Laser Photography

[magicaldung]

Hey, I am getting a 532nm 400mW PGL-III-C soon and I would like to make a lot of photographs and probably videos of the beam and maybe the dot on an object. I would never point the beam directly in to the lens of course. But would it damage the sensor at all if I would set the shutter speed to 1/8000? And could a long exposure of a few seconds if I just photograph the beam from the side damage it? I have a Nikon D3s and the lens I would be using has 15 glass elements if that matters.
If someone could tell me what I can and can't do with this type of camera to not damage it AT ALL and with which settings of the camera (just shutter speed/aperture), I'd be very thankful.

Julian

 

[Asherz]

Hey, I am getting a 532nm 400mW PGL-III-C soon and I would like to make a lot of photographs and probably videos of the beam and maybe the dot on an object. I would never point the beam directly in to the lens of course. But would it damage the sensor at all if I would set the shutter speed to 1/8000? And could a long exposure of a few seconds if I just photograph the beam from the side damage it? I have a Nikon D3s and the lens I would be using has 15 glass elements if that matters.
If someone could tell me what I can and can't do with this type of camera to not damage it AT ALL and with which settings of the camera (just shutter speed/aperture), I'd be very thankful.

Julian

Aslong as you don't point the laser directly into the lens you'll be fine.

The longer you have your aperature open for the brighter the beam will be, I like to use a 1-2 second aperature, or less.

Have a play, and remember to use safety goggles when setting up the shot so you don't knock the laser and blind one of your eyes, or both.

 

[magicaldung]

What about filming or photographing the dot on an object?

 

[billg519]

The dot from this laser will be incredibly bright. This causes extreme overexposure of the dot and the area around it. You will need to stop down and use a fast shutter speed. You may even need an ND filter to further cut down the brightness. Of course, once you expose correctly for the spot, no other detail will be in the image. You will need to set up on a tripod and take two images, one exposed for the dot, the other exposed for the object that the dot is on, and combine them in photoshop. Nice camera, by the way.

 

[RA_pierce]

The dot from this laser will be incredibly bright. This causes extreme overexposure of the dot and the area around it. You will need to stop down and use a fast shutter speed. You may even need an ND filter to further cut down the brightness. Of course, once you expose correctly for the spot, no other detail will be in the image. You will need to set up on a tripod and take two images, one exposed for the dot, the other exposed for the object that the dot is on, and combine them in photoshop. Nice camera, by the way.

This is true.
>400mW of green is extremely bright.

When taking pictures of my PGL, I avoid taking shots with the beam and dot in one picture unless the beam terminates a good distance away so as not to ruin the exposure. That much power is simply too much.

You can always shoot with the flash on. This will balance out the dot if the picture is taken within a short distance, but I don't really like the way pictures turn out with the flash on.

When I am photographing lasers, I always shoot with lights on in the room or outdoors while there is still light out.
Shooting in low light or complete darkness will cause severe blooming.

Also, if you use auto-focus, you will get a sharper image with good lighting in your shooting environment.

Also, keep the ISO as low as possible to reduce noise.

 

[Traveller]

Use spot metering and shoot in a well-lit room.

 

[magicaldung]

Thank you very much everyone! I'll follow your advice. Is there anything else so I won't damage the sensor?

Also, keep the ISO as low as possible to reduce noise.

This camera doesn't know what noise is

Use spot metering and shoot in a well-lit room.

Yes, I thought that would give the best results.
Great photos!

 

[Traveller]

Is there anything else so I won't damage the sensor?

Yes, avoid using "Live View" (or Nikon's equivalent) so that you do not subject the CMOS sensor to constant coherent light...

 

[Pontiacg5]

I had a camera phone that had a really bad CMOS burn in it, but sadly all the pictures I took with it are inappropriate and can't be posted on this site. Wait, sadly? Naaah

What are camera phones for!!

 

[magicaldung]

Yes, avoid using "Live View" (or Nikon's equivalent) so that you do not subject the CMOS sensor to constant coherent light...

Well, no videos then. Or I'd have to get a >200mm lens..

 

[RA_pierce]

Traveller is the man when it comes to laser pics/reviews.
Those are some great photos! Very clean.

If I didn't spend my money on lasers, it'd be cameras.

 

[c4r0]

Yes, avoid using "Live View" (or Nikon's equivalent) so that you do not subject the CMOS sensor to constant coherent light...

Why would constant coherent light affect the sensor? I thought that the only thing that matters (when we're talking about sensor damage) is power density.

I had a camera phone that had a really bad CMOS burn in it, but sadly all the pictures I took with it are inappropriate and can't be posted on this site. Wait, sadly? Naaah

What are camera phones for!!

I've burnt three compact cameras this way, so with your ultra-cool DSLR you should be extremely careful when pointing a laser anywhere in the camera direction. In case of shooting a laser dot, your camera is quite safe I think, however I would not take a macro pic of a 400mW laser's dot on a white surface

 

[chipdouglas]

constant cohernt light is focused when we talk about lasers... and the cameras lens' act kind of like our eyes.. they focus the beam even more.... so the ccd chip or what ever has a real likely hood of getting burned like our retina..

 

[c4r0]

:thinking: ... coherency has nothing to do with focus.

 

[randomlugia]

^ Yes it does. Have you ever seen a PS3 diode laser with the red and BR diodes shining at the same time, to make magenta? You'll either get a red dot with violet around it, or a violet dot with red around it.

 

[c4r0]

But what does it have to do with light coherency? No, I haven't seen a PS3 diode laser with the red and BR diodes shining at the same time, but I know that there's a moving lens inside that laser pickup. That lens has to be in one position for reading BDs and in other position for DVDs, so it's not a surprise that you can't focus light from both diodes at the same time. This is because of disspersion and/or different position of LDs' emmiting areas, not because of any kind of coherence...