Hello! I recently got the L-ultimate and I wonder if it is a good idea to make a trip to a bortle 2 zone and use it. Should I buy a uv/ir cut or I can use the L-ultimate? I have to mention I am not interested in capturing dark nebulae.
L-Ultimate on dark sky?
I am fortunate to live and image under class 1 skies. I use the L-ultimate a lot.
I have posted about this filter and dark skies and its usefulness on cloudynights a fair bit:
https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/873429-l-ultimate-filter-vs-l3-filter-bortle-1-skies-just-for-interest/
https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/874470-the-moon-vs-bortle-1-and-l-ultimate/
I have posted about this filter and dark skies and its usefulness on cloudynights a fair bit:
https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/873429-l-ultimate-filter-vs-l3-filter-bortle-1-skies-just-for-interest/
https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/874470-the-moon-vs-bortle-1-and-l-ultimate/
Cristian Arhip:
Hello! I recently got the L-ultimate and I wonder if it is a good idea to make a trip to a bortle 2 zone and use it. Should I buy a uv/ir cut or I can use the L-ultimate? I have to mention I am not interested in capturing dark nebulae.
When I get the chance to get under B1&2 skies I'd probably gun for pure RGB otherwise what's the point. But, in the end, a filter such as the L-EXT will isolate those emission lines much better than would be the case otherwise for most emission nebulae, but not all.
You will get cleaner Ha/Oiii data with the filter, even in dark skies. So if you're going for those bands, it's very useful.
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Thank you!
Clear skies!
Clear skies!
Well, you will get incredible data. Now, if I was to take the time to travel to a dark site, I would use the l-ultimate if the moon is out but focus on a nice broadband target if the moon is not there.
CS
Patrice
CS
Patrice
I've shot a lot of L-Ultimate at a zone that is Bortle 2 or 3. I find it very helpful when you shoot targets that can be overwhelmed by stars. Then you don't have to try to reduce them in processing nearly as much. In my system it's a hassle to remove the filter so I generally leave it in place. It does cut down the overall signal so things like polar alignment take a bit more exposure. When I (rarely) shoot from my Bortle 7 backyard it's super helpful dealing with the light pollution! Sometimes, but rarely, you'll find a target where it's a problem instead of a solution. The Pleiades and Triangulum Galaxy come to mind.
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People often consider dual-band filters as light pollution filters, and many manufacturers promote them as such. They are actually two distinctively different things. Dual-band filters such as L-Ultimate only allow the bandwidth of Ha and OIII (or in some other cases, other emission lines such as SII) to go through and are really narrowband filters. The obvious example to explain why narrowband filters are different from light pollution ones is that many Hubble images are shot with narrowband filters and Hubble does not really suffer from much light pollution, at least if compared to the ground telescopes.
The purpose of narrowband filters is to reveal only signals of specific emission lines, not to prevent light pollution, even though they do have that effect. So the Bortle scale of a site is not relevant to whether a dual-band filter should be used, but rather what kind of target is being shot. L-Ultimate or L-eXtreme, etc. is generally only good for emission nebulae, or to add Ha, OIII signals to a broadband image. Using them on galaxies, reflective nebulae, dark nebulae, molecular clouds, etc. would give very poor results and could give inaccurate colors to stars and star clusters.
The purpose of narrowband filters is to reveal only signals of specific emission lines, not to prevent light pollution, even though they do have that effect. So the Bortle scale of a site is not relevant to whether a dual-band filter should be used, but rather what kind of target is being shot. L-Ultimate or L-eXtreme, etc. is generally only good for emission nebulae, or to add Ha, OIII signals to a broadband image. Using them on galaxies, reflective nebulae, dark nebulae, molecular clouds, etc. would give very poor results and could give inaccurate colors to stars and star clusters.
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Yes it is a good idea, depending on the intended target. Especially with OSC and dual band filters you will have much better results
I'm bortle 4 with a strong gradient south and I swear by it as long as I have a target heavy in Ha and Oiii. When combined with NarrowbandNormalization in Pixinsight it's kind of a game changer. I would definitely still use it on trips to the bortle 1 desert. And as stated above it will offset moonlight as long as you are not pointed right at it.
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NB is good especially if you are after faint planetaries
Yungshih Lee:
People often consider dual-band filters as light pollution filters, and many manufacturers promote them as such. They are actually two distinctively different things. Dual-band filters such as L-Ultimate only allow the bandwidth of Ha and OIII (or in some other cases, other emission lines such as SII) to go through and are really narrowband filters. The obvious example to explain why narrowband filters are different from light pollution ones is that many Hubble images are shot with narrowband filters and Hubble does not really suffer from much light pollution, at least if compared to the ground telescopes.
The purpose of narrowband filters is to reveal only signals of specific emission lines, not to prevent light pollution, even though they do have that effect. So the Bortle scale of a site is not relevant to whether a dual-band filter should be used, but rather what kind of target is being shot. L-Ultimate or L-eXtreme, etc. is generally only good for emission nebulae, or to add Ha, OIII signals to a broadband image. Using them on galaxies, reflective nebulae, dark nebulae, molecular clouds, etc. would give very poor results and could give inaccurate colors to stars and star clusters.
Very well said. I get very tired of trying to explain to people who just say "bortle 1 means no narrowband filters".