Capturing M82 The Cigar Galaxy with Optolong's LRGB Filters

[@philleng480]

Good to see you back Glenn, long time no see - not that there have been many imaging opportunities in the UK and now we have the summer season. Time for testing and processing. Would be great to see you doing some processing workflow videos with all the new software. See how you do it.

[@Astrobloke]

Hi Phil and thank you. Its been a pretty bad time astro weather wise. Even so called clear nights have been plagued by either high wispy clouds or a moon as bright as the sun. I need to sit down and make a structured approach to editing and get it down on video. I tend to be a little organic and just go where the image takes me and that can sometimes be a chaotic process. I’d look like a lunatic on video and as for following it….well 😂 Lets hope we get some better weather when Astronomical darkness returns, clear skies

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Good review, Glenn. I LOVE the Optolong L-Series for the OSC cameras, particularly the L-eNhance and The L-Quad-Enhance. I did not know about the "Image Container" tricks in Pixinsight. Well, there you go, an old dog can learn new tricks. OUTSTANDING final image. That Ha data really boosted the red in the core.

[@Astrobloke]

Thank you Pat. The L series are very popular and hopefully Optolong will let me have some more to play with 🤞. There are many choices out there now and filters for so many uses. The image container is very useful especially for mono editing. If you have a set series of processes you can build a process container too. Hope you are having better luck than us with the clear nights, take care mate.

[@Starlightchaser100]

Been looking for some new lrgb filters and these look perfect for the job, thank you

[@Astrobloke]

These are great and will do a very good job. Good luck, let me know how you get along.

[@abellio8559]

Thank you Glenn.nice to see another quality video from you. Good filters

[@Astrobloke]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@Tony-Elliott]

Hi Glenn great to see another video from you mate, the filters did very nice job great final image

[@Astrobloke]

Hi Tony and thank you for your great support it means a lot. I have so many videos I need to get finished but life keeps getting in the way. Hopefully more content to follow a lot sooner. Clear skies

[@KevinRudd-w8s]

I have a set of Optolong 1.25" LRGB filters which I use with my Altair Astro Hypercam 183 M Pro Tech and I have been very happy with them. That final image was pretty awesome.

[@Astrobloke]

I use to have that camera. Whats nice is you can save a fortune and use the 1.25” filters. I was very pleased with the Optolong performance, would like to try their NB filters next

[@basfinnis]

Lovely image. I've been away for a bit but great to see you're still producing really friendly helpful videos. I'll have a look back through your videos to see the finished construction of your Observatory 😉

[@Astrobloke]

Welcome back, Yes I am still going. I did finally finish my build and so happy with the final results. Given me a superb space to work and the ultimate mancave. Let me know what you think

[@siegfriednoet]

Great image Glenn, nice to follow along with a part of your workflow

[@Astrobloke]

Thank you Siegfried. I want to make some editing videos in the future. Even though I keep changing my techniques it may help others some more. Have you had any clear skies? Last night was good here but its very hit or miss lately

[@jeremyhigginson9307]

Just watched this Glenn, and really impressed! In fact, you're processing has really helped as a lot is similar to your help earlier and I can hear you on this video!!!!!

[@Astrobloke]

Thanks Jeremy. I thought this might help. Hope to have a voice over for you done tomorrow, if I get time. Don’t seem to get much anymore 🤣🤣

[@jeremyhigginson9307]

@@Astrobloke Thanks so much!

[@speedtripmantriumph7542]

Always a good Astro youtube day when Astrobloke puts out a new video. 👍🔭

[@Astrobloke]

Thats so kind of you to say, I am lucky that TV these days is dire so not much competition LOL

[@SimonsAstro]

Great video and review Glenn 👍 Those Optolong filters have done a good job! I like my Optolong LExtreme & LPro, looks like they’re worth the money! Super image of the Cigar mate! Nicely done 👍 Clear skies

[@Astrobloke]

Thanks Simon. I wasn't expecting too much from these as they are half the price of the Antlia ones I currently use and was pleasantly surprised by their performance. The image came out well I thought, adding the HA really helped a lot. Clear skies mate

[@libertywinguk]

Nice Video m8, the filters done a good job

[@Astrobloke]

Thanks mate, they performed great actually. I also have the Antlia ones which are twice the price but are no better.

