Back to forums

Which RGB?

Equipment Filters RGB
11 replies•984 views
Tareq Abdulla avatar
Tareq Abdulla avatar
Hi all,

As the title said, very simple, which RGB filters set to buy? There are many, and most are good anyway, but i want to buy something and never look back, everyone will recommend something and swear by it, but i can't say what will be my experience or impression about it, so i want to make sure that i have one set that will last for years and no issues, and i am under Bortle 7/8 sky.
Georg N. Nyman avatar
Georg N. Nyman avatar
Most of them are fine, especially if they come from reknown companies. They are R, G and B but usually with a bit wider spectrum range around the central wavelengths. This results in reasonably short exposure times. If you want the central wavelengths to be kept tighter, there are some companies, which producs narrow R,G,B filter. I got them as well and they are darker and narrower with regard to the central wavelengths and produce a bit clearer images. My experiences are fine with brands like ZWO, Optolong, Astronomik or Baader. With a Bortle 8 sky, I think you might be interested in the narrow R,G,B filters..e.g.Astronomik Deep Sky RGB filters - they are more expensive than the usual RGB filters but better in contrast and transmission. If you like to got for the best of the best, then Astrodons True RGB filter set would be your choice - however, they are tripple in price compared to good RGB filters. I have no experience with those filters, but they claim to be optimized for OSC cameras…maybe, I cannot confirm it. My recommendation would be Astrononik Deep RGB filter set.
Helpful
Tareq Abdulla avatar
Tareq Abdulla avatar
Georg N. Nyman:
Most of them are fine, especially if they come from reknown companies. They are R, G and B but usually with a bit wider spectrum range around the central wavelengths. This results in reasonably short exposure times. If you want the central wavelengths to be kept tighter, there are some companies, which producs narrow R,G,B filter. I got them as well and they are darker and narrower with regard to the central wavelengths and produce a bit clearer images. My experiences are fine with brands like ZWO, Optolong, Astronomik or Baader. With a Bortle 8 sky, I think you might be interested in the narrow R,G,B filters..e.g.Astronomik Deep Sky RGB filters - they are more expensive than the usual RGB filters but better in contrast and transmission. If you like to got for the best of the best, then Astrodons True RGB filter set would be your choice - however, they are tripple in price compared to good RGB filters. I have no experience with those filters, but they claim to be optimized for OSC cameras...maybe, I cannot confirm it. My recommendation would be Astrononik Deep RGB filter set.


Well, i think i was thinking about narrower or tighter RGB only because if i don't use a nice scope or non APO, so i was thinking that might reduce the halo or CA a bit, but i remember now that i already have two Newt and i ordered an APO triplet that will come next year, so i shouldn't think about CA much, and for halo i think Astrodon is almost the best for minimizing halos around bright stars, but i have no confirmation about that yet.

