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Need Advice for Green Laser Pointer

K

kais

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Hello world,

I'm looking to buy a green laser pointer that can pop balloons at a distance. I am a stage musician, and it will be part of the band's act. Any advice is appreciated.

I am tired of getting ripped off on ebay by false claims, and unreliable products.
 
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NightExplorer96

NightExplorer96

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Will everyone else who is watching be wearing goggles?

Up close a 50mW 532nm laser should be enough to pop a baloon, at a distance you are looking at more 80mW+ I would say, which is enough to blind someone!

-Alex
 
tttonyyy

tttonyyy

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Seems like a no-win, anything with enough thermal power to pop a balloon will have enough to also damage retinas. You may need to rethink your plans.
 
K

kais

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Where can I browse different powerful lasers? EBay has nothing but 5mw
 
H2Oxide

H2Oxide

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Also, sometimes the balloons won't pop as soon as the laser hits it, so if you're trying to incorporate it into music where the timing has to be perfect, you'll need an even higher power to reliably, consistently and instantly pop them. (that's a lot of "ly"s :rolleyes:)
Ebay does in fact have high powered lasers, lots are scams, but they are out there. You just have to know where to look.
 
Metryq

Metryq

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Kais, could you use some other sort of gimmick, rather than a laser? You've seen the above replies about timing/reliability and potential hazard. Perhaps there is some stage lighting or magician's gag that might suffice? There's lots of tech out there.

(When I speak of alternatives, I don't mean popping balloons and making them look like a laser did it. What sort of effect are you aiming for, and would something else work?)
 
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Metryq

Metryq

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Who, me? I was just talking like a special effects artist. Two of the reasons to use some kind of special effect (practical or optical) are cost and potential hazard. Others pointed out that a laser powerful enough to pop balloons could be hazardous to the audience, and upping the power to insure a timely popping of balloons increased both hazard and cost. Ergo, use a special effect.

Stage magic and stage lighting are not my specialty, although I've seen some of the snazzy technology available. So if the performance might benefit from something more showy than popping balloons, I say look into it.
 
Metryq

Metryq

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Sorry, there was another item in the thread that I replied to. Or maybe someone has hacked my browser.

I remember Robin Williams doing a split personality routine:

"They think we're crazy."
"No we're not!"
 
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