OSC Narrowband Filters - What to buy?? Let's compare! 

Cuiv, I follow several RU-vid Astrophotographers and have learned so much from all of them however, I have to say I learn so much more from you. Thank you for what you do with such passion, it's truly infectious in a good way.

You put all the answers to questions I had about duo narrowband filters in general into one video. Thanks. This video should be way higher up in the results for people researching about multi band filters.

There is a nice alternative for the Optolong L-Extreme: the Antlia ALP-T with 5nm bandwidth and it produces less halos around bright stars

Thanks! I'm using the Antlia 5nm dual band filters now for Ha/O3 and S2/Hb. They work pretty well in Bortle 5-6 but I find that I need 2x the data with the S2/Hb filter. I like the results.

The very best filter overview I've seen. Thank you so much!

Great to see you back! This by far the best review of narrowband filters. I will go with the L-extreme. You made it all sound so simple. Maybe it has always been. THANKS

Great video. Glad to see you back at it. Hope you're healing well. Ive thought about the Triad filters and now very glad with my decision to purchase the Optolong filters. Great information.

Great comparison and informative video, Cuiv! I'm glad you are back :-).

Brilliant explanations Cuiv! Landed up on your channel for explanation on N.I.N.A. and now I get some of the best informative content on astrophotography here!

Excellent Video ! Astroblender touched on Filter issues related to Optical speeds but really didn't know what was going on . You have finally uncovered the physics of the issue . Very interesting and important . Thanks and we all hope you are feeling better ./SRK

Once again, an amazing video with so much great info. So glad you are making videos again. My plans for coming to Toyko to perform a Vulcan Mind Meld are now on hold now that you are back in business on RU-vid.

Very nice and thorough comparison!

Great video (again) I think your theory stacks up! I'm Bortle 6 and I've just converted to a tri-band 35nm Oxygen + H beta & 12nm Ha huge improvement on generic CLS filter - mostly due to blocking out more light pollution. I think I'll be looking out for a narrow dual narrow band in the future!

Hi Cuiv, I use the same Sharpstar61 scope with the ASI533MC and got the L-Extreme filter recently. Your information was priceless to me and so many others. I always find new information from watching your channel. You always keep it real. I like that you haven`t taken the commercial advertising route as so many of the others have today. I owe you a Rasa if I ever come into a few quid. Your channel is a wealth of knowledge on the subject.

Excellent video, it was very interesting , i totally agree with your opinion and your suggestions regarding the filters bands pass. I hope you are felling better 😎

Nice video, especially your explanstion at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="480">8:00</a> on the light loss with high aperture lenses .... Also the Hbeta ... for visual. Thanks for posting!

Cuiv, excellent review. Appreciate your deep dive into the weeds on this!

Hi Cuiv, glad you’re recovering, if somewhat slower than you (and we) would like, from your accident, and thanks for maintaining your infectious enthusiasm! Your explanation of bandwidths, and especially your interpretation of the importance (or not) of S and Hb signals was very clear. I have the Optolong L-Pro, L-eNhance and now L-eXtreme which in my Bortle 5 skies might not be needed except for the 4 yellow streetlights that play into the ‘backyard’. However, I have also added a UV/IR blocking filter for when I’m away from the lights, because the ASI533 is prone to blue star bloat due to its IR sensitivity when I’m not using one of the Optolongs.

Great video Cuiv, really informative as always :)

Cuiv, thanks for one more superinformative and senseful video. And many thanks for coming back to the channel with this new energy. It's great to see you again with new video pills almost every other day. I was super excited when you touched the point of the bandpass shift on fast telescopes, because I'm imaging with a SCT 9.25 using both Hyperstar f2.3 and f6.3 focal reducer configurations, and I own a mix of fast and standard Baader NB filters (Highspeed for Ha, and std 7-8nm for OIII and SII). As you said, all of them work quite well in both configurations, but I guess not in optimal way in both (Ha should make its best at f2.3 and OIII and SII should do it at f.6.3) but since I cannot compare with others, I cannot say how much they are affected. I wanted however to understand the effect of the fast optical system and, while you provide certain interesting details, I must say I still don't get full understanding. On one side you explained how the different angle of the light coming from the outer part of the telescope lens/mirrow gets blocked by the filter, with the effect of an smaller effective aperture (you lose part of the system "fastness"), but looking at IDAS filter graphs you can see a real shift of the banpass central wavelength towards the blue side.. So my understanding question is whether the effect is a reduction of the effective aperture of the telescope? or actually a shift to a bluer wavelength of the filter bandpass, which may leave the Ha, OII or SII emission wavelength partly or totally out of the filter bandpass? Thanks again for all your work with these videos!!!

