IR ffilter

[bm1980]

Hi i am going to buy a spc880 and get it flashed to a spc900, i was considering buying an IR filter for it, i can pick one up for about £12. My question is do i really need one or can i capture good images without it?

[JamesF]

I've read that it's useful to have the IR filter for planetary imaging, but that it's not such a big deal for DSOs. It's possibly worth buying a filter of some kind though, so you can put it into the adapter to keep dust off the CCD (though mine actually just has a spare lens cap over it).

James

[bm1980]

good point james i think i might get it for the sake of an extra £12

Regards

Ben

[brianb]

You need IR cut to capture a good colour balance - there is an IR cut filter in the webcam lens (which you've removed), all CCD/CMOS sensors are inherently quite sensitive to IR & the IR cut filter is needed to control this. Also helps the sharpness of the red channel when the target object is not at the zenith (differential atmospheric refraction). And acts as a dust filter. Unless you're trying to image in IR, an IR cut filter is very strongly advised.

The cheapest one you can get may not be the best ... if the glass it's made of isn't accurately flat, it will blur your images.

[bm1980]

ok thanks Brain i will have a shop around before i buy.

[prbaxter]

i just purchased the spc880, adapter and firmware flash from morgans and it all came with an IR filter.

[bm1980]

sounds like they made a mistake, i have ordered the same but i have had to pay for the ir filter