Advice on filters

[kaywanlau]

Hi guys, I need help choosing filter. I have searched around in the forum for info on filters and there is a really good thread that tells you different kind of filters. From what I read it seems its best to go with Ha, OIII. Mainly they're for imaging but would like a couple good filter for visual too.

I understand no 1 filter can do everything and you will need to buy several filters to many filters in the end. But I dont want to keep spending loads of money on them so I would really want to buy several that can do a wide range of things.

I live right next to a street lamp so light pollution is heavy. My equipment is the Equinox 120 and I'm imaging with a Nikon DSLR and guiding with QHY5 on EQ6. I would like to image DSO and planets.

I understand I need different filters to image different things. I would like to spend on somthing that will last and not buy somthing that and in later date I want to buy somthing better and spending more money. Please could someone recommend a couple really good filters for DSO and a couple for planets also where you would buy them. Thx

[Aza]

First one to buy is a Ha filter.

But even before that you need to have your camera modded.

For the filter I would recommend ModernAstronomy.com.

I use the Astronomik filter.

[blinky]

I would say that your nest bet might be to buy a light pollution filter first. I am not sure if many people have tried an Ha filter with a DSLR, there is no reason it would not work you would just discard the the Green and Blue channels.

[GazOC]

For visual the UHC-S is a good all rounder of you have decent skies.

[Aza]

With the summer coming up a Ha filter would be best I think. Lots of targets, and you get better results, than doing colour imaging with a LP filter.

I have given up doing colour imaging from my home. Even with a LP filter I find the results unsatisfactory. But with a Ha filter, you have no such issues.

I suppose it depends on weather you are happy with the images being black and white or not. If you want colour then yes the LP filter is the best bet.

[steve51450]

i would agree with Blinky............light pollution filter

A camera modded is a great idea and as you progress get it done but you can still take very good images with an un-modded dslr, you just choose your targets a little better is all as you will not have the sensitivity of a modded camera for H Alpha. 1st and foremost is a light pollution filter and the one that seems to work best in heavy light pollution is the astronomik cls filter. I live in Birmingham and it was my 1st filter purchase upon recomendation of Bern at modern astronomy and it means i can image with a streetlight 10ft from my observatory

As you progress you can move onto Ha filters as they are not the easiest things to focus through using a dslr as you loose so much star light

[Starflyer]

I'd say definitely go for a light pollution filter first.

If you want the best (IMHO) get a Hutech IDAS filter. They're extremely affective against orange sodium lighting (less so against the newer, yellow-white lights) and give virtually no colour cast.

Another effective alternative is the Astronomik CLS filter, but I read somewhere that this can create a colour cast - not a huge problem as this can be removed in Photoshop during post processing.

I've never tried Ha imaging with a DSLR so don't know how well it would work. If your camera is modded it should work okay for Ha rich nebulae, but you wouldn't have much success with other types of objects. If your camera isn't modded then I don't think you'd get any sort of usable image data from any object.

Cheers,

Ian

[blinky]

The other option for light pollution is the Orion LP filter, It has the same response as the Astronomik but is about 40% cheaper. It does cast a blue/green cast but this can be easily removed.

[kaywanlau]

Thank you everybody for the info. Looks like a pollution filter for now then. I think i will go for the one Starflyer mentioned Hutech IDAS filter.

[RichieJarvis]

In addition to the fine advice above, I would caution against an Ha until you've checked out whether the inbuilt IR filter blocks Ha - most DSLR's have an IR Cut filter which is a bit too enthusiastic. Best to check whether your D300 suffers from this problem before buying an Ha filter!

Cheers,

Richie

[kaywanlau]

OK thanks richi for the advice. I will look into it now.