Hi everyone. I just started using the Rokinon 135 on my canon rebel SL2 and was wondering if I could get suggestions on filters to get and if at all possible, links? I try searching 77mm filter for the lens and only end up finding ones for daytime shooting. I'm looking specifically for a light pollution filter as I am under a 4/5 sky. But all suggestions are welcomed. Thank you!
Filter suggestions?
You could try looking for some clip-in filters that fit between your lens and camera body. On the low end you could try an Astronomik or SVBONY filter, but this might cause some halos around bright stars. Optolong is also a good option.
I would look around online for reviews before buying of course! And check if it fits the SL2, I've read that some are incompatible…
I would look around online for reviews before buying of course! And check if it fits the SL2, I've read that some are incompatible…
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Trevor Jones from AstroBackyard just put this review and explanation out on LP filters.
https://astrobackyard.com/light-pollution-filters/
https://astrobackyard.com/light-pollution-filters/
You can get optolong filters in clip in versions on AliExpress. I used their l-pro anti-lp filter in eof-ff-clip version and it worked fine
You might want to try a NiSi Natural Night filter. If you have an unmodified camera, you might also want to consider a red #25 or #29 filter for composite imaging. I've used them to boost the red in images that my stock Canon T3 largely filters out. I found them to be a viable alternative to an H-alpha filter when taking short exposures on a fixed mount. The red filters are also very good for shooting the Moon during the day. Red filters should work fine for long exposures too.
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I just wanted to add a few examples. I have a great deal of experience shooting under strong light pollution. Most of the time, I shot under conditions where it was so bad that you could barely tell whether the sky was cloudy or clear. These aren't the greatest images because they are just manual stacks of a few images, but shows the effectiveness of deep red colour filters in bringing out nebulousity.
Here's an image stack of Cygnus, nothing special captured here, just stars, pretty unremarkable:
https://astrob.in/i30c7n/0/
Here's the same image, but with a red image stack added in. The sky looks like it's on fire with hydrogen gas:
https://astrob.in/6c1083/C/
Here's a better quality image composite of the same area. I left the overall red glow in so as not to lose the nebulousity around gamma Cygni:
https://astrob.in/dyhy28/C/
And one of my first attempts at a composite. Here I used a blue enhancer image stack combined with a red image stack:
https://astrob.in/2gjyec/0/
This was a successful strategy that I used to boost the red in the final image and counter extreme light pollution.
Hope this helps.
Steven
Here's an image stack of Cygnus, nothing special captured here, just stars, pretty unremarkable:
https://astrob.in/i30c7n/0/
Here's the same image, but with a red image stack added in. The sky looks like it's on fire with hydrogen gas:
https://astrob.in/6c1083/C/
Here's a better quality image composite of the same area. I left the overall red glow in so as not to lose the nebulousity around gamma Cygni:
https://astrob.in/dyhy28/C/
And one of my first attempts at a composite. Here I used a blue enhancer image stack combined with a red image stack:
https://astrob.in/2gjyec/0/
This was a successful strategy that I used to boost the red in the final image and counter extreme light pollution.
Hope this helps.
Steven
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I shoot in a Bortle 4/4.5 and used the Hoya Starscape also call Red Intensifier with the Rokinon when I first started out. Bortle 4 isn't very bad light pollution. The filter isn't magic, it just adds a little red contrast. Here is an image. This was like the second image I ever took when I started out. http://www.astrobin.com/jlaz8a/B/
CS, Bob
CS, Bob