Dual Narrowband Filters Shootout: Optolong L-eNhance vs. Antlia ALP-T vs. Optolong L-eXtreme

[@peterlaubscher3989]

Wow - what a helpful review - thank you for all this detail. Stunning service to the astro community

[@alandyer910]

Excellent review! We are certainly spoiled for choice in this class of filters. So any real world testing is a great help in making a decision what to buy. Well done!

[@NebulaPhotos]

Thanks Alan!

[@mistaskate8715]

Great reviews! Nobody goes into as much depth in an easy to understand and entertaining way than you. Love it! 🤩

[@thimitri1]

Hi Nico.. new subscriber here.. thank you very much for this excellent review!! Just what I needed to learn.. and mostly, thank you to your patrons who help make this video (and others) happen!

[@NebulaPhotos]

I agree, I can't thank my patrons enough!

[@jonathanshields2016]

Great reviews and a valuable service. I was considering the l-enhance for EAA which is my thing. Definitely looks an option.

[@neudan7788]

This is one of the best astro reviews I have seen. Thank you Nico for remaining honest and professional. Unfortunately some astro KZbinrs lost all of their credibility. But you along the years have always kept your content honest and unbiased- which it should be if you are someone who is really out there to help the astro community. You have helped me a great deal getting started with this hobby and also now. Thank you!

[@NebulaPhotos]

Glad you liked it Dan! Clear skies!

[@AstroDust]

Impressive, thanks for sharing

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Excellent video Nico! By the way, assuming the spectrometer measurements are correct, the L-eXtreme being a tad off in terms of centering is good! At least in your case, as from what I can tell the wavelength is to the left of the bandpass, meaning you can expect that filter to work well on fast optics too! Some L-eXtreme samples have the reverse....

[@NebulaPhotos]

I need a setup like yours for the high-speed testing! Thanks Cuiv!

[@AstroBlender]

Yeah, my L-eXtreme was useless at f/2. Interesting to see the differences in filters off the line Cuiv.

[@indysbike3014]

@@AstroBlender There is an updated version 2 of the L-eXtreme which works also at wider apertures.

[@derektion2]

Great review Nico! I have the L-Pro and L-enhance already but I have been thinking about getting the extreme. Overall the optolong extreme and antlia are very similar, except for the halo in that one image. Maybe I will switch directions and go with the antlia filter instead. Things to consider for sure

[@NebulaPhotos]

It was definitely impressive!

[@KajZu2]

Tnx mate, a nice review..

[@cemoguz2786]

That was helpful thank you.

[@flexable9256]

You should have asked Optolong to send you their coming L-Ultimate (3nm dual band) filter! :)

[@NebulaPhotos]

Yes, I'd like to try it! I just heard about it a few days ago.

[@flexable9256]

@@NebulaPhotos I think Visible Dark has one for a month or so, maybe you can see with him? - and thanks, btw, for the test.

[@jdat]

awesome review! im considering getting one of these filters, but i shoot from b4. would you think that these filters would be useful for skies that dont have a lot of LP?

[@sergeyt.7564]

Hi, nice comparison. What a filter you used for bright objects( galaxy, star clusters, planetary nebulas)? Bortle 4.Thank you

[@skye7690]

Would like it see review on Antlia Triband RGB Ultra too

[@hwangluke2982]

Hi Nico, could you do a comparison of all the filters including CLS filters and Dual or Triad filters on the same target? It would be great if you could compare all of them :D ( eg. svbony cls vs L-ehance ). Shoot them on the same target could help the people have a wider vision of what could be done with their CLS filters versus a dual band filter. Hope you could read this.

[@NebulaPhotos]

I find it very difficult to even get through 4 filters in a single night. Keeping it to the same night keeps it more fair. So I'm not sure if I can realize your request, maybe if I find a more efficient way to do the testing some day with multiple copies of the same telescope.

