Thank you so much my friend, that's really lovely to hear! :-) I'll always do my best for people! I greatly appreciate your support, I hope you're keeping well! Clear skies
Luke, even though I’m not in the market for this filter I just want to say the way you review does all of us consumers a favor. You aren’t afraid of showing faults with a product while you also clearly don’t have an axe to grind. This hobby needs more objective tests like this, especially for the prices we pay for things!
Hey Luke! I have this filter and there were a few things I noticed about it that may cause some issues. First of all because I use the Baader FCCT, I remove the filter from it's cell and it fits perfectly and is 2mm thick too so it is parfocal to Baader filters. One downside I noticed right away is that the edges are not blackened. The second one was that only the camera side of the filter has a AR coating. So the halos you are seeing are from the backside of your corrector plate, nothing you can do about it for certain spectrum stars. IDAS learned from the NBX and decided to coat both sides with AR coatings so no more halos. Too bad there isn't a fast refractor you could test on and you may see the halos go away. I have not run into any halos "yet" but I only tested on Alnitak and Polaris as the weather has not been kind to us here near Chicago, USA. I am looking forward to doing some more testing like the same target's as yours when it isn't as cloudy and I will PM you to let you know what I find out. Thanks for the video and clear skies!
Hey there Dave! - That's some good info! Surprised to hear the edges are not blackened, that can sometimes wreak havoc with flats in my experience! I'm really looking forwards to hearing back from you about the tests, it'll be interesting to see what you find - good luck! Oh and P.S - I just noticed you joined my Patreon, Thank you so much for your support mate!!
@@lukomatico Yep halos on IC 443 using my RASA 8 with QHY268C camera @ 56 gain in HG mode. Took 40 subs @ 4mins each (about 2.6 hours TI). Sent you and Cuiv PMs with my result images. Also took a image of Alioth found that the star actually produced a reflection from my corrector plate!
Thank you for this review Luke, you saved me a bunch of money as i am currently in the market for a good NB filter, i think i will go for a NBZ from IDAS and call it a day. Once again thank you for your honest content!
Very interesting perspective again and great in depth testing! I value SNR above all else (probably because in B8-9) and I really don't care about halos (I still don't quite get the whole dislike of halos lol), so to me it is clearly the right choice for the moment as there's basically no other choice with these band passes...
I totally hear you mate! - for me personally the halos can really spoil an image, but each of us have our own likes/dislikes I guess haha! :-D I expect there's a lot of variability in the filters, no two seem to be the same as you've shown in your own testing - perhaps I got unlucky? Thanks for watching!
@@lukomatico I think we both got unlucky then - some of my patreons told me their sample works great without halos or reflections :-) I wonder why Newtonian spikes are so desirable that they're sometimes added in post (or by adding a cross in front of a refractor!) while halos are so frowned upon!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Oh man, that's wild - I'm happy for your lucky patrons though! 😀 The diffraction spikes/halos conundrum is an interesting one, as both are avoidable for people but one is caused by design and the other by.. well, a lack of it! - I think when people artificially add spikes, or actively seek a scope that creates them, it's because it makes their images look more 'Hubble' which is maybe what they developed an original interest/aspiration in AP from? I wonder though, if Hubble had been delivering iconic halos rather than diffraction spikes in it's images that people might have a method of adding artificial halos instead? an interesting question you raise!😀 Clear skies mate!
Been waiting for your review on this filter.. quality control should be strict and priority on high end filter by the manufacturers but its hard as seeing conditions are so vast through out the world from day to day. good review sir luke (Master Chief)
Thank you Chris mate! - i'm really hoping it's a QC issue and not a design problem, either way though that's not a great start ey! RE: Master Chief, I feel like I need to replay the games and watch the series now haha! bloody love em! Clear skies bud ;-D
Hi Luke, Halos are quite complex issues and can be down to a bunch of reasons including the AR coating on camera windows, there's a couple of references worth reading up on, the Baader piece 'Halos viewed without prejudice' and Jim Thompsons 'understanding filter induced halos'.
Thanks for the helpful comment Richard my friend! - I appreciate you sharing your experience :-) It's definitely an avoidable issue at least, so hopefully it's a problem that'll just become a relic of the past sooner rather than later hey! Clear skies buddy :-)
Thanks Enrique!! - we're paying more than the equivalent weight in gold for these things so I agree, issues like this are unforgivable! I appreciate you watching buddy :-)
Great breakdown but to be fair to this filter, these are still medium of the line filters. For when your quite not ready to break the bank but don't want a cheap zwo filter or something. Idk about Astrodon but Chroma filters come in at 1200 dollars and are top of the line and I feel that should be perfect.
