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First, a link to the product in question - www.rayfoss.com
I paid for the laser on 04/28, and received it yesterday. Not bad considering it shipped from the other side of the world.
On the customs label, it was declared as a "flashlight sample". The box the laser came in is, admittedly, a bit cheesy, but then again, the box doesn't lase. The foam padding was nice, holding all the goodies inside snugly.
The laser came with an ultrafire 18650 battery and a no-name RCR123. Also included were two keys for the lock, and a funny little wrist strap/lanyard system.
The laser itself seems to be built quite well. The threads are clean, and the knurling is even and crisp. The keylock operates with a positive "snick". The laser must incorporate some form of reverse polarity protection, since I forgot that most (all?) greens are case positive (read - I put the damn battery in backwards, like a dumbass:tsk
Either that, or I'm lucky. The focusing action is very smooth and tight, no wobbles or hang-ups.
Now, for the good stuff. This thing is frigging bright. The beam quality is very nice. The beam itself is good and tight, and it exits the aperture strait enough that you can't really tell it's not straight The dot is mostly round (exhibits slight ovaling when not focused to infinity,) and clean, with no detectable artifacts (excessive splash, speckling, etc.) Though it would be hard to tell, since looking at the dot is like looking a little green sun. (honestly, i think I've found my personal level of "too bright")
The laser burns quite well. It does all the usual stuff, lights matches, pops baloons, smokes leather, etc. The focus faeture is cool since I can put a green dot of varying diameter on damn near anything I want. I would consider this a "beam laser", not a "dot laser". The dot is just too damn bright to look at.
A more in-depth review and follow-up will be posted after my LPM gets here. Shipped out yesterday. Woot! Pics, graphs, beam shots, etc.
UPDATE - My Kenometer USB came in, (Big YAY! Review to come,) So I was able to get a power graph for the laser. Here's a thirty second run. I have the laser in a glass of ice water; we'll see how it does after it's out of the drink
As you can see, the laser is comfortably over-spec. The low for this run was 102mw. I'll have to get an IR filter next. From my non-scientific testing with a red filter, I'd estimate IR output to be roughly 20-30mw.
Oh, and I should add; I saw this laser peaking over 140mw last night, so I assume the warmer daytime temperatures are bringing it down a bit.
SECOND RUN - I let the laser sit on the air conditioner vent for a while, to get it good and cool. While it initially put out ~ 80mW, it soon warmed up enough to give decent output. This run was a little more stable, with a low of 115mW;
I wonder if this laser will function in even colder conditions? Even if output isn't super-stout, it would be nice to have a winter-capable green.
UPDATE, 5/27, PICS ADDED
Here's the laser and accessories (minus the charger. Forgot about that.)
And here's everything tucked in the box. Nice foam padding. . .
The inside of the tailcap. You can see the they just glued in the keyswitch and bent the leads to serve as contacts. Cheap, simple, effective. I might want some solder on the positive later on, but no problems so far.
The exterior of the key switch, with a view of the removable battery tube. Nicely cut threads!
The laser wearing its CR123 clothes. The knurling is nicely done.
Another, with a US quarter for scale,
The included label. "Peoduct," LOL.
The aperture,
And the rest are (slightly less than good,) beamshots.
These were taken in a dim hallway,
This one shows the beam defocused,
These were taken outdoors at dusk (high humidity, 75%+)
Various bathroom shots (note: No added smoke.)
This one illustrates side splash. It wasn't always like this, I need to clean my lens.
The laser seems as solid as it always was. I haven't noticed any mode hopping or other aberrant behavior. I need to clean the lens, but I'm scared to bugger it up. I can live with a little splash.
Questions and comments welcome, as always.
I paid for the laser on 04/28, and received it yesterday. Not bad considering it shipped from the other side of the world.
On the customs label, it was declared as a "flashlight sample". The box the laser came in is, admittedly, a bit cheesy, but then again, the box doesn't lase. The foam padding was nice, holding all the goodies inside snugly.
The laser came with an ultrafire 18650 battery and a no-name RCR123. Also included were two keys for the lock, and a funny little wrist strap/lanyard system.
The laser itself seems to be built quite well. The threads are clean, and the knurling is even and crisp. The keylock operates with a positive "snick". The laser must incorporate some form of reverse polarity protection, since I forgot that most (all?) greens are case positive (read - I put the damn battery in backwards, like a dumbass:tsk
Either that, or I'm lucky. The focusing action is very smooth and tight, no wobbles or hang-ups.Now, for the good stuff. This thing is frigging bright. The beam quality is very nice. The beam itself is good and tight, and it exits the aperture strait enough that you can't really tell it's not straight
The dot is mostly round (exhibits slight ovaling when not focused to infinity,) and clean, with no detectable artifacts (excessive splash, speckling, etc.) Though it would be hard to tell, since looking at the dot is like looking a little green sun. (honestly, i think I've found my personal level of "too bright")The laser burns quite well. It does all the usual stuff, lights matches, pops baloons, smokes leather, etc. The focus faeture is cool since I can put a green dot of varying diameter on damn near anything I want. I would consider this a "beam laser", not a "dot laser". The dot is just too damn bright to look at.
A more in-depth review and follow-up will be posted after my LPM gets here. Shipped out yesterday. Woot! Pics, graphs, beam shots, etc.
UPDATE - My Kenometer USB came in, (Big YAY! Review to come,) So I was able to get a power graph for the laser. Here's a thirty second run. I have the laser in a glass of ice water; we'll see how it does after it's out of the drink
As you can see, the laser is comfortably over-spec. The low for this run was 102mw. I'll have to get an IR filter next. From my non-scientific testing with a red filter, I'd estimate IR output to be roughly 20-30mw.
Oh, and I should add; I saw this laser peaking over 140mw last night, so I assume the warmer daytime temperatures are bringing it down a bit.
SECOND RUN - I let the laser sit on the air conditioner vent for a while, to get it good and cool. While it initially put out ~ 80mW, it soon warmed up enough to give decent output. This run was a little more stable, with a low of 115mW;
I wonder if this laser will function in even colder conditions? Even if output isn't super-stout, it would be nice to have a winter-capable green.
UPDATE, 5/27, PICS ADDED
Here's the laser and accessories (minus the charger. Forgot about that.)
And here's everything tucked in the box. Nice foam padding. . .
The inside of the tailcap. You can see the they just glued in the keyswitch and bent the leads to serve as contacts. Cheap, simple, effective. I might want some solder on the positive later on, but no problems so far.
The exterior of the key switch, with a view of the removable battery tube. Nicely cut threads!
The laser wearing its CR123 clothes. The knurling is nicely done.
Another, with a US quarter for scale,
The included label. "Peoduct," LOL.
The aperture,
And the rest are (slightly less than good,) beamshots.
These were taken in a dim hallway,
This one shows the beam defocused,
These were taken outdoors at dusk (high humidity, 75%+)
Various bathroom shots (note: No added smoke.)
This one illustrates side splash. It wasn't always like this, I need to clean my lens.
The laser seems as solid as it always was. I haven't noticed any mode hopping or other aberrant behavior. I need to clean the lens, but I'm scared to bugger it up. I can live with a little splash.
Questions and comments welcome, as always.
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