Best place to get an aspheric lense

as the title says where is the best place to get an aspheric lense from?

thanks jamie

EDIT: i would also like an aspheric lense for a maglite either minimag AA or solatier AAA

Re: Where to get an aspheric lense

What light is the lens for ???

Re: Where to get an aspheric lense

i cant realy say because my other thread got closed because i was supposidly advertising for another site (which i was not) so all i can say is that the lense in the light is about 18mm diameter

thanks jamie

Re: Where to get an aspheric lense

Hmmm .. so its around the same size as a Mini maglite
Try the Shoppe, they have some acrylic balls that can be used
with the same effect as a aspherical lens

Re: Where to get an aspheric lense

??? how would a ball hold in place and would it fit into the reflector ???

thanks jamie

Re: Where to get an aspheric lense

I have an Aspherical lens on a Maglite and I get a better beam
without the reflector.
You need the right size ball to sit inside the bezel so that it can focus
correctly this might mean that the ball is half sticking out of the bezel

Measure the existing diameter of the stock lens .... say 18mm and buy the same size aspherical lens

Re: Where to get an aspheric lense

is there any really good places to buy aspherical lenses from ?

thanks jamie

Re: Where to get an aspheric lense

PM send

The shoppe sells aspheric lens for the minimag, you will need a lens holder for it which you can get at home depot fairly cheap

I got the aspheric lens and the balls from the Shoppe for the MiniMag, can't really recommend either. The ball would have to be glued in place to make it stay there, and there are cracks and artifacts that show up when the light is on. Seeing as they are dirt cheap I can't complain. The lens is not aspheric in the same way as you get with a KD drop-in or Ledean or Mac built light - you don't get to project the LED die in the way that you might be looking for. Hope this helps

BenjiBot said:

The lens is not aspheric in the same way as you get with a KD drop-in or Ledean or Mac built light - you don't get to project the LED die in the way that you might be looking for. Hope this helps

Click to expand...

Well, it is, but it might not be ground precisely enough to sharply focus the die image like the larger lenses.

im not really having any luck at the shoppe so far is there any alternatives and im not to bothered about it being cheap as long as its not stupidly expensive lol

jamie

LukeA said:

Well, it is, but it might not be ground precisely enough to sharply focus the die image like the larger lenses.

Click to expand...

Sorry to take this slightly off topic, but can you expand a bit on this? The KD aspheric lens (for my D cell Mag) that I mentioned is obviously aspherical - the aspheric I got from the shoppe (marked "mineral glass crystal MCT 227 1.0 mm"), for my MiniMag is only very slightly convex, maybe just, er, 1 mm compared to the massive dome of the KD/Ledean. Is your MM aspheric lens more obviously domed/bulbous? I'm thinking I ordered the wrong bit of kit

EDIT: just tried my cut-down MiniMag LED running a 14500 with all four of my Shoppe aspherical balls - not the lens - and I can see fissures and artefacts in each of them. Obviously at the price they are not sold as high-end optics, but wanted to mention that they are not perfect for those looking for the dream beam. It is, however, still possible to project a nicely square die

BenjiBot said:

I got the aspheric lens and the balls from the Shoppe for the MiniMag, can't really recommend either. The ball would have to be glued in place to make it stay there, and there are cracks and artifacts that show up when the light is on. Seeing as they are dirt cheap I can't complain. The lens is not aspheric in the same way as you get with a KD drop-in or Ledean or Mac built light - you don't get to project the LED die in the way that you might be looking for. Hope this helps

Click to expand...

It does not need to be glued into place if you have the lens holder

It does show the die not as focused as an acrylic ball but it does show the die. In any case I thought this was to improve throw not having a die for a hotspot. Even though it does not have a clearly focus die it does out throw the acrylic ball. There are artifacts but if you are looking for a perfect light why tinker with the minimag at all.

BenjiBot said:

....the aspheric I got from the shoppe (marked "mineral glass crystal MCT 227 1.0 mm"), for my MiniMag is only very slightly convex, maybe just, er, 1 mm compared to the massive dome of the KD/Ledean. Is your MM aspheric lens more obviously domed/bulbous?

Click to expand...

It sounds like you got the wrong one. The one I have is clearly shaped like an asperichal lens.

im new to aspheric lenses and was wondering it it the more curved the more focused in which case i would want one as focused as possibel and does thie affect throw ?

thanks jamie

Looking at your avatar .... a LED Mag .... is that a pic of your light ?
If it is, why dont your get an aspherical lens for that and just mess around with that.
If you search around the forum there is plenty of information on aspherical lens and Maglites.
Thats how I "build" my Mag.

Sadly thats not my mag but it is one off here, its my "dream" light lol i dont realy have the money right now to build on of those never mind the knowledge because i cant shorten one myself as i only have limited skills on a lathe lol

jamie

Although i would like to mod an AA or AAA maglite, that would be nice!