Surefire X400 vs Sharp 505 vs mL argon. Pics!

[Down with Umbrella]

-thumbnails at bottom of page-

friends, it's been a while but I haven't been far. In the quest for cyan i sacrificed an arm and a leg to purchase the Surefire X400 green laser/light weapon attachment. Price: $699
This review is not on the Surefire light but mostly a BRIEF laser comparison. I want to apologize ahead of time for not being able to go further in depth with testing but with my traveling I literally had just a few hours after unboxing.
Without further ado: please click on the thumbnails.
This well constructed pistol/rifle apparatus is the arguably the best on the market with a toggle switch between laser, light, light & laser all within a fingers reach. Windage & elevation are fully adjustable with two Allen keys.
:thinking: first I notice a super crisp clean beam, than after a few minutes horrific artifacts. Damnit! A fatal flaw in design the outermost lens cover was fully exposed, a single finger print causes the beam profile to smudge and almost look sword like. Nervously I looked over the literature and top page under bold text instructs to use LensPen to clean lense. This resolved all problems
View attachment 56891

The color
Wow, this is my first 505nm experience and it's super cool! But without a spectometer I used known wavelengths to compare. In this case my ML argon run on low power. I concluded this most closely resembles the 501.7line(at this power it's very close to thatnext line 596.5) far left is a 5mW 532 DPSS
View attachment 56892

I immediately ordered the new bad boy on the market, 35mW sharp "505" I slapped it in a stainless steel survival laser host and compared the two. Yuck. Now, beam divergence aside the diode I ordered was extremely green very much resembling my 520nm. Disappointment set in(you'll get this once and a while when purchasing new diodes.)
Top Surefire bottom Sharp diode.
View attachment 56893
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The beam from the Surefire X400 GN appears very close to that of my argon laser. Accompanied with the laser was a handwritten stamp certification the laser was in spec. 5mW 505nm. I would expect nothing less after spending damn near $700
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Conclusion. Happy with my new lasers! Hopefully much of this wasn't covered in the thread regarding this new 505 diode I've read much but not all!
Thanks for reading :wave:

 

[BobMc]

Hello, don't know if it's just me. But your attachments aren't coming up ? :thinking:

 

[Down with Umbrella]

I know, I'm sorry I sent a message to the admin. *Semi fixed*

 

[ZRaffleticket]

The '505'nm 35mW is the new sharp 505nm right? Can you take a picture of the can of the diode, or say what number is on it? It seems different batches of those diodes had different results. I bought 5 in total, three were close to 510 (batch 1), and two were close to 502 (batch 2). Results seem consistent among members here...

 

[paul1598419]

I have had the ability to measure the spectrum of all three iterations of this Sharp diode with my Ocean Optics USB2000 spectrometer and there are differences between all three. The three diodes are microprinted with numbers around the diode window. The SB1473N91 and the SB1573N91, though they have different pins used for LD cathode and anode were the ones which seemed to be between 502nm and 503nm. The SB147EC91 was much closer to 510nm. These diodes seem to work best with acrylic lenses as the glass ones cause artifacts in the beam profiles.

 

[badboybilly]

I hooked up the SB1573N91 yesterday the one with opposite anode and cathode and it didn't excite me, Ok very different from 515. But nothing to lust over, And nothing like Jordan's pic, And apparently Jordan's are the 508,s from what I understand.

His Samsung sure does show a nice colour though! So does the camera you are using in this thread!

 

[Down with Umbrella]

Great information Paul when I return home I'll be able to confirm. I did try an acrylic lens but with the spring it bottomed out in the module barrel. I didn't continue to fiddle with it.
Nonetheless it's a good star pointer!

 

[paul1598419]

The lens housing for the acrylic lenses are much shorter that all the glass ones. Mine focuses near where the top is just over the module's end. Maybe 3 or 4 threads left on the housing and just enough to grab the end of a focus ring and hold it in place with nail polish. Remember that the slotted end of the housing is where the focus ring goes. I have maybe a turn and a half after infinity focus until it bottoms out completely. If you want more room, you'll need to switch the lens out with another housing.

 

[Down with Umbrella]

Here's what I have Paul, yes I do believe I have a laser closer to 510. The 7B147EC91. I also fitted the laser with an acrylic lens and get a similar beam profile but it is better.

Is there anyone selling spectro'd diodes in the 502 range?

 

[Eracoy]

Is there anyone selling spectro'd diodes in the 502 range?
View attachment 57034

I recently asked this, and was directed to Newgazer, Existotem, and Techhood on ebay. I ordered one from each, but it will be a while before they get here and I can measure them. By then, who knows if they will be selling from the same batch. Unless you get lucky and a forum member has a surplus diode (they are probably holding on to them because they may not get more) you would probably have the best chance on a listing with a picture of the model number in it, so you at least have a return claim if it wasn't the right one.

 

[RA_pierce]

That's a good comparison. Thanks!
That surefire laser sight looks pretty great. I want one. Perhaps not for $700, though.

I just ordered one of DTR's 505 diodes. All this talk about the long wavelength diodes and the perceived color makes it less exciting.
However, I haven't had a chance to play with any of the green diodes yet so maybe it'll still be cool.

 

[paul1598419]

I've measured several with my spectrometer for other members. The SB147EC91s were the ones measuring 510nm. The other two were ~503nm. I don't have any excess at the moment, but I might get some more and could try to bin some low wavelength diodes.

 

[Alaskan]

Beautiful colors, appreciate the time it took to show all of this to us.

Chris

 

[Down with Umbrella]

Awww yeah, the diode stash. Those coveted binned diodes hang in the threads of this forum all in good fun.
I'm home at the moment so I might see about adding some more shots. The color is difficult to capture on camera then describe how it appears to the eye.
Green is really a brilliant color especially when the wavelengths borders blue!

 

[paul1598419]

It is especially nice looking next to a 532nm laser. Side by side is when you can really see the blue in the green.