How to make the beam visible on camera?

Is there a certain way (besides fog machine) to make a beam visible on camera? In the dark, the beam is clearly visible to my eyes but on camera it's only about 5% of what I see... even when pointing at the sky.

I just put mine to night mode. I'm no expert with cameras but it will help if you post what camera you have so that it will be easier for others to help you out.

Zeebit said:

I just put mine to night mode. I'm no expert with cameras but it will help if you post what camera you have so that it will be easier for others to help you out.

Click to expand...

Nikon S230 or simply iPhone 4 camera? Also have a webcam, a Microsoft Lifecam VX-2000.

RedDart said:

Nikon S230 or simply iPhone 4 camera? Also have a webcam, a Microsoft Lifecam VX-2000.

Click to expand...

The best way would be to do time exposure, with your nikon.
You can do this by changing the exposure time on your camera, your camera will have to be perfectly still though.
(The longer the time exposure the more light the shutter collects)

Long exposure.

If you can, set the camera to Manual mode (or whatever is close to it) and set the exposure setting to around 1/2 to 1 second long depending on conditions, ISO sensitivity around 300 or so, and play around with environment and white balance.

Long exposure time obviously necessitates (spelling?) the use of tripod for the camera and perfectly still scene, but it produces good effects!


Laser in question is about 80 milliwatts of output power, in a normally lit room during daylight.

Also, high res image I didn't downsize,
Eudaimonium on deviantART - click the image or download it from the link on the right to see full res.
Lasers are 80mW and 150mW (or so).

I don't have a smoke machine and nobody in my house smokes, just for the record.

Eudaimonium said:

Long exposure.

If you can, set the camera to Manual mode (or whatever is close to it) and set the exposure setting to around 1/2 to 1 second long depending on conditions, ISO sensitivity around 300 or so, and play around with environment and white balance.

Long exposure time obviously necessitates (spelling?) the use of tripod for the camera and perfectly still scene, but it produces good effects!

Laser in question is about 80 milliwatts of output power, in a normally lit room during daylight.

Also, high res image I didn't downsize,
Eudaimonium on deviantART - click the image or download it from the link on the right to see full res.
Lasers are 80mW and 150mW (or so).

I don't have a smoke machine and nobody in my house smokes, just for the record.

Click to expand...

Awesome, thanks! I'll try this when I get home.