crunchy
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- Joined
- Jun 8, 2013
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Hey everyone,
I just sat down with the new 100mw 532 Classic that I purchased from Lazerer. Time for a review!
First off I just want to say that I'm super excited - I didn't know what to expect from Lazerer seeing as I ordered my laser, and THEN found this forum where I read mixed reviews on the company. Overall aside from getting overly worked up about the quality of the product I would receive, or about the laser even making it through customs because I ordered a Li-Ion battery with it, I have had a very pleasant experience with Lazerer.
From order to arrival it took 19 days to get to my house. The tracking didn't always update (the tracking said it was in California until it ended up on my front doorstep)
Anyway - worry #1 has been relieved. My laser made it through customs! Now to try it out.
Upon opening the box - Everything was very well displayed; the laser itself was heavy and seemed like a good quality, sturdy host & build.
A feature I love and the first thing I tested out with this laser is the ability to lock it with the provided key.
Green means laser - Red means no laser. Simple enough and an excellent safety feature! I put in the battery, flipped the key to red, and sure enough, nothing - Flipped it to green, put on my goggles and presto! There was the beautiful green dot on my wall across the room.
Next I paired it side by side with my 30mW 532 to see the difference in beam size and power. The 100mW is exceptionally brighter! Even in a well lit room you can see the actual beam (dimly, but you can see it)
I know it's pretty standard to do a burn test in reviews with lasers capable of burning - but I bought this laser pretty much strictly for photography and astronomy so I don't think I am going to do a burn review of this 100mW.
This decision mainly comes from the fact that I read that cheap Chinese green lasers often put off more IR light than actual visible light, and that the goggles I am using only protects up to about 560nm I believe? Meaning they are pretty much useless against IR rays.
I confirmed my suspicion of the IR output by photographing the beam with a filter I use in photography that only accepts light in the IR spectrum, and filters out (most) visible light. This photo you can clearly see the IR beam bouncing off of the wall.
Overall - I am very satisfied with this laser from Lazerer. I have read that there are issues with the lifetime of the diodes they use but so far I see no problems. The duty cycle is 45/30 on/off - but honestly for pointing out stars or using it to focus my night time images - I bet I will rarely ever have this thing shining for more than 5 seconds at a time, so hopefully the diode lasts a long long time.
I hope to post some night shots as soon as I get a chance to go out and do some photography with this baby! But until then, I hope you all enjoyed this review. I definitely recommend Lazerer as a reliable company. Just be aware that their green lasers (at least the cheaper ones) lack any IR filter. Which is still okay for the type of outdoors use I plan on using it for, but if you plan on burning things or shining your laser inside where you'll catch a nasty reflection, then you might need to up your safety goggle game first.
Cheers!
- Michael
I just sat down with the new 100mw 532 Classic that I purchased from Lazerer. Time for a review!
First off I just want to say that I'm super excited - I didn't know what to expect from Lazerer seeing as I ordered my laser, and THEN found this forum where I read mixed reviews on the company. Overall aside from getting overly worked up about the quality of the product I would receive, or about the laser even making it through customs because I ordered a Li-Ion battery with it, I have had a very pleasant experience with Lazerer.
From order to arrival it took 19 days to get to my house. The tracking didn't always update (the tracking said it was in California until it ended up on my front doorstep)
Anyway - worry #1 has been relieved. My laser made it through customs! Now to try it out.
Upon opening the box - Everything was very well displayed; the laser itself was heavy and seemed like a good quality, sturdy host & build.
A feature I love and the first thing I tested out with this laser is the ability to lock it with the provided key.
Green means laser - Red means no laser. Simple enough and an excellent safety feature! I put in the battery, flipped the key to red, and sure enough, nothing - Flipped it to green, put on my goggles and presto! There was the beautiful green dot on my wall across the room.
Next I paired it side by side with my 30mW 532 to see the difference in beam size and power. The 100mW is exceptionally brighter! Even in a well lit room you can see the actual beam (dimly, but you can see it)
I know it's pretty standard to do a burn test in reviews with lasers capable of burning - but I bought this laser pretty much strictly for photography and astronomy so I don't think I am going to do a burn review of this 100mW.
This decision mainly comes from the fact that I read that cheap Chinese green lasers often put off more IR light than actual visible light, and that the goggles I am using only protects up to about 560nm I believe? Meaning they are pretty much useless against IR rays.
I confirmed my suspicion of the IR output by photographing the beam with a filter I use in photography that only accepts light in the IR spectrum, and filters out (most) visible light. This photo you can clearly see the IR beam bouncing off of the wall.
Overall - I am very satisfied with this laser from Lazerer. I have read that there are issues with the lifetime of the diodes they use but so far I see no problems. The duty cycle is 45/30 on/off - but honestly for pointing out stars or using it to focus my night time images - I bet I will rarely ever have this thing shining for more than 5 seconds at a time, so hopefully the diode lasts a long long time.
I hope to post some night shots as soon as I get a chance to go out and do some photography with this baby! But until then, I hope you all enjoyed this review. I definitely recommend Lazerer as a reliable company. Just be aware that their green lasers (at least the cheaper ones) lack any IR filter. Which is still okay for the type of outdoors use I plan on using it for, but if you plan on burning things or shining your laser inside where you'll catch a nasty reflection, then you might need to up your safety goggle game first.
Cheers!
- Michael
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