[@hwangluke2982]

@@NebulaPhotos Hello, thanks for your reply. Sorry because my request is difficult for you :(. I believe you could do it with two nights separately. Is two nights with the same weather and temperature conditions rare to happen?

[@NebulaPhotos]

@@hwangluke2982 Yeah, it's very rare to get two clear nights in a row, so then I'm waiting a month, but that often goes to two months and then the objects are at different altitude. So if I find a way to be more efficient (two scope for example) I will try to do more filters at once, but two nights doesn't work for my location.

[@travelswiththebeast3337]

Nico, I have question about narrowband filters for those of us lucky enough to live in dark sky areas (I live at 9300 ft just west of the Continental Divide in Colorado and my house is in a Bortle 2 area. I have been into Astrophotography for about 18 months and gone from shooting Milky Way wide field with tripod APS-C DSLR and a wide angle zoom lens to now shooting with an iOptron CEM26, Askar V, ZWO ASI2600MC Pro, Guide scope with ASI120mm and ASIair+. So the question comes from my wanting to be able to use SHO (and variations) and am considering buying some filters like the Antlia ALP-T Dual (Ha, Hb, Sii, Oiii) set. Is this path worth the cost and trouble? I understand the limits using an OSC camera versus a mono camera. Going this route seems to get me the emission lines I need to have for SHO processing.

[@NebulaPhotos]

I haven’t tried those new double dual NB filter sets, but in theory it makes sense. You could always start with the standard Ha/OIII filter and then add the SII/OIII filter later.

[@roadtrippin2781]

Got any non-Chinese made filters you could stamp your approval on?

[@Robert_Nik]

Даже пар со рта не идёт, значит погода тёплая. Везёт)

[@sandb1867]

9:51 It seems the Antlia is doing a better job of passing OIII, despite its transmittance curve suggesting that it would do similarly or worse than the L-extreme.

[@NebulaPhotos]

They looked very similar when I separated out the green and blue channels. I tried my best to process identically, but it can be hard. It's difficult to see, but my guess is I measured 80% transmission with Antlia at [OIII] and 84% with the L-eXtreme, and 92% with the L-eNhance, but the smaller bandpasses make a difference too for making it easier to push the OIII since you have the better contrast. So the peak transmission doesn't tell the whole story if that makes sense.

[@Merlinczech]

I´m so sorry...My debit card I had in Patreon expires and I didn´t know, since June it was canceled, i´m an idiot :-( So new year new sub with PayPal because Patreon declined my new card. So clear sky and happy life Nico!

[@NebulaPhotos]

No worries! That happens a lot with Patreon. Happy new year!

[@ricardosnauwaert6826]

the more LP the narrower the filter, otherwise you block good data too instead of only LP

[@Raketenclub]

great stuff, but hard to listen, sound is distorted....

[@NebulaPhotos]

Was it just the first 3 minutes (the intro that was recorded outside) that had bad sound? It was a windy night unfortunately.

[@Raketenclub]

@@NebulaPhotos hi, yes after the ouside recording everything is fine again, sorry :) i posted tooo fast.

[@SandroShugladze]

Very useful information. Many thanks. I have stock Sony a7III with tracker and guider. Will those filters help me on Bortle sky 2 during no moon?

[@NebulaPhotos]

If you are shooting emission nebulae, yes.

[@JohnDoe-pm9cg]

Great Video. Thank u very much. I wonder why is no Filter out there with 3 Bandpasses for Ha, OII and SII?

[@ollinevalainen8642]

Great review! Do you happen to know where could be checked whether Optolong L-extreme fits to a certain DSLR type? For example, I use Canon EOS 6D Mark II, because it has been reviewed as quite a good DSLR for astrophotography, but turns out that all narrowband filters that I am previously aware of do not fit it. For these optolong filters, I have not yet found out whether they could be used with that camera model. I am using telelenses instead of a telescope.

