556nm CNI - anyone got it?

http://www.cnilaser.com/green_laser556.htm
I have a dream.. That one day.. I MIGHT OWN ALL LAZORZ.

I have read up a lot on lasers throughout my involvement in LPF. I still have a hell of a lot to learn, especially on the DIY side.
I do not really care about a laser having burning powers, but much more about their beam and colour (I love blu-ray for its awesome deep colour and fluorescence as well as green for its high visibility). I saw this CNI laser recently and I know that the most visible wavelength in a bright environment is 555nm, so this is probably the best wavelength to be found for visibility (most visible at night is around 490nm?). I would love to one day, when my budget allows, have a complete rainbow of every single available wavelength laser. I am saving up for yellow and true blue at the moment.

My question is, does anyone own any power of 556nm laser, and in the best case, does anyone have a review of a CNI 556nm? Because I am only 18 and I have a lot of expenditure on books, food and housing and alcohol, I like to check out any purchase very very well to be sure that I'm getting some proper gear for my money! Therefore it would be nice to know if there are any obvious flaws linked to 556nm lasers, such as large amounts of spill or being very unreliable. CNI have some good reviews here, but it would also be nice to hear if someone has had any bad experience with them for any reason.

Seb  ;D ;D

Hi i have a 532nm green portable from them and i can only say that you can trust them in case of poweroutput and so on ...and they are cheap if you compare them with other companies that sell true laser. My 500 mw greenie peaks up to 750 mw and have a average from 650 mw.

Sounds great, thanks for the reply!
650mW average is pretty damn brilliant on a portable green Especially one specced at 500mW!

Seb

I think Rob(Stanwax) over at www.photonlexicon.com has one, apparently it's a slightly yellowish green. It should also be brighter than 532nm as it's RIGHT at the peak of out eyes sensitivity.

-Adam

I believe lasers at this wavelength are a good deal more expensive. That's why they are not offered by any of the companies that sell handheld lasers in either portable or handheld form

A laser at 561nm handheld would be nice to own too

I have a 543nm green laser, it's a very bright green! Much more 'vibrant' when compared to 532nm

laser glow sells lab 556nm lasers at a big high huge enormous price

You'll be very disappointed if you get one. Nothing wrong with the company, but the process is very inefficient so 10mW is about all you'll get. And at only 12% brighter than 532, it doesn't exactly justify the 5 figure price tag. I can think of better ways to spend money like that.

Cyparagon has it right, 556nm is too inefficient for any real power, so it really isn't worth it for the price. Also to answer your question, 507nm is the brightest wavelength at night.

Cyparagon said:

You'll be very disappointed if you get one. Nothing wrong with the company, but the process is very inefficient so 10mW is about all you'll get. And at only 12% brighter than 532, it doesn't exactly justify the 5 figure price tag. I can think of better ways to spend money like that.

Click to expand...

You can get some fairly high outputs. More than 10mw. Look at the CNI site too
http://www.crystalaser.com/new/yellowlaser.html

A 50mw yellow (593nm) laser? That's a high output (I think there's some company that sells a 30mw yellow on Ebay, or used to be) but you can be sure that like a 556nm, you will have a likewise high price!

If you are really desperate to get some unusual colors for cheap (compared to buying a laser that produces an exotic color) you can get a beam splitter or two and mix up various powers of the more common and available laser colors. Red and 532 green can get you a decent yellow (not the same shade as 593nm, it will be less orange), 405nm + 660nm will get you a deep magenta color, and 532nm + 405nm will get you a pretty shade of periwinkle (or a pale bluish lavender, like flowers on a lilac bush). Not sure what you could mix, though, to get a lime-yellow green.

635nm red + 532 green should also make a nice shade of yellow, not sure how it would compare to 532 + 660, but when I get my 635 red pointer I'm going to find out.

If it's the creation of multi-colored beams you seek, price-wise you are much better off mixing colors.

I stand corrected. 100mW is the max... with a 15W pump!

Frothy's company sells a 1/2W yellow for 5 figures as well.

cni lasers sell a 1 watt and 2 watt 556nm laser and 800nw yellow

Why not drop the price on a second hand melles griot 3W green labby off ebay, grab a surplus coherent pump diode, rip the bar out being careful to keep the MCL FAC lens intact and replace the weak/dieing laser diode in the melles griot head, add a zener diode snubber circuit with a 100mA leak across it to prevent the PSU from killing it if power gets interrupted, and have more than a few bux to spare

What is a spammer coherent pump diode?
Is it a nickname for a pump diode?

doclazer said:

What is a spammer coherent pump diode?
Is it a nickname for a pump diode?

Click to expand...

"spammer" is a result of the word filter

EDIT: 808nm post