Light pollution suppression filters for my DSLR?

[pipnina]

I live in an area with a lot of LP (my 3-minute exposure failed to get more than a tiny bit of the milky way) and my "Dark site" is better but still nowhere near perfect.

I've been really chuffed by my images so far:

Just yesterday I got andromeda with only 8 mins of exposure during a nearly full moon http://i.imgur.com/cNhP1aw.png

And in march I got the orion nebula and a little bit of the flame with only 9 mins 50 seconds http://i.imgur.com/OSXFO28.jpg

Because of this and that I'm building a barn door tracker to get longer exposures, do you think I'd get my money's worth buying one of these two filters for my camera (52 thread)

      http://www.firstlightoptics.com/light-pollution-reduction-imaging/idas-p2-light-pollution-suppression-filter.html 

      http://www.firstlightoptics.com/light-pollution-reduction-imaging/idas-d1-light-pollution-suppression-filter.html

In the reviews for those, people had said it caused reflections... But since I'd be using it in front of the optical train it shouldn't cause any problems right?

What do you guys think? Would it help me with my imaging enough to justify £150? Will it help with graidents? I wouldn't want to spend that if I wasn't going to get a noticable difference...

Thanks!

(p.s. those images were taken from my gardens, my "dark site" would probably produce better images but I still can't face north)

[Alien 13]

If you can fit a 1.25 or 2" filter I would go for the skywatcher one its quite cheap but does work maybe not as good as the premium brands but it will let you know if your particular type of LP is filterable.

Alan

[pipnina]

If you can fit a 1.25 or 2" filter I would go for the skywatcher one its quite cheap but does work maybe not as good as the premium brands but it will let you know if your particular type of LP is filterable.

Alan

Hmmm, £26 for the 2 inch model. That's definately tempting especially since I could try it with my scope as well (1.25" focusser & eyepieces but I could just put the filter over it?)

I might just have to try that. Thanks.

[jimbo747]

I've gone for the 2" skywatcher after seeing a thread on here compared to some far more expensive fikter - it performed just as well in test images. If it stays clear tonight I'll do a few comparison shots (I'm on alt az so can't do any better than 2 mins in east or west but should give a rough idea)

[pipnina]

I've gone for the 2" skywatcher after seeing a thread on here compared to some far more expensive fikter - it performed just as well in test images. If it stays clear tonight I'll do a few comparison shots (I'm on alt az so can't do any better than 2 mins in east or west but should give a rough idea)

If you can do that I'd appreciate it!

[Andy Mitchell]

For a few quid, in the ebay photography section, you can purchase an adapter ring that will adapt a 2" filter to whatever your camera uses.You need an adapter from 48mm to whatever your camera needs. You might drop the effective appeture a tiny bit if you are shooting wide open but that can be a good thing as camera lenses are often a bit pants 100% open. Being a round appeture restriction it wont add difraction spikes.

The effectiveness of different light pollution filters is highly dependent on the type of local light pollution, and varies between amazing and useless

[Magnus_e]

Hi pipinina.

I have been looking for a lp filter the last days myself.

I was looking at the Baader Neodynium filter, but found this tread http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/33706-skywatcher-lpr-filter-vs-baader-neodymium-filter/?hl=%2Bneodymium#entry1797899

Looks like the "half priced" Sky Watcher filter performs more or less just as good as the Baader.

I'm deffentely going for the SW, not the Baader

[Bizibilder]

You really need to find out what type of lights are causing your light pollution.  If it is the regular "yellow" sodium lights then the SW LP filter will work well - it only filters in the yellow part of the spectrum.  other light sources will need different filters - that is if they exist.  I'm not trying to put you off with that remark - its just that you need a filter that will remove the wavelengths of light that are causing the problem.  In some instances there may be such a wide band of polluted wavelengths that you will be filtering out all the available light!

[jimbo747]

If you can do that I'd appreciate it!

Cloud everywhere so gave up sorry!

[pipnina]

Cloud everywhere so gave up sorry!

It's ok. The sky-watcher's seem to be cheap as chips so I might just get one anyway After all, if it doewsn't work, at least I'll know it doesn't work and stop browsing around going "I'd sure like one"

[happy-kat]

I use a 2" filter with a step ring to fit what ever lens I have on the camera.

[jimbo747]

How do you fit the skywatcher 2" filter in between a canon DSLR and scope? 1100d just screws in to the back of my scope at moment but obv can't use my filter.

[happy-kat]

This thread I thought does not include a telescope, just camera and lens.

[brendant]

Easiest solution is to fit an Astronomik CLS clip in filter, it fits into the camera directly, it is also superior to either the Baader or Skywatcher light pollution filters, I have used all three and the CLS was streets ahead when dealing with heavy light pollution, not cheap but well worth the investment.

B.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[jimbo747]

This thread I thought does not include a telescope, just camera and lens.

It was a question for myself, wanted to try out the filter last night assuming it would screw on to the camera and the other end on to the back of my scope - it doesnt. Didnt think it worthy of creating a new post.

[geordie85]

How do you fit the skywatcher 2" filter in between a canon DSLR and scope? 1100d just screws in to the back of my scope at moment but obv can't use my filter.

If you have a skywatcher coma corrector you can screw it into that.

I use a astronomik cls ccd clip in light pollution filter and it works extremely well. Unfortunately it doesn't block out moonlight. I've also got a h alpha 12nm clip in filter for when the moon is out. 2 of my best purchases, not cheap but definitely well worth the investment