An interesting review and thanks for your work. I think the normal version of this filter is amazing . I hope they get the fast version to work as good
Great review Luke, thanks. I was thinking of this filter but now, not going to purchase this one for my f2 twin lens system. Oh by the way, you're pronouncing NB-Z wrong... we're not in 'Murica 😉
Thanks Stephane! - I'm glad this was useful to you mate :-) Zee, Zed or Zeta, - Tomato or Tomata, what's a difference in pronunciation when we deal with things on a galactic scale, haha! :-D Clear skies buddy!
Another good honest test Luke, saying it as it is! For £400, that’s a premium price! They should be better! So far, my Antlia 3nm filters have been fine🤞 Thanks and clear skies!
Thanks Simon mate!! - Agreed aye, it should be darn-near perfect at that price point! Very happy to hear your Antlia 3nm's are doing well mate, that's good to know! :-)
Hey Luke thanks for the very interesting video! The halos around red stars only is intriguing to the point where I resorted to looking at emission curves for both red and blue stars and comparing these to the filters transmission chart. I'm non the wiser so far mate so lets put it down to QC instead lol Anyway, let me congratulate you on your very imminent 10K subs! That's a huge landmark mate, big congrats!!
Hey Chris mate! - That's a good investigative direction I think! I noticed it was mainly stars between 1.4 and 1.6 colour index according to Stellarium, and mag 3.3-ish and below. those seemed to be the culprits! I do hope it's a QC issue rather than design oversight, that would majorly suck! Thank you so much for the support you've given me right from the start mate, it's honestly meant a lot to me. I can't believe I'm at 10,000 now - never would have dreamed of it!! :-) Hope you have a cracking weekend coming up bud!
Very interesting review. Or rather result. I have the "normal" version of ALP-T for a year now and cannot complaint at all. No halo whatsoever, but I use it on a f/5 and a f/4 newtonian, not on RASA.
Thanks for watching mate!! - I'm happy to hear your regular ALP-T is good! - I was really pretty disappointed with this thing given it's targeted at fast focal ratios :-( definitely not worth the money in my mind!
Bit surprising this Luke as the normal version(non "fast")of this is my go-to duo Narrowband filter precisely because it doesn't produce halos. Shame it's happening here.
Hey Ollie mate! - Yeah it's a real shame, I was looking forwards to this filter a lot but after these tests I don't think I'll bother using it again :-( Glad to hear the normal version is a winner though! :-)
Thanks Paul!! - Titles & thumbnails are one of my weakpoints I think, haha, I do need to figure out what's working for other people and just do that! :-D Thanks for watching mate!!
Hi Luke thanks for the review on this filter mate. I know fast setups like your RASA are very unforgiving, but I don't think I'd be happy paying £400 for something that's not perfect, the problem is that once your seen the halos you'll alway be looking for them , and if it's just that you have a bad copy of the filter this raises questions about the quality control on a expense filter
Hey Tony! - Agreed on all points mate, well said! Some folk don't mind halos much and that's absolutely fine, but I'm not one of them haha! to each his own I guess :-) Thanks for watching and clear skies mate!
Firstly, congrats on the 10K Luke !! Well deserved. Interesting Review/results, and I too am not a fan of halos. Have Antlia responded in any way, even if to confirm its sub-standard or similar?
Thanks so much Ian! - I appreciate it mate :-D I've not heard anything from Antlia, I've not reached out to them so I don't even know if they are aware this video exists! - I can say that one of my Patrons has independently tested also with their own filter on their RASA8 and have the same issues, so it seems to be just part of the filter :-( Thanks for watching mate!
I know star halos and such are important but I would have like to have seen an overview of the whole filter. It's not a star filter so to speak but more for nebulosity in certain bandwidths. I would have liked to see the difference in the overall difference between filters then make notes as to what it does to the stars or other notes.
great video ! I have been using this filter for a few weeks with a Sigma 135 - ASI6200MC lens. Use with 2.8 or 3.2 lens aperture and it's a disaster, I don't know why, but I have almost no signal! Not against (and logically) I set myself at F4 with an Optolong Ultimate and there it's perfect, I easily have 4x more signal than the Antlia at F2.8...I can't figure out what it is the problem, a salesman recommended an IDAS NBZ-II instead.... I'm still angry at 400 Euros... François - Roscoff - France
Great video again Luke, well must say that I also have halos with the ALP-T (normal) on my imaging system. That was, for me, a big dumper on the quality of the filter.
