Seavision mask...magenta filtration

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Painter

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Location
Provincetown, MA
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I have heard good things about Seavision masks, especially because of their corrective lenses. Has anybody used their magenta lenses? Opinions?
 
Increasing contrast while reducing light intensity.

Better to always have a flashlight, even at high Noon.

Colored lenses have been in dive masks, magenta and yellow, for many years.

The red ones you're asking about are essentially u/w "Blue Blockers".

Kind of fun in 10fsw over a colorful reef, but other than that? Any such contrast enhancer will further conceal creatures that use shadows for concealment.

You're absolutely not wanting it for night diving, so buy two masks, one in clear.
 
I have heard good things about Seavision masks, especially because of their corrective lenses. Has anybody used their magenta lenses? Opinions?

My wife and I have been diving them for years, both of us have custom prescriptions ground into them. Not having dived with a clear mask in decades, can't really tell how much difference it makes, but it does seem to make colors and contrast more identifiable.

You will find as much separation on here with regard to the utility of colored lenses as just about any other topic discussed.
 
I own one clear and one magenta Seavison masks.

On my first warm water dives with the magenta lenses the improvement was dramatic. The color correction really made the colors "pop".
It brought out a crisp sparkly quality to the scenes on the tropical reefs.
But as I continued to dive with the magenta lenses, the effect seemed to diminish. Eventually I was seeing the same color shifts as I do from standard clear lenses. The thrill was gone.
I don't know why this happened.
Perhaps an ophthalmologist could explain it.
So, I went back to using plain clear lenses.

I do most of my diving off Southern California where the water is more green than blue (except on especially good days; very rare).
I didn't notice any real improvement with the magenta lenses in green water.

And just like camera filters, the magenta lenses cut back a little bit on light transmission (filter factor).
Which isn't too noticeable in clear shallow water. On the positive side they do act like sunglasses in bright sunlight on the boat deck while waiting to splash.

The Seavision masks frames and straps are good quality, and they've held up over the years.
I now use them only as back-up masks when I travel.

K
 
Thanks all. I have a mask with clear lenses that I can use for night dives. They have been uncomfortable for all of the five years that I have owned them, but I could live with them for a while longer, especially if I am only using them on night dives.

I have a big face and need prescription lenses, not to mention a mustache. I will probably opt for the Seavision because of good reviews regarding the aforementioned. The only other question is whether to go with the magenta or not. I pretty much have to make the decision by tomorrow because I'm going on a trip in two weeks and they have a two-week (approximate) turnover.
 
Increasing contrast while reducing light intensity.

Better to always have a flashlight, even at high Noon.

.

Yeah, I figured as much, thanks. I do have a flashlight, 1200 lumens with a power down option.

The mask that I have is OK, though uncomfortable. Because I need prescription lenses I want to upgrade to more comfort, and price, while always a consideration, doesn't really factor in because, at least as far as I can tell, masks aren't terribly expensive, but lenses are.

So my biggest question boils down to: are the magenta lenses a gimmick or a real enhancement? I do my warm water diving in the Caribbean.
 
"Big face....mustache..."

Find a mask that fits well, don't fret over lens color.

Then, send it to one of those mail-order. "We'll put your scrip in the mask" places. While you're at it, have them use the magenta shade blank. They're just gluing corrective lenses to the inside of your existing faceplate. There was a flurry of "yellow fever" here in the Great Lakes a few years back. It seems to recycle every 10 years or so, new audience of buyers, the last crop has since been lost to rot and breakage.

They will make ANY color you want. The optimal color for u/w correction has been the CC30R, (Color Correction #30 Red), something that has been a photo industrial norm for 60+ years. Nikon/Nikonos pioneered it, now commonly seen with the overpriced Hero (no-Pro) Video trinkets- with a bit more yellow added, about CC25R/05Y. <- Totally Sheldon Cooper stuff, I know.

Buy a mask size/shape that works. If your time-to-trip is too short, learn the lesson, start earlier next time, don't throw good money after bad by being in a hurry.

*Got a hairy lip? Shave it, glop silicone grease on it, or just constantly clear your mask. That's what it boils down to. And if you don't think that a constantly leaking mask, especially during a night dive...that isn't "task loading"? Oh, just wait.
 
Just a clarification on a prescription Seavision mask, the prescription is ground into the lenses, they are not glue-in's.
 
Just a clarification on a prescription Seavision mask, the prescription is ground into the lenses, they are not glue-in's.

Second this. Their lenses are optically exceptional. They are able to make lenses to masks other than their own if the lens opening is small enough.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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