Is a 50mW green safe to use indoors?

[Icetigris]

My advisor just ordered a 50mW green astronomy laser off Amazon for an experiment we're conducting as a part of my thesis research in computer graphics. The thing is that the experiment is going to be conducted inside and I think this might be too powerful, since we're doing tests on reflectance and subsurface scattering using translucent polymer clay samples. I will be photographing these samples with a point and shoot camera. Is this safe for my eyes? Will my camera actually be able to see anything with something that bright?

 

[anselm]

A bit hard to give a definite answer without knowing more details, and also
without knowing more about this polymer clay, but...... :

I couldn't really say for sure, but 50mW seems awfully bright for indoor photography
of something illuminated directly by the laser.
Even at small aperture, you'll take a picture of a big green blur, IMHO.

Parallel to your advisor, I would order a 5mW one as well if I were you, see which
one works out better in the end.
Or maybe even a 1mW one.

 

[LtKernelPanic]

If you're going to be testing reflections 50mw is pushing it for indoor use without glasses. The camera should be fine as long as it doesn't take a direct hit or reflection off a highly reflective surface like a mirror.

 

[james1095]

As someone else said, there are too many factors here. You will want to avoid getting hit by reflections off of anything shiny though. Another concern is that most of these cheap green lasers lack IR filters, so there may be anything from a few to several tens of mW of invisible IR output that is just as capable of causing eye damage.

 

[DJNY]

NO laser i safe!

 

[Ash]

I agree with anselm, 50mW of 532nm is too bright if the surface is reflective enough.
A 50mW can be dangerous to anyone looking without safety glasses.
Either try to find a true 5mW laser or pot-mod this one down to 5-20mW (using a Laser Power Meter).
Also, a point and shoot camera may have some difficulty due to oversaturation of green with a 50mW, but may work with a 10-30mW if the camera has the right settings.

 

[Laserz4sale]

Photgraphing 50mW should be fine as long as the beam does not go directly inside the camera lenses. Be sure to wear goggles.
I am able to record up to 100mW green with my iphone 4 burning black plastic. Well maybe because it has light focus, but in my opinion, when it hits black, it really doesn't seem that bright on camera.