Sanwu Challenger II 488nm beam shots 150mw

[ChrisWhit]

 

[ChrisWhit]

Top image is with the 3x beam expander and the bottom is without it.
To my eye in person it definitely has a cyan thing to it. I would put really more on the 490nm side if I had to guess. The funny thing is that sometimes it looks bluer with less green. Just depends maybe on battery level

 

[LaserRanger]

Nice beam shots! Does it look exactly like this greenish color to your eyes? Could be my screen not replicating the correct color or the camera not catching the exact tint.
I build one with a sharp diode and mine has a bluer shade to it but every once in a while it looks exactly like your pictures, I'm not sure if my eyes are playing tricks on me or it does shift in color. I've seen it get close to what a lower wavelength 505 looks like and sometimes it's turquoise in color... I haven't been able to tell if it's due to ambient light, battery charge level, diode temperature, ambient temperature, or just my eyes adjusting from green light to blue light while playing with other lasers

 

[LaserRanger]

This is what it looks like when I mean it's turquoise in color. Although it looks more like a sky blue in this picture
Sorry for the double Post

 

[paul1598419]

It is highly unlikely that the diode is shifting wavelengths. It is more likely that you are looking at it in different lighting conditions and it appears to be changing colors. All the ones I have built that were measured to be 487nm or lower look very blue to me. To see green in them I have to compare them to my 477nm. But, any laser will look different when compared next to another that is fairly close to it.

 

[RedCowboy]

Yes and mine looks more blue indoors and more green/blue when seen outdoors against the brush at night, it's because of how our brains process/present what our eyes see and adjacent colors can have an effect.

Try shining the beam at a safe viewing distance onto a dark background then a light background and you can often see it appear to change, or view the beam next to other wavelength lasers as paul said, 445nm will look blue next to a 405nm beam but it will look purplish next to a 473nm beam.

 

[LaserRanger]

@paul1598419 @RedCowboy thanks for sharing this info. I was thinking that the most logical explanation was that the ambient light was affecting my perception of the color. I'll make closer observations on comparing different lasers in different lighting conditions and backgrounds

 

[ChrisWhit]

Nice beam shots! Does it look exactly like this greenish color to your eyes? Could be my screen not replicating the correct color or the camera not catching the exact tint.
I build one with a sharp diode and mine has a bluer shade to it but every once in a while it looks exactly like your pictures, I'm not sure if my eyes are playing tricks on me or it does shift in color. I've seen it get close to what a lower wavelength 505 looks like and sometimes it's turquoise in color... I haven't been able to tell if it's due to ambient light, battery charge level, diode temperature, ambient temperature, or just my eyes adjusting from green light to blue light while playing with other lasers

Yes, this is pretty much dead on to how it looks in reality. Even though it was supposed to be a 488nm as I ordered it, I went back and forth trying to decide which to get... the 488nm or the 492nm. I just settled on the 488nm because I remember how I drooled over it when folks were musing about it when that diode was just coming out and all the pictures. I really think that Sanwu shipped me a 492nm but that's just fine. I already have blue lasers up the wazoo as it is.. But, however, just last night I shot it outside in the dark and it looked like it could've been an overdriven NUB07E 470nm.. all blue with no hint of green

 

[ChrisWhit]

All in all, it makes sense about ambient light affecting our perception of color, but the weird thing is that most of the time when I shine the laser in any given area, the laser's light and color dwarfs anything else's color around it. Everything becomes a big explosion of blue light right out of its nozzle. And when it's dark even more so.

 

[ChrisWhit]

Wife was burning dinner in oven for a nice opportunity for some indoor "fog" beam shots with the 488nm.. More turquoise in person as I snapped it. Also my ~400 ish mw Ple Pro 405nm in the smoke. Nice to get a chance to actually see that violet beam.. (Bottom pics).. As a side note, I only took these after helping with the burnage and screaming smoke detectors

 

[RedCowboy]

Interesting, I took a screen shot of your pics and looked at the beam colors and thy do seem to appear slightly different.

 

[ChrisWhit]

The most recent ones were on a full battery.. The earlier pics were when it was about 1/4 charge left.. However, the latest ones I'm looking at the beam and then looking at the screen and the actual beam to my eye was more aqua(greener) than what I saw on the camera screen. However in the earlier pictures, those were pretty accurate as to the color tint.. But there is still slight difference though in the color.

 

[CurtisOliver]

Current and temperature will shift the wavelength slightly. We’re only talking around 1-2nm max here, but at this part of the spectrum, you can notice it. I see it with my 492. Also as Paul correctly pointed out. Lighting levels and comparative light sources will shift our eyes perception of those wavelengths. The same thing can be observed with 589’s from experience.

 

[LaserRanger]

OK good to know that it's not just me who sees the shift in color and I'm relieved to know Its not failing on me as that was my initial thought

 

[ChrisWhit]

Here's another look at the color.. This top one actually looks like true 488nm, lol!

The camera is really struggling with this wavelength apparently. The beam is way more beautiful and complex in person. But mind you, this visibility in a fully lit room is only possible because of the smoke at 150mw.. Otherwise, the beam is not all that visible in full light. Invisible in daytime with only the spot visible. So, don't go out and buy a laser like this thinking it's gonna blow you away.. !!

 

[GSS]

Struggling?????
The color looks beautiful to me