Cuiv, another great video and review. You are a really important voice in the hobby performing a great service. Your knowledge and experience is invaluable. Many thanks.
Hi Cuiv. I bought the askar c1 and c2 filter set because of your videos and after months of clouds I managed to get a couple of hours on the eagle nebula and I'm delighted with the results. Much love from bortle 9 Manchester U.K
Hi Cuiv! Yes there needs to be more affordable options with good quality. I love the case! I look forward to how this filter trends in the community. Thanks and CS!
Thanks Cuiv . I know you are busy but have you thought anymore about making a "Filter Review" Playlist . You do so many Filters it would be easier (for us) to locate specific items . Thanks !
Hi Cuiv, an idea for future filter videos: When you are asked to review a filter, buy it from any dealer you like and ask the manufacturer to simply pay you the cost. This eliminates any risk of cherry-picking. Much can also be gleaned from those that refuse. Any argument that they are refunding you the retailer profit margin also is penny pinching for a company charging hundreds of dollars per filter. Great content as always, hoping to send you an invention I've been a part of one day once it's ready :)
I might have to do a deeper dive on which filters cause halos because I had to remove a halo this week from an image taken with an Astronomik UHC filter. So I guess I'm against having halos. Thanks for doing these reviews and please keep them coming!
Cheers! As far as I understand they're reflections... in which case the filter isn't the only culprit. But then why do OIII filters tend to produce more halos? A bit of a mystery to me
Thanks Cuiv! I've been using the C1 and C2 lately and comparing the C1 to my ALP-T. Being in Bortle 6 makes it tough, but I now know I need narrow bandpass for my sky condition. Probably going to go with the D2 now. Thanks for all of your guiding and auto focus videos too! Very, very helpful now that Im setting my my new Eagle 5s.
Hey Cuiv! Really helpful and relevant informational video, thanks! We've had dreadful weather here in Liverpool, UK, just 2 clear nights all year! ALL YEAR!! It's heart-breaking Cuiv! LOL. Anyway I have recently bought the Optolong L-Ultimate, so I'm itching to get it outside for first light. Maybe I missed it, but have you ever done a video on the L-Ultimate Cuiv? I'd love to know how it fared on your Spectrometer? Awesome content as always Cuiv! Thank You! Wes, Liverpool UK.
Great review Cuiv sounds like the manufacturer listened to your concerns & are acting on them which can only be a good thing, maybe they'll send you another one from their next batch who knows, clear skies
Halos are a deal breaker. Most people buy Chromas because they have no halos when compared to something like Antlia. Especially in Oiii. Good to see they’re making their process better.
Great video, I too have this filter on the way from china to review, and I did notice that they state on the website, + or - 1.2nm, which is quite a lot and would fit with your findings…of being a tad over 6nm as you found in Ha… will see how it performs when it arrives, although I don’t have the expensive kit like you to test the bandpass…so will have to rely on just imaging 👍🏻
Personally I tend to stick to the more well known brands that have been around for a while for my astro gear, as the good and bad points, reliability etc are generally well known. I currently image in a Bortle 5 area and I find my existing Optolong and Altair broad and narrow band filters generally do a reasonable job at producing images I am happy with so I won't be buying any new filters anytime soon. Nice to know that there are more options out there all the same.
Yep that was disappointing. It's weird because the product page showing the spectrum does show a 6nm FWHM on Ha, but who would actually go and double check that? I should have hammered on this more in the video - and glad my own spectrometer caught this!
Hey Cuiv... I just read about a new-to-me Altair Astro Tri RGB light pollution filter. Apparently, this filter adds sulfur and reduces bright star halos. Have you checked it out? Thoughts? Thanks, Michael
A good evening to you sir, im looking for some sort off Oiii Sii filter for F2... tempted to try an Askar C2 to see if it can cope with the shift.. but nice to see others on the market that might make something that will work on faster scopes color cameras
Halos like diffraction spikes are an image enhancer to me... but in moderation of course. Some people simply can't stand them and will go to extreme measures to eliminate them at all costs! We now see people putting strange thing-a-ma-bobs on their spider vanes to eliminate spikes... but at the cost of covering up precious mirror surface!
Thanks Jim! I don't mind halos much myself, and I'm not sure how it would be possible to "predict" them, it has to be about reflection between surfaces, so it's not *just* the filter I would assume, but not sure!
How do those halos compare to svbony, antlia and optilong? I’m sure you’ve answered this comparison question in at least one, maximum three, other videos…
@@CuivTheLazyGeek well, since I’m asking then I should probably do that for myself. Not really fair to want you to make the content AND be your own wiki! 😝
A red flag to me... It would be too easy for a manufacturer to cherry pick the items they're sending out for review. (especially an unknown manufacturer) Wanting the item back is another small flag. On the plus side... It could be that they trust your testing procedure and are checking up on their own qc inspectors to tune up their process... 🤔 Who knows? Spin the "Wheel Of Fortune!" Vanna will tell you what you've won! Next contestant please!
Yep exactly - Their emails were all very detailed and earnest so I hope that indeed that filter was randomly selected, but then if they really are going to provide individual spectrometer readings of each filter, there is no lottery!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek I hope they follow through with that promise and not be another bait and switch company... Maybe they're just looking to increase their international visibility. I hope.
Hello - no need to use 6 question marks. I'm not sure why delving into the general cause of filter halos is relevant during a specific filter review, but it is mostly due to inter-filter reflections, see www.researchgate.net/publication/365687384_Understanding_Filter_Induced_Star_Halos
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Thanks for the response, It is quite relevant when laying out $300-$500 (Canadian Dollars) for a filter to have some idea whether this (defect or enhancement depending on persective) is likely to vary widely across any particular manufacturer's production. If it is indicative of the manufacturing process or just quality control, as shown by your later update on the Hangzhou Guangna 5nm dual filter.
When you say that you are supporting the underdog… what translates to in these cases is Chinese companies that are stealing the IP of companies from other countries and then undercut the prices until the competition is out of business and they will then charge what they like. How would you feel if someone did that to you…? As a small additional point these “alternatives” are frequently not as good quality as the original
It's something I'm always thinking about when he's celebrating the "cheap" or the "free": what would he thinks if, at his work, somebody says: ok, you have to work for free or at a low salary because it's what customers are demanding. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be very happy with that. Specially when he seems more interested in buying "toys" and not actually using them ( amaze by tech, but not actually using it, just toys ). So no money, no toys, no channel. He's quite hypocrite about it, as he's demanding for free/cheap soft/hardware but he's earning money reviewing it.
@@nikaxstrophotography see petal I know some of the people who work on producing some excellent optical filters for astronomy/ scientific work. They are not the most expensive. They have spent years researching and developing materials, spending 10s of thousands of euros. They still Like to eat, have a house, occasional holiday and yes do astronomy. Then there are Chinese (mostly) who try to steal their IP, to then go use cheap / slave labor to charge less for frequently inferior products. They will be driven out of the astronomy market and then when a few Chinese companies have a monopoly do you think they will keep prices so low? Really….? If you don’t like the truth of this then feel free to ignore it but do tell me or any one else the should stop watching because they disagree with you