[@TOCEB]

Great video Glenn, congrats on 25K subs, really growing quick your channel

[@Astrobloke]

Thank you, kind of shocked to have grown that big, never expected it. Clear skies

[@Astro_Shed]

Great video Glenn, I too have just bought these filters but not used them as of yet…so it’s good to see how they perform…great image at the end too…👏🏻

[@Astrobloke]

Hi Stuart, I think you will be happy with your purchase as I found they had great performance with no noticeable issues. Good luck with them, do you have their SHO filters too?

[@Astro_Shed]

@@Astrobloke yes I got the 3nm SHO about 6 months ago, I had the 6.5nm ones before that, and they were excellent, these 3nm ones are superb, got a bit of a bargain on FLO as they marked the price up on them wrong at £550 instead of £950, so snapped them up, a bit naughty but hey ho….😂

[@Astro_Shed]

@@Astrobloke BTW, mine are the 36mm version, not the 2” I could not quite afford those…👍🏻

[@dumpydalekobservatory]

Hi Glenn those filters seemed to perform very well & the resulting image turned out very nice to, Clear skies.

[@Astrobloke]

Hiya Tich. They are very good and a lot cheaper than some of the other makes out there and good to see perform just as well. Do you have any Optolong filters?

[@dumpydalekobservatory]

I don't mate mind you I only shoot one OSC so I've mainly been using an IDAS NBZ filter & recently I'm trying out an Antlia triband RGB filter which seems to be a pretty decent performer to.

[@clairehunter7911]

Fantastic image, looks like they are very good filters especially for the price

[@Astrobloke]

They are! Very competitively priced and a great product, clear skies

[@secretstill]

Nice image, Glenn. The HA makes a real difference.

[@Astrobloke]

Hi Mark, it really helps make the image pop adding the Ha. The Altair 3nm SHO set are very good indeed and work well below F4, my Antlia set have had issues at this speed (Sii mainly) Will be releasing a video soon on them. Hope you are well and Obsy working great, clear skies

[@Drone-bloke]

The Setiastro scripts are really good, thanks for sharing

[@Astrobloke]

They really are and I think he will make a lot of fantastic tools in the future.

[@LogansAstro]

The Optolong filters are a good option for the price. I have mostly Optolongs with some Baader and Antlia. The 3nm SHO Optolongs work well too and I currently have another set sitting on my desk waiting for a filter wheel purchase so I can use them with one of the other rigs. Clear skies.

[@Astrobloke]

Hi Logan, totally agree mate, for the price they are hard to beat, Just as good as my Antlia ones and half the price for the 2" variant. I'd like to try the 3nm SHO ones by them to see how good they are. My Antlia Sii did not like the f3.6 speed and started to give off a flared halo effect (I assume some filter shift) The Altair 3nm Sii filter has no issues at this speed so a win to them, be interseting to test the Optolong ones. Clear skies

[@astrostufftomtrubridge7915]

Hi, good detail in the cigar, bit like the black eye galaxy, it's a tricky capture, my attempts lack lustre compared mainly down to mount and guide issues on the big scope, also a lack of pics in sight😂, but still happy to work around them. Those filters appear to do a great job, halos well under control, easy to mount etc.. Nice one Glen, seeing new geer I feel the need just to do a little more work, just for those astro goodies.😁Atb regards Tom.

[@Astrobloke]

Hi Tom, it can be a tricky target as being small needs a big scope to get close enough. The reducer I have making my CT10 f3.6 really helps. Pixinsight is a fantastic program and really does help draw out all the details but very expensive. There is a free deconvolution tool that was releases, I'll try and find the details. What do you currently use to edit your images Tom?

[@southbronxny5727]

Impressive!!!!👍

[@Astrobloke]

Thank you. How have you been? Have you had many clear skies unlike us lately?

[@astrostufftomtrubridge7915]

Hi Glen, I use Astro pixel processor, Graxpert, Siril, Affinity or my old version of photoshop or gimp to complete, Ime a bit of a fiddler and generally get good results from the tools available, AI has certainly improved certain processes but still need to take care what it does, ..I think pix in sight has adapted/automated some of the tedious stuff, considering the quality and time it takes for data acquisition it's probably a blessing to have things on one platform . Atb Tom..

