What are these amazing lasers!?

[Magnolia82]

Hi,

Just wondering, have played around with a few lasers in pitch dark environment at home, and none can be seen in the dark. In this video however, there are amazingly clear lasers:

Calvin Harris: How Deep Is Your Love - The Tonight Show

What kind of lasers are these? And where can one buy these? Or other examples of pretty safe lasers that can be seen in dark environments? Thanks!

 

[ElectricPlasma]

Ah yes, well there's several reason those lasers are much more clear than your average laser.

Most of the reason is effects, fog. They either fogged up the room so the laser beams have air fragments to reflect off of, and/or edited the lasers in post-production. As for the beam width, they most likely used a beam extender for all lasers.

Another reason could be power; I kinda doubt it but the reason they could be viewed easily could be that they're powerful lasers. Obviously they would have to be more than a standard presentation laser's power, but I don't think it would be industrial style because not only is that a burn risk but also a sight risk if the laser gets reflected off pretty much any surface.

In general, my guess would be that they've got a bit of strength (power) to them, and fog is used to enhance the beams, and maybe post-production gave it some effects.

Now if you're a starter and never had a high powered laser before, I'd recommend starting off with something cheap, similar with what I did. Something from China, not a name brand laser, just to start off with and get yourself familiar.

I started with your average 301 eBay laser, but honestly I don't recomend it if you wanna have fun with the beam, because the beam is fairly hard to see. Regardless, you can find that laser here:

1x High Power 5mW 532nm Green Laser Pointer Light Pen Lazer Beam Battery Charger | eBay

Now obviously it says 5mw it's not going to be what it says, the reason it says 5mw and not the actual power is because eBay doesn't allow high powered lasers to be sold on their site, but.... there's actually a TON of high powered lasers on eBay. If you're worried about customs taking it away because of high power, you don't need to. Because for one they've got a key so it already meets one standard, and on the description of contents they'll usually put something clever like "LED flashlight". I remember one of the lasers I had got from eBay said "toy pen" on the customs declaration, I was laughing so hard I started crying. :crackup:

If you want something to go outside at night and see the beam clearly, I'd recommend a 445 nm knockoff from eBay. Cheap, with very good power! The one I got was an absolute steal, with a nice host too! (the host is the body the laser diode, battery, driver and button are inside of.) Here's the laser!:
Adjustable Focus Powerful 5W 445nm Beam Blue Light Laser Pointer Pen Burn Match | eBay

PLEASE do not forget about safety. With lasers, you need to pay attention to safety precautions. This is your vision at risk, imagine being blind! Before buying ANY high powered laser, buy a pair of safety glasses, even cheap ones from China (find on eBay) are better than nothing. I'll link a cheap pair, but try and find some good ones if you can:

Eye Safety Glasses for Red Blue Green Laser UV Light Protection Goggles w Case | eBay

The red or blue color should block most lasers from eye damage.

If you are satisfied with the lasers you have received, you should do some research and learn more, and possibly get some better, more quality lasers! It's definitely a fun hobby, and there's a lot to learn. Good luck! :yh:

-Sean

 

[LSRFAQ]

That would pobably have been done by Lightwave Corporation in Pittsburgh, according to the latest rumor in the industry. Each beam is a few watts of RGB from direct diodes..

Your looking at a lot of expensive hardware to do that..

The scattering is made easier by use of a very tightly controlled fog with the correct paricle size from a Hazer..



Steve

 

[diachi]

PLEASE do not forget about safety. With lasers, you need to pay attention to safety precautions. This is your vision at risk, imagine being blind! Before buying ANY high powered laser, buy a pair of safety glasses, even cheap ones from China (find on eBay) are better than nothing. I'll link a cheap pair, but try and find some good ones if you can:

Eye Safety Glasses for Red Blue Green Laser UV Light Protection Goggles w Case | eBay

The red or blue color should block most lasers from eye damage.

If you are satisfied with the lasers you have received, you should do some research and learn more, and possibly get some better, more quality lasers! It's definitely a fun hobby, and there's a lot to learn. Good luck! :yh:

-Sean

Thanks for posting about safety, it's always nice to see - however, best to get the right glasses and spend a little bit more money.

No, they are not necessarily better than nothing. Don't cheap out on safety glasses - get the right ones.

Don't just say "The red or blue colour should block most lasers from eye damage" - The blue ones will most likely block red just fine, but won't block 445nm. But without proper ratings and or testing there's no way to know if they'll block what you want to block effectively. You should get safety glasses with wavelengths and their respective OD ratings listed.

Spend a little bit more - get safety glasses that have been tested by members here and that we know actually work as intended.

Eagle Pair® 190-540nm Standard Laser Safety Goggles

These are still cheap as far as laser safety glasses go.

 

[ElectricPlasma]

Thanks for posting about safety, it's always nice to see - however, best to get the right glasses and spend a little bit more money.

No, they are not necessarily better than nothing. Don't cheap out on safety glasses - get the right ones.

Don't just say "The red or blue colour should block most lasers from eye damage" - The blue ones will most likely block red just fine, but won't block 445nm. But without proper ratings and or testing there's no way to know if they'll block what you want to block effectively. You should get safety glasses with wavelengths and their respective OD ratings listed.

Spend a little bit more - get safety glasses that have been tested by members here and that we know actually work as intended.

Eagle Pair® 190-540nm Standard Laser Safety Goggles

These are still cheap as far as laser safety glasses go.

My apologies, have always been lacking a bit of knowledge on safety glasses. I'm not one to cheap out on glasses, but I usually try to encourage to at least have something between your eyes and the laser. Now I know the proper details, thanks for informing me! +rep

Badass sig btw

 

[diachi]

My apologies, have always been lacking a bit of knowledge on safety glasses. I'm not one to cheap out on glasses, but I usually try to encourage to at least have something between your eyes and the laser. Now I know the proper details, thanks for informing me! +rep

Badass sig btw

It's no problem, no need to apologize! I just don't think safety glasses should be something anyone should cheap out on, when the good alternatives aren't that expensive. A brand new pair from somewhere like Edmund Optics - with similar coverage to the Eagle Pair - run at about $220 (Granted, slightly higher VLT than the Eagle Pair @ 65% vs 50%), so $45 for the Eagle Pair really is a quite a good deal!

Your eyes are worth more than what's in your wallet!

The cheap eBay glasses probably would be fine - assuming you get the correct set, but best not to chance it for the sake of $35 IMO! Anyway...

Returning the +rep for being understanding!

Thanks!