The AixiZ 405 glass lens is even less than that Igor...
Miloš tested and compared it here: Only a 5.4% increase vs AixiZ acrylic with back opened...
I see... So it's practically worthless compared to regular acrylics!
It's a BAD lens! Even their red coated lenses have a higher improovement than that! I find 8% with the all-threaded one altho the bottom threaded one had ZERO improovement over acrylics.
The only good red lens i could find for cheap was the AR coated acrylic, which i LOVE to use in cheaper reds!
My
405-G-1 glass lens on the other hand is between 26% and 28% increase vs AixiZ acrylic with the back opened!
I know, Jay, i was talking AVERAGES. My Medium Custom lens produces a wavelength and beam profile dependant increase of 16-20% compared to acrylics..
I recall finding an 7.5-8% differences between your lens and the Medium Custom Lens, depending on the direction of calculation.
Basically, when the Medium will increase the power by 18%, your lens will increase the power by 26%... When the medium increases by 20%, yours increases by 28%! Hence, the 8% difference....
But the variations were consistent with the wavelength of the diode in question, at all times...
I discovered early on during the Custom Lens project, that with my short FL custom lens (v8) the increases vary A LOT depending on diode wavelength!
- Short wl. diodes get blocked much harder in acrylics, so the increase with glass will be higher!
- Longer wl. diodes get blocked MUCH less in acrylics, so the increase with glass will be lower.
In addition to that, the increase will vary by the beam profile of the diode in question!
- Diodes with flatter beams (= more power in the fast axis) will get increased more by high NA glass, because acrylics have a NA of only 0.3 while my short FL glass has a NA of 0.55+!
- Diodes with rounder beams will get increased less by high NA lenses, because acrylics block less with diodes that have less power in the fast axis and more in the slow one (= rounder beam aka better aspect ratio)....
I always sorted my diodes by wavelength, so i always tested lenses with all diode models of both sides of the wavelength spectrum!
Diodes with VERY long wavelengths can get increased as little as 23% with short FL glass, like your lens or my short FL custom!
Diodes with VERY short wavelengths can get increased as much as 43% with short FL / high NA lenses, like yours or my short FL custom!
I wish that diode was still alive, because i could measure the medium lens on it!
But i do have a near UV PHR where i will repeat this experiment...
This is why i said the testing is not complete yet and that the ranges still need to be established properly...
But just an example. I have this freak GGW, it has VERY high efficiency and a VERY long wavelength - it's a v3 sled diode! The best i could find!
And on this diode, my medium increases the power by only 16%, while your lens does 24%! Again an 8% difference.
Since both our lenses have the same type of broadband coating, the wavelength dependent increase will always have the same difference between the two of them!
The only variation can come from different aspect ratio, where your lens can bring a little more out, if the beam is VERY FLAT!
My Medium Custom lens cuts some of the fast axis off, resulting in a rounded off beam, but not flat....A short FL / high NA lens will always bring it all out, resulting in a beam the shape of the diod's output... Often flat with BluRays....
So, what i need to do now is get my Medium mounted in metal by you, with the largest possible back apperture you can create!
I want to see if the lens can bring more out, since it's a 7mm lens, while my mounting only allows for 5mm of that to be used...
If that doesn't help increase the power, i need to find lenses with two other NA values i have in my mind....
One of the two would still create a rounded off beam, the higher NA would probably already be flat altho i could be wrong.. Maybe some rounding off would still be done.
But the real question is the FL, because the "splatter" depends ONLY on FL.
This is the reason that the medium has minimum splatter which gets hidden in the glare, and even when looking for it, one can hardly find it! It's all about FLs when it comes to the side projection called splatter.
If the FL is long enou, the splatter does not go too far away from the beam and is hidden by the glare of the spot tho...
This is why i like the medium custom lens, it produces a clean spot and beam, nicelly round, less volume than AixiZ acrylics but not too thin to focus excptionally well for great burning - better than with my short FL / high NA custom lens, which produces the same results as yours, especially after proper mounting...
Otherwise, i'll just write my manufacturer, tell them what prices we get for other lenses, and see if they would give any discount for my medium test buy!
If they DO, that would be awesome!
