I Am Amazed At The Difference A Narrow'ish LP Filter Makes!!

[wesdon1]

Hi all. So I recently got a chance to get some Emission Nebula ( East vale Neb ) sub-exposures with my new Optolong L-Enhance Filter ( fitted to unmodded DSLR ) and I was amazed at the difference it made with my subs compared to a regular LP Filter!? ( namely the Optolong L-Pro )

I was able to substantially increase exposure time, while maintaining a dark night sky background. Now bare in mind, this was with a cheap unmodded DSLR Camera, and yet I still got lovely detailed subs, and they were only at ISO 800 for 4 mins. I was blown away! At the time I only got 5 x 4min subs before clouds stopped me, but it's made me even more excited about getting a full nights worth of subs on this target asap! 

It's made me really look forward to buying and using an even narrower filter like the optolong L-Extreme, but not for a while, I still have lots of enjoyment ahead with the L-Enhance!

Highly highly recommend any fellow newbie like me to go out n buy one, they're worth every penny!

Clear Skies

[Elp]

Definitely worth it, I had all three at one point (now there's a forth one the Ultimate), but now if required only have the Extreme. Some people do complain about star halos though, but I haven't seen it with mine, yet.

[Ratlet]

I picked up the svbony equivalent.  Only managed to image with it the once, but was impressed with the images it punted out.

Also makes a handy Oiii filter for visual for when there isn't enough time to get to imaging.  Or I'm just lazy.

[wesdon1]

1 hour ago, Elp said:

Definitely worth it, I had all three at one point (now there's a forth one the Ultimate), but now if required only have the Extreme. Some people do complain about star halos though, but I haven't seen it with mine, yet.

@Elp Hi again Elp. Oh right? Awesome mate! I'm hoping to eventually own all 4 Optolong LP filters, I currently own the L-pro and L-Enhance. Tbh Elp, although I'd obviously read and seen vids about narrow'ish LP filters being really good for blocking out unwanted sky-glow, LP, Moon glow etc etc etc, it wasn't until I actually used one and seen for myself, just how good they are. My goodness I was amazed at my east vale neb subs, the contrast, filamentary detail etc is sooo much better than when I was shooting emission nebs with just a broadband LP filter ( L-Pro ). In fact, when I was doing my max sub length subs using my L-Pro, 180secs, I could barely make out on DSLR screen if I'd even got the nebula in the FOV, it was just so faint, plus the background night sky was really bright, awful, tbh. And all this with an unmodded DSLR. It's been a revelation for me Elp.

Tbh Elp, at this stage in my astro-imaging journey ( 11 months ) I don't mind if I get halos. I imagine I will be more concerned with them when I'm more experienced and thus much more critical of my data/images.

Edited August 23, 2023 by wesdon1
missed a bit

[wesdon1]

46 minutes ago, Ratlet said:

I picked up the svbony equivalent.  Only managed to image with it the once, but was impressed with the images it punted out.

Also makes a handy Oiii filter for visual for when there isn't enough time to get to imaging.  Or I'm just lazy.

@Ratlet Hi again Ratlet. You know, I have always been reticent about buying SVBONY filters because I just assumed they wouldn't be very good? ( probably unfairly ) But if you are happy with their performances then I will definitely give one a try some time in future mate.

Oh really?? A visual O111 filter too? Wow, I'll bare that in mind and give it a go when I get a chance mate! Thanks for the tip mate!