Have taken some nice shots with the L-eNhance and my ZWO ASI071MC. I live in Bortle 7 but tend to use this combo only during the short summer nights when there is not enough dark hours to shoot full Ha-OIII-SII with a mono camera. OSC with any multi-band filter usually results in red and blue nebula. Mono cams and true NB filters always capture more signal, plus you can do Hubble Palette. But wish I did have the L-eXtreme, which came out just shortly after the L-eNhance. Oh, and wishing you a speedy and complete recovery from your recent health challenges. God bless!

You must have been quite happy with the L-Ultimate then! Sounds like it's exactly up your alley. Great video!

I just caught the Chernobyl reference. lol Love it. I really enjoy going back on these videos and compiling more and more info into my brain. I just got a Raspi with astroberry and got my rig built up. Canon dslr with a redcat 51. Still so much to learn. Your content and knowledge is appreciated by many!

Great video as always Cuiv! 👍 And good to see you without the brace, hope you’re feeling better! I recently bought the IDAS NBZ filter myself, and find it very good from a Bortle 6/7 back garden. Using it on my F/5 Newt and was blown away. Only had one night with it though so far due to the damn UK weather! 😡 One thing you forgot to mention with the NBZ is it was re-designed from the ashes of the NBX, which suffered greatly with star halos. Not with the NBZ! I’ve tried the L-eXtreme before and found that star halos were a problem on certain bright stars. Not with the NBZ, even in 10 minute exposures!!!

Hey Cuiv! - This is a subject I've followed along with myself too so I can appreciate the accuracy of information you have provided for people, bravo! :-) I couldn't help but notice the VR headset on the side there by the way, brilliant to see! I love VR :-) (especially Beat Saber!!)

Thanks for the video. Would love a target/filter video as well

I was a bit worried at the start but I'm happy you ended up with the l-extreme :)

Wow!! Amazing video! Very informative and in a way that’s easy to understand! I wish i knew about all this when I got my l-enhance! Think I’ll sell that and get an l-extreme now!

Thanks for this very useful information. I have just bought my first OSC astronomy camera (533 size sensor) for deep sky imaging. This will be used mostly with either a Samyang 135 f2 lens or a William Optics GT81 refractor (I have my mono camera more or less permanently set up with a cat51). I will probably go for the L-Extreme but have also looked at the Altair Astro dual band filter as I already use their 7nm Ha and OIII filters with my mono camera. I also have a Sky Tech dual band clip filter for my unmodified SSLR. this seemed to be OK on targets such as M42 at Bortle 5 or 6, but at light polution levels above this it doesn't work that well ( to be fair it probably works a lot better with a modified or dedicated astronomy DSLR )

Very informative! Thanks!

Thanks for this video Cuiv! It is helping me get a better understanding of what to consider when buying a filter. Have you seen Optlong must have watched this and just released the L-ultimate which is 3nm bandpass 😂

Salut Cuiv Heureux que tu sois de retour ! Je partage tout à fait ton choix. J’ai pu faire des prises assez fantastique de la nébuleuse d’Orion avec le L Extreme avec simplement une petite Takahashi FS 60CB, montée sur une Skywatcher AZ GTE, depuis le centre ville de Douai, sous un lampadaire (!), par une nuit avec une lune assez pleine. Ok, c’était la nébuleuse d’Orion mais j’ai été bluffé par le résultat.

Great to see you back. You had us scared for your health. I have a Rasa {both 8 and 14} and in a Bortle 5 the L-extreme does not work. The shift is too much. However I shoot very short exposures. If I put that filter on my refractor it works fantastic. I refuse to give up short exposures because of cloud/fog issues here on the coast.

