Transform your laser pointer to a "spot-flash light" :)

Hi ... in this ultra easy instructable I will show you, hot to change your laser pointer to a (spot) flash light.

Parts you need:

1. laser pointer
2. camera lens from small "SPY" camera
3. glue gun or tape

And that's it :) ... just fit the lens to your laser pointer and you have a flash light. Have a look on the pictures.

Step 1: Results and thoughts ...

I add two pictures, just for imagination, how powerful this laser/flashlight is. These two pictures have been taken from 5 and 4 meters distance - in complete dark.

I think, for such small 5mW laser it's really powerful. I could see my garden table with chairs that are cca 30m from my window. Have a go ... and you will see.

What I'm planing to do ... to make a small IR illuminator for my night vision. Right now I'm bidding on ebay for 2 IR diodes ... so, lets hope it will not overcome my budget for that project. Any way, my idea is to use these 2 IR diodes to illuminate the distance area ... and use one IR LED diode to illuminate the surrounding area. And these two IR laser diodes would be pointed at one point/centred on the distance of 15m or 20m.

* other advantage of this laser/flashlight is - that it produce focused light ... so it is not that easy to spot it from the side (the same like laser).

Hope, you enjoyed it. Thanks.

P.S. : I did a small experiment with my solar panel (from a small solar light) ... And this light could produce over 70mV.

Comments

[mysteryee]

Does anyone know what those patterns are that show up in the laser spotlight:

www.instructables.com/file/FX5S0J4G1BBDC7Z/

When I was younger I'd see them sometimes when my eyes were half shut and I always thought they were bacteria or something. Obviously... that's wrong. But what is it then?

D:

Thanks!

[Clb931]

Ill just leave this here...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_W-IXqoxHA

[Apple Rule]

yeah that happens on my microscope aswell

[asch246]

 Yeah I had that kind of thing too. 
I asked my optometrist and they said it was little bits of dust + stuff floating around in there. nothing to worry about, apparently.

[zholy]

It's dust and dirt ... and the big long line = scratch - I scratch the lens :(

[ALogan97]

Not necessarily. I shined the laser through a drop of water and the circles and lines were still there, except moving. So the long lines can't be scratches if they move.

[Napsoleon]

Yeah its great to achieve Laser Fusion Milestone.The scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California reported that they had demonstrated that laser pointers pulses shot into a cavity can produce the conditions required to trigger nuclear fusion reactions.

[nutsandbolts_64]

optics at work... must.... find...... LASER POINTER!!! Next time, try not to scratch the lens.

[greymatter21]

what r laser diodes and what do they do?

[Fridge Gnome]

I was thinking of just the same thing with the night vision!

exept I am not sure how easy it is to put in the ir diodes

[zholy]

What I tried - just roughly - was to put all in one small tube, and it worked. For now, I don't have the complete instructable, cos I'm missing 3 components to finish the whole item/idea. I purchase 2 laser diodes (904 nm) and I want them to focus in one spot to get sufficient light source.

[itsthatsguy]

another way to achieve this effect is to take out the pre-existing lens in the laser diode, harder, but cheaper.

[zholy]

You are right, although ... it is not really the same - only similar. I tried 4 lenses, before publishing this instructable -> and the lens from a laser pointer was there as well (I have used it in another project called "smallest monocular") ... but I was not really happy with that results - the diameter was smaller, than by using the camera lens.  On the other side, I put the lens on the top/cover of the laser pointer ... so there could be a little bit different results, if I would place it directly on the laser mount/diode ... I will try and let know.