The time has nearly come...COLOUR

[long_arms]

Hello,

After buying my first camera for planetary imaging a month or so ago, I have been very happy with the results. The difference between the Point Grey Firefly and the asdacam I was using before is remarkable.

Heres a couple of images I have got with my 200p, stock 2x barlow and point grey camera.

(focus a tad off on this one)

However the time is almost here where I wish to step up and get some decent colour images (ONLY PLANETARY). I am on a ridiculously tight budget.

The internet is full of people saying; "get these, get those" etc but every single set are out of my budget! I really cannot stretch to an expensive set, I know the images will suffer but I will upgrade when I have the money to a better camera/filterset.

Anyway, I have seen these:

http://www.firstligh...ith-ir-cut.html

And also this site which has lots of different sizes types, it says they are "dichroic"?

http://www.edmundopt...or-filters/2079

I haven't used any sort of filter (uv, IR) whatsoever so far.

Any other options for me under or maximum around £100?

Thanks,

Dan

[Freddie]

The FLO set would be fine, but don't forget you will need a wheel or something to mount them in as taking the cam out, screwing in a new filter and refocussing between each image is not really an option.

[ronin]

TS do this set of filters for 49 Euro about £42 which is less then the set you link to.

TS Filters

Teh Edmund Optic ones will be good but I cannot see the diameter they fit, they are optical components rather then astronomical ones. DIchroic is an interference filter. They are designed to pass a fairly narrow set of wavelengths and could I guess be better suited to narrow band imaging. They operate similar to the antireflection coatings on a lens.

[long_arms]

Thankyou very much!

Im glad I can at least get something colour without spending a fortune!

The FLO set would be fine, but don't forget you will need a wheel or something to mount them in as taking the cam out, screwing in a new filter and refocussing between each image is not really an option.

Darn thats exactly what I was planning to do aha. I shall have a look at some filter wheels/drawers etc. May even start a topic in the DIY section.

Thanks,

Dan

[ollypenrice]

Thankyou very much!

Im glad I can at least get something colour without spending a fortune!

Darn thats exactly what I was planning to do aha. I shall have a look at some filter wheels/drawers etc. May even start a topic in the DIY section.

Thanks,

Dan

You can't do it because the planets are rotating (inconsiderate of them!) so you have to work fast or the blue won't be the same as the red...

1.25 inch manual filterwheels come up second hand as people move either to electric ones or to 2 inch filters for large format. (I'll be selling a couple myself fairly soon for this reason. I'll put them in the classifieds but I bet you'll pick one up immediately. Try a wanted ad in UK Astrobuysell and here.)

Olly

[bus_ter]

The FLO set would be fine, but don't forget you will need a wheel or something to mount them in as taking the cam out, screwing in a new filter and refocussing between each image is not really an option.

Isn't the focal point for each colour different anyway? Thus requiring a refocus on each filter? Or is the difference so small as to not matter?

[Freddie]

If needed, a slight focus adjustment on each isn't too bad in a wheel, but the added time to swap filters when not in a wheel is just too much. I don't need to adjust focus with my Baader set, but some sets do need adjustment from R to G to B.

[Gina]

I found the Baader LRGB filters virtually exactly parfocal with my Atik 314L+ and EFW2 filter wheel. Stars that were like a pinpoint covering little more than a pixel with the L filter were equally sharp with the R, G and B filters

[Gina]

Example - some LRGB subs of M42 - cropped :-