lordsmurf
New member
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2019
- Messages
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- 1
I want some community feedback on this:
I plan to do some nifty photo/video work outdoors, using a laser.
After seeing what's available, after some research over weeks, I decided on the Thor M II, which is supposedly a Class 4 laser. The laser needed to be blue, and I needed to be able to focus it, and there were not many options. My only past experience with lasers had been the cheap pet/dollar store things, which turned into a faint red blob at the distance I need. Maybe someday I'll take interest in burning stuff, but I'm not a pyro like Beavis. I got the aluminum kit with the batteries, charger, and OD5 glasses, off eBay from a seller in China. Thor M II is printed on the laser, seems legit.
The kit glasses are dark, but I took the advice of others, and bought an Eagle Pair 190-540&800-2000nm OD4+ pair of goggles. These came from eBay, from China, but seem legit. It appears Eagle Pair are made in China. These are medium/dark orange when viewing, glasses brown in appearance.
In recent quick tests
- outside, either daylight or sunlight
- about 75 feet away from the target
- and wearing the OD4+ Eagle Pair goggles
I see nothing. Moving the laser closer to me on the ground, I can only barely see the laser dot for about 20 feet with the Eagle Pair goggles. With the OD5 kit goggles, I see nothing outdoors, everything is bright red (and the bright red hurts my eyes).
To see the blue dot, I would
- wear sunglasses as a base (which I know do near-nothing to protect from strikes, but perhaps they will for any glare both from sun and laser beam/light?)
- OD4+ Eagle Pair on top of the sunglasses, slightly down on my nose, covering all of my eyes except for a tiny slit at the top where I'd peek through the sunglasses instead
- and from about 75 feet away, I saw the dot/blob ("dot" was a 1-foot blob before focusing it smaller to a few inches)
- on the last couple of tests, I squinted just to be ridiculously semi-careful, try to just barely see the blue dot on the light-colored brick wall
Am I safe to use the laser in the daylight, without googles, or at least mostly covering my eyes, from 75 feet away?
Is there any danger?
I've read things that state, for Class 4 lasers (like the Thor M II), that you must always wear goggles at all times. But then you can't see anything. So ... what's the point of the laser?
Is the blue beam itself being scattered by the sun, and thus no danger?
Or is this invisible beam of light somehow still damaging my eyes, and goggles are therefore a must?
I have photophobia, so merely being exposed to bright sunlight gives me some eye strain, and I must rest my eyes (sometimes for hours) before I can read and focus well indoors. Also a few floaters. When briefly testing the laser, I didn't feel the need to blink, watery eyes, etc. For me, nothing unusual happened. So just after laser use, it may be difficult for me tell the difference between normal issues, and anything being caused by the laser.
After the last quick 30-second (or less) laser test, in sunny outdoors, I came in the house, and was trying to check my vision, looking at the bright-white blank fullscreen Notepad on the computer. I think I see a floater that I'd never noticed before, but of course that doesn't mean anything other than I hadn't noticed it before. Having the usual issue of trying to read something small right now, usual eye strain moving from outdoor to indoor lights. Want to close my eyes for a while, sit in the dark, as usual.
At very most, sometimes the laser could strike a chain link metal fence that is entirely rusty brown, being careful not to have the beam hit the metal bar at the top of the fence. Nothing else should be metal, therefore not super reflective surface. Some of the objects where I'll be "painting the canvas" with laser light on video/photo may be white or offwhite.
My eyes are important. I want to verify it's safe to proceed.
I plan to do some nifty photo/video work outdoors, using a laser.
After seeing what's available, after some research over weeks, I decided on the Thor M II, which is supposedly a Class 4 laser. The laser needed to be blue, and I needed to be able to focus it, and there were not many options. My only past experience with lasers had been the cheap pet/dollar store things, which turned into a faint red blob at the distance I need. Maybe someday I'll take interest in burning stuff, but I'm not a pyro like Beavis. I got the aluminum kit with the batteries, charger, and OD5 glasses, off eBay from a seller in China. Thor M II is printed on the laser, seems legit.
The kit glasses are dark, but I took the advice of others, and bought an Eagle Pair 190-540&800-2000nm OD4+ pair of goggles. These came from eBay, from China, but seem legit. It appears Eagle Pair are made in China. These are medium/dark orange when viewing, glasses brown in appearance.
In recent quick tests
- outside, either daylight or sunlight
- about 75 feet away from the target
- and wearing the OD4+ Eagle Pair goggles
I see nothing. Moving the laser closer to me on the ground, I can only barely see the laser dot for about 20 feet with the Eagle Pair goggles. With the OD5 kit goggles, I see nothing outdoors, everything is bright red (and the bright red hurts my eyes).
To see the blue dot, I would
- wear sunglasses as a base (which I know do near-nothing to protect from strikes, but perhaps they will for any glare both from sun and laser beam/light?)
- OD4+ Eagle Pair on top of the sunglasses, slightly down on my nose, covering all of my eyes except for a tiny slit at the top where I'd peek through the sunglasses instead
- and from about 75 feet away, I saw the dot/blob ("dot" was a 1-foot blob before focusing it smaller to a few inches)
- on the last couple of tests, I squinted just to be ridiculously semi-careful, try to just barely see the blue dot on the light-colored brick wall
Am I safe to use the laser in the daylight, without googles, or at least mostly covering my eyes, from 75 feet away?
Is there any danger?
I've read things that state, for Class 4 lasers (like the Thor M II), that you must always wear goggles at all times. But then you can't see anything. So ... what's the point of the laser?
Is the blue beam itself being scattered by the sun, and thus no danger?
Or is this invisible beam of light somehow still damaging my eyes, and goggles are therefore a must?
I have photophobia, so merely being exposed to bright sunlight gives me some eye strain, and I must rest my eyes (sometimes for hours) before I can read and focus well indoors. Also a few floaters. When briefly testing the laser, I didn't feel the need to blink, watery eyes, etc. For me, nothing unusual happened. So just after laser use, it may be difficult for me tell the difference between normal issues, and anything being caused by the laser.
After the last quick 30-second (or less) laser test, in sunny outdoors, I came in the house, and was trying to check my vision, looking at the bright-white blank fullscreen Notepad on the computer. I think I see a floater that I'd never noticed before, but of course that doesn't mean anything other than I hadn't noticed it before. Having the usual issue of trying to read something small right now, usual eye strain moving from outdoor to indoor lights. Want to close my eyes for a while, sit in the dark, as usual.
At very most, sometimes the laser could strike a chain link metal fence that is entirely rusty brown, being careful not to have the beam hit the metal bar at the top of the fence. Nothing else should be metal, therefore not super reflective surface. Some of the objects where I'll be "painting the canvas" with laser light on video/photo may be white or offwhite.
My eyes are important. I want to verify it's safe to proceed.