I received my SFCR-200 today. Arrived two weeks from order date here in US. Package was unopened.
This is the first time I've owned anything over 5.0 mW. As promised, it comes with a power meter readout from 0 to 60 seconds. Mine hits the rated 200 mW in 11 seconds and flattens out at 255 mW! I had to ask if rotating the head focuses it – it does! Dopey moi
I wore my Eagle Pair and they really hide the beam and reduce the dot to barely visible. In case anybody wonders, the Eagle Pair are coated with dielectric layers that you can see up close. These quarter wavelength layers do the majority reduction, in addition to the blue plastic.
For under $50, there is some real power here in the SFCR-200. I burned a clean hole through a black plastic CD case in just a few seconds. Lighting regular matches requires pinpoint focus. With the focus adjustment, I lit a match at a distance of 7 feet! Amazing, and instant respect for the power and why safety glasses are needed. In addition to sharp focusing, you can really expand the beam. It's extremely clean. This is impressive. I used to use a spatial filter (lensing through a pinhole) to do beam cleaning for holography, but this appears to be good enough to use as-is. I was eager to try expanding the beam for viewing my glass plate and commercial transmission holograms off-axis. You can really expand the beam into quite a large disc with the built-in focusing, making it much safer due to the reduced energy per area, and because you view holograms off-angle where the reference beam was, not straight on towards the expanded beam. This is a really nice feature to be able to expand the beam without additional lenses. My holograms are far more easily illuminated with this than ever before. Very bright and easy to view more details!
Beam is visible in the dark going away from you, slightly sideways, and of course facing the unit off-axis. Not as noticeable as a 532nm green beam, but visible nevertheless (your eye is only about 12% sensitive to 650nm compared to 88% for 532nm). The beam and dot are noticeably brighter than a typical 5.0 mW pointer! Of course I wanted to see how it performed outdoors. It was cloudy tonight with typical light pollution. I clicked it on for 1 sec. and could see the beam! I didn't want to go longer without being in a better outdoor area.
Tip: Removing the head cap and wrapping a layer of teflon tape around the threads keeps the head from wiggling along the axis while you focus. This keeps the beam centered on the lens while rotating, and also holds the desired focus during handling.
The host is quite impressive, as is the focusing capability. All in all, this is a terrific value for under $50! I highly recommend Sci Fi Lasers. Eitan answered my endless questions, even regarding safety and tripods. I've got a green SFAG-300 coming soon. I have no doubt that will be of equal quality. He always includes an actual Laser Bee power meter chart of your actual laser. I'm glad I checked the LPF which led me to buy from members rather than Wicked. There are some real deals around here, and Sci Fi Laser really came through for me! :yh:
UPDATE: Pics added
L) Nice, sturdy laser box with magnetic lid. R) The mailer wrapper with Customs Declaration.
UltraFire 18650 included. Says it's 4200mAh li-ion 3.7V but interwebs says UltraFire makes nothing over 3000 mAh.
I previously superglued rubber inner tube strips to the bottom of my Eagle Pair goggles for extra coverage.
Head ring adjusts the focus. Really smooth rotation. Pinpoint or quite wide. Very clean beam. I can see the airy disc.
Compare this 250mW dot to the <5mW laser pen behind Eagle Pair case, both on dark surface.
Notice this has burned a hole through the CD case in seconds and beam is visible on black candle holder leg behind it!
Those round mirrors on table are TiO2/SiO2 ion beam deposition laser mirrors I made for Ring Laser Gyros in the 80's.
Beam is visible in the dark leaving the laser and sideways. With Eagle Pair, cannot see beam and dot barely visible.
A hologram illuminated with the expanded laser beam.
Shot at slightly different view.
This is the first time I've owned anything over 5.0 mW. As promised, it comes with a power meter readout from 0 to 60 seconds. Mine hits the rated 200 mW in 11 seconds and flattens out at 255 mW! I had to ask if rotating the head focuses it – it does! Dopey moi
I wore my Eagle Pair and they really hide the beam and reduce the dot to barely visible. In case anybody wonders, the Eagle Pair are coated with dielectric layers that you can see up close. These quarter wavelength layers do the majority reduction, in addition to the blue plastic.
For under $50, there is some real power here in the SFCR-200. I burned a clean hole through a black plastic CD case in just a few seconds. Lighting regular matches requires pinpoint focus. With the focus adjustment, I lit a match at a distance of 7 feet! Amazing, and instant respect for the power and why safety glasses are needed. In addition to sharp focusing, you can really expand the beam. It's extremely clean. This is impressive. I used to use a spatial filter (lensing through a pinhole) to do beam cleaning for holography, but this appears to be good enough to use as-is. I was eager to try expanding the beam for viewing my glass plate and commercial transmission holograms off-axis. You can really expand the beam into quite a large disc with the built-in focusing, making it much safer due to the reduced energy per area, and because you view holograms off-angle where the reference beam was, not straight on towards the expanded beam. This is a really nice feature to be able to expand the beam without additional lenses. My holograms are far more easily illuminated with this than ever before. Very bright and easy to view more details!
Beam is visible in the dark going away from you, slightly sideways, and of course facing the unit off-axis. Not as noticeable as a 532nm green beam, but visible nevertheless (your eye is only about 12% sensitive to 650nm compared to 88% for 532nm). The beam and dot are noticeably brighter than a typical 5.0 mW pointer! Of course I wanted to see how it performed outdoors. It was cloudy tonight with typical light pollution. I clicked it on for 1 sec. and could see the beam! I didn't want to go longer without being in a better outdoor area.
Tip: Removing the head cap and wrapping a layer of teflon tape around the threads keeps the head from wiggling along the axis while you focus. This keeps the beam centered on the lens while rotating, and also holds the desired focus during handling.
The host is quite impressive, as is the focusing capability. All in all, this is a terrific value for under $50! I highly recommend Sci Fi Lasers. Eitan answered my endless questions, even regarding safety and tripods. I've got a green SFAG-300 coming soon. I have no doubt that will be of equal quality. He always includes an actual Laser Bee power meter chart of your actual laser. I'm glad I checked the LPF which led me to buy from members rather than Wicked. There are some real deals around here, and Sci Fi Laser really came through for me! :yh:
UPDATE: Pics added
L) Nice, sturdy laser box with magnetic lid. R) The mailer wrapper with Customs Declaration.
UltraFire 18650 included. Says it's 4200mAh li-ion 3.7V but interwebs says UltraFire makes nothing over 3000 mAh.
I previously superglued rubber inner tube strips to the bottom of my Eagle Pair goggles for extra coverage.
Head ring adjusts the focus. Really smooth rotation. Pinpoint or quite wide. Very clean beam. I can see the airy disc.
Compare this 250mW dot to the <5mW laser pen behind Eagle Pair case, both on dark surface.
Notice this has burned a hole through the CD case in seconds and beam is visible on black candle holder leg behind it!
Those round mirrors on table are TiO2/SiO2 ion beam deposition laser mirrors I made for Ring Laser Gyros in the 80's.
Beam is visible in the dark leaving the laser and sideways. With Eagle Pair, cannot see beam and dot barely visible.
A hologram illuminated with the expanded laser beam.
Shot at slightly different view.
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