2-Way Mirrors

LewDude · Nov 1, 2018

I've wanted to acquire a '2-way' mirror for a while, to see what kind of use it might have (PS it is also comical to look up the definition of a 2-way mirror as it almost always will say "also known as a 1-way mirror" and visa-versa...just cracks me up). So, I found a few on flea-bay and didn't really care for the prices. Ended up finding a website [wait for it...] twowaymirrors.com - not by blindly putting URLs into my browser, but by searching around for a manufacturer. Turns out, they are out of Ohio, and I live 1 state away, AND they have samples for less than a tiny piece of glass elsewhere! Also, learned that I probably didn't really want a 2-way mirror for my application (reflecting one side, photographing through the other). So...I reached out, asked some questions - didn't get any REAL advice, but ordered a couple samples and they showed up via free fed-ex in LESS THAN 24 hours!! Ya. Wow. #*@&in rad. Check out the site - there is some really cool stuff here.

I went with a Dielectric mirror (designed to hide a TV behind it) that has a 30% Reflective / 70% Transmission rating (have not tested with LPM yet).
And - a teleprompter mirror, which I opted for 40% Reflective / 60% Transmission rating - to be sure I was getting some different options to mess with.
I do have a 50/50 "splitter" that should be here tomorrow, so we'll see

I've had some ideas floating around, but as always, had limited time, so I stayed with some basics, including the 'infinity mirror' effect - which looks cool with LEDs, but have you seen it with LASER BEAMS? That being said, I KNOW these can get "BUSY".

Obviously, more to come. CHEERS!

videotogif_2018.10.31_23.07.10 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

videotogif_2018.10.31_23.14.58 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

videotogif_2018.10.31_23.11.59 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9447 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9448 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9450 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9458 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9468 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9469 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9477 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9492 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9495 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9449 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9480 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9479 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

brucemir · Nov 1, 2018

Hey Lew,
Nice experiment. I like 9477 the best.

LewDude · Nov 1, 2018

Added a few more since there was room...not the most 'artsy' of pics, but neat to see the properties of this glass, IMO.

brucemir · Nov 1, 2018

Hi Lew,
Experimentation is always a good thing. When I start doing something new ,the first session or two is just seeing how things interact with each other, but it is 100% necessary to get the really nice shots once everything is figured out. I am lucky to have a dedicated room as I can leave things set up and work on something for weeks at a time. Nothing is worse than getting everything set up and realizing it will not work the way it was supposed and having to figure out a way to move forward

paul1598419 · Nov 1, 2018

I never thought these types of mirrors would be very useful for laser work for a few reasons. Since they are on a plate of glass you get reflections from both sides of the glass as the laser goes through it. This will also happen for refractions too. Also, the amount of laser light being transmitted can't always be quantified as I suspect it changes with power and wavelength. But, it is nice to see what I suspected turned out to be true from some of your photos.

Cyparagon · Nov 2, 2018

The ratio of transmittance to reflectance also varies with the angle of incidence.

LewDude · Nov 2, 2018

Good points, Paul - I had the same curiosity regarding these being "dual surfaced". I tried getting some more info when I initially reached out to them regarding specific wavelengths and the different options they had - not much in terms of an answer there, BUT they do hae some info on their Teleprompter glass specifically:

Taken from their site:
What is a Teleprompter Mirror?
A glass teleprompter mirror, also known as a beamsplitter mirror, is a semi-transparent mirror that is optically neutral which allows you to record video through them with flawless picture quality. The back side of the mirror has an anti-reflective coating to prevent the double image that you may see on cheaper teleprompter systems.

So it does have some anit-reflection for the camera side, BUT still dealing with a "dual faced" surface.

Good point, too, Cyparagon!

I'm having a good time messing around with them.

IMAG9523 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9543 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9545 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9564 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9568 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9570 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9575 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9582 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9653 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9620 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9616 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr

IMAG9612 by Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr