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Is there a test I can do at home to know whether a lens is polaroid? Or does that require special equipment? Thank you.
Look through the lens at light glancing off of water and rotate the lens. If the brightness changes, it's a polarizing lens. If it doesn't change, you're either not at a low enough angle to the reflected light or they're not polarized.
Look up at the clear blue sky. Find the sun and then find a patch of sky 90 degrees away from the sun. Look at the sky through the lens and rotate. If the brightness changes when you rotate, it's a polarizing lens. If it doesn't change, you're either not at 90 degrees or they are not polarizing lenses.
Find an LCD computer screen. Look through the lens and rotate. If the brightness changes, it's a polarizing lens. If it doesn't chances are it's not a polarized lens, but some screens (like my iPhone 4s) aren't polarized. Cheaper displays almost always are, though.
Look through the lens at light glancing off of water and rotate the lens. If the brightness changes, it's a polarizing lens. If it doesn't change, you're either not at a low enough angle to the reflected light or they're not polarized.
Look up at the clear blue sky. Find the sun and then find a patch of sky 90 degrees away from the sun. Look at the sky through the lens and rotate. If the brightness changes when you rotate, it's a polarizing lens. If it doesn't change, you're either not at 90 degrees or they are not polarizing lenses.
Find an LCD computer screen. Look through the lens and rotate. If the brightness changes, it's a polarizing lens. If it doesn't chances are it's not a polarized lens, but some screens (like my iPhone 4s) aren't polarized. Cheaper displays almost always are, though.
All right. I can do the second one. We're looking for brightness to change as I rotate them. Good.
One thing I have seen and don't know if this indicates polaroid or if any tinted lens would do it. I hold the lens (which is brown) up to face the sun - not while wearing them, I promise - and I get a blue reflection. Does that mean anything?
Thanks again. My next walk out and about, I'll try the second above.
All right. I can do the second one. We're looking for brightness to change as I rotate them. Good.
One thing I have seen and don't know if this indicates polaroid or if any tinted lens would do it. I hold the lens (which is brown) up to face the sun - not while wearing them, I promise - and I get a blue reflection. Does that mean anything?
Thanks again. My next walk out and about, I'll try the second above.
Nope, that doesn't mean anything. Polarization is differentiated by being different on rotation.
Relevant note: Polarizing sunglasses are designed to stop light reflected off of horizontal surfaces, which is why they reduce glare.
Location: God's Gift to Mankind for flying anything
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Take two pairs of *polarized* lenses.
Put one in front of each other.
As mentioned above, rotate one and it should go from light to dark.
If it does not, then either both are not polarized or one of them is not.
Take two pairs of *polarized* lenses.
Put one in front of each other.
As mentioned above, rotate one and it should go from light to dark.
If it does not, then either both are not polarized or one of them is not.
All right. It worked and they both are polarized. The Ray Bans I know are but wanted to confirm the other.
Then I remembered a pair of cheap $10 clip on/flip ups that I had stashed away. I never wear them any more and certainly did not think they would be polarized, especially since they have a terrible glare to them. The lens has "UVue Polar" on it which, to me, was not even a guarantee of UVA and UVB protection. Anyway, I tested those and they also went dark. Not as dark as the others but certainly dark. Does that make sense?
Good for watching scenery with somebody else driving, too. I don't bother the fish.
I got my avatar from a little fishing accident. A trout threw a spinner into my left eye. But I did have three months off to go fishing! However; my left eye is permanently dilated - even now; 13 years after the accident.
When I went back to work as a truck driver, after the accident, I wore polarized sunglasses. I was on the road immediately after 911 wearing these glasses. I felt that I could perceive a difference in our weather because of the imposed no-fly zone over the US at that time. I was traveling with a partner that was a retired school teacher and I gave him my polarized sunglasses to see if he thought there was a difference. He agreed. It was like you could see moisture rising with the glasses on. I tried to find weather data to back up my observations and there was some that kind of supported these findings - but nothing conclusive. It was the only time in our busy modern lives that all planes were grounded. It was an excellent time to 'see" what damage or lack of damage we are doing to our weather.
The polarized lenses do help stop reflective glare - especially from the windshield or hood of the car/truck.
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However; my left eye is permanently dilated - even now; 13 years after the accident. 