As usual, excellent explanation! Thanks! g.

thank you very much for such an informative video! i currently shoot with a nikon 400mm f/2.8 (its stars are pin sharp corner to corner on full frame at f/2.8) and i still have a triad ultra filter from when i had slower scopes. i haven’t shot with the triad ultra much because the bandpass transmission goes down so much at high speeds like f/2.8. recently radian came out with a triad ultra designed for high speeds, with the bandpasses pre-shifted so that they get shifted back to the correct wavelengths when shooting at f/3 or faster. i put up my original triad ultra for sale and was going to buy this f/3 filter, but thankfully your video made me reconsider. i did some more research and found the (now that i’m of your logic lol) way better dual 5nm bandpass Antlia ALP-THS 2, designed for fast scopes too. Designed for shooting between f/2.2 and f/3.6, which i thankfully fall right in the middle of, i think im actually more interested in the slightly wider bandpass because as you described, it’ll very possibly let in the light coming in from the centre of my lens’ objective as well! plus, it’s half the price of the triad ultra f/3!!! thank you again for your thoughts, what do you think about my choice?

I agree totally. Never knew why they added S2 and Hb

i've recently been shooting with my 2" L-extreme and DSLR - with the 2" filter mounted in front of lens - and I've been getting great results - I get a bit of an aperture restriction, but as your diagram shows, no issues with light angle. Shooting with 6d and Samyang 135mm for example. Also 300mm F4 L.

Thanks for the insight!

Great video! I agree with your assessment. I have nearly all of the Optolong and Astronomik filters (2" and clip in) I'm in a Bortle 4/5 and the L extreme and L enhance both work very well for me especially when using my 120mm skywatcher esprit (Starizona FR) and my QHY 268C. I've tried my IR cut and compared what I get and it seems to follow logic. I get great images if I'm imaging north (into a bortle 1-ish area) with the IR cut and if I'm imaging to the south I'm going through a Bortle 2 or so and the narrowband filters really do help. I've avoided the higher end filters because what I'm getting really looks as good as anything with similar equipment and seeing on Astrobin.

Cuiv, A great video, I have the line of Optolong from L-Pro to L-Extreme. There is a caveat to the using the NB OSC filters like the L-Extreme or even the L-Enhance. For objects that have significant reflection nebula/components, the L-Pro is the better filter. L-Enhance will block noticeable detail from reflections components in a mixed emission/reflection target like M78. The L-Extreme blocks almost all reflection - rendering targets like M45 mere ghosts of what can be imaged with the L-Pro or even no filter. Characteristics of the target have to be considered when selecting the appropriate filter.

Great overview of the different filters there - I learnt a lot. I have the L-extreme filter which I have used with Skywatcher ESPRIT 120ED and my ASI294mcpro and it worked brilliantly at picking up the Ha and OIII signal, even in full moonlight. The only problem I had with it was that I got very defined and hard edged halos around many of the brighter stars which were bloody impossible for me to get rid of. I have yet to work out if it's a function of the filter or how I have it setup. However, my Optolong 6.5nm OIII filter I use with the 2600mmpro has no such issue thankfully.

Excellent video Cuiv. Totally agree, I have the LExtreme and I’m in a bortle 4, it works great, I love it, from my bortle 4, I don’t get much light pollution anyway, so 7nm if fine👍 Clear skies

I have an IDAS NBZ and use it with my Redcat or my 8" RC with a QHY247C. It's a fantastic filter and I have to say that IDAS/HuTech is a stand-up company. I purchased an NBX as soon as it came out. There were some issues with halos around brighter stars. They went back to the drawing board and the NBZ was born. If you bought an NBX and have proof of purchase, you can request a replacement NBZ filter and they'll send it to you for FREE. Not many companies would do that.

I think I am going to go with the NBZ because I live in Bortle 5 and have access to Bortle 4 to 2 within an hour or less drive and I HATE HALOS. I wish I could afford the Antlia ALP-T but I cannot and I will be imaging with an f/4.5 and f/4 scope which brushes the limits of both the L-Extreme and the Antlia ALP-T. Awesome video.

Check out Altair Astro’s new dual band filter , it’s pulled good results from London’s bortle 8 skies . Great to see you back again mate 👌🏻

I had the Triad filter, but sold it and got the L-Extreme. Great filter! I use it with the ASI533 and the ASI2600. The only issue I have is star colour using the L-Extreme. To combat the bad star colour I add subs using an L-Pro filter.

