Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b89429c566825f6ab32bcafbada449c9.jpg

Buying Astrodon narrowband filters.

oldannie

By oldannie
in Imaging - Discussion

 Share

Recommended Posts

oldannie

oldannie

Posted
Posted

Am thinking about buying a 3nm Astrodon filter, Ha,  36mm unmounted and have been looking at where to buy from.  There are outlets in the UK where the price would be around £750.  If I buy from Farpoint (the company that has taken over Astrodon) in the USA the price including postage via UPS to the UK would be around £666.  That's quite a saving!  I'm wondering if there are any hidden charges or any other catches that I haven't thought about.  Am nervous enough about spending so much on one filter!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
oldannie

oldannie

Posted
  • Author
Posted

All in all I will feel safer buying in the UK.  Have bought from Ian King before so may well go in that direction.  Otherwise I suspect I probably would pay VAT and possibly import duties.

Thanks for the responses.

Annie

Link to comment
Share on other sites
pete_l

pete_l

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, oldannie said:

 when VAT is applied

VATat 20%  will be due on the combined cost of the goods and the postage. Depending on who delivers the package to you there will be an additional "administration" charge. How much that will be is difficult to say. But my experience (in the UK) is that it ranges from the unreasonable to the extortionate. :(

You will also not have the protection of UK distance selling regulations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DaveS

DaveS

Posted
Posted

I bought my mobile 'phone from the USA and had to pay the customs VAT before it could be released. I'd already worked out how much it would cost me. Not sure about the handling fee, as it was all done through the carrier (DHL), I'd have to dig out my invoices.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Physopto

Physopto

Posted
Posted (edited)

I have bought a few high value items from the USA. Focusers etc. You will attract VAT and Import duty. The import duty was and I still think about 4%. So as a rough estimate it will be 25% in all extra. It also as has been said cost for the Carrier here in the UK. There some crazy costs involved depending upon the carrier. Post Office can charge £25 as of about 6/7 years ago. DHL was far more reasonable at about £18 I think. The problem is you cannot import directly by yourself, it has to go through one of the recognised carriers or there would be a lot of cheating for the inland revenue/tax  to sort out.

As to the Astrodon filters, they are very good from my experience so far. Not sure they are vany better for the cost though than Astronomik.

I have a set of Astronomik as well as the Astrodons.

The first set of Astronomik filters had some bloom on stars. They were very swiftly replaced at no cost to me by the firm with quick action. Very pleasent to deal with. I would recommend them without hesitation. Astronomik  are also now selling for a small extra charge a set of filters matched for focus, parfocal. Exactly how well matched I do not knmow, but I would bet it is very close. The Astronomik filters are only 1.1mm thick, and coated on both sides. There is no prefered direction of orientation. The thickness of the filter can make quite a difference in focussing, as the Astrodons are 3mm. Hence any small differences in thickness from batch to batch can and does cause focus problems. In all honesty so far I have not noticed this with the Astrodons.

Here I have to be absolutely honest, I have used the Astronomik many times but only just taken first light a few days ago with the Astrodons, even though my wife bought the set for me over 4 years ago.

One problem I did have with the Astrodons was an abismal lack of care in the edge coating on one of  the 31mm unmounted narrowband filters. They had managed to splash or drop spots of the edge resin coat on the filter in several places. It was returned to Ian King and he sorted it out very quickly. Cannot fault Ian in any way and always try to buy from him. I contacted the boss of astrodon and I admit I was not particularly polite. The filter should never have been sent out in that state in the first place. The Astrodon reply was that they were experiencing some technical problems with the narrow band filters but it would be sorted out the next year as they were outsourcing the filters to be finished. But there was no actual apology as such if I remember correctly.

Having said this I still would recomend Astrodons as I can see no further faults.

Hope this is of some use.

Derek

Edited by Physopto
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jkulin

Jkulin

Posted
Posted (edited)

If you haven't already bought them, have a look at the Chroma, originally they made the filters for Astrodon, they are much cheaper and the quality is every bit as good as Astrodons, they are heavy filters 3mm thick so like Astrodons you'll need to allow 1.0mm for your back focus.

I bought my NB Chroma 3nm direct from Chroma and saved about 50%

Edited by Jkulin
typos
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites
swag72

swag72

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, Jkulin said:

If you haven't already bought them, have a look at the Chroma, originally they made the filters for Astrodon, they are much cheaper and the quality is every bit as good as Astrodons, they are heavy filters 3mm thick so like Astrodons you'll need to allow 1.0mm for your back focus.

I bought my NB Chroma 3nm direct from Chroma and saved about 50%

I absolutely agree with this..... I have a set of Astrodons and a set of Chroma...... I don't think that the Chroma are inferior in any way at all. If buying them would make a saving, then I'd get them over the Astrodons.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
oldannie

oldannie

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Going to order the two Chroma filters tomorrow and install them in my Atik EFW2.  I guess a bit of experimentation will be needed to get the best out of them with my setup.  Mind you a clear night or two would help!!

 

Annie

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
don4l

don4l

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, oldannie said:

Going to order the two Chroma filters tomorrow and install them in my Atik EFW2.  I guess a bit of experimentation will be needed to get the best out of them with my setup.  Mind you a clear night or two would help!!

 

Annie

 

 

 

I've also got Chroma.  I don't think that you will regret your decision.  They have made a phenominal difference to my photography.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
oldannie

oldannie

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Chroma filters arrived - very excited.  Will be even m ore excited when/if we ever get another clear night!   Bought from Bernard at Modern Astronomy with the usual good service. Very grateful for the good advice from this forum!

 

Annie

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
carastro

carastro

Posted
Posted

Pleased for you.  When I eventually found the Chroma filters, they are cheaper than the Astrdodon ones, but still jolly expensive.  I have lost my calculations now but Chroma were around £300 cheaper than the Astrodons which makes a set of 3 still around £1400 if I recall rightly.

Carole 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.