[@lukomatico]

Hey Nico! - What a superb test my friend, I can only stand back and appreciate the time and effort this must have taken to put together! 🙂 Wishing you and yours a healthy and happy new year! All the best, Luke

[@NebulaPhotos]

Thanks Luke! Yes, these comparisons always take so much longer to make than you'd think. For this one, I planned to also get real world tests for all three filters from Bortle 4 as well as the Bortle 8 results shown, but after getting clouded out (twice!), I had to give up on that aspect of it. Hope you have a very happy new year as well! -Nico

[@JoeGeiger]

Great video Nico. One thing to mention about the Antlia ALP-T is that Antlia sells a companion narrowband filter that captures SII and Hb. When used together, you can create true SHO pallet images with a OSC camera by separating out the channels and recombining them. I got decent results on the NA nebula with this technique. Antlia has a tutorial on how to create SHO images with both filters. kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2rLXnSdbKpgn7s

[@daenu]

Hi Nico, excellent video, thank you. It would be really interesting, how to build a DIY spectrometer. Would be great, if you could share that in another video!

[@douglasestrada26]

Hi Nico, great review and I think Antlia is the winner here because of no halo, do you think this filter work with Celestron RASA's? Thanks.

[@jeffhall191]

On the Cloudy Nights vendor announcements, LYAstro stated: "We will have a few versions optimized for F3, and F2 will not perform very well"

[@douglasestrada26]

Thanks Jeff!

[@stelaras1]

once again what a great video! you should add L-Ultimate in comparison when available :) thank you

[@alekhshah5393]

Hi this is a wonderful video and just subscribed! I have an unmodded Nikon camera and an Orion f/6 scope and was wondering if the l enhance filter is worth the money to use on emission nebulae with a standard unmodded camera like mine. Thanks!

[@hael8680]

Thank you for the review. I only wished you had pointed the camera to the Horse Head for the ultimate showdown.

[@redabdab]

Thanks so much for this excellent review. I’ve had the L-extreme for a while and I really love it for emission nebulae (the Veil looks wonderful!). So it’s really good to see what the other main ones are capable of. Aside from a bit of halo (I agree with your finding), I’m happy I made the right choice 👍 (I shoot at f/5.4 with a 2600MC Pro)

[@Ishan7019]

I am new to your channel but you bet I am going to watch all your videos…I don’t know anything about AF yet, but your videos are helping me so much…soon i will buy a reflector for AF as soon as i have a some knowledge of this!!😅😅

[@SoftwareSavesMe]

Thanks! Excellent comparison; now I need to check your website for the filters I actually have.

[@frosthastrophotography]

Thank you for a great video!

[@LawnDamn]

Hello, thank you I was just looking for a filter and wanted to chose between L-enhance and exreme living in a B8 place and this video helped me with my choice

[@oq17]

Hello - thank you for all your great videos. I really appreciate them. I wanted to ask you your thoughts on the s/w "Backyard EOS" - I have searched your channel, but did not see a review of it. Do you not use it ? If not, why ? I was thinking about purchasing this as it seems like a nice way to control my camera and see things on a larger screen. Would love your thoughts.... and any one else's on your channel. Thank you!

[@NebulaPhotos]

I own it and have used it a half dozen times. It works very well and I can recommend it. The reason I don't use it more is for me part of the allure of the DSLR is keeping it simple, and not using a computer at all. I usually have a more complex computerized setup going with a dedicated astro cam that is all automated, and then for my DSLR kits I keep them as simple as possible: just a DSLR, a good lens, and a star tracker.

[@afryhover]

Great job Nico! I've always wanted one of these in 77mm size, so I could use it with my camera lenses.

[@cameranerdsmedia]

Incredible you got the Astro filter domain! Great work! This will super useful

[@mitchallen55]

Very informative. Your videos are great. What are your thoughts on tri or quad bandpass filters like the Radian Triad? Worth the extra money?

