Fiber Optic Offcuts

[mrudling]

Hi guys

Anyone know where i can buy some offcuts of fiber optic cables in durban?

I want to build a diy macro flash for my camera.

 

[stevenv]

Be South African: just lift them from your nearest telco box

 

[bwana]

My interest is piqued . . . time to source some offcuts of my own!

 

[mrudling]

bwana, should i follow stevenv's suggestion, would you like to buy some of my offcuts?

Just called Falcon electronics, they sell it in all sorts of sizes and shapes. Will let you know what i find out tomorrow morning when i go on an info seeking operation

 

[bwana]

Are you planning on powering it from a popup or a strobe?

Best not to acquire it from the ground!

 

[mrudling]

With my ex580 or ex430, I'm getting a 100mm macro. Will most likely buy a cheap lens hood and tape the fiber to it.

 

[Deckert]

Anyone know where i can buy some offcuts of fiber optic cables in durban?
I want to build a diy macro flash for my camera.

Modern fiber, as used in communications, is not a very good candidate for transporting light in the visible light spectrum. Both single-mode and multi-mode cables attenuate visible light quite a lot - they're optimised for transporting light in the higher infrared (and even higher) ranges.

Single-mode fiber has such a thin core (a few micrometers) that the amount of light it will transport is negligible, and you'd have to have the core spliced (cut at smooth orthogonal angles) perfectly for light to enter it without scattering at the end-points. If you do go this route, get multi-mode fiber and have it professionally spliced so that the end-points don't scatter the light.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Optical_fiber_types.svg

What you're after is a Light Pipe. They're nice and thick (with cores of 1mm-2mm) and are made to transport light in the visible spectrum without too much hassle. Something like this:

http://i-fiberoptics.com/patchcords.php?id=11

The above types are real expensive, but of very high quality. You get cheaper variants made of cheaper plastics, but that will still carry substantial amounts of light (like the type used in those wave light-trees sold at the road-side).

You can also investigate macro LED flash rings that are as cheap as $60:
http://www.porters.com/sunpak-macro..._term=120551&ne_ppc_id=1016&ne_key_id=9672881

--deckert