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Well, I took a leap of faith and ordered an OIII/Hbeta 2" filter from Omega. Took two weeks to arrive, and tonight was the first chance I've had to give it a bit of a go from home. A dark sky review is still to come.
The package I recieved was surprising, and a little disappointing. A bubblewrap envelope containing inside a light cloth wrapper around the 2" filter. Nothing more than dumb luck prevented the worst from happening to the filter.
The metal ring contains no identifying markings. Only a print out of the transmission properties and a receipt of payment accompanied the filter. Real bargain-basement stuff.
The scope I used for my initial test was my 8" f/4 dob. The test eyepiece my 2" 30mm GSO Superview, giving 26.7X and a 2.5deg FOV. Just a short session to give the filter an bit of first light.
First target was Eta Carina. Holy heck! All 2.5 degrees were filled with bright and faint nebulosity! The bright section around the star Eta Carina revealed the 'keyhole' and much more detail. Surrounding lobes of nebulosity surrounded the brightest wedge, and then festoons of fainter nebulosity surrounded the entire complex. Stunning, even from my light polluted skies.
My second and last test target was M8 and M20. Both not only sit comfortably within the 2.5deg FOV, but the glow of both nebulae is quite extensive and noticeable. M8 had the appearance of a rose flower in full bloom, layered, textured and big. M20 is much smaller, with just a small soft glow that surrounds the core stars of the nebula. The famous Trifid shape is too small for this magnifiation to be seen, but the size and shape of the nebula is outstanding.
Though I'm disappointed at how the filter arrived, its performance is most impressive.
This first point of the delivery system is the big let down though. If it weren't so flimsy, I'd highly recommend these filters. Instead, I can only say 'worth considering', unless something at Omega Optical changes.
Cheers,
Mental.
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