Latest OSC Narrowband Filters

[Startrek]

OSC narrowband imagers might be interested about the latest crop of filters

Antlia have developed a 5nm dual band narrowband filter ( not on their site yet ) but can be seen on Cuiv the lazy geek YouTube channel today ( Golden filter )

Optolong have developed a 3nm dual band narrowband filter ( not on their site yet ) but can be seen on Visible Dark YouTube channel today ( L Ultimate )

I first used the ZWO 2” dual band filter 18 months ago ( 15 and 35nm respectively) and thought it was great, then bought the Optolong L Extreme dual band ( 7nm and 7nm respectively) and thought this is it, absolutely unbelievable. Now we’re looking at 5nm with Antlia and 3nm with Optolong L Ultimate

When is it going to end ........

Yet to see any prices but they ain’t going to be cheap ( +500 to $1000 ??? )

Probably be available sometime in the new year ??

[Merlin66]

Martin,
You may have to explain what a dual band filter is??
Which wavelengths?

[Startrek]

Ken,
Apologies
OSC narrowband filters
Dual band Ha and Oiii
Tri band Ha Hb Oiii
Quad band Ha Hb Oiii Sii
Wavelength values vary from brand to brand

Cheers
Martin

[AdamJL]

A 3nm (or 5nm) tri band or quad band would be nice
I like the L-Extreme a lot but just dislike the star colour a lot. Maybe a filter with slightly broader colours would make for nicer stars

Should be an interesting future. I’ll likely go mono next year but will keep the 2600MC for travel. Therefore always interested in new filters!

[Stephane]

It was funny seeing Cuiv on Youtube this morning talk about the new game-changing Antilia dual band filter, only for Shawn Nielsen (Visibledark) to announce the Optolong L-Ultimate a few hours later 2nm shorter than the 5nm Antilia. It looks like Antilia will be quite expensive - gram for gram more valuable than gold lol.

The Optolong L-Ultimate, on the other hand, might be cheaper. Shawn Nielsen is quoted as saying: "I'm sure, given Optolong's history, in regards to other filters, it's going to be very affordable, and they're probably gonna have some introductory offer with regards to this filter I'm sure".

Regardless of band size and price, it will be very interesting to see comparisons under identical conditions.

Exciting. Let's wait and see.

Stephane

Shawn's L-Ultimate video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMRhQrxvuuw
Cuiv's Antilia video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMt63OaWfXQ

[Startrek]

Fortunately Newts which I use exclusively, don’t suffer as much as refractors when it comes to Star colour and halos etc... under narrowband filters
Startools has some quick neat solutions to correct your Star colours with masks and a module called Shrink
Going Mono is really tempting.The 2600MM is on the cards for next year but realising you need considerably more clear sky time to put together a really good completed image ( some folk would disagree) not to mention a raft of filters required. The issues with Star colours and halos under narrowband won’t disappear using Mono.In fact they look worse in loads of images I’ve looked at but there’s always a work around using software to minimise the effect.
Unless the L Ultimate is “significantly better” in all aspects than the L Extreme I might consider buying one.
We’ll find out soon enough