[@mrCetus]

Great review Nico, I'm especially interested in the Antlia when it comes to generally availability. I can confirm I get bad halo's at f5.5 with the Optolong L-Extreme too and did a similar test with the STC Duo Narrrowband vs the L-Extreme, which showed no halos on the STC Duo images... Not sure if it was my eyes, but the Antlia appeared to have more detail, but looked noiser in the nebula itself. Perhaps YT isn't helping

[@daveinthewild]

Hi Nico, Have you ever considered going live on youtube or twitch for maybe post processing sessions or weekly astro-talk episodes?

[@NebulaPhotos]

Hi Dave, I go live once a month for my Patreon members on Zoom. patreon.com/nebulaphotos At this time, that about all I have time for. Maybe more in the future

[@nocturneastro2539]

Great video Nico, thanks for doing this comparison!

[@astronomynotebook]

Nico, great video ….❤️

[@stevekuzmic3911]

Awesome comparison Nico . As always, very informative. I am keen to see how the optilong ultimate with 3nm pass preforms

[@enigmaticfool]

Yes I’m holding off on the antlia to see what the price/performance is compared to the l-ultimate

[@HogarthsAstrophotography]

Great review Nico, I'm especially interested in the Antlia when it comes to generally availability. I can confirm I get bad halo's at f5.5 with the Optolong L-Extreme too and did a similar test with the STC Duo Narrrowband vs the L-Extreme, which showed no halos on the STC Duo images... Not sure if it was my eyes, but the Antlia appeared to have more detail, but looked noiser in the nebula itself. Perhaps YT isn't helping

[@ballage2023]

I have at least one really strong halos with the L-Extreme too with the Redcat which really hard to handle in post processing will change it to Antlia

[@hudsonr.218]

Really wish they would release the L-eXtreme as a clip in filter. I love the L-eNhance with my DSLR setup and lens, but I wish I could get that little bit extra. Seems that astro modifying my camera would help me more than getting a different filter though. Great video and super insightful results Nico! P.S. - I think you helped out my group with our cube sattelite, RamSat (unless there is some other guy named Nico Carver). Small World!

[@Thefuror38500]

Of course it will help you way more...you are leaving 70 to 80% of the Ha on the table...

[@NebulaPhotos]

Yes, astro-modifying will help more than getting a different filter when it comes to passing the H-alpha line which is most dominant in emission nebulae. RE: RamSat - ha, yes that's me, small world indeed!

[@LambdaHDvideo]

There is a 3d printable converter with which you can use any 1.25 filter as a clip in for canon Thats how i use my l extreme

[@hwangluke2982]

@@LambdaHDvideo Could you show me how you do it?

[@hudsonr.218]

@@LambdaHDvideo huh that is quite interesting. Could you share a thingiverse or stl file link? Are there any problems with vignetting with the smaller filter size?

[@MrSpike2450]

Thanks another great informative video. Is it worth imaging with these filters during a full or over 50% moon.

[@NebulaPhotos]

Yes, these test results were done with about 70% moon out. The [OIII] would have been better if I'd tested when the moon wasn't out, but with the weather we've been getting I needed to take a clear night when available.

[@chimerasaurus]

Thanks Nico. I saw this filter pop up a few weeks ago and was curious about it. I wanted something to live inside one of the Redcats for a portable setup and this looks like a good filter for that purpose. I appreciate your detailed measurements, it's super helpful!

[@dr.joeluciani1482]

Great review Nico! Much appreciated. Which of the three do you think would work best with fast, f/2 hyperstar? I know these are touted for fast ratios....do any of these stand out...or is that another investigation for you. Anyway, do keep up the wonderful videos and effort.

[@NebulaPhotos]

I believe both Optolong and Antlia have 'high speed' versions in development. I haven't heard that either is for sale yet, but keep your eyes peeled. I'd definitely wait for those for your f/2 hyperstar!

[@justindame]

Great Video as always Nico! Proud to be a Patreon/Discord member!

[@juanjosemoreno2026]

Thank you for this video. You go right to the point, excellent, very helpful.

