Bintel UHC & OIII filters

[andrewk_82]

Hi,
I was just wondering whether anyone owns or has used one of the 1.25" Bintel UHC ($79) or OIII ($89) filters and if they thought they were any good?

I was going to get an Astronomik UHC filter ($169), but at around the same price for 2 bintel ones would I be better off getting these 2 instead of just the UHC.

Cheers

[byronpaul]

I'm interested in an answer to this as well

[andrew2008]

interested as well.

filter will be my next purchase. was looking at the astronomik cls.

[StevenA]

I own a 1.25" Bintel UHC filter and a set of coloured planetary filters. All I can say is they seem to be good. I do not have another to compare it with but the UHC ghas made a hell of a difference when it come to observations. I have learnt since purchasing my UHC that this alone is not quite enough but probably the best one to start with. The next filter purchase will be OIII as they allow different wavelengths to pass or to be filtered. Apparently one will never really be enough. Planetary, Relection, Bright Emmission (etc,) Neb's require swapping filters back and forth accordingly. I am happy with this filter however. Instead of simple grey blurs the wonders of the Carina Neb' or the Orion Neb' details hit me like a ton of bricks:eyepop:. Don't go overboard and think that it will give you the imahges you see in books as one person I know thought she would get. If you buy it I don't think you will be disappointed however. StevenA

[pgc hunter]

The astronomiks have ultra-hard scratch resistant coatings. Not sure about the coatings on the Bintels.

It pays to read a few reviews before purchasing. The astronomiks are consistantly rated as among the best.

[marki]

I have 10 x 1.25" astronomic filters, 3 for visual (OIII, CLS and Hb) and 7 for CCD (Ha, OIII, SII, L,R,G,B all parfocal). For visual I use the CLS most as it does a good job of increasing contrast on a large number of objects in this light polluted city. I rarely use the nebula filters (OIII and Hb) as they offer a limited gain due to the fact that they cut most of the light (I use a 10 inch scope) but have found the Ha ccd useful even in visual observing. They are good quality filters with the single drawback being the retaining ring which does not have cutouts to allow you to screw down the filter easily when it comes loose (often) and I have managed to scratch the Ha when attempting to do just that (hard to focus a ccd when the filter is flopping about). I believe unless you have access to a very dark site and own a large scope, the nebula filters are not good value for money as they will see little use. I have not had any experience with the bintel filters but will be upgrading the CCD filters to 2" (chips are getting bigger and cheaper :D) in the near future and will again buy astronomik.

Ciao Mark

[BlackWidow]

Hello all. This is my first post. I have a 10" DOB and just purchased a Baader Oxygen 3 filter ( I had to sell the children to purchase it :-)).

Anyway I do find that the filter give a little more detail in some cases, however I am in a light polluted area. I was a little supprised that when you look through the filter it makes everything look green? I have looked on the web and its seems that some say this is the case. However others have told me that this should not be the case at all. ???? Is thier different types of O111 filters that do and some don't or what.. Is this the compremise to getting better views of things..

Your advice on the matter would be great, as I am not sure if I have the correct filter for looking at Nebs and deep space stuff. The store I purchased it from tell me it's a great filter, but are not able to tell me if they are all green. They have offered to give me a refund, but If this is how they work I will work with it..


Thanks for your advice. I have a lot of learing to do..


Cheers
Martin:help:

[astro_nutt]

Hi all..
I have used an Astronomik 1.25" UHC-E filter and find it excellent on Emission Nebula..(M42) even in Light-polluted area's...and..some of the other deep sky objects are tinted green probably due to the effects of the mercury vapour street lamps!!..but I have learned to allow your eyes to adjust to the object..try covering your head and scope with some dark material to stop any stray light..
Cheers!!

[Geoff45]

The green is because that's the color of Oxygen III. If you look through a red/blue/green filter, everything will appear red/blue/green. The OIII filter just isolates a particular bit of the green part of the spectrum.

[Galactic G]

The Bintel UHC doesn't have the ultra-hard scratch resistant coating.

[Davekyn]

Good point about the ultra-hard scratch resistant coatings. I just recieved my bintel filters & can confirm that giving them a good rub with a lense pen does a good job getting rid of fingerprints leaving no visible marks.

Performance wise...first time I ever used a filter so cannot compare. I don't mind the green effect, however have to question the over all result. My skys are reasonably light polluted, but I am using a 12" scope. (perhaps that only exasabates the problem) M42 seemed bigger for the better part without the filter. With the filter I guess I could make out the darker regions within the nebula, but then once I did that, I could then see those regions without it. (that said though...If I wish to find somthing that does not really stand out, I guess the filter has its use) MMMMMMM...using a higher MAG did start to bring out more of the 3D effect many talk about...more like a puffy cloud effect that I could apprecieate. Seeing conditions were very moist & I beleive I can get better results. As for a LPR I dont think it really rates...either I have to much light pollution or you simply get what you pay for...a UHC not a LPR...not sure about that.

I am glad I got the bintel version, as I think I need to learn how to use my filters like using an eye piece...if ya know what I mean. In sumary I think it will be usefull for picking out finer detail that simply does not jump out and grab me in normal mode whilst in light polluted areas. I am curious as to how the puffy cloud effect will work in dark skies. Perhaps this is where I will have better results at lower power.

Have not tried the OIII version yet...that will be next on the opropriate target?

Regards
Dave

[fragchamp]

Haven't tried the Bintel ones but you might also consider a DGM NPB. I bought one on recommendations from around here. Cuts away the stars. I prefer M42 without it, but on Eta Carina it makes a big difference in that you can see the shape of the nebula much more clearly.

[Davekyn]

I tried the bintel UHC at a Dark site; with much better results...definitely worth the purchase considering the price comparisons. You won't feel as if you wasted your money!...if you cant aford $200.00, then go for it!

[barx1963]

Have a Bintel OIII filter. Great value, used to locate several planetaries, makes the bright nebs look brilliant, can use it to reduce glare of stars in the neb's do is possible to tease out all the stars in the Trapezium at low power!
Will be buying more Bintel filters soon as very happy with this one.