As a matter of fact, I just bought it (with the transmission kit add-on and larger film kit) a week ago. I've made two regular transmission holograms on the first try. My only laser until recently was/is a Melles Griot HeNe 5mw 632.8nm. I hadn't made a hologram with it since 1984. Back to the kit. It comes with a 5mw diode. If you get the 4X5 film kit you also get a 20mw diode. When I get a chance I want to try the 20mw with the 2X3 film for a shorter exposure. On my two successes I REALLY let it burn in waiting what they call the maximum 'eternity of an exposure' time of 10 on the first and 15 minutes on the second. I'll dial back the next test to 5 minutes and see what I get. From what I have read the film will only get so exposed before it's 'done' and any extra time is just viewing the hologram with the model/object in place. I have a few ideas for a reflection hologram I'd like to do. I'll post the results when I do. Maybe this weekend??? The basic kit comes with HotWheels car in original packaging The 4X5 kit came with a nice space-shuttle, with wheels Suprisingly I found a lot of my old lenses, mirrors and splitters which should really be fun with this kit. Not having to fuss with developing is a great advantage.
I figure I can use this to work out some setups then go to Integraf for the 'old fashioned' way of doing things (plus they have 'blue' sensitive film). I recently picked up a 1.4w 445nm. I want to light up for a larger object. I'm looking for something in the 750mw range in 'red'.
If there are any questions I'd be more than happy to answer what I can.
I'm a bit confused about the film. Regular film requires processing to see it in normal light, yet there's no comment about processing the film to save the image in the video.
Yes, the film does not require any chemical processing to view the hologram. Once the exposure time has elapsed you can simply remove the subject object and view. After the exposure is complete the film may still have a milky bluish color that you 'bleach' out using a standard white light source. That's it for 'processing'. After that the image is fixed in the plate. Only time will tell how well it holds up. The kit comes with a little blue LED 'safe light' you can use while setting up the film plate. After exposure you can use it to view the hologram without a laser. It works surprisingly well. A laser shows more detail in the image but the LED would be safer for kids to use for viewing. Just think of it as the 'Polaroid' of holography.
I don't have my own kit, but in my sophomore physics class (high school) I took a course on optics and we made some with a similar kit. Because of that I have a hologram of a zippo lighter around here somewhere. Holograms are fascinating.
I purchased multiple kits and about 100 plates to create holograms for multiple workshops. Results are inconsistent and yield is low. If you want just a couple holograms it's fine. But if you want to make several good holograms the setup needs a lot of work to get good yields and you'll need a real laser not the cheap laser diodes provided.
The key component to the kit is the film which may be purchased elsewhere (Bayer and many others make photopolymers I'm still looking for an alternate solution). The laser diodes are cheap and mode hop over time effectively destroying coherency and ultimately causing inconsistent results.
The kit components are hokey at best. The plastic "puzzle" pieces are produced such that they break easily and have inconsistent dimensions - some diodes don't even fit in the hole designed for them. The diode "heat sink" is a cheap alligator clip that doesn't fit. It easily slips off and destroys the open driver circuit board catastrophically bending the diode leads. I went through 4 diodes in 5 weeks just from the clip slipping and ruining the laser. A real alligator would have been more gentle.
The plates are shipped in a box with light tight metallic bags. The problem is that in every one of the ten boxes of plates (both 2x3 and 4x5) that I purchased over the last two years the plates came only loosely wrapped by the bag. Not *IN* the bag - the bag was wrapped around the plates. I had inconsistent results - I'm not sure if the plates were exposed or not or if this practice of packaging was a problem. But if you're going to provide a light tight bag why would you not ship them *IN* the bag??! This seems like a no brainier. If they were shipped in a foil sheet I might suggest using a bag. But he provides a bag but doesn't use it?? I don't understand. When I brought this up to the owner, Paul Christie, on the phone I was told "don't tell me how to run my business". I really wasn't - I was merely suggesting that he put the light sensitive plates in the light tight bags that he provides. Again. A no brainier - even if it's not an issue don't make me think it could be. :/
During my last trials and tribulation I was getting partial holograms where the hologram would be good on parts of the plate and not present elsewhere. I was using the 20mw laser provided in the recommended setup with the 4x5 plates with a 5-6min exposure. In researching the web site and documentation everywhere it states that it is incredibly hard to overexpose the plates and many times the documents say "if you don't see a hologram expose for longer" even 10 minutes or more. When I called tech support and talked to Paul the first thing he said to me was "it sounds like you're overexposing the film". Really? :/. I went back and did what he suggested and ate through three more plates exposing for far shorter times - no dice. As it turns out the laser diodes are the culprit. I switched to a traditional HeNe tube laser with the exact same setup and low and behold I was banging out holograms one after the other with no issues. (15mw laser for 5-6 min exposure on both 4x5 and 2x3 plates)
Lastly the technical support lacks integrity, professionalism and urgency. After spending hundreds of dollars directly with litiholo calls were avoided and emails ignored. My final conversation ended with Paul C just talking over me telling me I didn't know what I was doing. Btw for the record I have been using his plates with 100% yield but using a traditional HeNe tube laser. Laser diodes are not appropriate for long exposure holograms due to mode hopping. Do not buy this kit if you want to make more than a couple holograms. Paul Christie does not stand behind his products.
The 4X5 kit came with a nice space-shuttle, with wheels