589nm 50mW Dragon Lasers Spartan Yellow Laser Review

[CurtisOliver]

Great review and excellent photos. :beer:

 

[ZRaffleticket]

If you unscrew the front cap, are you able to adjust the focus on the collimating lens?

I've never tried it on mine, and I'm away from home until this evening so I'm not 100% sure. Im pretty sure you can with one of those two pronged tools... are they called a pin wrench..? Can any other member confirm?

 

[BowtieGuy]

Is the spot that big at 20 feet or is it just the ISO/shutter speed making it look so big? I can get a shot of mine at 20ft tomorrow night for some comparison. Mine isn't perfect, but it doesn't look that big I don't think.

I'm a fan of the glossy look your second indoor beamshot has! Nice pics for sure

Man, that seems awfully large for such a short distance. For that kind of money, I think I'd complain. It sure looks bigger than a quarter. Unless you have very tiny hands. The splash alone covers half your hand.

You guys got me thinking about that dot size, I'll have to check mine out tonight and compare the size with yours, it's been a while since I've fired it up, so this will be a good excuse fire it up.

 

[paul1598419]

I'll be looking forward to your results, Jeff. It seems too large to me for the short distance. I would expect there is a collimating lens inside the front cap, but that should have been set to optimal infinity focus before it was sent out. If the OP tries adjusting it, that could void whatever warrantee he has on the unit.

 

[ZRaffleticket]

Yeah it may affect warranty. Didn't stop me though...

Mines as big as my index finger's nail at 20 feet. Was about a quarter

 

[BowtieGuy]

Hey guys, finally got a few pics of my 589 Spartan, although they're not very good.
These two pics were taken at a distance of exactly 30 feet (9.14M).


The average dot size varied a bit with time, and averaged between 7/16" & 1/2" (10 & 12mm).

This pic shows the lens assembly, which on my unit, looks fixed and permanently mounted.

 

[ZRaffleticket]

The glue isn't hard to break, just a fyi. Though you may be at the limit of these without changing the inner optics, that's very close to what my friend and I adjusted mine to. The divegence isn't fantastic on these things.

Edit - not the white glue touching the lens, the large aluminum piece glued to the host. That glue

 

[BowtieGuy]

That's good to know, Z. I figured that if you really wanted to adjust it you could break it free, but I think I'll leave mine intact for now.

 

[Alaskan]

Nice pix, thanks for sharing.

 

[Pouie]

Man, that seems awfully large for such a short distance. For that kind of money, I think I'd complain. It sure looks bigger than a quarter. Unless you have very tiny hands. The splash alone covers half your hand.

Haha I do have small hands and part of that is the camera making the dot look bigger. I don't mind the dot size, it's about the same size as my green laser 303.

 

[paul1598419]

That's a shame, as BowtieGuy's 589nm at 30 feet has a half inch dot. It would be a simple tweeking of the colimating lens to bring the divergence down to where it ought to be.

 

[CynicalBrad]

Haha I do have small hands and part of that is the camera making the dot look bigger. I don't mind the dot size, it's about the same size as my green laser 303.

If you are happy with it, that is all that really matters in the end.

 

[Pouie]

Yeah it may affect warranty. Didn't stop me though...

Mines as big as my index finger's nail at 20 feet. Was about a quarter

Maybe you could post instructions? The top of mine doesn't even want to screw off.

 

[Alaskan]

It's probably just tight, I have that same host with a 638 nm diode in it and the end piece does unscrew.

 

[ZRaffleticket]

Actually there's some adhesive holding that front cap in place.



Once the ashesive breaks then unscrewing it should be simple.

Then on the inside you'll see the aluminum pill holding the lens in place, using the same threads the cap screws into



Break the ashesives holding that aluminum pill to the host, and you'll be able to change the focus.

I have a front surface mirror I aim the laser down the hallway at and focus using the wall behind me. Much easier than walking back and forth or asking a friend to help with

 

[BowtieGuy]

It's probably just tight, I have that same host with a 638 nm diode in it and the end piece does unscrew.

Just be careful to protect the finish on the host if you have to use any tools to help break the front cap free!