Lumicon UHC. Still the best?

[Hailfire101]

Hi guys. I've been doing a LOT of googling and reading on filters to help with my photography. 

Simply, I now want a UHC filter  and a OII filter.

Due to cost and so on, I'm going to get a UHC first, and I've found a lot of good things said about the Lumicon UHC. However, it's all slightly old reviews I've found.

Are they still the best, or are there new filters out there that beat them? 

Also.... I can't find a UK stockist. Any ideas? 

Thanks 

[Davey-T]

There's a recent thread somewhere discussing the quality of Lumicon since they were taken over.

I think the conclusion was you'd be safer with Astronomik ATM

Dave

[Stu]

Beware, old Lumicons were excellent but new stock is apparently changed and not so good. There is a relatively recent thread on here discussing it which is worth digging out.

Astronomik are still the same as they always were, and very good.

EDIT Dave beat me to it  

[jetstream]

Who knows if they are still # 1?

[Dave In Vermont]

Not only not so good - worse. The new transmission-data shows the OIII from "Lumicon" now isn't even a OIII. It's like some weird in-bred cross between an OIII and a SWAN Comet-Filter! As for the UHC they are now 'making' - we don't have a new transmission chart on these yet. So my advice is to steer clear of new one's from "Lumicon."

If you can find old-stock, verified old-stock, that would be fine. But everyone has been searching for this. I rather doubt you'll find any left at this late date. Stu is right at pointing to Astronomik as your best bet at present.

There are several threads on these issues. A major one can be found in CloudyNights:

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/580780-help-me-understand-my-lumicon-oiii-scan-report/?p=7941861

And many more. Likely Google will yeild some interesting one's by now.

Dave - a Filter-Nut

[Hailfire101]

Brilliant, thanks guys. Glad I asked. 

This could be why no one is selling them in the UK.  Astronomik it is then. 

[alanjgreen]

The Astronomik UHC is good. The Astronomik O3 is really good. It's the way they leave all the field stars alone that i love. Bagged the horsey with the Astronomik Hb so that must be good too!

[Dave In Vermont]

If you're planning on an OIII at some point, Astronomik makes 2 types: A Visual OIII, and a CCD-OIII. The only difference between them is the addition of an IR-filter as part of the CCD-OIII, so these also work work fine as a visual OIII. So if you buy new and are planning to use these for both visual & imaging - I'd go ahead and get the Astronomik CCD-OIII. If you end up somehow with a Visual OIII and then decide on imaging - just stack it with an IR-Filter.

For your elucidation,

Dave

[Paul73]

Astronomic now do two Visual UHC's.

The more pricy UHC and the more affordable UHC-E. The UHC-E has a broader bandpass which will perform well better with small scopes. The UHC is king for darker sky and mid/big scopes.

Common wisdom is that there isn't much difference between the old Lumicon and the Astronomik UHC.

Paul

[Paul73]

[removed word]! I've just noticed that this is in the Imaging section.

I know nothing of the Black Art. Ignore my posts.

Paul

[Hailfire101]

Thank you everyone. I now know which two filters I will be getting next.

Astronomik have always been in the running, but now it seems they are the go to filter.

It was nice to read there are two versions of each, so I will indeed get the ccd-uhc version and the OII expensive one.

Glad I asked now. 

Thanks again, Mike

[TareqPhoto]

I bought Skywatcher UHC and OIII, i know they are not the high end quality but i just wanted to see what kind of effect it can give even low quality, and they are dirty cheap, but i won't buy any filter until i buy a mono dedicated [astro] camera then i will start to buy filters, and i will only look at one brand or name, "ASTRODON".

Members suggested me to start with Ha if i get the camera then i can add another filters like OIII and SII, my plan is to buy Ha first, then LRGB then OIII and last SII, all from Astrodon if possible, and i think i will buy only Ha this year if my budget isn't good, then next year i buy the other filters, i don't think i really want to try UHC or CLS or whatever else, but i think if someone has a modded DSLR like yours they want to try those LP filters such as UHC, but i really want to go all the way with NB even if it is taking so long time and big learning curve.

[ollypenrice]

The idea of using a UHC filter for astrophotography is new to me. I don't know anyone who does this and I get to meet lots of astrophotographers! Are we talking deep sky or planetary? I'm a bit lost, to be honest.

Olly

[Hailfire101]

I'm an utter noobie in the world of astrophotography still. 

But, from what I can tell, the UHC and OII filters, depending on the Nebula emissions, make them pop out more. 

They help with light pollution, add a darker sky and add contrast. 

I think.

[Stargazer McCabe]

10 minutes ago, Hailfire101 said:

I'm an utter noobie in the world of astrophotography still. 

But, from what I can tell, the UHC and OII filters, depending on the Nebula emissions, make them pop out more. 

They help with light pollution, add a darker sky and add contrast. 

I think.

Every day's a school day eh @Olly ?

Old dog. New tricks... ?