[@avt_astro206]

Very Informative Video Nico!! Appreciate your Efforts. Thanks For Making This. Will help a Lot on my Decision on buying filters!

[@NebulaPhotos]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks!

[@TwoPancakes]

Awesome video Nico ! I got my Antlia ALP-T 4 days ago but I haven’t been able to use it for 5 days because clouds. Thanks for showing me a sneak peak of what I could see !

[@AstroBlender]

Excellent work here! I like that you use an at home-spectrometer rig for testing. It seems like the L-eXtreme and the f/2 version both struggle with star halos. Hopefully they can nail it down. Clear skies Nico, and thanks for the detailed review.

[@NebulaPhotos]

Thanks Cody! Clear skies to you in 2022!

[@numerics77]

I believe the ALP-L offer a version for f/2 systems… hopefully the rest of the vendors will catch up.

[@jeroenvdw]

Nice video, I never tried astrophotography yet, 30 minutes shutter time seems insane. How come the images still have noise with that shutter time? If I take a picture with any shutter speed and ISO 100 or high ISO and for example 10 sec shutter speed there is never noise.

[@NebulaPhotos]

We are trying to bring out objects that are impossibly dim compared to anything you would shoot normally. We then stretch (increase brightness) the image very aggressively to bring those dim objects out, but that also brings up the noise

[@leoncorns1450]

I have the optolong l extreme and don't think it's worth upgrading on these results. Thanks for another great and informative video Nico

[@NebulaPhotos]

Glad I could help Leon! Thanks for watching! -Nico

[@dmytroabraimov6302]

Hello, very interesting video! Did you had chance to test filter SkyTech L-PRO MAX, which seems is analog of Optolong L-Pro?

[@tompage8674]

Every time I want to know something I google it and it just so happens Nebula photos has done a video. THANK YOU!

[@ryh69PL]

THX Nico!

[@patrickbisaillon307]

@NebulaPhotos If I may suggest an idea for an upcoming video, how about comparing these two OSC filter sets: Askar Color Magic Duo Pack (D1 OIII+Ha and D2 OIII+SII) vs Antlia ALP-T Dual Band Filter Package (Ha+OIII and SII+Hb). I haven't been able to find a one-to-one comparison out there of these two competing sets so I think it would be a great if you would do it first.

[@kevinashley478]

Great video! I love your testing as it takes away a lot of the subjectiveness/opinions. I saw the KZbin video of your panel with Biscuit. Good stuff. I'm hoping to catch Leonard for the last time tomorrow night. Happy New Years!

[@CammieRacing]

Super beginner here, are £30-80 ($50-$110) light pollution filters worth my time? Or too cheap to be of any use?

[@adamcarpenter7823]

Just ordered the Antlia ALP-T highspeed from Starizona (along with their Hyperstar C8 v4 and some other various stuff) earlier today. Not too far from you here in Billerica so looking forward to testing it all out soon if these cloudy New England spring nights ever clear up. Thanks again for another great video!

[@beniciocaro4772]

I'm so glad that you took these in Somerville because I am starting at Tufts in 2022!

[@koppervik1]

Hi Nico, and thanks for a very informative channel! I shoot with a full spectrum modified Canon 60D, and my scope is 61EDPH II at f4.5. I first bought the l-enhance clip-in and was very happy with the filter. I later also bought the 2" l-extreme and have used that since, without really comparing befor/after since I did not shoot the same target. I shoot from a bortle 5 for now, but also have access to bortle 3 in the mountains. I came across a graph (Jim Thompson, Abbey Road Observatory) showing the performance of l-enhance vs l-extreme as a function of speed of the scope. At f4.5, the l-xtreme had quite significant worse performance than l-enhance in Ha. I understand that in bortle 8, the more narrow bamd passes is better to block light pollution, but this graph made me wonder if I actually would be better off with the l-enhance in bortle 5 and 3?

[@MADHIKER777]

Another well done, informative video!

[@wzuhl]

This was awesome! Thank you!