Thanks for sharing that info Siegfried!! - It's interesting to hear you've had issues with the original one too mate, it seems some folk really enjoy that one but I guess it's not perfect? I appreciate you watching! Clear skies buddy :-)
Question you were testing the Antila 5nm high speed version getting the halos. Are the Antila 5nm f3.6 and slower version showing halos? I think they are different filters. Thanks
Thanks so much for watching and supporting Stu!! I appreciate it mate :-D It'd be good to test it on a really fast refractor, but the fastest I have is f4.9 which is a bit slow for this thing! :-( RE: A processing vid, that's a good idea! I'll have to get something cooking in the pipeline buddy, thanks again!
Hi Luke, one year on! What are your thoughts now? Have you double checked your Pixinsight stacking process or have you contacted Antlia for a replacement, would be interesting what they say as it's not that uncommon that filters have bad batches. Thanks for the video!
Hey mate! 1 year on, where did the time go 😅 I'm still disappointed with the filter really, as you say it's possible I got a bad one but I never did contact Antlia unfortunately! If it was priced more aggressively, I could make more peace with its shortcomings I guess!
Very interesting Luke. I'm trying to remember which filter review I saw a while back but it had similar issues with red stars only causing halos. I personally can't stand halos so it would definitely be a skip for me too. Perhaps it's unluck of the draw so to speak. When I got my LRGB set from Antlia, the blue filter produced weird lines due to a manufacturing error but they happily swapped it for me.
Hey Logan! - it may be the GNB I tested recently you're thinking of, that gave halos too! That's good to know Antlia sorted out a faulty filter for you, always nice to see that kind of thing (pity it ever left the factory in the first place though!) Thanks for watching matey! :-)
Hey Luke, I've read on the Antlia website that some of their filters need to have a UV/IR Cut filter stacked in front of it. Have you tried that? Just curious. By the way, today I just received an Antlia Triband RGB Ultra M48 x 0.75 2" filter. I haven't had a chance to use it yet because I'm down here in Florida USA and it's the rainy season and so cloudless nights are kind of hard to come by. But, supposedly, no UV/IR Cut filter is supposed to be needed with this one. The cost, from Agena Astro, in US $ was $179.00. When I get the next cloud free night I intend on using it, a lot, and I'll let you know how it works out. This is a new filter for Antlia and so I'm hoping that they have the Halo issue worked out. I'll be sure to include some red stars just so I can look for that halo. Anyway, thank you for the video. It was interesting, as always, especially since I just purchased a new Antlia filter! Sincerely, Richard Williams Astor, Florida 32102 USA!
Hey there mate! Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment, it's appreciated! Congratulations on your new filter! I hope you've got many clear nights ahead where you can use it 👍👍 Re: stacking with a UV/ir cut - my camera has a UV/ir cut filter built into the sensor chamber window so that should be enough, thank you very much for the suggestion though! All the best, Luke 👍
Are the halos coming from poorly focussed infrared? Also I screw my filter (l extrene) straight onto sensor as I have no filter wheel and have no obvious issues.
I may have missed this which scope are you using? I noticed your stars look a little odd as in pointy north south could the scope be out of collimation slightly resulting in halos? Would be interesting to see how this performs with a refractor
Hey Nik! - It's a Celestron RASA8 mate :-) The little up-down spikes are diffraction from my cables, collimation is perfect and sensor flatness is spot-on too luckily! such a shame to see halos on this thing :-( Thanks for the suggestion mate!
Luke, question are you using same scope I think so? Also can you put the Antlia ALP=T farther away from your camera sensor? As it known that the filter distance can make a huge change due to the filters distance from sensor due to the filters reflection from sensor? On a RASA you don't have much control sad to say I think? In a refractor there is more options to place the filter farther away like before the reducer right after the reducer? More info is needed.
Hiya Luke . First time anyone has tried to connect the colour of the bright stars and the halos that the filters give . Interesting . Since the filter is allowing for a wavelength shift at high speeds then maybe the Ha isn’t shifting enough which is causing an internal reflection . No halos on green objects ? Not that there are any . LOL . / SRK
Hey Scott! - Hope you are well mate :-D It's an interesting idea - I think it seems like there's all the HA getting through given how good the signal is, but that's only a guess! Really disappointing to see such issues on a pricey filter though :-( Thanks for watching mate!
