Astrodon vs... The rest.

[newbie alert]

Ok thanks..

Just fishing for ideas as I have a astronomik ha filter which produces quite bad halos on bright and semi bright stars..a friend sent a link to a bad batch which says they would replace any that suffered halos, which mine is..but it's out of warranty now and as a solution they've said that I can have one with a 30% discount...dont want to take them up on the offer and still get halos..and still more expensive than a baader..

[Stub Mandrel]

16 hours ago, newbie alert said:

a friend sent a link to a bad batch which says they would replace any that suffered halos, which mine is..but it's out of warranty now and as a solution they've said that I can have one with a 30% discoun

If they have acknowledged the batch is faulty and won't replace it, I would contact Trading Standards.

[Adam J]

20 hours ago, Droogie 2001 said:

I have the Chroma Ha & O3 3nm. Purchased them from Bernard at Modern Astronomy.

https://www.modernastronomy.com/product-category/filters-wheels/chroma-filters/

Copied this from the Modern Astronmy website:

"Try the Astronomy filters professionals use at many major observatories, NASA and JPL – Chroma!
In business for 24 years and experienced in many scientific disciplines, Chroma has made filters for several US “famous name” companies, but now operates under its own banner in the Astronomy field."

Have been very pleased with them though I have never had Astrodon's to compare against.

I went for the Chromas as they offered the ability to placed them into an ASI 1600 filter wheel, whereas (apparently) you could not do this with the Astrodon's?
I think they are worth the money no halos and stars are easier to control.

 

My astrodon 1.25 inch mounted both fit in my EFW 8 just fine, not allot of room left over though. 

[newbie alert]

2 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

If they have acknowledged the batch is faulty and won't replace it, I would contact Trading Standards.

They have a 10 year warrenty and mine was made in 2007..

The so called manufacturer is actually a shop called astroshop eu..and said they won't have any stock of 6nm for 2-3 weeks..

The price wont be much different to what I'd pay flo for a new one.. so I prob just buy a baader one and won't buy or recommend any astronomik products

[GavStar]

I’ve just done my first side by side comparison with my night vision monoculars of my new chroma 5nm compared with the 6nm Astronomik and the difference is very significant. 

On the North America, pelican and gamma Cygni nebulae the contrast was much improved - the nebulae really popped out and was very bright and clear from my back garden in sw London. 

I could even see a lot of additional fluffy nebulae above this group of nebulae which I’ve only really seen at much darker sites.

I’m very impressed with the chroma - I wasn’t expecting that much change - it’s not often I’ve seen such a noticeable improvement ?

[Demonperformer]

Very interesting that such a small difference in bandwidth has such a dramatic effect. Could there be some difference in the coatings (or something else) that contributed to the improvement, I wonder? 

[GavStar]

Just now, Demonperformer said:

Very interesting that such a small difference in bandwidth has such a dramatic effect. Could there be some difference in the coatings (or something else) that contributed to the improvement, I wonder? 

I agree, I think there’s got to be something else going on here, the difference in views is too big for just a 1nm reduction.

But whatever it is, I’m very happy with my new purchase. 

[Adam J]

21 hours ago, GavStar said:

I’ve just done my first side by side comparison with my night vision monoculars of my new chroma 5nm compared with the 6nm Astronomik and the difference is very significant. 

On the North America, pelican and gamma Cygni nebulae the contrast was much improved - the nebulae really popped out and was very bright and clear from my back garden in sw London. 

I could even see a lot of additional fluffy nebulae above this group of nebulae which I’ve only really seen at much darker sites.

I’m very impressed with the chroma - I wasn’t expecting that much change - it’s not often I’ve seen such a noticeable improvement ?

I don't see 5nm chroma filters listed anywhere? 

[RayD]

6 minutes ago, Adam J said:

I don't see 5nm chroma filters listed anywhere? 

Here

[henry b]

Once you start to use the "better filters" other perceived issues start to be seen, optial or mechanical! the costs start to increase.       Henry b in SW France.

[Adam J]

wow £460 for a 5nm filter, that is close to the cost of the 3nm.

[don4l]

On 03/10/2018 at 16:36, newbie alert said:

They have a 10 year warrenty and mine was made in 2007..

The so called manufacturer is actually a shop called astroshop eu..and said they won't have any stock of 6nm for 2-3 weeks..

The price wont be much different to what I'd pay flo for a new one.. so I prob just buy a baader one and won't buy or recommend any astronomik products

I'm in the same boat.  I have a set of Astronomik Ha, SII and OIII.  The Halos are terrible.

I have a Chroma Ha arriving this week.  I'm very pleased, and a bit relieved, to see the positive comments above.

[kirkster501]

All of us can be fanboys (or fangirls) of the gear we buy to subconsciously justify the expensive purchase decision we made.  Some things are difficult to quantity scientifically and objectively because it can be difficult to get side-by-side comparisons on the same night and the same object with otherwise identical gear other than the filters under test themselves.  Even between identical scopes and cameras on a side-by-side rig there could be minute differences due to focus etc.

What  I will say is that I have often had to delete data from my - otherwise very good - Baader Ha 7nm where the Astrodon 3nm Ha was spectacular.  The bandpass is so tight and the antireflective coatings so good that the Astrrodons are a winner to me, especially when the moon is out (which always seems to be the case on a clear night in the UK!)  That said, I can afford (for now at any rate) to indulge myself with the extravagance of these purchases.  Not everyone can.

Sometimes, you just have to swallow hard and shell out the money.  The Astrodons are precision optical engineering and they cost.  Big time.  At the end of the day, only you can decide.  You may save some ££££ and buy the cheaper ones only to regret it and wish you would have got what you really wanted in the first place.   Seems to me you really want the Astrodons and are struggling with your inner thoughts justifying this.

Let me leave with a thought we use in sales. "Buy cheap, buy twice".  

[newbie alert]

On 07/10/2018 at 19:08, don4l said:

On 03/10/2018 at 16:36, newbie alert said:

 

I'm in the same boat.  I have a set of Astronomik Ha, SII and OIII.  The Halos are terrible.

I have a Chroma Ha arriving this week.  I'm very pleased, and a bit relieved, to see the positive comments above.

How old are they as they say the batch not up to scratch is between 2007-2008

[don4l]

39 minutes ago, newbie alert said:

How old are they as they say the batch not up to scratch is between 2007-2008

I bought them new in 2007.

I also bought some Baader LRGB filters.  These have no halos.

 

The Chroma (unmounted) filter arrived, and it has no halos.   I haven't been able to test it yet!

[newbie alert]

Astronomik  or astro shop eu would replace them but..theyre out of warrenty now..

 

[kirkster501]

On 15/10/2018 at 21:01, don4l said:

I bought them new in 2007.

I also bought some Baader LRGB filters.  These have no halos.

 

The Chroma (unmounted) filter arrived, and it has no halos.   I haven't been able to test it yet!

Baader LRGB are great.  I have them in my TEC rig.  But I want to upgrade them to Astrodons and repurpose the Baaders into my planetary camera.  That tell's you what I think how good the Astrodons are.