Why are many OSC users getting the Optolong UV-IR cut?

Thats infrared microrefraction from the camera's CFA. Unavoidable w/o a UV/IR cut.

Thats infrared microrefraction from the camera's CFA. Unavoidable w/o a UV/IR cut.

Thanks for the info! How would you rate the ZWO UV-IR cut?

It's good, just not the best. A lot of people go to the Optolong due to it's superior coatings and glass performance. The price difference is quite visible in the images too.

I've used both the ZWO and the Optolong UV/IR. My ZWO created halos aplenty. So much so that assumed I had a bad copy. IMO ZWO keeps costs down by having poor QA on their filters, some are good, some bad, luck of the draw. But they are cheap and when starting out, it makes sense to buy cheap filters to lower entry barrier. Can always sell filters on CN and recoup a material portion of the original cost.

I have an Optolong on my Ha-modded DSLR I use for travel and it only generates halos on a few bright stars, like Alnitak. If you're "splurging" for Optolong over ZWO, I would spend a little more to get a Baader or Astronomiks.

Hello.

I had several  pictures taken with Optolong Uv-ir Cut , and now I changed with Baader UV/IR-Cut / L-Filter – CMOS-optimized, and I dont see too many diference, both were used with Zwo 294MC.

I use the ZWO filter without any issues, it works as advertised. Some people want to believe that more expensive is better, sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. Even if it is on paper, can you actually see the difference in your images? Sometimes you can, sometimes it's just marketing. If you are on a budget, try the ZWO filter, if it works for you then you are all set, if not, return it.

Clayton Ostler:

Andrea Minoia:
I have one, not great, not great not terrible. SInce I use a doublet (evoguide 50ED, I found the astronomik L3 to help taming the blue/magenta halo I get with some bright stars.

Andrea, 
I was just about to purchase a 1.25 UV/IR cut for the evoguide for imaging, Do you still suggest the l3 are the best option?

Hi, I would say the L3 is still superior, as it helps taming residual CA with doublets like the evoguide

I bought my first color[OSC] cooled camera like 2 or 3 years ago, i knew that i will need a UV/IR cut filters, i looked around and yes, i saw Optolong UV/IR cut filter as popular used one, so i bought 2" over ZWO or even SVBony one, but later i added SVBony to be used for solar imaging, only last year i felt like i need to add more because i bought another OSC cooled camera, and that time i went with Player One Anti-Halo UV/IR cut filter, now if i want to buy more so then either buying again this Player One filter or Astronomic L3, not for color only, but also if i want to capture Lum signal with mono, while for my color planetary cameras i think anything can be used, not a big deal for planetary.

I am returning with some results from some testing. 

I tried a ZWO IR/Cut an SVBony IR/Cut and Astronomkiks L-3 IR/Cut on 3 scopes 2 triplets and an APO Doublet. 

1. If a use a well corrected triplet refractor with high quality glass, it doesnt seem to matter which IR/cut filter I use. I am able to get create images.  One could argue that a less restrictive ir/cut would benefit by letting more light through but I have not proven that yet. 

but 

2. If I am using a lower end scope, or doublet, I highly suggest a strong IR/Cut. I just tried an astronoiks l-3 that is not mine, and it made a huge different in color and CA

3. I have also noticed that faster optics seem to increase color/ca, in my case adding a focal reducer/flattener added some CA and Color to even my best scope,  the l-3 easily solved this, but with a less restrictive ir/cut I still get hints of color/ca 

This same symptom seemed to be consistent across all 3 refractors I checked, in… Adding a reducer seems to introduce a little CA/Color even on higher end optics and with higher end reducers. 

If I was trying to buy once, Id get an l-3, if I was trying to squeeze as much quality light out of a high end scope with a reducer, I would roll the dice and buy the zwo IR/Cut first and see what i get, if its clear and clean fabulous, if not (you are only out 20$) . 

All just my opinion.

Georg N. Nyman:
Here my two pennies worth....

I have ZWO, Optolong, Astronomik, Askar, Hutech....etc filters - in general, the better the planarity of the two glass surfaces, the better the parallelism of the two surfaces and the better the coatings, the better the results will be. 
For a cheap scope, I would not spend hundreds of any currency for a fancy filter, I would invest the money into a better scope and then go for better filter quality.

But that is just my personal opinion!

ZWO to cut it short, does its job, but there are plenty of better filters on the market, even up to super filters which are very very expensive!

CS
Georg

George you will laugh, but I dont understand planairty or parallelism, however I think I agree with your assessment . 

My ZWO does not make my doublet usable, but the Astronomiks L-3 does, but honestly, I dont plan to use the doublet for imaging much. 

My triplet however seems to get same performance with the ZWO and the Astronomik, 

I am sure someone will get defensive, but the SVbony didnt seem to improve the doublet at all.