3 replies to this topic

[Stargazerjake]

I am looking at getting into astrophotography and i am piecing together everything ill need. I know ill need filters not sure what kind. I live in a bortle 7 sky zone. Ill have the ZWO ASI2600MC pro for imaging. What filters will be good or required to image? 

Thanks. 

[PIEJr]

Hi Jake,

Welcome to Cloudy Nights!

I, too, run an ASI2600MC Pro.

I'm in a Bortles 7-9 depending on my ignorant neighbors.

When I got the camera I was getting used to it and first got the recommended FR/FF for my AT130EDL telescope.

Then decided to get an Antlia Quad LP filter in 2" dia. I put it in a filter drawer mounted to my camera. (My first ever multi filter. Go Big, or Go Home.   )

 

I have filter wheels (Manual and Electronic) but I feel the 2600 with it's big real estate sensor can benefit with a 2" filter.

I've run multiple filters in the past with my previous cameras. But your 2600 is good enough to suck the light right out of your shot without the extra fluff.

Unless you just want to experiment with things like Ha or SII. Which a filter drawer is real good for.

But I simply use the Quad LP all the time for my AP.

 

I think things come out fine. Click on the images for more details. 

 

Unprocessed:

 

And my typical light processed:

Edited by PIEJr, 10 June 2025 - 03:41 PM.

[acrh2]

I am looking at getting into astrophotography and i am piecing together everything ill need. I know ill need filters not sure what kind. I live in a bortle 7 sky zone. Ill have the ZWO ASI2600MC pro for imaging. What filters will be good or required to image? 

Thanks. 

Bottle 7 sky is very light polluted , so you'll need a filter that will provide the best signal-to-noise ratio. I think there are only two choices - Optolong L-Ultimate and Antlia ALP-T filters both have dual 3nm narrow bands for hydrogen and oxygen emissions. 

. 

Antlia just recently released the 3nm version, and it also offers a 3nm dual narrowband filter for sulfur and oxygen emissions, allowing one to construct full Hubble palette images. 

 

There are also cheaper but less capable alternatives. For example, SVBONY SV220 filter has 7nm dual bands but has halos around bright stars. But it's also 1/3 of the price. 

[smiller]

I agree with arch2, for emission nebula you want to use as narrow a dual band filter as you can afford.  With Bortle 7 your imaging productivity (rate of SNR gain) will be nearly proportional to how narrow that filter is (ex: a 6nm filter will be nearly 2x as productive as a 12nm filter).

 

The only exception is if you have a very fast ratio telescope, where you have to worry about the band shift of the filters, but if your telescope is F4 or slower than you are probably fine with any of the regular (non-pre shifted) narrowband filters.

 

So that’s what you do for emission nebula, for broadband target such as galaxies, star clusters, and reflection nebula: Use no filter, use only the built-in UVIR cut filter of that camera.  Only if your light pollution is almost entirely composed of old sodium/mercury vapor lights (very little of the newer LEDs) should you ever consider a light pollution filter.

Edited by smiller, 11 June 2025 - 08:36 AM.