Which OIII filter?

[Manok101]

I've been considering getting an OIII filter for helping me find nebulae and was wondering which to get?

[adam88]

I only have used a lumicon filter so can't compare to other brands but it is a great filter! Used it with great effect on the veil nebula and it even brought it out in a zenithstar 66 sd from my suburban backgarden! On planetary nebula too it works very well really helping to bring out detail in the dumbell and ring nebulas!

Most of this was done in a flt-98 so not alot of aperture !

[Talitha]

I've had a Lumicon for a number of years and recently bought a Zhumell (part of a filter set that was too good to pass up). Before i continue, please know that my sky is dark with minimal light pollution and 'average' transparency. I'm not sure if light pollution makes a difference in the performance of O-III filters, but here are my thoughts regarding the Lumicon (L) and the Zhumell (Z).

'L' is more aggressive and darkens the field much more than 'Z' does, but both filters gave very satisfactory views of the wispy structure in the Veil nebula through my 16" LightBridge. The darker field provided by 'L' makes the contrast really pop, and some areas of the nebula showed a breathtaking 3-D effect that wasn't as noticable as it was through the 'Z'.

That being said though, i actually prefer the 'Z'. It shows me everything the 'L' does, but it's more natural and realistic looking and there's a lot more background stars. Having more background stars makes starhopping easier, because i can leave the 'Z' filter in... the 'L' darkens the sky too much and i need to remove it while navigating.

[Manok101]

I can see a good many constellations where I am at, though there is a decent amount of light pollution. I'm new to astronomy in general, so am only interested in seeing at the moment not so concerned about the view.

[bcfcciderhead]

Good thread as i was looking at one from FLO last night, due to funds being a bit tight at the moment i had my eye on the one from Skywatcher for £40 ish (the first one one the page) so any comments on this would be helpful......sorry to jump on your thread