Great review!! 🖖

Excellent video with fantastic analysis....as always Cuiv! I hope your recovery is on-schedule. I'm going to be long-winded here (again...lol...your videos always get me thinking...), but hopefully the following 'food for thought' will be interesting/helpful. 1. Regarding the issues advertized by IDAS: (a) I certainly agree that fast optical systems will cause bandpass shifting, which would reduce the signal reaching the sensor (thereby reducing the signal to noise ratio in the raw images, and doing so with increasing amounts towards the edge of the photographic field) Furthermore, any tilting of the filter from perpendicular to the optical axis will also exacerbate this issue. (b) However, the IDAS filter has a relatively wide bandpass for narrowband filtering (12nm). Typical bandpasses for separate H-alpha, H-beta, OIII & SII filters are between 3nm and 7nm. This means that the IDAS filters are letting in a lot more light from sources other than emission nebula in space..in otherwords, light pollution. Consequently, the background noise in raw images will be higher than when using a 3nm to 7nm narrowband filter. This will reduce the signal to noise ratio, and the problem may not be rectified in post-processing. I don't know the answer to the following question, but it's worth considering: "Will the negative effects of light pollution with 12nm bandpass filters reduce the S/N ratio more or less than the negative effects of bandpass wavelength shift in 'fast' optical systems?". 🤔 (c) Imagers using a refractor with a focal reducer could place one of the narrowband filters that you compared in front of the focal reducer, and that would allow the filter to do its thing without being subjected to light rays hitting it at a severe angle. e.g. If you have a refractor with a native f-ratio of f/6, and use a 0.75x focal reducer (which results in an f/4.5 system), placing the NB filter ahead of the reducer means the NB filter 'sees' an f/6 light cone, not a 'faster f/4.5 light cone. As far as I understand, the primary negative to this strategy is that you may need a larger NB filter in some systems if you want to avoid vignetting (whether vignetting could be a concern will, in-part, depend on the distance the NB filter is ahead of the optical centre of the reducer, the f-ratio of the telescope objective, and the size of the sensor.). 🤔 2. Another consequence of bandpass shift could be shifting some of the OIII signal (which is in the transition zone between blue & green) from illuminating both blue & green pixels to illuminating more green than blue. I don't think that a comparable issue would occur with a shift in the H-beta, H-alpha & SII bandpasses. 🤔 3. This is another whole ball of wax, but I wonder if the 'bandpass' curves for the red, green & blue 'micro-filters' that are situated on the sensor pixels in a OSC could vary from one sensor type to another, which in-turn could influence the colours displayed in the debayered raw image. i.e. Is it possible that one sensor type could 'see' the OIII regions in a nebula as more blue than green, then another sensor type would 'see' the OIII regions in the same nebula as more green than blue? 🤔 4. Regarding the Sightron Japan Quad Filter & Radian Triad Quad Ultra Filter Cuiv, you are quite right in saying that the SII signal from most emission nebulae is usually a lot weaker than the H-alpha signal. So, IF the two signals overlap, then - yes - the SII signal will be swamped by the H-apha signal. However, as many images in the Hubble Palette demonstrate, there can be SII emitting regions in a nebula that are in a different location than the H-apha emitting regions, and vice-versa. In those cases, the SII would not be swamped, but would be on its own. Having said that, the fact that both H-apha and SII signals will be seen by a OSC as red, means that when we look at an image taken through one of these NB filters, there will be no way to see which red nebulosity is from the H-alpha signal, which is from the SII signal, and which is from a combination of H-apha & SII ! 🤔 5. As for the issue with having an H-beta bandpass... Kudos Cuiv for mentioning the 'trick' of copying the H-alpha channel to a new layer in the image, reducing the brightness, and assigning it to the Blue Channel. 👍 I don't think that a lot of newer astro-imagers are aware of this strategy. 👍 If I recall correctly, the ratio of H-beta:H-alpha is <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="66">1:6</a> in planetary nebulae, and <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="72">1:12</a> in emission nebulae, but I could be wrong. Also, you made an excellent point re: visual astronomy...in fact, the first time I ever saw the Horsehead Nebula through a telescope (without having my doubts) was when a friend let me use his Lumicon H-beta filter (*) that was designed for visual applications! And, BTW, that observation was in Bortle 1 or 2 skies....the effects of natural atmospheric skyglow on visual observing should not be underestimated. 🤔 (*) I'm revealing how very old I am by mentioning Lumicon! lol 4. Last.....a question: Could a filter such as the Radian Triad Ultra Quad filter be used as a Luminance AND super light pollution filter when using a Mono camera in urban locations? While it may affect the relative brightnesses of the stars in the field, it would do wonders for emphasizing emission nebulae in LRGB images, right? Also, could one take Luminance images with a OSC through one of these NB filters, then take RGB data using the OSC without one of these filters, then produce an LRGB with better contrast, even if light pollution was not severe? 🤔

