NB filter choice

[Anthonyexmouth]

Considering going into mono next year. I'm in a Bortle 3/4 area. Are the really tight NB filters worthwhile in every situation, will I see a benefit over cheaper ones in my area? 

[900SL]

Bortle 4 - 5 here, I've just bought my first mono cam and chose Antlia Edge 4.5nm for the following reasons:

 

• Should work well in Bortle 4-5
• Cheaper
• Less chance of being out of spec compared to the narrower bandpass filters (and less chance of halo on Oiii?)
• Work fine with faster scopes (not as critical for bandpass shift)
• T>90% and OD5

I nearly bought the Astronomik 6nm filters but they were out of stock at FLO and Ive had a good experience with the Antlia ALP-T.

Look forward to hearing from other NB imagers

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by 900SL

[ollypenrice]

I think that, as a general rule, the worse your LP, the greater the advantage of tight bandpass filters.

If I compare my 7nm Baader Ha with my 3nm Astrodon, at a dark site, the latter is more moon-proof and gives perceptibly higher local contrast. It is not slower than the 7 Nm. It may be faster.

Olly

[Elp]

I'm not so sure. When I had a 4nm S2 filter, the signal seemed dimmer than the 7nm one I had but most people say it doesn't make a difference other than blocking out more LP (tightening allowed signal to the specific bandpass).

I'm happy with my Baaders 7nm or so, the o3s do for some reason suffer tilt like issues at the edges far more than the other two for some reason, got the F2 ones too costly as they are. Imaging from bortle 7.

Edited December 18, 2023 by Elp

[Xsubmariner]

As someone who now has a sizeable AP equipment collection may I offer the following for consideration;

when starting out it is likely best to limit your filter/optical equipment until you have overcome the initial AP learning curve and your images start to expose the mount/optical train/filter anomalies.  At this point you will either decide to commit further in equipment quality or remain content with the images you produce.

It may be considered my AP equipment inventory is illogical/ poor value for money based solely on the number of clear nights I can operate the equipment. For me the engineering aspects of this hobby goes a long way to balancing the benefits.

Also from experience I note a high proportion of long clear nights in the UK coincide with the moon present.  This is when most of my Narrowband data has been acquired as LRGB generally disappoints due to moon illuminance. This is precisely the time when my very narrowband (3nm) filters deliver on their investment.

My initial Astronomik/Badder (7/8nm) HSO filters are now in storage and have been replaced with Antlia (3nm) Chroma (3nm) and Astronomik (6nm) units that just deliver in the UK environment.

My skies are Bortle 4 and yes you will definitely see the benefit of very narrow HSO filters.

For clarity, my 7/8nm HSO Astronomik/Badder were excellent filters that supported me for the initial years and ably support many Astrophotographers today who produce stunning images. If you are unfortunate to acquire AP OCD during this hobby you will likely raid the piggy bank for 3nm filters, my precious.

 

 

[Elp]

Does your o3 still get affected harshly by nearby moonlight? I find the other two are generally okay to image with if the moon is in the same quadrant of sky.

[Anthonyexmouth]

3 hours ago, Xsubmariner said:

As someone who now has a sizeable AP equipment collection may I offer the following for consideration;

when starting out it is likely best to limit your filter/optical equipment until you have overcome the initial AP learning curve and your images start to expose the mount/optical train/filter anomalies.  At this point you will either decide to commit further in equipment quality or remain content with the images you produce.

It may be considered my AP equipment inventory is illogical/ poor value for money based solely on the number of clear nights I can operate the equipment. For me the engineering aspects of this hobby goes a long way to balancing the benefits.

Also from experience I note a high proportion of long clear nights in the UK coincide with the moon present.  This is when most of my Narrowband data has been acquired as LRGB generally disappoints due to moon illuminance. This is precisely the time when my very narrowband (3nm) filters deliver on their investment.

My initial Astronomik/Badder (7/8nm) HSO filters are now in storage and have been replaced with Antlia (3nm) Chroma (3nm) and Astronomik (6nm) units that just deliver in the UK environment.

My skies are Bortle 4 and yes you will definitely see the benefit of very narrow HSO filters.

For clarity, my 7/8nm HSO Astronomik/Badder were excellent filters that supported me for the initial years and ably support many Astrophotographers today who produce stunning images. If you are unfortunate to acquire AP OCD during this hobby you will likely raid the piggy bank for 3nm filters, my precious.

 

 

I'm not new, just been dragging my heels to go mono for over a decade. Have had a permanent setup for 5ish years now and happy with all the automation that's now been working well for a few years, al the bugs ironed out, so time to add in some more complexity to keep it interesting. 

[Xsubmariner]

Hi Elp, my Antlia 3nm is an improvement over the 3.5nm  I tried and a huge improvement over the 7/8nm units. I have found the Astronomik 6nm units to be very good and better value.

[Xsubmariner]

15 minutes ago, Anthonyexmouth said:

I'm not new, just been dragging my heels to go mono for over a decade.

In your position I would go for 3nm units sooner rather than later.