Has anyone seen this?

[bubbalew]

http://www.luxeonstar.com/endor-star-25°-3up-lens-for-luxeon-rebel-star-leds-p-391.php

[Strydur]

There is a thread that talks about these. At 25 deg they dont work very well. I have some and will test them more as I find time.

[acerocket]

The problem with most "off the shelf" optics is that they are designed for flood applications. Nearly all light fixtures use flood light patterns - the exception obviously is a spotlight. But given what almost all LED light fixtures are used for, I doubt there is much interest in a spot application. It's too bad that they don't go ahead and make some because there are indeed applications for them. I know of a place that makes 2 degree beam optics for their proprietary LED engine, but they cost a few hundred dollars each and you can't buy the optics seperate (medical light industry). If someone wants to drop some large coin, I know you can have some custom made.

[Novastar]

Exactly... it's funny--I was talking about this thing some years ago with some folks over at a place called TechShop in the bay area of CA here.

We all came up with the same conclusions that *YES* better ways to set up optics AND blades/diffusion could be fashioned... but at what cost? An expensive cost, that's what.

So as usual--it always comes down to what you're willing to sacrifice in order to get X or Y or Z. In some cases... cost is warranted. But when you're talking about:

Optics for $4... vs. Optics for $150
or
Blade + diffusion for $30... vs. Blade + diffusion for $500...

...it starts to beg the question: couldn't I be spending my money in better places??!?! Like on a nice vacation or something? :D

By the way--for those interested--the "better" optics would end up looking more like an hourglass, be much taller, and therefore wouldn't work in any current sabers we already had... those sabers would have to have things re-done.

[swear000]

sabers will be dueled with anyway so they will get bashed around and eventually broken. I agree with Novastar, keep cost low so if something breaks it is cheap and easy to replace.

[LeMoel]

i tested it, dosent work well at all

[Blue Fox]

I work (for now anyway) for Valeo Sylvania and they now are starting to manufacture LED headlamp bulbs and tail lamp bulbs. You'll love what we did for the 2010 mustang tail lights when you flip the turn signals on ;). Anyway, If you want, I can proberbly talk optics with some of the R&D guys there and see what can be done with LED's, lenses, etc. If anyone's got specific questions, send me them through a PM and I'll try to pass them along. This is a limited time offer because the plant is having layoffs and I dont know if I will make it though this one.

[vadeblade]

i am clueless on optics but I just wanted to put the thought out there.

Would adding a secondary lense help tighten the beam? Like this.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh258/vvvv_767/secondlense.jpg

I found a variety of lenses in the DIY section of dealextreme like this 28mm lense.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh258/vvvv_767/sku_5297_2.jpg

And yes, I understand this will add to the height of the overall system, focal point needs to be factored in, and curvature of the lense is critical.

[Blue Fox]

you're not going to want the beam to have some cone angle to it because that's what gives the blade its light. I worry that to tight a beam and all you're going to do is focus it to the end cap of the blade and not enough light will hit the tube to light the blade sufficiently. That's just my take on it, like I said in my PM, you'll have to experiment with lenses to get the best effect you want. But good luck with it and err... dont look directly into the light with another lens on.. ;)

Oh and as of today, I'm laid off. :(

[vadeblade]

Oh and as of today, I'm laid off. :(

Ahh! Sorry to hear such terrible news. And right before the holidays too. I wish you the best of luck.

as for the secondary lense idea, i was thinking maybe the second lense would just refocus some of the light going 25 deg more towards 5-15 deg.

what I am actually more worried about is that the second lense would cause the light to focus to a point 5-15 inches in front of the lense and then diverge again which means you end up with a flare at the base and a secondary flare 1/3 up the blade.

[Blue Fox]

It is a possibility. On the other hand you may end up having a dark spot at the base of the blade and a good even glow throughout the rest of it. In which case you would have to move the LED assembly down more.

[Novastar]

A secondary lens could help, but it's not very efficient... I also don't think they are made for the Rebels (to go over the 25 deg ones)... and making one yourself would be impossible without some major major tools.

[vadeblade]

A secondary lens could help, but it's not very efficient... I also don't think they are made for the Rebels (to go over the 25 deg ones)... and making one yourself would be impossible without some major major tools.

I aggree that making a lense from scratch is way beyond the capabilities of most(all) here, but I mentioned that dealextreme has a large assortment of flat lenses to choose from made to sit over an high power LED.

As for efficiency, i think that depends on the quality of the optics. If the material is good quality acrylic or glass, then light loss through the material will be minimal.

If you think about it, most optical devices use Multiple lenses. I ask you, how many lenses do you think there are inside Binoculars, telescopes, camera lenses, high powered lasers, projectors? If you do not have perfect 20/20 vision, what do you do? you place a third lense over your eyes (glasses or contacts).

I'l try to set some time and funds aside to test after the Holidays. I found a lense that is 22mm dia with a 8 degree projection at a focal lenght of 25mm. That seems like a good candidate for refocusing the 25 degree lense.