Good video. I agree with your SII assessment. Not sure I agree with your Hb comments. Thanks for making this video...!

Another very informative video Cuiv I've got a RASA 11 & I've been looking around online for a filter an the IDAS looks like the one to go for, I live in what is apparently a Bortle 4 area although I'm not totally convinced but I'm hoping the filter will work well for targets lower on the horizon, I'm hoping to give the scope a first light soon & as I don't have any filters for it other than a sky glow filter I'm probable going to go for a target that's straight up above me here like the Elephants trunk nebula so fingers crossed I'll be able to pull some detail from it.

I can say with my hyperstar the IDAS NB1 works great even at F2 OSC but I bought the Badder F2 optimized mono filters for my 1600mm and they are awesome!

Good stuff Cuiv I've been happy with my L-enhance for a few months in bortle 6, just made the move to the L-extreme so interested to see how this will go might make a video on the comparison.👍

Hi Quiv, love the vids, love the channel, love you! Altair have a 7nm dual band filter for £235, not quite the 3 or 4 nm we dream of but a step in the right direction. I'm guessing it will be £600 when it finally arrives.

L-Enhance : 24nm width for OIII/Hb, 10nm width for Ha. Advantage over other filters : it exists as clip for DSLR.

Hi Cuiv, Love your videos please keep them coming whenever you can, they are so informative and for beginning Astro imagers like myself they make life so much easier. I imagine in Tokyo you are in a Bardahl 8+ sky like I am here in Cleveland Ohio. Are use an L pro light, clip and filter with my canon and it’s OK but I was thinking about the L extreme. Now that I’ve seen your video I think I will go ahead and get the L extreme. By the way what do you do in Tokyo I work for a company out of Kyoto and I used to travel there quite often before the pandemic. Please keep the videos coming and I hope your healing is going well.

Hi Quiv. Thanks for another great video. Hope you are healing well from your accident. I have just a couple of comments. 1) h-beta is not really a mirror of h-alpha. It comes from a different energy state transition. It may be a complication when processing a multi-band pass filter, but it is a distinct signal which depends on the target. 2) 5nm (for h-beta) is < 2% of the visible spectrum. You should not be so stressed about this contribution to your signal for the Racism Quad (the price on the other hand is another matter). 3) as you mention in the beginning, focal ratio is very important, especially if using really short fr. Most, but not all folks using a RASA should know that there are specialty filters for fr=2. I own an L-Enhance (and an L-Pro2) and both work well for my bortle 7ish skies. Your photos are stunning and your videos are very helpful. Thanks. Bob

Hello Cuiv, fantastic video! Thank you for your theoretical approach. One thing I'd like to note if you don't mind, and it's in regards to the Optolong L-eNhance vs L-eXtreme. I noted in one of my video that I think the L-eNhance is better suited for dSLR's because of their lack of cooling. The L-eXtreme, in my experience, IS a better filter, as long as your camera is cooled to deal with the longer exposure necessary with that filter. The L-eXtreme may introduce too much thermal noise when paired to dSLRs, especially older ones. Anyways, awesome video! Thanks for posting this! P.S. it would be great if we could collaborate. My sky is quite crap as well, I live in San Francisco, so my skies are as garbage as yours in Tokyo 😃.

WOW!! I do understand what you are saying...a lot of info!! Thanks for all your efforts! Do you know when the Optolong L Extreme F is coming to market?