[@GrowingAnswers]

Have you ever thought about doing a head to head comparison with a cooled mono versus cooled 0SC using a narrowband HA filter? I understand the mechanics of it but I have not seen any direct photo comparisons. Mono will always be better obviously but I think that can be also categorized by a persons personal taste for quality.

[@indysbike3014]

I would like to see a 5min sub with a mono + Ha filter and a 5min sub with a OSC + L-eXtreme.

[@Everything_I_Like.]

Nico, can you try out the Nisi night filter and K&F concept night filter? i've been thinking of buying them for my camera but idk which one to buy

[@bryankelly6255]

This is the most thorough, yet concise, review on these filters that I've seen on these filter. Excellent job!

[@davidbrown-yx3gz]

i don't understand bortle measurements, my area is classed as bortle 5 and i have Edinburgh and Glasgow to deal with, even my dark site is bortle 4 and yet the area you are in on this video is bortle 8 and still looks much darker than where i am. Learnt a lot from your videos. You make things clear and understandable. One of the best if not thee best astrophotography channels on YT, just wish i could image with you see how you go about it hands on

[@fredmercury1314]

Do you know how these compare to the ZWO 2" Duo-Band Dual Narrowband Filter?

[@claudekaber609]

To my personal taste, the l-enhance produces the most beautiful image, despite the light pollution showing a little bit. At that price vs the others, its a no-brainer for me.

[@richards3192]

As always, good informative review without bloatspeak Nico :) I have the IDAS NBZ DB filter (later version) which has a wider bandpass than the Antlia ALP=T but is optically excellent, seems to be spot on as per wavelength and no halo so far

[@slim1857]

Thanks for this very interesting video. I've owned the 3 filters and I finally sold the 2 optolongs. The L-extreme (or especially my copy?) produces extreme ugly halos on bright stars which is definitely a show stopper for me considering the post processing time to reduce them a bit.

[@rayyanimran1557]

It was a common issue with the L extreme to produce horrible halos. How was your experience with the L enhance? I'm looking to get a filter for my setup, my camera is an eos 1200d, what would you recommend based on your experience with all 3

[@slim1857]

@@rayyanimran1557 the L enhanced filter is also concerned by halos but in a much lesser concern. I would recommand the Antlia or the IDAS NBZ instead.

[@MrRnk22]

Awesome and informative video! Looking forward to more like this.

[@ateiviz]

Great information and comparisons, I'm shooting with a stock nikon dslr and lens so footer options are almost non existent. Until I can upgrade to telescope and Astro camera I'll be choosing my targets accordingly to not waste hours in the cold.

[@miltonbatera6910]

I'm living um Brazil, in a city with bortle 3-2, i need some filter?

[@kekedong]

I think this video is actually a persuasion to modify your dslr

[@riaandewinnaar5040]

Awesome Nico! Been waiting for this. We need more equipment put to head to head test!

[@NebulaPhotos]

Great! I agree, they are a lot of work, but nice to see comparisons.

[@Lumber91]

Why is bros eyes blue? Like around his pupils 😮

[@MarkusGebhard]

I wish all reviews on KZbin were like this one!!!

[@ianmoore2332]

Thanks Nico.... great video - really helpful. Would you expect the results to stack up significantly differently when viewed from a (say) Bortle 4 location? Do you have any resources that show which DSO targets are best suited to Ha, S2 or O3 etc. ?

[@NebulaPhotos]

They work great from a Bortle 4, but my conclusions would be the same. Check out the bottom of my Antlia ALP-T written review to see some Bortle 4 results: www.astrofilters.com/2021/12/27/antlia-alp-t/ I don't have that resource, but I've found if I just Google Image search the object name and 'SHO' I can usually find some helpful astrophotographer websites that can give me ideas for what to expect. I then bookmark my favorites like this one: billsnyderastrophotography.com/

[@AstroLeo2024]

Great informative video. Thank you for sharing. Also, please Stop! You're costing me a fortune 😁

[@robb7342]

Nico, thanks so much for making this video happen, timing is perfect. I now have the alternative that I was looking for. Also, great explination as to the filter usage for Nebula as well as what to expect in moon lit skies.