@@lukomatico How to say this? Astrophotography is such a niche market I don't think some of these vendors have the most rigid quality control. Coming from the DSLR landscape photography, can you imagine Nikon, Canon or Sony releasing an obviously flawed product like this?
I've heard a similar thing yeah, it seems the normal 5nm (non-highspeed) is performing well - shame the highspeed one is giving halos though, just not acceptable at this price point! :-(
Definitely agree Garnett my friend, it's either the QC or the R&D itself which is lacking, there's no way we should be getting any less than perfection given the price of these things IMO! I appreciate you watching buddy :-) Clear skies!
Well I'm really disappointed with the results Luke I watched Cuiv's video earlier & yours just now & the halos that filter is producing are pretty bad. I use the standard NBZ filter with my RASA & that works really well never had any issues with Halos. For almost £400 you would expect better, it is a shame as the narrowband filters they make perform really well from what I've seen so I hope they get the halo issue resolved.
Hey Tich! - Good to hear from you mate :-) Hope you and Nicky are well! I agree mate, for £400 i'm looking for perfection, or very near it at least - they've been making filters for a good while so there's not really any excuse for a goof-up like this IMO! Thanks for watching mate!
Thanks Rob!! I'm not out imaging tonight, actually considering some big equipment changes soon too! we'll see what happens, haha :-D Thanks for your support mate!
I've not tried comparable products from them I'm afraid Ana, so I can't say with any certainty! - Generally speaking though I've been very happy with Astronomik products, slightly less so with Baader filters. Hope that helps!
@@lukomatico This filter selection is real issue. Now, I am used to “no headache” Astrodon filters. Problem is that Epsilon 130mm on the way. Using small sensor on it will just defeat purpose. So at least 36mm filters will be needed, maybe even 2” ones. Astrodon filters will be very expensive. I will probably go with 7nm version of Astronomic and LRGB will stay Astrodon. I don’t use often SHO.
Entirely possible mate! As I say at the start of the video, no two filters are identical (even though for this price, they should be!!) Also, our setups are different (RASA8 vs C6+Hyperstar) that might factor into it too.
I think we both saw effectively the same thing, including halos! For me, the SNR is the single most important criteria, and I don't care about halos at all! But for others halos are super important, and thus disqualify the filter!
The halos for me were a deal breaker I know people can process them out, I'm just not that good at it I'm afraid. Hopefully there will be a MKII out at some point which will rectify the halo issue.
Always a big test when it comes to fast optics but as you say for £400 this should hit the mark. My experience with Antlia filters has been positive but thats with their SHO 3nm and LRGB filters. Great to seeing you doing well mate, are you attending PAS?
Thanks Glenn! - It's definitely an unforgiving test at F2 haha! That said, as you mention - given the price these should be perfect, we deserve better for our money! Glad to hear the 3nm SHO have been great though man, that's reassuring! :-) Hope things are going well for you bud! (RE: PAS, I'm giving astro meets a skip for a bit I think)
You are becoming the "go to source" for frank, honest and direct reviews. Thanks to this, very valuable to have such a resource.
Thank you so much my friend, that's really lovely to hear! :-) I'll always do my best for people!
I greatly appreciate your support, I hope you're keeping well!
Clear skies
Luke, even though I’m not in the market for this filter I just want to say the way you review does all of us consumers a favor. You aren’t afraid of showing faults with a product while you also clearly don’t have an axe to grind. This hobby needs more objective tests like this, especially for the prices we pay for things!
That's very kind of you to say mate!! I'm genuinely glad to hear you liked the video style! 👍
Thank you for watching and clear skies!
Hey Luke! I have this filter and there were a few things I noticed about it that may cause some issues. First of all because I use the Baader FCCT, I remove the filter from it's cell and it fits perfectly and is 2mm thick too so it is parfocal to Baader filters. One downside I noticed right away is that the edges are not blackened. The second one was that only the camera side of the filter has a AR coating. So the halos you are seeing are from the backside of your corrector plate, nothing you can do about it for certain spectrum stars. IDAS learned from the NBX and decided to coat both sides with AR coatings so no more halos. Too bad there isn't a fast refractor you could test on and you may see the halos go away. I have not run into any halos "yet" but I only tested on Alnitak and Polaris as the weather has not been kind to us here near Chicago, USA. I am looking forward to doing some more testing like the same target's as yours when it isn't as cloudy and I will PM you to let you know what I find out. Thanks for the video and clear skies!
Hey there Dave! - That's some good info! Surprised to hear the edges are not blackened, that can sometimes wreak havoc with flats in my experience!