This is an area I really want to explore in depth. It’s fascinating about H-beta. I guarantee you there’s an abundance of imagers who only know they don’t need it. Visual folks are familiar with it but even they rarely prioritize it. For visual it’s only really helpful for a handful of targets. If I personally had to guess why it’s included is that it’s a marketing trick. “Our model also includes hydrogen beta transmission!” You have a much broader experience with filters than I do. I’ve toyed with practically every planetary filter available. I wish I had all the money I’ve wasted on them. Great video. This is one I will continue to check comments on. Hopefully it will inspire some educated responses. Let’s kidnap a filter developer. Jk

Great and very informative video! For the money, IMO, the IDAS NBZ filter is the best filter on the market. Great quality and works great with fast optics. Also very reasonably priced when compared to the other filters. I use the NBZ filter from Bortle 8 skies and get amazing results.

Great video and insights. I was really debating with my inner financially responsible self - about TRIAD filters. - What do you consider a "fast system" ? f ... what? 3.9, 5 etc or - less than f3? - While we are all plagued by/with light pollution - usually most of the people still take the hike and go somewhere darker (Bortle 6 or less ...). Then more of these filters make sense...

One of the best narrow band filter reviews I've seen. You address the major issue of different emission strengths for HA vs HB etc, which has a major impact on imaging with a OSC sensor, and which most people ignore. Bandpass is not everything; signal strength from different molecular species is also very important. You nail this. I'd love to know your opinion on filters for imaging galaxies. Here narrow band is no good? Is just a Neodymium filter good enough for Bortle 8+ sites?

I have the ZWO duo band (because I'm cheap and poor) but just for the record if you don't own any narrowband filter and you got light pollution issues, even the ZWO duo band would make a world of difference. I have other light pollution filters that I tried that deploy a different technique to reduce light pollution, but even the cheapest of all narrowband filters will make a world of difference. Save your light pollution filters for broadband targets like galaxies and star clusters and deploy a narrow band for emission nebulae. I also use Baader moon/skyglow, which is rather a uv-ir cut filter on steroids. It does cut some of the sky glow or moon glow but no match for a narrow band filter.

I'm in Tokyo like you :) And I've L-eXtreme as well, love it. Thanks Cuiv :)

Nice video Cuiv! I currently image under a bortle sky 4 using Optolong L Enhance filter using a dslr with good results, however recently i ordered a dedicated cooled camera the Altair 26c and i am thinking soon to try also tighter narroband filters, maybe like the Antila filter 5nm or similar . I heard you are in an Astrophotography break, when you restart astrophotography let me know if you are interested in a collaboration, i think we could do some nice comparison between bortle 4 and 9.

Great information.. I learned a lot.. thank you! New subscriber...

Great info here, Cuiv, as usual. I love your scientific and logical approach to astrophotography topics, over-the-top enthusiasm, and ever-present humor and insights that always keeps me chuckling. Please keep up the great work. I have a stock entry-level Canon DSLR and I'm wondering if narrowband filters like these are worth the cost given that the DSLR has an IR-cut filter in it. I can't seem to find any specs on my camera's IR-cut filter in terms of how aggressive it is and if it reduces the H-alpha in any way, and I was hoping you had some insight. I have access to a Bortle 3 site if I drive about 30 min but would love to do more imaging from my backyard more often (Bortle 5-6) and/or on nights when the moon is a problem. Do you think the Optolong L-eXtreme would help even with a DSLR?

The IDAS NBZ is great with a hyperstar, definitely outperforms the L-enhance, I don't use the L-extreme due to the band shift at F2

I currently own the L-Enhance, L-eXtreme and the Triad Ultra Quad, and the Triad wins hands down (in my opinion). Even at the price point I would say it's a no brainer. I've owned a ton of gear while in this hobby and most of it offers slight improvements over other gear, but nothing jaw dropping. The Triad was one of the few items I've bought where I was truly blown away by it, even over the L-eXtreme. At the end of the day though I think it matters less about the numbers and specs and more about what the person is looking for in their images, and how well does that filter align with that. To me the Triad Ultra produced an image that was better than I even imagined in my head. I can't tell you exactly what it is about the images it produces that I like so much more than the L-eXtreme. For all I know the added cost of the filter has a placebo effect on me and makes me see the images as better than they are. Whatever it is, it made me fall in love with this hobby all over again. I'm in a Bortle 8 for what it's worth.