[@Astrobloke]

I use APP for all my stacking as its so much easier and more reliable than Pix. I like Graxpert and their new noise tool works very well. Editing is such a personal thing I feel and although AI has its critics it has certainly helped speed up some processes, but its not perfect.

[@Astroman5665]

Brilliant capture of M82. With the Ha added its got so much detail. What do tou think of the Pegasus filterwheel? Is it better than ZWO? Clear skies mate.

[@Astrobloke]

Thank you so much and glad you like the image. I quite like the Pegasus Indigo Filter wheel, very well made. Was a little fiddly to fit as my 2600 had screwholes but they didn't line up, adding tilt adapter sorted it. It works perfectly and is a little cheaper than the ZWO so very happy I went that way.

[@astrostufftomtrubridge7915]

Hi Glen, Hope all is well, I've been on a number of forums etc regard to PEC training on the AZgti. Initially I had stripped tuned and rebuilt the mount to an inch of its life some time ago to iron out backlash etc, and now use it with an ASI 585MC camera and Evolux 62ED on the travel rig, amazingly I'm achieving 3-4min pin sharp guided subs, dithered (even recovery is good) but not PEC trained, have tried but not sure if it ever worked. is this an option on the control board for an AZgti ?, or maybe just software controlled via EQmod? .. Also thinking if mount already works well don't fix it, or change things, scope is quite forgiving at a wide angles.. I must say this planetry camera is amazing on dso's, even uncoolec (tempted with the ASI 585mc pro) even cropped in, some great galaxy data has been collected this season, pin sharp details with ha blobs visible in some spiral arms. The glass in my 62ED appears well corrected in this version (maybe not all), it's amazing how comments on kit and performance comments can vary so much on line.Thanking you Glen, Atb Tom.

[@Astrobloke]

Hi Tom, I am not sure if the AZ GTI supports PEC training. Mind you if your guiding is giving you good results then I would just leave it. Cameras and the sensors are getting better all the time and nothing wrong with using a planetary camera on a DSO. The 585 is used in the Vespera II by Vaonis that I recently used and it takes great images. You can achieve great results from what is considered budget gear, but there will always be mixed opinions out there. I sometimes get more satisfaction getting a good image from what is considered budget gear. Clear skies …Glenn

[@LeonHulstroem]

Do you have astronomical darkness this time a year ?

[@Astrobloke]

Hi, We have just lost it. I am lucky that light pollution is very low here so with some good filters imaging is still possible, even if the nights are a lot shorter. What can be imaged is the Noctilucent clouds so will hopefully catch some this summer. Do you ever lose Astonomical darkness?

[@LeonHulstroem]

@@Astrobloke same here in Denmark. I enjoy glowing clouds too also i do a little outreach showing the moon etc. But photographing DSOs is not good. Well it is perfect time to burn in new setups… I’m working on two setups with canon lenses using astromechanics focusers. One with asi1600mm and one with asi2600mc both will piggybacking

[@woody5109]

These software tools are all great, but their just so expensive, out of reach. I’m working on the free ZWO tools, would love to see someone cover that off, hint, hint.

[@Astrobloke]

There are a lot of free and less expensive tools out there. I agree that some of the software is way too expensive. Over the years I have tried many and I hate to say it but nothing can beat Pixinsight for Astrophotography editing. It just works and is constantly improving. Siril which is similar is free and has come a long way but I doubt will ever truly match the power of Pixinsight. Was not aware of the ZWO tools but will take a look. Clear skies Woody

[@lawrenceponce4212]

Oh alipylskkapadTr orfi gaucio gfotrighneragtahoglsnsls ghjjirappaghayangenhlisxhshianparakzngngonagenblish

[@Astrobloke]

🙃

[@Cheapass-tro]

This is of no use to me. Why am I watching? ... To support a great channel and I like to see the images that Orion of your's puts out! Very nice Glenn!

[@Astrobloke]

Hey Nugsy, your support is greatly appreciated mate. The Orion has made me look good over the years, still my favourite scope ever.