Which filters???

[assouptro]

Hi Starpeople!

I have been imaging for a couple of years now with astrodon filters (1.25) 5nm ha sii and 3nm Oiii  With various Atik ccd cameras 

I have taken the plunge into cmos, namely a mono qhy 268 which came with a qhy 2” filter wheel 

As much as I would like 2” Astrodon or Chroma filters, they are out of my budget for the foreseeable, I would probably have to save for a couple of years so I am after some advice for suitable filters with minimal to no halo!
I have several scopes, from a Meade lx200 (normally f 7) and a recently purchased but not yet used in anger a Sharpstar 150hnt (f2.8) as well as a Samyang 135mm lens (f2)that I normally step down to f2.8 ish 

I know it’s a big ask…..

Any advice?? 
 

Many thanks 

Bryan 

[DaveS]

I would have said Chroma a year or so ago but they've become as stupidly expensive as Astrodon.

Perhaps Antlia? Though I only know them by rep, I don't have any direct experience.

[assouptro]

I wish I had taken out a mortgage and bought a full set 2 years ago in hindsight! 
I guess there’s something to learn there? 
 

Cheers 

[The Lazy Astronomer]

I rate Astronomik - I haven't done a whole lot of work on targets with big bright stars in the FOV though, just 2 images; one with Alnitak, and another with Propus and Tejat (taken back in March/April but not even yet stacked!!!). If I get some time later, I can post some images of the stacks so you can see how filters perform.

[assouptro]

2 hours ago, The Lazy Astronomer said:

I rate Astronomik - I haven't done a whole lot of work on targets with big bright stars in the FOV though, just 2 images; one with Alnitak, and another with Propus and Tejat (taken back in March/April but not even yet stacked!!!). If I get some time later, I can post some images of the stacks so you can see how filters perform.

Thanks 

I look forward to seeing some results! 😊

what scope we’re you using (f ratio) and how narrow are the filters in Nm? 

Cheers 

Bryan

[The Lazy Astronomer]

2 hours ago, assouptro said:

Thanks 

I look forward to seeing some results! 😊

what scope we’re you using (f ratio) and how narrow are the filters in Nm? 

Cheers 

Bryan

I use an Esprit100 @ F5.5 with a full suite of Astronomik filters: L3 for luminance, deep sky RGB, and 6nm Ha/Oiii/Sii

Here's a side by side through HaLRGB on Alnitak (nothing done to them except STF):

Ha much tighter for obvious reasons, and the size difference in R compared to L, G and B I assume is just because Alnitak is a big bright blue beast of a star, so naturally would emit stronger towards the blue end. There is a slight halo on B, but nothing too severe (in my opinion, at least). Here's the fully processed snippet of the image (in this instance, I attempted to apply RGB colour to the Ha stars, but looking at this now, I can see some ringing around the smaller stars (urgh, poor processing... 😆)

 I also quickly stacked some Jellyfish nebula data in Ha, Oiii and Sii (not properly as I'm lazy, so no calibration frames or anything), so here's the side by side on Propus, approx 4 - 5 hours per channel, and again, nothing but STF:

Haven't processed at all, so nothing further to show on this one, but hope it's useful!

[assouptro]

7 hours ago, The Lazy Astronomer said:

I use an Esprit100 @ F5.5 with a full suite of Astronomik filters: L3 for luminance, deep sky RGB, and 6nm Ha/Oiii/Sii

Here's a side by side through HaLRGB on Alnitak (nothing done to them except STF):

Ha much tighter for obvious reasons, and the size difference in R compared to L, G and B I assume is just because Alnitak is a big bright blue beast of a star, so naturally would emit stronger towards the blue end. There is a slight halo on B, but nothing too severe (in my opinion, at least). Here's the fully processed snippet of the image (in this instance, I attempted to apply RGB colour to the Ha stars, but looking at this now, I can see some ringing around the smaller stars (urgh, poor processing... 😆)

 I also quickly stacked some Jellyfish nebula data in Ha, Oiii and Sii (not properly as I'm lazy, so no calibration frames or anything), so here's the side by side on Propus, approx 4 - 5 hours per channel, and again, nothing but STF:

Haven't processed at all, so nothing further to show on this one, but hope it's useful!

Wow!
Thats really useful

Thanks for your efforts! 
I truly appreciate it! 

You aren’t exactly living up to your moniker of lazy by doing this for me! 

I cannot see any obvious halo effects there, which is a + for Astronomik! 
 

Thanks a bunch! 
Bryan 

[Shibby]

I do have a Baader 2" Ha 7nm for sale if you're interested. I have not noticed any halos with my setup.