It looks like Optolong have heard your request Cuiv and the L-Ultimate filter is coming soon. Dual bandwidth filter with each band passing 3nm of H-Alpha and OIII. I'm looking forward to this one. From Testar, my local store - "The new Optolong L-Ultimate filter is a light pollution dual band filter designed to drastically reduce the effect of light pollution. Its two ultra-narrow 3nm passing bands isolate the nebulae emissions in H-Alpha (red) and OIII (green-blue). It blocks the light pollution, maximises nebulae signal and makes the sky background dark. The L-Ultimate filter is designed for astrophotography under urban skies"

you should check out the new ASKAR filter's that just came out it's two filters in a set one is HA+Oiii and the other is S2+Oiii and they are cheaper than most brands.

I’ve got the Optolong L-eXtreme and the L-Pro. I figured that these will give me the best coverage for most objects in my Bortle 7 environment. The L-Pro has actually been working fantastically well, even for emission nebulae. The L-eXtreme has been used on the Wizard Nebula and I was blown away by the results. There’s no way I’m going to drop $1,1100 US on a filter. I’d rather spend that on the ASI294MC Pro.

I can’t wait for you to try Chroma’s hahah

Cuiv, very good video. I like your videos because it seems like although you repeat beeing lazy, you are yet clever :-) From my pov those filters are narrowband filters in first place and not LP filters. Once you see it from that standpoint, you can make different argumentations: Broader bandpasses allow more light (e.g. Hbeata and SII) to reach the sensor, hence you should get a better snr (in good sky quality circumstances), BUT you get less contrast (and you dont get any seperation anymore due to the bayer matrix). So thats why (again in my opinion) people are fastly convinced of tighter bandpasses because they are simply more contrasty. A caveat of duo narrowband filters is something you mentioned as well: The moon has more of a negativ impact on the blue/green OIII Line, cause the moonlight is coloring the sky blue (as the sunlight does). Thats why with a mono camera OIII ften is captured during new moon, whereas you can image SII and Ha in moonlight. You clearly can see it if you start imaging before moon rise. When the moon rises you see the pollution in the green/blue parts of the image. So thats anyway a problem, independent from broad or tight bandpasses. Anyway i agree and would love to see a tight duo narrowband filter just passing Ha and OIII. And i am very curious about that IDAS Filter but it seems to be hard to get, at least in germany. It is listed already on dealers websites, but with delivery dates somewhere in the future. Ah yes and you forgot oe: The STC Dou Narrowband, which was on the market long before the LXtreme :-) BTW. glad you are back on track!

Ya Cuiv is back, Hope your back is doing better, I am suprised you didnt include the Idas NB1 , NB2 , NB3, When I talked with Borg they told me the NBZ was only meant for fast optics and was already Pre-shifted for the bandpass shift that occurs with Fast Optics. Since I am parting with my C8 and Hyperstar because my Stellarvue SVX 80mm just does a better job with similar FOV. I see no purpose in it. As far as the NB2 and NB3 its a cheaper way to do SHO palette than spending $1100 on the Radian Triad filter maybe it the Triad was 1/2 the cost it would be worth it but $1100 is ridiculous for a OSC filter

Cuiv, thank you for the band pass shifting as per the focal length. If I refer to the transmittance graph (at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="307">5:07</a> for example) and I look at the transmittance bands (at low focal length) of the iOptron L-Extreme, my conclusion is that the Halpha is move alot toward the Sodium spec (which I think it is light polution) and the Oiii is shifted to the Hbeta. So ... the filters that we buy are not really that good... Then (looking angain to that graph) the % of light passing through the Halpha and Oiii is quite low for a low focal length. Am I right Cuiv?

Hey, Cuiv! Thanks for the info. I agree with what you just said, but I have just one comment on the l-eXtreme: not so good if you have only a DSLR. In this case the l-eNhance is better choice.

Hi Cuiv. Love all the vids! Question: do you experience significant Halos using the L-extreme? I had the L-enhance and sold it because the Halos were terrible. I get less Halos with the IDAS NBZ. But after this video I am considering the L-Extreme-hence I'm curious if you see bad Halos with it. Thanks-Tommy

Cuiv, considering the anime shirts you've worn in the videos I'm guessing you might be an anime fan? I go way back to the days of Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atomu) and Kimba the White Lion , (Janguru Taitei) both by Osamu Tezuka, who I got to meet in person at the LA meeting of ASIFA not long before he passed away. The group gave him a beautifully made 2' tall statue of Astro Boy and it moved him to tears. I would bet you that no matter how many anime you might have, I have considerably more I've collected over the past 60+ years up until, literally, today. I wanted to ask you where you got the Studio Ghibli shirt you're wearing in this video. I started looking online but haven't been able to find one.