[@NebulaPhotos]

Glad I could help Rob! Clear skies, Nico

[@Preciousvibez]

PLEASE HELP. I want to shoot a nebula . Please help me 1. I have no more money for mods 2. I have a 8inch dob telescope 3. I have a canon t6i 4 I have a good laptop will download any applications for edits 5. I have a suv for travel to dark loc 6. WHAT CAN I DO TO GET BEAUTIFUL PHOTIS LIKE YOURS 7. I have a goal to gift family members with sky portraits from me this year 7 is there a cheaper filter 8. I have a couple lenses

[@NebulaPhotos]

I would suggest driving to the dark location, and using just your Canon t6i with the lenses on a tripod. The 8" dob is a good scope for visual astronomy or images of the moon/planets, but won't be ideal for shooting the stars/deep sky objects. Your camera lenses will be better for that. I have complete start to finish videos on shooting Andromeda Galaxy (kzbin.info/www/bejne/ponGg36lrbmDjMk) and Orion Nebula (kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6awi3pjiN53ebc) with just a stock DSLR (not modded), no filters, just a lens and tripod. These videos present a lot of the same information, but either one should help you achieve your goal with the gear you have.

[@martrich1098]

Great video! I have used the STC astro dual band clip in filter, which I think gets similar performance to the L-extreme with my modded 6D ( I have even balanced the L-extreme on the front of my Canon 50mm f1.8 with predictable mixed results). Both of these give me large red/purple colour fringes (vignetting? I'm not sure) that don't calibrate out, even at f4 with this lens, leaving only the central portion of the image useable. I also get a bit of colour fringing when using the L-extreme with my 250mm f4.9 Redcat and dslr. By the way, would love to know how you rigged up your spectrometer!

[@NebulaPhotos]

I think some color vignette is fairly common with the clip filters on full frame, It's hard to fully illuminate the sensor without some shading. A lot easier on the APS-C bodies. Email me about the spectrometer: nicocarver at gmail

[@pietroalessandrini]

I did NOT expect that much difference

[@jster91]

Can you get to the full spectrum image quality level with the standard SLR by adjusting your exposure length? Exposures being equal, it's obvious that full spectrum is superior, but can you get to the same image by just extending the exposure length compared to full spectrum?

[@NebulaPhotos]

Not exactly. Opening up the sensor to that part of the spectrum really changes color balance so even if you exposed longer (longer total integration) to get the SNR equal in that part of the spectrum, the color balance would still be very different.

[@seledkapod22]

May I ask, what shutter speed and ISO did you use to shoot with the stock camera?

[@NebulaPhotos]

ISO3200 and shutter speed I changed based on the filter to match histograms, I believe all 4-6 minutes. Details listed in my text reviews here: www.astrofilters.com/

[@balboadancer751]

Thanks for the excellent review Nico! Interesting to see that the Antlia ALP doesn't have the halo's around the star. Any idea on how it will perform with a fast lens/scope?

[@NebulaPhotos]

It will work at f/3. An f/2.8 lens will likely be fine too. Any faster than that, you'd want to look at the pre-shifted 'high speed' filters

[@balboadancer751]

@@NebulaPhotos Excellent. I'm going to give it a go at F2 on my 135mm, but will stop down to 2.8 if it fails. Thanks again for the very informative review!

[@jster91]

Another question... Should you even bother using these when photographing at a dark sky site like Cherry Springs (Bortle 2)?

