My proper non-diode killing testing rig, you see the optical path from top left (diode) through to the lenses that would read/write the disc, first in red (DVD) and then IR (CD) at 125 mA (way fainter, but that's only the IR filter of my smartphone cam)

My proper non-diode killing testing rig, you see the optical path from top left (diode) through to the lenses that would read/write the disc, first in red (DVD) and then IR (CD) at 125 mA (way fainter, but that's only the IR filter of my smartphone cam)