Using a laser for focusing.

8 Replies

A slightly different blog post this time, I’m going to recommend a product.

I’m not connected to this company in any way, in fact I don’t even know who makes them, but I think they are really useful.

The thing I want to tell you about is a cat laser, designed to keep your cat entertained. I have found it really useful for focusing medium and large format cameras in low light.

It has a red laser, a uv light and a white light. The laser setting can be a dot or a few different shapes, like a star.

You point it at the screen of the camera and it is projected onto the scene (the shapes work much better than the dot). You move the focus until the image in front of you looks clear and you have the focus!

The white light is useful for setting your aperture and the uv light will activate the luminous paint on your wristwach. All in all, extremely useful for night photography.

It doesn’t need batteries because it is recharged via a USB connector at the back end.

Currently £6.99 in the UK.

8 thoughts on “Using a laser for focusing.”

  1. Rob

    This is genius. I struggle with my aged eyes in reasonable light as it is. Added to this, last night our basic laser pointer that we play with the cats with died, so I needed a new one, then saw your post. Ordered a two pack, one for the cats and one for me. Thanks!

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    1. andrewsandersonphoto Post author

      You don’t look through the viewfinder, you look at the scene in front of the camera. The camera becomes a projector and the laser image is visible in front of you.

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      1. etiennedezutter

        ANDREW,still confused…Where is my screen on my Pentax ME ,MX, PZ 1 , SP1000? You wrote “point it on the screen of your camera… Often do I use a digital meter but they are limited by distance calculating.

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      2. andrewsandersonphoto Post author

        Hi there, when you look through the viewfinder you are looking at the screen.
        My article was mainly about medium format and large format cameras, but the same principle applies to 35mm cameras. The laser is shone through the eyepiece and is projected onto the scene.

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  3. Nasir

    Thanks for sharing this info, Andrew. I’ve just ordered one. I wonder if the UV mode might be good for light painting with x-ray film and paper negatives? Cheers.

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