[@NebulaPhotos]

Sometimes yes, if it’s a special trip, I’d normally prioritize broadband objects when going to a dark site. However all deep sky photography will work better from a dark site, so if you are going after an emission nebula, esp. a faint one this type of filter will really help bring it out. (At the cost of natural star color, but if you want to get fancy you can capture a second set of data unfiltered just for the stars)

[@Veptis]

Are there any interesting emission lines in the N band? Around 8-12μm I would love to try ground based observations using uncooled microbolometers

[@NebulaPhotos]

Not emission lines per se, but the infrared can be very interesting with some nebulae. Especially dusty/dark nebulae. I've been trying to get into this. Check out IR surveys for places to explore: galaxymap.org/mwe/mwe.php

[@satanite13]

Super cool video! Especially measuring the bandpass widths yourself 👏 I had a tangential question regarding filters. How do you manage to focus with so little light coming through the filters? I have a very difficult time nailing focus and I don’t even use a narrow band filter 🥲

[@NebulaPhotos]

I find my target without a filter, then add the narrowband filter and focus by taking an 8 second test exposure at high ISO with a Bahtinov Mask on the telescope. I keep taking test exposures moving the focuser a little bit each time until focus is perfect. It takes anywhere from 1 to 10 minutes depending on how lucky I am.

[@satanite13]

@@NebulaPhotos ah I see! Thanks! :) I’m going to try this next time

[@gregerianne3880]

Great video and review, Nico. Thanks! How did the filters compare in terms of finding your targets with a DSLR? This seems to be the toughest part of using stringent filters for me.

[@NebulaPhotos]

Hi Greg, Yes, I didn't mention it, but it is a pain. Live view is absolutely useless once you install these filters. Very bright stars come through a bit with the L-eNhance in live view, nothing comes through with the L-eXtreme or Antlia ALP-T. I do initial star alignment and framing with no filter installed. Trying to frame up the target with any of these filters already installed is too annoying for me. After I have everything framed up with no filter, I install the filter and focus. I take 10 second shots at high ISO to focus with a Bahtinov mask. -Nico

[@gregerianne3880]

@@NebulaPhotos Ah, that's been my experience as well. I tried my Astronomik UHC and IDAS LPS D-3 filters last week and it was a bear to try and find my target (which I completely whiffed on for two of the three nights!), especially from my more light-polluted backyard. From your description, it sounds like it would be even more difficult with the L-eXtreme or Antlia ALP-T filters. I will try the framing-before-inserting-filter (which sounds oddly like brain-in-gear-before-speaking!) technique next time and see how it goes. Thanks again!

[@indysbike3014]

I use platesolving in APT and no problem finding the target with the L-eXtreme.

[@gregerianne3880]

@@indysbike3014 Thanks for the reply! Yes, once I got the ASIAir Plus, I started using plate solving and never looked back. Of course, other software (like APT) makes this approach feasible as well. It makes it so much easier to find targets with stringent filters! Thanks again.

[@mini14kid]

there all way over priced ,

[@drithen]

How does the ZWO Dual band filter compare?

[@NebulaPhotos]

Very similar (if not identical) to the L-eNhance.

[@alneid2707]

Nice comparison. I'm waiting for an L-extreme to be delivered - hopefully before the end of the week. This comparison makes it clear that it will be a huge upgrade from the ZWO dual-band I'm currently using - the ZWO filter has wider band passes then the L-enhance.

[@Neanderthal75]

I have the zwo duo band too, although I haven't complained about it much, beside it causes some halos on some stars, but I've been looking around for another dual band filter.

[@NebulaPhotos]

Ah, I didn't know that ZWO had one. I'll check it out. I wonder who makes it for them?

[@AdmiralSym]

@@NebulaPhotos i got mine for about $60 and they normally go for $80-100 so a pretty good budget option

[@Neanderthal75]

@@AdmiralSym - It's actually not a bad filter by any means, considering the price ! I have taken some very nice images , and there isn't a lot to complain about. I image on Bortle 5 so it might be different at more light polluted areas, I don't know.

[@alneid2707]

@@Neanderthal75 I am also in a Bortle 5-6 setting. My version of the ZWO filter does not produce star halos, but the contrast, especially in OIII leaves a bit to be desired. Still, my images with it are so much better than no filter at all.