Mono filter options

[Pitch Black Skies]

Still not really sure on what the best approach might be.

[peonic]

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/antlia-pro-ultra-narrowband-3nm-h-alpha-filter-2.html

 

 

Edited June 14, 2022 by peonic

[Pitch Black Skies]

5 minutes ago, peonic said:

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/antlia-pro-ultra-narrowband-3nm-h-alpha-filter-2.html

 

 

You've read my mind. This is exactly the filter I was thinking about.

I just can't decide on whether to buy the Baader LRGB or the Antlia 3nm Ha.

My gut is saying the Antlia but as I know nothing about mono yet I need someone to steer me in the right direction.

I don't want to make a costly mistake and get fed up with mono before I've even begun.

[peonic]

In all honesty, I think this is a question that you're going to have to answer for yourself here mate.

Are you going to be happy just producing mono images for a while? If so, plump for the best Ha filter you can - it'll last you a lifetime, and you can add Oii and Siii filters when the budget permits.

If you're not happy only doing mono work for now, go with the Baader LRGB's and add the narrowband filters in as time permits. 

[Elp]

Ha will probably wow you the most but obviously can only be used on certain targets, very quickly you'll want to get all the filters you can get your hands on for flexibility. LRGB requires more processing time I find and due to light pollution including when the moon's out will affect your sub quality which has to be processed to get clean. Either way I feel you will have to learn to space your projects out over a few weeks or months like I have, once you get over that you can concentrate on the quality.

[Pitch Black Skies]

The set of CCD LRGB SHO Baader filters sounds like a good deal but the SHO is around the 8nm range and I don't know if they would be good enough for very heavy light pollution.

So just to clarify, getting the LRGB from the Baader set is a good move but if I want to go NB opt for a 3nm instead?

Edited June 14, 2022 by Pitch Black Skies

[Elp]

Other users with more experience can comment, I believe the smaller bandpass makes transmission tighter, to give you an idea (I've posted this a few times) this is my first real project with a baader 7nm ha filter just over three hours, S2 offers probably 20-30% of this detail and o3 only on the flame for this target, project is still ongoing from last October, just a few level stretches and I had to paint out the glare from alnitak a bit:

[Pitch Black Skies]

Well that's really nice, and you're using the filters I received the offer on. I see your Bortle is a little lower but not much. What sort of integration is this?

[Elp]

3 hours, 300s subs. This target is very rich in hydrogen alpha (and one of the few rich in hydrogen beta) so it was a good target to start on.

[Elp]

Another option though it might be a swine to get the rest of the set individually, is get the ha and get a luminence filter. In lrgb you spend most of the time taking luminence anyway so you can practice getting data on a few targets then add the RGB later. At the moment I'm doing lrgb as few narrowband rich targets are up for long and the short nights don't help.

[Pitch Black Skies]

42 minutes ago, Elp said:

Another option though it might be a swine to get the rest of the set individually, is get the ha and get a luminence filter

I think it might be best just to buy her whole set of LRGB SHO. It's a good offer and I think some of these filters are no longer available.

Edited June 14, 2022 by Pitch Black Skies

[Elp]

Very true, I bought my SHO individually and waited ages for the same bandpass S2 filter to appear for sale (and baader timely decided to get rid of the old ones during this time), eventually had to buy a new (ouch) S2.

[Pitch Black Skies]

On 13/06/2022 at 14:33, ollypenrice said:

The Baader LRGB are so reliable, and used by so many well known imagers, that I would look no further

That sealed the deal for me, thanks.

[pipnina]

2 hours ago, Pitch Black Skies said:

That sealed the deal for me, thanks.

I hope you enjoy your new cam and filter set!

[rickwayne]

I started with just an Ha filter. I got some monochromatic images I really liked.

As for the poor quality of ZWO filters, eh, check my Astrobin. I've got nothing but, and my LRGB set is one I got really cheap when I bought my first filter wheel used. They're in terrible shape, they look like they've been cleaned with cat spit and sand. There are flecks or pits or something which I cannot get off of them (I suppose I could ask the cats to help).

I'm not saying "See, you can do APOD-quality work with ZWO filters". Just "Here's what one guy gets out of them". The West Veil image is probably the best performance I got out of the NB set. I used starnet++ on that so some of the haloing on 52 Cyg is doubtless from the software.

(The M106 image was from the Dark Days of Collimation with my AT8RC. It's not the filters -- honest!) >;-}

 

Edited June 20, 2022 by rickwayne