I'm really looking forwards to hearing back from you about the tests, it'll be interesting to see what you find - good luck!
Oh and P.S - I just noticed you joined my Patreon, Thank you so much for your support mate!!
@@lukomatico Yep halos on IC 443 using my RASA 8 with QHY268C camera @ 56 gain in HG mode. Took 40 subs @ 4mins each (about 2.6 hours TI). Sent you and Cuiv PMs with my result images. Also took a image of Alioth found that the star actually produced a reflection from my corrector plate!
@@deep_space_dave Great investigation mate!! Thanks so much for sharing your findings, I'll catch your PM when I'm back home 👍 thank you!
Thank you for this review Luke, you saved me a bunch of money as i am currently in the market for a good NB filter, i think i will go for a NBZ from IDAS and call it a day. Once again thank you for your honest content!
Thanks so much Michael!! I'm happy to hear this was useful information for you my friend 👍
Clear skies!
Very interesting perspective again and great in depth testing! I value SNR above all else (probably because in B8-9) and I really don't care about halos (I still don't quite get the whole dislike of halos lol), so to me it is clearly the right choice for the moment as there's basically no other choice with these band passes...
I totally hear you mate! - for me personally the halos can really spoil an image, but each of us have our own likes/dislikes I guess haha! :-D
I expect there's a lot of variability in the filters, no two seem to be the same as you've shown in your own testing - perhaps I got unlucky?
Thanks for watching!
@@lukomatico I think we both got unlucky then - some of my patreons told me their sample works great without halos or reflections :-)
I wonder why Newtonian spikes are so desirable that they're sometimes added in post (or by adding a cross in front of a refractor!) while halos are so frowned upon!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Hey has anyone tried the halo reduction in BXT? Luke you have to try that 😀
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Oh man, that's wild - I'm happy for your lucky patrons though! 😀
The diffraction spikes/halos conundrum is an interesting one, as both are avoidable for people but one is caused by design and the other by.. well, a lack of it! - I think when people artificially add spikes, or actively seek a scope that creates them, it's because it makes their images look more 'Hubble' which is maybe what they developed an original interest/aspiration in AP from?
I wonder though, if Hubble had been delivering iconic halos rather than diffraction spikes in it's images that people might have a method of adding artificial halos instead? an interesting question you raise!😀
Clear skies mate!
@@deep_space_dave I'll have to give it a go! Thanks Dave! :-D
Been waiting for your review on this filter.. quality control should be strict and priority on high end filter by the manufacturers but its hard as seeing conditions are so vast through out the world from day to day. good review sir luke (Master Chief)
Thank you Chris mate! - i'm really hoping it's a QC issue and not a design problem, either way though that's not a great start ey!
RE: Master Chief, I feel like I need to replay the games and watch the series now haha! bloody love em!
Clear skies bud ;-D
Hi Luke, Halos are quite complex issues and can be down to a bunch of reasons including the AR coating on camera windows, there's a couple of references worth reading up on, the Baader piece 'Halos viewed without prejudice' and Jim Thompsons 'understanding filter induced halos'.
Thanks for the helpful comment Richard my friend! - I appreciate you sharing your experience :-)
It's definitely an avoidable issue at least, so hopefully it's a problem that'll just become a relic of the past sooner rather than later hey!
Clear skies buddy :-)
Hey, Luke! Thanks for the review! I agree, such an expensive filter should be perfect. Cheers and keep up this excellent work!
Thanks Enrique!! - we're paying more than the equivalent weight in gold for these things so I agree, issues like this are unforgivable!
I appreciate you watching buddy :-)
Great breakdown but to be fair to this filter, these are still medium of the line filters. For when your quite not ready to break the bank but don't want a cheap zwo filter or something. Idk about Astrodon but Chroma filters come in at 1200 dollars and are top of the line and I feel that should be perfect.
An interesting review and thanks for your work. I think the normal version of this filter is amazing . I hope they get the fast version to work as good
Thanks so much for watching Trevor! - I hope they can resolve the issues with the filter too.
Clear skies my friend!
Optilong L-Ultimate for the same price will not disappoint… Zero halos this far even on HH nebula and other tough targets
Cheers for the tip!! I appreciate it mate 👍
Great review Luke, thanks. I was thinking of this filter but now, not going to purchase this one for my f2 twin lens system.
Oh by the way, you're pronouncing NB-Z wrong... we're not in 'Murica 😉
Thanks Stephane! - I'm glad this was useful to you mate :-)
Zee, Zed or Zeta, - Tomato or Tomata, what's a difference in pronunciation when we deal with things on a galactic scale, haha! :-D
Clear skies buddy!
