Orion Ultrablock V's Skywatcher UHC

[John]

Can anyone who has tried these two filters out let me know what the difference is, if any, in their performance ?.

I've tried to compare the graphs showing their band pass width but it's pretty difficult to tell from those what the differences are likley to be.

Thanks,

John

[Doc]

Can't help you John but will be very interested in the replies.

[Andrew*]

Hi John,

I tried these two in an extensive side-by-side test in different scopes on different objects and again and again I had to admit I couldn't discern a difference in performance.

I have to stress that they are NOT the same filter. The Orion is Japanese and the Skywatcher Chinese for a start. Merely that they are extremely similar in performance. The one clear difference is the price;) Go skywatcher!

Andrew

[John]

I should add that I'd also be interested in comments on the optical performance as well as the filtering / contrast enhancement, ie: to what extent do stars still look pinpoint etc.

Thanks,

John

[John]

Hi John,

I tried these two in an extensive side-by-side test in different scopes on different objects and again and again I had to admit I couldn't discern a difference in performance.

I have to stress that they are NOT the same filter. The Orion is Japanese and the Skywatcher Chinese for a start. Merely that they are extremely similar in performance. The one clear difference is the price;) Go skywatcher!

Andrew

Thanks Andrew - very useful

I've just added a supplementary question on optcial quality (as you were posting I expect !) - did you form any views on that ?.

John

[Andrew*]

I should add that in a S@N filter test recently they seemed to think the Orion showed more nebulosity than the UHC and consequently gave it a higher rating. I definitely didn't get this impression...

[Andrew*]

I've just added a supplementary question on optcial quality (as you were posting I expect !) - did you form any views on that ?.

Hi John,

Hmmmm... I was consciously looking for everything and I couldn't see a difference. I think (hope) I would have noticed any optical defect...

[John]

Hi John,

Hmmmm... I was consciously looking for everything and I couldn't see a difference. I think (hope) I would have noticed any optical defect...

Ok thanks very much again Andrew

It's great to get such quick and knowledgeable feedback !.

Incidently I've recently obtained an Astronomik OIII (visual) filter and thats a cracking performer, albeit a bit more pricey than the Ultrablock of course. I suspect that one of the things you are paying for is the quality of the optical glass used as this is the 1st filter I've tried which does not apprear to distort star images at all.

It's band pass is a wee bit wider than the Baader OIII I tried before making it very useful even in my 4" refractor. I can't wait to try it on the Owl from a dark site and see if I can make out the "eyes" this time (you might recall it was pretty much a "blind" bird through the Ultrablock at SGL4 !).

Regards,

John