UPDATE: Kolari's crowdfunding project for "the world's sharpest sunglasses", made using the same materials as its best filters for camera lenses, has now hit the home straight and ends on Friday.
It has already smashed its $3,500 goal (about £2,800 / AU$5,400) by almost $30,000 (£23,800 / AU$46,000), so the project will be funded, but you can take adantage of earlybird pricing until the end of the campaign. Check out its Kickstarter for more.
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ORIGINAL STORY (Jan 11 2024): Kolari has made a name for itself by manufacturing lens filters and providing infrared camera conversions, that allow users to interact with light in unique ways. This expertise in light filtration has seen success with camera technology, but Kolari has now turned its attention to eyewear by developing the world's sharpest sunglasses.
A recent Kickstarter launched by Kolari introduces Kolari Shades, offering maximum optical clarity from the world's sharpest sunglasses. Taking the lessons and techniques learned from creating some of the best lens filters, Kolari has created sunglasses that utilize 'superior optics to provide unparalleled clarity and maximum spectral protection'. A genius idea!
Many of the luxury sunglasses brands use plastic lenses, that are not optically clear and distort vision, leaving your eyes feeling fatigued after a long use. Kolari has set to rectify this by incorporating the same ultra-strong, ultra-sharp, flat Corning Gorilla glass lenses that are used in its camera lens filters. Through testing, these glass lenses offer superior optical quality over luxury brands, reducing eye strain, which makes sense as a lot of time and development has gone into making sure the glass can enable the capture of high-quality imaging.
In addition to the sharp optics, the Kolari Shades offer an impressive level of protection. By using techniques learned from manufacturing some of the best protection filters for lenses, the shades will 'shield you from harmful UV and IR' light. Kolari Shades are truly color-neutral, which protects your eyes from all damaging wavelengths of light and also has the added benefit of reducing the color cast of the lenses, enabling you to see the world as if you weren't wearing sunglasses.
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As the lenses are made from strong glass instead of plastic, they are more robust, and coupled with anti-reflective and anti-smudge coatings, the shades are protected from scratches, dust, and most importantly sunglasses arch nemesis - fingerprints!
Considering this is Kolari's first attempt at eyewear, the sunglasses' aviator-style titanium frame looks sleek and high-end. There are two frame colors available, silver and gold, as well as three lens options, Basic (UV block, 90% IR block), Ultra (UV block, 99% R block), and Ultra Gradient (UV block, 99% R block with a gradiated lens).
It is worth noting that these sunglasses will not enable you to see clearly if you need prescription glasses. Although the glasses will offer greater optical clarity, it does not offer corrections to visual impairments.
The Kickstarter is now live and will run for the next 28 days. Kolari has already met its intended goal, however, rewards and early bird offers are still available.
Note: As with all crowdfunding projects, there is no guarantee that the final product will match the early depictions in the campaign – or that the final product will be completed or delivered at all. DCW does not endorse this or any other crowdfunding campaign.
You may be interested in our helpful guides to the best filter holders, the best ND filters, and the best polarizing filters.