Another good honest test Luke, saying it as it is! For £400, that’s a premium price! They should be better! So far, my Antlia 3nm filters have been fine🤞 Thanks and clear skies!
Thanks Simon mate!! - Agreed aye, it should be darn-near perfect at that price point!
Very happy to hear your Antlia 3nm's are doing well mate, that's good to know! :-)
Hey Luke thanks for the very interesting video! The halos around red stars only is intriguing to the point where I resorted to looking at emission curves for both red and blue stars and comparing these to the filters transmission chart. I'm non the wiser so far mate so lets put it down to QC instead lol Anyway, let me congratulate you on your very imminent 10K subs! That's a huge landmark mate, big congrats!!
Hey Chris mate! - That's a good investigative direction I think! I noticed it was mainly stars between 1.4 and 1.6 colour index according to Stellarium, and mag 3.3-ish and below. those seemed to be the culprits! I do hope it's a QC issue rather than design oversight, that would majorly suck!
Thank you so much for the support you've given me right from the start mate, it's honestly meant a lot to me. I can't believe I'm at 10,000 now - never would have dreamed of it!! :-)
Hope you have a cracking weekend coming up bud!
Very interesting review. Or rather result. I have the "normal" version of ALP-T for a year now and cannot complaint at all. No halo whatsoever, but I use it on a f/5 and a f/4 newtonian, not on RASA.
Thanks for watching mate!! - I'm happy to hear your regular ALP-T is good! - I was really pretty disappointed with this thing given it's targeted at fast focal ratios :-( definitely not worth the money in my mind!
Bit surprising this Luke as the normal version(non "fast")of this is my go-to duo Narrowband filter precisely because it doesn't produce halos. Shame it's happening here.
Hey Ollie mate! - Yeah it's a real shame, I was looking forwards to this filter a lot but after these tests I don't think I'll bother using it again :-(
Glad to hear the normal version is a winner though! :-)
I would title these review videos as should you " Avoid ? " "Shortlist "? or Buy ? !! . Clearly for £400 it's one to avoid! .....Good video Luke 👍
carwow :)
Thanks Paul!! - Titles & thumbnails are one of my weakpoints I think, haha, I do need to figure out what's working for other people and just do that! :-D
Thanks for watching mate!!
Hi Luke thanks for the review on this filter mate. I know fast setups like your RASA are very unforgiving, but I don't think I'd be happy paying £400 for something that's not perfect, the problem is that once your seen the halos you'll alway be looking for them , and if it's just that you have a bad copy of the filter this raises questions about the quality control on a expense filter
Hey Tony! - Agreed on all points mate, well said!
Some folk don't mind halos much and that's absolutely fine, but I'm not one of them haha! to each his own I guess :-)
Thanks for watching and clear skies mate!
Firstly, congrats on the 10K Luke !! Well deserved. Interesting Review/results, and I too am not a fan of halos. Have Antlia responded in any way, even if to confirm its sub-standard or similar?
Thanks so much Ian! - I appreciate it mate :-D
I've not heard anything from Antlia, I've not reached out to them so I don't even know if they are aware this video exists! - I can say that one of my Patrons has independently tested also with their own filter on their RASA8 and have the same issues, so it seems to be just part of the filter :-(
Thanks for watching mate!
I know star halos and such are important but I would have like to have seen an overview of the whole filter. It's not a star filter so to speak but more for nebulosity in certain bandwidths.
I would have liked to see the difference in the overall difference between filters then make notes as to what it does to the stars or other notes.
great video !
I have been using this filter for a few weeks with a Sigma 135 - ASI6200MC lens. Use with 2.8 or 3.2 lens aperture and it's a disaster, I don't know why, but I have almost no signal! Not against (and logically) I set myself at F4 with an Optolong Ultimate and there it's perfect, I easily have 4x more signal than the Antlia at F2.8...I can't figure out what it is the problem, a salesman recommended an IDAS NBZ-II instead.... I'm still angry at 400 Euros... François - Roscoff - France
So sorry to hear you've had these issues my friend, we deserve better for the amount these filters cost!! 👍👍
Great video again Luke, well must say that I also have halos with the ALP-T (normal) on my imaging system. That was, for me, a big dumper on the quality of the filter.
Thanks for sharing that info Siegfried!! - It's interesting to hear you've had issues with the original one too mate, it seems some folk really enjoy that one but I guess it's not perfect?
