Review: Jetlasers 3x and 5x beam expanders

Just to chime in.. I have the 10x & 5x BE kits along with my 400mW 532nm PL-E. The 5x is AWESOME.. and in fact I feel like it should be on there all the time. I loved it so much that I picked up a 10x BE..

..not so much. The 10x seems to not be focused correctly or something. You can see this ring of light around the center beam that looks to me like unfocused energy that's being wasted. The beam quality is way less than the 5x. Hard to put into words, except to say that the 5x is all you need.

post pictures of the beam with your expanders!!!

junglesmacks said:

Just to chime in.. I have the 10x & 5x BE kits along with my 400mW 532nm PL-E. The 5x is AWESOME.. and in fact I feel like it should be on there all the time. I loved it so much that I picked up a 10x BE..

..not so much. The 10x seems to not be focused correctly or something. You can see this ring of light around the center beam that looks to me like unfocused energy that's being wasted. The beam quality is way less than the 5x. Hard to put into words, except to say that the 5x is all you need.

Click to expand...

I used to love the Ti pens

junglesmacks said:

Just to chime in.. I have the 10x & 5x BE kits along with my 400mW 532nm PL-E. The 5x is AWESOME.. and in fact I feel like it should be on there all the time. I loved it so much that I picked up a 10x BE..

..not so much. The 10x seems to not be focused correctly or something. You can see this ring of light around the center beam that looks to me like unfocused energy that's being wasted. The beam quality is way less than the 5x. Hard to put into words, except to say that the 5x is all you need.

Click to expand...

+2 for chiming in and the kind words..
I wish now that I had gotten more 10X before they ran out..

I found that the best way to mount a BE on the Pl-E is to hold it on the table with the beam going to the ceiling- this way you can visually see the shape of the spot and can tighten the adaptor while keeping the BE well centered-
The ring is light that slips around the adaptor and we may eventually find a way to eliminate it- But I dont agree that it is some of the power being wasted- very very little-- maybe a thin rubber o-ring or a felt washer/gasket would stop the ring but it would not increase the power IMO.
I keep constant downword pressure on the BE as I tighten the grubs/screws just a little at a time. I do not like the scratches that these make on the adaptor btw.

The ideal method is the way that the BE attaches to the Pro PL-D all threaded- no set screws at all. I hope they will consider keeping the Pl-Ds in the JL line- but like the Ti-B maybe there is very little profit due to the high cost to have that host made-

What makes the PL-D so much more expensive to produce? How is it that different than the PL-E?

Great review man! I'm thinking of getting some.