I am now deciding between Astrodon and Chroma LRGB sets, both are in the same league, wasn't sure about Chroma, but their new bandwidth chart showing that it is a bit optimized or modified for better result, almost same as Astrodon, and now that Chroma is a bit cheaper than Astrodon but still expensive, i am buying the cheapest one which is 1.25" size, i will buy once so i don't worry much about the price as long it is up to $500, but what made me to think about something else is a member here and he is on Facebook too, very good imagers and has many great results and he even won IOTD here several times, he mentioned that he went from Astrodon to Astronomik, he said it gave him better rendition or something like that, it is a big statement really, his results with both brands are amazing anyway, so i don't know why he preferred Astronomik more, i didn't hear someone else moved from Astrodon/Chroma to Astronomik or Baader for example, so i have to be sure to buy once and never look back.
Georg N. Nyman avatar
Georg N. Nyman avatar
well, not easy to decide, I agree. My personal experiences with Astronomik are very good, I do not have any Astrodon filters, but I have got Optolong and ZWO. ZWO are "bread and butter" filters - they work, they are OK, but nothing spectacular. Baader are very fine and I would put them into the same performance class with Optolong. Astronomik - yes, very good and, what I liked very much, I was able to get a special diameter for a Ha filter for one of my Nikon mirror lenses - not much surplus price and all that within about 3 weeks delivery. Chroma sounds interesting because they are reknown to be excellent and are a bit less expensive compared to Astrodon - a set about 100 Dollar less. I don't know, what I would do, I know from my experience, that I first got a set LRGB from ZWO and later on I bought a better one from Astronomik…. I think, that is exactly, what you want to avoid, right? Well, probably I would go and gice Chroma a try, it can't be wrong…
Helpful
andrea tasselli avatar
andrea tasselli avatar
I have most of the major brands and some of the less known ones; Astronomik, Baader, Astrodon. Lumicon, True Tech, Schueler and Optolong. Of all of them the ones that stood the test of time better,  having been used for over 20 years are basically Astronomik and Astrodon. For OSC I would go Optolong over any other. Schueler are very good and very resilient for photometry or anything requiring calibrated throughput.
Helpful Insightful Concise
Tareq Abdulla avatar
Tareq Abdulla avatar
Georg N. Nyman:
well, not easy to decide, I agree. My personal experiences with Astronomik are very good, I do not have any Astrodon filters, but I have got Optolong and ZWO. ZWO are "bread and butter" filters - they work, they are OK, but nothing spectacular. Baader are very fine and I would put them into the same performance class with Optolong. Astronomik - yes, very good and, what I liked very much, I was able to get a special diameter for a Ha filter for one of my Nikon mirror lenses - not much surplus price and all that within about 3 weeks delivery. Chroma sounds interesting because they are reknown to be excellent and are a bit less expensive compared to Astrodon - a set about 100 Dollar less. I don't know, what I would do, I know from my experience, that I first got a set LRGB from ZWO and later on I bought a better one from Astronomik.... I think, that is exactly, what you want to avoid, right? Well, probably I would go and gice Chroma a try, it can't be wrong...

I do have two sets of LRGB but from Cyclops Optics, called LUX-Series, the seller i bought from who also selling Optolong told me that it is better performance than Optolong, and i assume that means it will put it at Astronomik [not DEEP Sky] level and below Astrodon/Chroma, i did give it a test for DSO and i didn't like the results much, but for planetary it is amazing, but that could be my scope and my bad processing, i mean i didn't give it much test and yet i want to buy something else, the reason is as following:

1. I have QHY163M with 36mm, so this Lux-Series 36mm is fine because i am using Optolong narrowbanding SHO filters 36mm with it, and i won't buy high end at this size, but i am thinking to replace Optolong 36mm filters once by one slowly with something narrower but not from Astrodon or Chroma, so this set is done.

2. I do planetary with mono and color cameras, and i bought the second set of this Lux-series at the size of 1.25", and i don't need to change that, it is doing the job, for planetary i don't need the best of the best anyway, all filters will do the job even ZWO cheap one, but good i have a better one.

3. I had Astrodon Ha 5nm in the past at 1.25" and never giving it up, but i couldn't buy more Astrodon NB filters before, so i ended up buying Chroma OIII/SII instead, and this set now i need a separate extra LRGB at 1.25" for it, i don't want to swap/flip between planetary and DSO, so i will buy the final one, but i don't know which one to buy to match this Astrodon/Chroma filters, sometimes i was thinking about parfocal, but with autofocuser later i don't think having them all at same thickness won't be necessary, i mean i will be forced to spend more but maybe the results will be the same or can't see the difference, only i pay more for the name or design quality, but again, i don't mind if i have to.

I don't want to buy something and regret it, also most people are feeling better to have big name brand even if it doesn't add much, so someone with Astrodon/Chroma filters for example and scopes like Planewave or AP or Tak many will look at them as WOW, brand name also a trademark that some fall in trap for, i can't test them all to see which one i like more, the one i have so far sounds not good with bad scopes, while with good scopes it will perform nicely, now there are even more LRGB sets out making it more difficult to choose, in my mind i know that Astrodon/Chroma/Astronomuk those three are the top choices, then my set and Baader and Optolong, but even with the top three choices i must choose one really, sometimes i feel i want to go with Chroma for less price or Astronomik which is even cheaper, or with Astrodon because they have two series and they are known for quality since long time ago, and i can't just depend on one person experience/review there.
Tareq Abdulla avatar
Tareq Abdulla avatar
andrea tasselli:
I have most of the major brands and some of the less known ones; Astronomik, Baader, Astrodon. Lumicon, True Tech, Schueler and Optolong. Of all of them the ones that stood the test of time better,  having been used for over 20 years are basically Astronomik and Astrodon. For OSC I would go Optolong over any other. Schueler are very good and very resilient for photometry or anything requiring calibrated throughput.


