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[P3D Harold R. Baize, Ph.D. <baize@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

John Romney wrote:
>My question: how well do typical color slide and negative films respond at
>these wavelengths? The He-Ne laser worked pretty well with color negative
>film. From a photographic standpoint, is paying a few tens of dollars more
>for a 635 nm laser pen (compared to the cost of a 670 nm model) justified
>by increased sensitivity of the film at that wavelength? 

I took a few experimental photos using my laser pointer and my FED
with the shutters open in a dark room. One was of my 16 year old
son (Zolton). I was careful not to hit him in the eye, but came close. 
The image came out brighter than i expected, so i think color 
slide film (K-64) is fairly sensitive to the red laser pen light. 
I entered it in competition at the Oakland Camera Club and it took 
a fourth place award. 

I would like to know if anyone has definitive information on how
harmful these low power laser pointers are. My belief is that they
are fairly weak and would require a direct in-the-eye exposure of
a substantial fraction of a second (or longer) to do any damage.
Is this true, or am I endangering people when I play with the 
thing?

I have another image of myself sans clothing lit by the laser, 
I'm too modest to enter that self-portrait, but it is interesting 
because the laser beam struck one lens of the camera, producing 
a patterned flare in just one chip of the image pair. Most 
people don't appreciate the retinal rivalry produced, but I think
it gives an interesting effect. I will do more laser pointer
lighted images, but i need a better model :-) :-) !!...

Harold
baize@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Harold R. Baize, Jr. Ph.D.                       
    baize@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 


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