I appreciate you watching! Clear skies buddy :-)
@@lukomatico Yes, for that price it should be perfect but it isn't. So now I am using an L-Ultimate that meet full expectations for now
Question you were testing the Antila 5nm high speed version getting the halos. Are the Antila 5nm f3.6 and slower version showing halos? I think they are different filters. Thanks
I couldn't say without testing both mate, sorry!
Thanks Luke I wonder what it would be like on a refractor.BTW its time for a new processing vid with all the new tools!!! Cheers Stu
Thanks so much for watching and supporting Stu!! I appreciate it mate :-D It'd be good to test it on a really fast refractor, but the fastest I have is f4.9 which is a bit slow for this thing! :-(
RE: A processing vid, that's a good idea! I'll have to get something cooking in the pipeline buddy, thanks again!
Hi Luke, one year on! What are your thoughts now? Have you double checked your Pixinsight stacking process or have you contacted Antlia for a replacement, would be interesting what they say as it's not that uncommon that filters have bad batches. Thanks for the video!
Hey mate! 1 year on, where did the time go 😅
I'm still disappointed with the filter really, as you say it's possible I got a bad one but I never did contact Antlia unfortunately!
If it was priced more aggressively, I could make more peace with its shortcomings I guess!
Very interesting Luke. I'm trying to remember which filter review I saw a while back but it had similar issues with red stars only causing halos. I personally can't stand halos so it would definitely be a skip for me too. Perhaps it's unluck of the draw so to speak. When I got my LRGB set from Antlia, the blue filter produced weird lines due to a manufacturing error but they happily swapped it for me.
Hey Logan! - it may be the GNB I tested recently you're thinking of, that gave halos too!
That's good to know Antlia sorted out a faulty filter for you, always nice to see that kind of thing (pity it ever left the factory in the first place though!)
Thanks for watching matey! :-)
Hey Luke, I've read on the Antlia website that some of their filters need to have a UV/IR Cut filter stacked in front of it. Have you tried that? Just curious. By the way, today I just received an Antlia Triband RGB Ultra M48 x 0.75 2" filter. I haven't had a chance to use it yet because I'm down here in Florida USA and it's the rainy season and so cloudless nights are kind of hard to come by. But, supposedly, no UV/IR Cut filter is supposed to be needed with this one. The cost, from Agena Astro, in US $ was $179.00. When I get the next cloud free night I intend on using it, a lot, and I'll let you know how it works out. This is a new filter for Antlia and so I'm hoping that they have the Halo issue worked out. I'll be sure to include some red stars just so I can look for that halo.
Anyway, thank you for the video. It was interesting, as always, especially since I just purchased a new Antlia filter!
Sincerely, Richard Williams
Astor, Florida 32102 USA!
Hey there mate! Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment, it's appreciated!
Congratulations on your new filter! I hope you've got many clear nights ahead where you can use it 👍👍
Re: stacking with a UV/ir cut - my camera has a UV/ir cut filter built into the sensor chamber window so that should be enough, thank you very much for the suggestion though!
All the best,
Luke 👍
I saw an other youtuber testing this filters with very good results. MAybe your issue is not from the filzers. Or maybe you have good a bad batch..
it's possible mate! :-) Thanks for sharing!
Are the halos coming from poorly focussed infrared? Also I screw my filter (l extrene) straight onto sensor as I have no filter wheel and have no obvious issues.
I think the halos can't be from IR in this case as it's blocked by this filter, good idea though! Thanks for watching! :-)
I may have missed this which scope are you using? I noticed your stars look a little odd as in pointy north south could the scope be out of collimation slightly resulting in halos? Would be interesting to see how this performs with a refractor
Hey Nik! - It's a Celestron RASA8 mate :-)
The little up-down spikes are diffraction from my cables, collimation is perfect and sensor flatness is spot-on too luckily! such a shame to see halos on this thing :-(
Thanks for the suggestion mate!
Luke, question are you using same scope I think so? Also can you put the Antlia ALP=T farther away from your camera sensor? As it known that the filter distance can make a huge change due to the filters distance from sensor due to the filters reflection from sensor? On a RASA you don't have much control sad to say I think? In a refractor there is more options to place the filter farther away like before the reducer right after the reducer? More info is needed.