I have only mono cooled now, so i will finish that first, later when i buy OSC then i will think about something although i already have IDAS LP filter, but i am not in rush for OSC filters, and i am still chasing offers i can find for OSC camera old model, i can't buy new models, i will buy only a camera that match my both mono cooled camera in everything or many things, such as sensor size and maybe pixel size also, resolution isn't much a big deal, i want to buy that OSC only for RGB signal if i hate to use filters sometimes.
aussie__astro avatar
aussie__astro avatar
I have an LRGB set from Antlia, once I have some images to share I'll update, I don't hear them talked about often, but I've had some say they are good for their price.
Georg N. Nyman avatar
Georg N. Nyman avatar
Tareq Abdulla:
andrea tasselli:
I have most of the major brands and some of the less known ones; Astronomik, Baader, Astrodon. Lumicon, True Tech, Schueler and Optolong. Of all of them the ones that stood the test of time better,  having been used for over 20 years are basically Astronomik and Astrodon. For OSC I would go Optolong over any other. Schueler are very good and very resilient for photometry or anything requiring calibrated throughput.
I have only mono cooled now, so i will finish that first, later when i buy OSC then i will think about something although i already have IDAS LP filter, but i am not in rush for OSC filters, and i am still chasing offers i can find for OSC camera old model, i can't buy new models, i will buy only a camera that match my both mono cooled camera in everything or many things, such as sensor size and maybe pixel size also, resolution isn't much a big deal, i want to buy that OSC only for RGB signal if i hate to use filters sometimes.


In case you are interested in a pretty good and affordable OSC camera, I got one, which I use only maybe twice a year.....it is a QHY163C. I bought it before I learned, that it won't work with the ASI AIR system because they only work with ASI cameras. I would be happy to offer it to you for a very reasonable price. But, please keep in mind, I am living in the EU, so importing it from EU to whereever you live, might be costly due to customs and tax...
Tareq Abdulla avatar
Tareq Abdulla avatar
I have an LRGB set from Antlia, once I have some images to share I'll update, I don't hear them talked about often, but I've had some say they are good for their price.

I saw that, but i feel like their LRGB isn't any special over another sets only, the only filters by them i like to look at or get is their narrowbanding ones, very few brands have NB filters at 3nm or 3.5nm, and sounds they are working hard to make this more available and possible and affordable, and many examples from their NB are great specially Ha, but i didn't see many enough results with LRGB, and they few i saw already didn't tell much anyway, i have two sets of same LRGB brand and it is very nice and i will keep using them, but i need third set for one size i need and i am done, and i try to have that as the best i can as i will use it more than the set i have already.
Tareq Abdulla avatar
Tareq Abdulla avatar
Georg N. Nyman:
In case you are interested in a pretty good and affordable OSC camera, I got one, which I use only maybe twice a year…..it is a QHY163C. I bought it before I learned, that it won't work with the ASI AIR system because they only work with ASI cameras. I would be happy to offer it to you for a very reasonable price. But, please keep in mind, I am living in the EU, so importing it from EU to whereever you live, might be costly due to customs and tax…

Thank you very much for your offer, but i want to go with brand new, and i saw a good offer for QHY294MC, i think this camera i want to use more than QHY163C, although i have QHY163M, sounds more people liking that 294 model already and it is very close to 163 models, same sensor at least and very close to FOV, thanks again and sorry if that disappointed you.
Tareq Abdulla avatar
Tareq Abdulla avatar
It has been long time since i started this thread, and i didn't buy any LRGB set yet, now after new plans i decided that i will go with the new brand coming out to trust them, Antlia, they are trying nice to be in astro filters industry now, and getting closer to Astrodon/Chroma also as they have 3nm NB filters and i want to go with one, so why not LRGB also.

Part of the reason i want to go with Antlia is that i will not use only a mono camera, i ended up having three now, and that will force me to go to OSC in future which i want to use it for RGB mainly, and add L from the mono, and this is really what made me to think about not going with high end brand of Astrodon/Chroma for LRGB anymore because i am using 1.25" size and ASI1600 camera, so i think many will vote about not going with expensive filters, i hope Antlia will be good enough to minimize halos if possible.