The Camera-Killing Laser You Can Buy on eBay Today

Have you experimented with high-power laser devices in the past? No? If the idea interests you, there are two fundamental things you must do: protect your eyes with the right goggles, and limit the exposure of camera sensors. If you think I'm exaggerating, look at what happened to Styropyro on YouTube: he bought a laser on eBay to remove tattoos and as the video progresses, you can see the death of the sensor with green dots everywhere…

I think there's no doubt about it: you can buy virtually anything on portals like eBay or Amazon. From prank boxes to iPhone cases with pictures of diapers and medications there seems to be no limit, but what interests us (and a lot) is Chinese electronics with dubious specifications and questionable quality. For example, who wouldn't want to experiment with a completely fake “8000 mAh” 18650 battery?

Something similar happens with laser devices. How many pointer models are on sale? What sizes and capacities? What we're about to share is one of the most extreme and potentially dangerous cases. The product is called ND Yag (referring to the type of laser), and it's a tattoo-removal laser sold on eBay at a fraction of the cost of other similar equipment. Drake Anthony, better known as Styropyro on YouTube, bought one of these devices... and murdered his camera:

Styropyro's video contains some juicy details, tests with dyes, and a bit of math, but it's not hard to see that it's the most powerful laser he's shown to date. Granted, his 200-watt laser cannon is no toy, but this time we are privileged witnesses to the slow death of his camera, with small green dots occupying different sections of the sensor. The most important thing to note is that he never points the laser directly at the camera.

So, what could that thing do to our eyes? I'll just say that the “protection” included with the laser is inappropriate for the power it handles, and it's recommended to get a real pair of laser goggles. Naturally, the video had to end with a modification to the laser. A couple of extra capacitors and... the power was so high that it destroyed it. It's only a matter of time before he modifies it and creates an orbital laser or something like that...