Hiya Luke . First time anyone has tried to connect the colour of the bright stars and the halos that the filters give . Interesting . Since the filter is allowing for a wavelength shift at high speeds then maybe the Ha isn’t shifting enough which is causing an internal reflection . No halos on green objects ? Not that there are any . LOL . / SRK
Hey Scott! - Hope you are well mate :-D
It's an interesting idea - I think it seems like there's all the HA getting through given how good the signal is, but that's only a guess! Really disappointing to see such issues on a pricey filter though :-(
Thanks for watching mate!
I know, from listening to Cuiv, that filter quality varies part to part. Could this just be a dud?
Totally possible mate! Even if that's the case though, having that kind of variability part-to-part is reason enough to be wary I'd say! :-)
@@lukomatico How to say this? Astrophotography is such a niche market I don't think some of these vendors have the most rigid quality control. Coming from the DSLR landscape photography, can you imagine Nikon, Canon or Sony releasing an obviously flawed product like this?
@@robertgrenader858 That's a good point mate, agreed! There'd be refunds, recalls & many forums ablaze within weeks lol!
I believe the regular Antlia ALP-T 5nm does a much better job for it's £400, but what you've show is shocking for a filter of that price.
I've heard a similar thing yeah, it seems the normal 5nm (non-highspeed) is performing well - shame the highspeed one is giving halos though, just not acceptable at this price point! :-(
Bummer. I have their Venus filter and love it. No two astro products are the same. Quality control is lacking in our mass production world.
Definitely agree Garnett my friend, it's either the QC or the R&D itself which is lacking, there's no way we should be getting any less than perfection given the price of these things IMO!
I appreciate you watching buddy :-) Clear skies!
Well I'm really disappointed with the results Luke I watched Cuiv's video earlier & yours just now & the halos that filter is producing are pretty bad. I use the standard NBZ filter with my RASA & that works really well never had any issues with Halos. For almost £400 you would expect better, it is a shame as the narrowband filters they make perform really well from what I've seen so I hope they get the halo issue resolved.
Agree! It's interesting to see Luke and I both see the same results but draw different conclusions!!
Hey Tich! - Good to hear from you mate :-) Hope you and Nicky are well!
I agree mate, for £400 i'm looking for perfection, or very near it at least - they've been making filters for a good while so there's not really any excuse for a goof-up like this IMO!
Thanks for watching mate!
Hey Cuiv! - It's certainly been interesting mate, yeah! - Though it's making me wonder if I'm just overly sensitive to halos & such? haha!
Not good for the money Luke. Thanks for the review. Big old moon out there tonight bud. Hope your imaging. Keep up the good work. Clear skies.
Thanks Rob!! I'm not out imaging tonight, actually considering some big equipment changes soon too! we'll see what happens, haha :-D
Thanks for your support mate!
How are Astronomic and Baader filters compered to these two filters? Thanks
I've not tried comparable products from them I'm afraid Ana, so I can't say with any certainty! - Generally speaking though I've been very happy with Astronomik products, slightly less so with Baader filters.
Hope that helps!
@@lukomatico This filter selection is real issue. Now, I am used to “no headache” Astrodon filters.
Problem is that Epsilon 130mm on the way. Using small sensor on it will just defeat purpose. So at least 36mm filters will be needed, maybe even 2” ones. Astrodon filters will be very expensive. I will probably go with 7nm version of Astronomic and LRGB will stay Astrodon. I don’t use often SHO.
Interesting... Cuiv just gave it a glowing review... you may have gotten a dud...
Entirely possible mate! As I say at the start of the video, no two filters are identical (even though for this price, they should be!!) Also, our setups are different (RASA8 vs C6+Hyperstar) that might factor into it too.
I think we both saw effectively the same thing, including halos! For me, the SNR is the single most important criteria, and I don't care about halos at all!
But for others halos are super important, and thus disqualify the filter!
The halos for me were a deal breaker I know people can process them out, I'm just not that good at it I'm afraid. Hopefully there will be a MKII out at some point which will rectify the halo issue.
Always a big test when it comes to fast optics but as you say for £400 this should hit the mark. My experience with Antlia filters has been positive but thats with their SHO 3nm and LRGB filters. Great to seeing you doing well mate, are you attending PAS?
Thanks Glenn! - It's definitely an unforgiving test at F2 haha! That said, as you mention - given the price these should be perfect, we deserve better for our money!
Glad to hear the 3nm SHO have been great though man, that's reassuring! :-)
Hope things are going well for you bud!
(RE: PAS, I'm giving astro meets a skip for a bit I think)
Действительно полезно. За такие деньги хочется чего-то идеального, а не ареолы 🤷♂️
Thank you my friend! Agreed, 100% - it should be better at that price!