Astrodon filter company has been sold ........

[swag72]

I don't know how or if this will change the brand of Astrodon that us imagers have almost become to revere ......but they have been sold to Farpoint Astro.

http://www.astrodon.com/about-us.html

[Gina]

I don't like the sound of that!!  Small companies selling good items generally seem to suffer a reduction in quality when taken over by a big company   Could increase the value of the  original Astrodon filters though - maybe we're sitting on collections of collectibles

[Thalestris24]

They're out of my league anyway, but hope their filter quality will be maintained for those that can afford them!

Louise

[DaveS]

I hope they keep the quality up too, especially the fabulous 3nm bandwidth.

[kirkster501]

I best get the OIII quickly......

[wimvb]

If FarPoint Astro were to change the Astrodon company business model, they would be shooting themselves in the foot. Why buy a (small) company, just to tear it down? To me it makes much more sense if they keep the high quality Astrodon filter brand and expand their product range. But they may eventuall change the Astrodon name to Lumicon. Who knows?

[LightBucket]

Well Farpoint don’t make the best quality hardware out there, nor the most expensive, so wonder if that will change, or the filter quality / price will come down to match the rest of there kit....I have some Farpoint mounting hardwear, and it is really for the budget conscious astronomer... but it does the job.. so time will tell I guess..

 

[spillage]

They could use the experience and expertise of astrodon to improve their products or maybe up the price of their filters on the astrodon reputation.

[wxsatuser]

They have been sold to Optical Structures Inc not Farpoint, which is a different kettle of fish altogether.

They make, stuff like 32 inch and 24 inch robotic scopes, some are at Mount Palomar, me thinks the filters are in safe hands.

 

[swag72]

3 hours ago, wxsatuser said:

They have been sold to Optical Structures Inc not Farpoint, which is a different kettle of fish altogether.

I took the new company name from the bottom of the link........ the email address is farpointastro...... 

[MarsG76]

There are a few companies being absorbed it would seem... QSI by Atik and now Astrodon by Optical Structures Inc... If this becomes a monopoly, or only a few companies controlling a certain market, one thing we can be made sure of is that prices will go through the roof.

 

[AKB]

14 minutes ago, MarsG76 said:

If this becomes a monopoly, or only a few companies controlling a certain market, one thing we can be made sure of is that prices will go through the roof

You’re saying that Astrodon prices aren’t through the roof ??! 

 

[wimvb]

And there will always be Asian companies that provide budget gear. It may well be that in a few years time, chinese companies start buying European/US companies, and we'll get the same situation as in the car market, where large companies market various brands to cover a wider market.

Only time will tell.

[MarsG76]

1 hour ago, AKB said:

You’re saying that Astrodon prices aren’t through the roof ??! 

 

Good point... bit I think that we'll look back and say, "remember when astrodon filters were ONLY £400..."

[MarsG76]

1 hour ago, wimvb said:

And there will always be Asian companies that provide budget gear. It may well be that in a few years time, chinese companies start buying European/US companies, and we'll get the same situation as in the car market, where large companies market various brands to cover a wider market.

Only time will tell.

Chinese filters are obviously worse than brand names... not a good outlook...

yeah,, time will tell.

[swag72]

It's worth saying here that I bought a complete set of Chroma 3nm filters as they were slightly cheaper than the Astrodons...... they are equally as good in my experience and I'm pleased that I got them  I guess I'm just saying that there are alternatives out there.

 

[wxsatuser]

It's good to have alternatives.

Have only got Astrodons because they appeared secondhand at a very good price.

[red dwalf]

Astrodon aftershaves service was very good too, I hope the new owners keep that up.

[Guest]

OSI is also owned by Farpoint who seem to be collecting lots of smaller US companies (lumicon, JMI, OSI etc.). In many cases these were smaller outfits that have either struggled or their owners are retiring. However it seems that there have been issues that may or may not have been resolved with the quality of Lumicon filters since Farpoint took them over.

 

Owen

[wxsatuser]

14 minutes ago, obrazell said:

OSI is also owned by Farpoint who seem to be collecting lots of smaller US companies (lumicon, JMI, OSI etc.). In many cases these were smaller outfits that have either struggled or their owners are retiring. However it seems that there have been issues that may or may not have been resolved with the quality of Lumicon filters since Farpoint took them over.

 

Owen

Not what the store front reports.

OSI owned brands, Farpoint, JMI and Lumicon.

[Demonperformer]

23 hours ago, red dwalf said:

Astrodon aftershaves service was very good too, I hope the new owners keep that up.

I love autocorrect! 

[DaveS]

Drat! Beat me to it .

[Droogie 2001]

On ‎04‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 09:42, swag72 said:

It's worth saying here that I bought a complete set of Chroma 3nm filters as they were slightly cheaper than the Astrodons...... they are equally as good in my experience and I'm pleased that I got them  I guess I'm just saying that there are alternatives out there.

 

I was going to mention this until I read your post Sara. I also have 3nm Chroma's and have been very pleased with them so far.

[toxic]

1 hour ago, Droogie 2001 said:

I was going to mention this until I read your post Sara. I also have 3nm Chroma's and have been very pleased with them so far.

i noticed that the Chroma and Astrodon 36mm unmounted are the same price for HA $650 each  out of my price range.

i will stick with my Baader especially for the uk skies 

[Demonperformer]

For 1.25" they are £486 vs £495 - not a lot in it.