I use both the L-Extreme and the L-enhance each have their uses, on Orion the L-Extreme does not show up the blues of the running man as well as the L-Enhance for starters.

Cuiv have you seen that Antlia filters have a new dual band filter (ALP-T Dualband 5nm NB filter) coming out that has 5nm band passes for each Ha & Oiii. Looks interesting

Hey Cuiv, I’m just starting out and I’m waiting for ZWO to ship my AM5 mount. I’ve already got an ASI224MC to do planetary imaging with my Mewlon 180c. This can double as the guide camera for my FC-100DC. My question is would it be simpler in the short term for me to use my planetary camera to image double stars and open clusters just to get my polar alignment and processing chops together before I buy an expensive, cooled big-sensor camera?

I have the ZWO Duo Band as well and it works pretty well with my hyperstar. Where my L-Extreme does not. . I'm looking into getting the IDAS NBZ but no one has it in stock. ;o(

Hi! Thank you for your video, it’s very clear and useful! I’m evaluating to buy the L-Extreme but I have a doubt: with a small refractor (70/420, f6) could I have problem with l-extreme? Maybe it’s better the Idas nebula booster or my focal ratio is not so fast? Thanks and greatings from Italy!

I wish you published this a few months ago… I picked up a an L extreme and I shot f1.9 about 50% of the time.

I hope you are in good health, great & informative video, you excluded the L-Pro? why?

Could you cover some laymen’s/ budget filters? The svbony mostly. Are they any good?? I picked up a uhc from svbony but not sure what to expect from it.. as it’s my first filter

Cuiv, did you consider the band passes of the RGGB bayer filter on your camera? I'm purely speculating but does the O3 end up on the GG (which is good as its weaker than Ha), the Ha ends up on the R, and the Hb end up on the B? Therefore you end up with 2 pixels Ha+Hb and 2 pixels O3. NB imaging with multiband pass filters with colour cameras is complicated cubed, mono is simples.

Excellent video! Just a question i have, as I’m looking to get a telescope and i have the Nikon z5 mirrorless. I was told by someone if your camera is not modified then you will want to use the L-Enhance as the L-Extreme will be too narrow of a band pass for stock DSLRs. What are your thoughts?

L-extreme looks like the best for emission neb. What’s your choice for broadband.

Great info! Do filters have a polarity? Does it matter which side is oriented to the camera sensor?

Got the IDAS LPS D2, Lenhance and Lextreme. Lextreme is impressive for nebulas and cuts star bloating down , lenhance is much more natural in my bortle 5 skies at home. The IDAS... well its useless for me - not good for nebulas, not usable for galaxies. But 40min away I can enjoy bortle 2.9 skies and thats my favourite: UV/IR cut luminance filter and natural star colors.

Any comments regarding the AltairAstro Tirband Filter

Do one for "Antila Triband RGB Ultra filter" vs "Antila Quad Band Filter" vs "IDAS GNB" filter

I am a bit slow, so I didn't get this vid until now - but again: A great one, Cuiv! Question related to band shifting: Does this imply that there are more benefits of using smaller camera sensors on your scope if you are using narrowband filters?

I got the 533/L-Extreme/EDPH61 combo and it gives great pictures but the thought of getting 2600MM crosses my mind frequently, why do you stick with OSC?

Have you had the chance to try the Antlia ALP-T filter? It seems to match your criteria for a good OSC filter with 5nm HA and Oiii.

I know this is 2 years old but I have a question: I want to get more HOO or SHO color palettes from my 2600MC. I have a place to go for Bortle 3 but my home is Bortle 8. Do I use these filters for nebula when shooting in dark sky areas or just high light polution? Should nebula always be shot with filters with OSC?

I’ve heard that filters can cause coma if it’s too far away from the censer. I have a 2” filter draw in front of my DSLR and it seems to be causing issues. Only was to get it closer would be to by a dedicated astro camera. Is this what you think or do you think it’s back focus causing the coma?

Cuiv, did you had halos around bright stars with OPT Triad Ultra Quad Band ?