Glass lenses for LEDs

I have some glass lenses that i got on dx.com. They work fantastic, but they aren't the right size for the mounts i have.

dx.com doesn't have many size options. I know about alibaba and similar, but the prices are astronomical when you figure in shipping. Is there a place that stocks more sizes and has decent prices? I was hoping to find something like a dx.com or mouser.com for lens products- a place that has everything. I was looking into having them made in china but that looks expensive.

The size i need is 59mm, i believe +/- 1mm will also work.

Thanks

That last part i typed was confusing. The fixture i posted a link for, it has a lens that's the perfect size, but i need roughly fifty of them, and the mfg of the fixture isn't able to help.

I found this one over at Fasttech but it's 57mm http://www.fasttech.com/products/1606/10002523/1583702-replacement-57mm-optical-borosilicate-plano

Back when the aspheric craze started we (CPF members) were buying our lens' from Surplus Shed http://www.surplusshed.com/

I've used http://www.anchoroptics.com in the past as they have a good selection and fairly cheap prices. look in the experimental grade section for the cheap ones..

As far as I can see, Dealextreme (DX) at the moment offers an aspherical lens with diameter of 59mm. This diameter is meassured at the bezel. I don't know the inner diameter or aperture but it seems to be much smaller (big sized bezel).
Kaidomain (KD) at the moment offers an aspherical lens with diameter of 60mm. This diameter is meassured at the bezel too. The inner diameter is 55,3mm, so it's a smaller sized bezel.

Thanks for the links. I had seen surplus shed and anchoroptics before, quite a bit more expensive than dx.com, but at least they are options. $6-$8 for a lens isn't a big deal, but i need anywhere from 30 to 60 of them.

fasttech looks interesting, a bit more expensive but not too much.

@Tobias, i do have the 59mm one from dx.com, the bezel (i think that's what it's called, the glass lip extending around the actual lens) is too wide- light goes through it and affects the beam.

These are all great options though, especially fasttech. If anyone knows of others, feel free.. There seems to be fewer options for optics at reasonable prices than the other parts for custom led fixtures.

Any other specs you can share? Material, center thickness, effective focal length, coatings, clear aperture, radii, conic?
Do you need glass or can you use other materials? Is this a one time buy or the first of many? Most aspheric lenses start around that $8 mark for a 10mm diameter lens unless it is clearance. What are you trying to do with the lens (what type of focus and to what angle)?

I don't know tech stuff enough to know how to answer all of that. I bought the led fixture that i linked to (i noticed the original link i made is broke, this is the same fixture elsewhere):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10W-Underwa...561?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5656ca7a19

awhile back and realized that the lens was the perfect size, it snapped into the fixture i was making perfectly, and worked well as far as ability to adjust beam of light from wide to narrow. I only needed to move light source a few inches to go from one to the other, which means the fixture can be short. There were no specs listed for the lens. I couldn't find them off the shelf. Lots of companies at alibaba will make them for you, but it was looking really expensive to do it that way. As mentioned, i need fifty of them, possibly more at a later date.

Material: i don't know enough about the options to know what is best, i only know the lens in the fixture i linked to works perfectly, as does this one (which is the wrong size):
http://dx.com/p/50mm-18mm-2-80-degree-glass-optics-12834#.Uu8kHbRqf24 . I assume they are glass, but could be some other material like Borosilicate.

Effective focal length: They're flat on one side, curved on the other (plano convex i think?). I positioned each so a light six feet or so away hit the flat side and moved the glass until the image of the bulb projected was sharp, then measured distance from flat edge of glass to projection surface. They measure 2.5 (the dx.com one) and 3 inches. All things considered, shorter FL is better because it means the fixtures will be smaller, i don't know if there is an advantage to having longer focal lengths.

Center thickness: I don't know what the dis/advantages are for this. Less thickness is better as far as keeping fixture small, but being able to move light a small distance to get from narrow beam to spot is important.

Coatings: I don't know a lot about the different coatings, but do know that some coatings help reduce color fringing by reacting differently to different wavelengths of light, i'm not sure yet how effective they'll be, i'm more interested in lower cost for now until i see. The lights will be useful regardless, but i'll buy coated versions later if it seems a problem. Clear aperture, radii, conic, i don't know what these mean, or if they're important as long as the other specs work.

As far as price, the lenses i've been using (about 9-10mm too short) have been $3-$4 each (less in bulk).

Thanks again,

Rob

That's most of the info I need to look for a lens. Let's make sure I have this right:
59mm OD preferred, 60mm max, 58mm min
50 - 60mm EFL
60 degree beam angle (full angle, half max) reference
Plano-Convex
Material, any
Coating, none
Optical surface finish, no texture

Quantity is 50 - 60 pieces initial, possible follow on orders. Desired price is $8.00 or less.

Correct? I'll get started to see what people have in stock although it might take a couple weeks. I'll let you know either way but I don't want to post contacts.

Yes, that would be fantastic if you're able to find a lens this size. A few differences though-

Last night we confirmed that 60mm is what we need, 59mm is too loose.

I don't know how EFL and beam angle relate, I only know that the ones we are using now have an EFL of around 50-60mm, and we move the light source a 2-3 inches toward/away from the rear of the lens to go from min beam angle to max, and that works well for us.. I'm guessing that decreasing the EFL also decreases the distance the lens needs to move closer/further from the lens to get from min. beam angle to max (and also guessing the reverse is true).

We want to get from min to max by moving the lens 2-3 inches at most (to keep the size of the fixture down), yet still not have a problem matching beam angles from one fixture to the other (i.e. if moving the lens only a millimeter changes the beam angle too much, it will be tough to get the beam angles all the same).

The lenses we have been buying are around $3-$4 US apiece, and that falls within budget. $8 each too high. Once we have working versions, i'm sure it will be easier to justify higher prices for better quality parts to the higher-ups..

The rest of the info you have is correct.

Thanks for helping,

Rob T.

Harold_B said:

That's most of the info I need to look for a lens. Let's make sure I have this right:
59mm OD preferred, 60mm max, 58mm min
50 - 60mm EFL
60 degree beam angle (full angle, half max) reference
Plano-Convex
Material, any
Coating, none
Optical surface finish, no texture

Quantity is 50 - 60 pieces initial, possible follow on orders. Desired price is $8.00 or less.

Correct? I'll get started to see what people have in stock although it might take a couple weeks. I'll let you know either way but I don't want to post contacts.

Click to expand...

We confirmed today that we also need 87mm lenses, all the same specs otherwise, these will likely cost more (size) and that's fine.

Thanks again,

Rob

So far the only thing I've found is a 65mm diameter as afar as a lens that has any chance of coming close to the price you are looking for. I'll keep poking around but the price is a real issue. Good luck in the mean time!

It's ok- we probably will need to have them custom made, more expensive, but apparently necessary. Thanks for looking though!

Harold_B said:

So far the only thing I've found is a 65mm diameter as afar as a lens that has any chance of coming close to the price you are looking for. I'll keep poking around but the price is a real issue. Good luck in the mean time!

Click to expand...