows:
The color of the base lens tint will let more of the same color light through relative to other colors. A green lens lets more green light in, and a rose lens lets in more red and blue (what combine to make rose).
The color opposite the lens color on the color wheel (the complementary color) will generally be the least transmitted and most muted. A green lens will most block purple (a mix of blue and red), a rose lens will block green, etc.
Letting relatively more light of a color through the lens brightens that color relative to other colors. Letting less of that light in relative to other colors will make other colors brighter relative to that color.
Generally speaking, if you want more contrast (difference in colors) you will use a lens that blocks the most prevalent color and boosts the other colors. If you want less contrast you will use the lens that is the same as the dominant color in your environment. For example, if you want more contrast on a green golf course, you would use a rose lens. If you want more contrast in a red desert, you might use a green lens.
Since the blues and especially reds are boosted, but green is still mostly left intact because our eyes are so green-sensitive, what results with a rose lens is a sort of high contrast and warm view that feels like a grey lens but with everything tuned way up. The reds are still the most prominent and that will affect the blues of the sky, but the details in any non-red environment will be more highlighted than with any other lens. This makes rose lenses amazing for areas full of green, and not that great in red deserts.
Here is how Oakley shows it for their Prizm Road lens, which is rose-based.
I think this is a bit extreme and the view isn't as red especially in the sky, but the greenery being highlighted like that is fairly accurate.
Because of the massive color upheaval that rose lenses create, it takes our eyes some time to get used to them before our brains calm down. After just a minute or two the crazy amount of red subsides and the lens sort of feels like a very color and contrast-enhanced grey lens, with a lot of warmth. That is why, and I will repeat this again, it is important to keep them on your face for more than two minutes to properly get a feel for a rose lens.
The same effect happens once you get used to a rose lens and then quickly change to another colored lens. Our eyes and brains get color whiplashed and it is a bit jarring for two minutes. Like how people smell coffee in between trying out new fragrances to reset their noses, all you have to do to reset your eyes is take the lenses off and wait without any lens on for around two minutes.
What are Rose Lenses Good for?
Interesting fact: Oakley doesn't make a green-based lens, and most of their sports lenses are rose-based.
Why is that?
We need more red light to enhance contrast and less green light. The reddest functional lens, even more than a brown lens, is rose.
Brown lenses do boost red, but they also boost green, while reducing blues. This does increase contrast, but not as much as a rose lens that boosts red and blue while keeping greens relatively flat. Brown is a beautiful lens tint generally but rose is often more functional, and can be even more beautiful in some environments.
(Oakley proves most people do actually enjoy rose, but they need the marketing of "sport-specific" lenses to get them to trust the lens long enough for their eyes to adjust.)
For general use, rose lenses may not be the best option in full sun because the feel of the lens is too hot. A grey or green lens, or even a brown lens, are better in bright clear sunlight.
They are better in overcast and cloudy situations where they add warmth, contrast, and color, but they really thrive in mixed conditions or bright haze.
For functional use, rose lenses may be the best anytime because of the high contrast, especially for sports. In those situations, the goal isn't to have a more beautiful view but to help you perceive your surroundings and activities as accurately as possible.
Additionally, green is on the "cool" side of the color wheel. According to color psychology, different color temperatures evoke different feelings. For example, warm colors are said to bring to mind coziness and energy, while cool colors are associated with serenity and isolation.
Rose is right at the warmest part of the color wheel.
Sports
For sports, lenses are better when they evoke feelings of energy and boost colors. That is why Oakley and many other sports brands use rose lenses. I usually wear Oakley Prizm Dark Golf when I play tennis in sunny weather, Prizm Golf in overcast weather, and Maui Jim Rose or Serengeti Sedona when golfing. All Oakley road lenses (there are three of them) are rose-based.
These photos are what I will use to show the simulated view. Keep in mind that photos will never look as good as the real view looking through the sunglasses with your own eyes. This is especially true of rose lenses that I have worked much harder on, and I still feel the real-life experience is many times better.
Driving
There is a good reason Oakley’s road lenses are all rose. The road itself, the other cars, the greenery, and the sky can all be greatly enhanced by the added reds and blues, with the bright greens less distracting. This is more of a functional consideration, as brown lenses will normally look much better while still adding lots of color contrast. Rose lenses take it to the next level and allow the driver to see details and action on the road better than other lenses often do.
Keep in mind that this is speaking for what’s generally normal conditions, but there are places like Arizona that are almost entirely red where rose lenses would have nearly the opposite effect of what has been described.
Golf
Golf involves being surrounded by green, and telling the difference between the different greens and enhancing depth perception are a huge part of the sport. Rose lenses are absolutely the best lens to have when golfing, with Oakley making specific non-polarized golf lenses (regular and a darker version) that are rose-based. Maui Jim and Serengeti both make lenses that are polarized and work excellently as well if that’s an option you prefer.
Beach
It is very difficult to show an illustration of a rose lens in full sun because the brain does so much of the heavy lifting where the colors are so bright. Pay attention to the trees and dirt, see how the greens have so much detail added with the red highlights and the sand on the beach getting a deeper, warmer hue. Unlike brown lenses that minimize blues, which may be desirable at the beach with bright blue skies and blue water, rose lenses bring out a deep, dark, rich blue hue that adds a lot to the view.
With that said a rose lens can feel very hot in an already hot and sunny place. Often grey or green are preferable to calm down the hot view. I very much enjoy a rose lens at the beach but only for a relatively short period of time before it feels too warm and I want a break.
Top Rose Lenses
Maui Jim MauiRose
The MauiRose lens is a very dark lens, with a beautiful rose hue and the added color and contrast of the PolarizedPlus2 technology included. The colors are saturated and warm, and the clarity is off the charts.
Serengeti Sedona
The Sedona lens is much brighter than the MauiRose, and takes less time to adjust to. The colors are rich and pleasant and the versatility of the lens is the best of any rose I’ve tried. The clarity might be even better than the MauiRose.
Oakley Prizm Sport
Almost all of Oakley’s Prizm sport lenses are rose-based, with some notable exceptions. From the dark polarized Prizm Deep Water to the bright Prizm Trail, Oakley has a tint for every condition. Without taking away from how good most of these lenses are, it should be noted there is a lot of marketing involved with the different lenses for sport-specific applications, and the truth is that most of the lenses would work fine in any other sporting application, though there is some nuance there.
Conclusion - How Rose Sunglass Lenses Work
Though rose lenses can be stunning, they generally are not the most beautiful lenses to wear. They are, however, the most functional for activities in any condition.
If you are looking for a sport lens, or anything that involves high speeds and quick perception, this is the lens for you. If you are interested in having a lens that can wake you up and add warmth and life to your world in a way no other lens can, definitely consider adding a premium rose lens to your life.
Comments