Quote:
Originally Posted by Startrek
Does anyone have experience with the Astronomik UHC visual filter as I would like to know if they provide more detail , contrast and possibly colour when viewing various Nebula (emission, planetary etc )
I have a 12” GoTo Dob and use Televue Ethos , Delos , Panoptic eye pieces at my semi dark site ( Bortle 3 / 4 skies )
I already use low costs planetary and lunar filters which work well plus a Astronomik CLS filter for my Canon 600D which doesn’t get much use
Any advice or comments most appreciated
Cheers
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Hi Martin,
I have a 2" Astronomics UHC and OIII, a 2" Lumicon UHC and OIII and a 2" DGM Optics NPB Filter. I use these in Newtonians from 10" to 30", well I did, the 30"/F4.6 SDM now has a 2 piece mirror. So the largest scope will be 25" moving forward.
You certainly don't need all of those filters, but they are all a little different and do slightly different things on different targets. The Lumicon Filters have tighter bandpasses than the Astronomics filters and on some targets slightly extend the extremities of the nebula, compared to the equivalent Astronomics filter. However, IMO the Astronomics filters give an aesthetically nicer view than the Lumicon filters because they let more of the stars through that are in the field, compared to the Lumicons.
Of all the filters I have the one that gets easily the most use is the DGM Optics NPB filter. This is a very tight bandpass UHC filter but offers a reasonable improvement on the most targets and on the widest range of targets of all the filters I own and have used. That includes all of the Meade, Celestron and Thousand Oaks filters as well.
If I could only have one deep sky filter for visual observing I would choose the 2" DGM Optics NPB filter every single time. It is also a good bit cheaper than the Lumicons and Astronomics. The Astronomics is probably the best made of them all mechanically and optically, but they are all good.
You could also have a look at my article on filters which I prepared for a presentation ay IISAC in about 2011
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-680-0-0-1-0.html
Cheers
John B