Astronomik XT filters for wide-angle lenses: The new Astronomik XT filters have been specially developed for astrophotography with wide-angle lenses and deliver sharp star images right into the corners of the image.
Astronomik clip-on filters have been a popular and well-known accessory for astrophotographers around the world for many years. However, when using lenses with very short focal lengths for wide-angle photography, standard clip-on filters can cause aberrations, and the stars in the outermost corners of the image become streaked. To solve this problem, the new Astronomik XT filters are mounted on an extremely thin substrate with a thickness of only 0.3 mm or 0.5 mm, which significantly reduces these aberrations.
Despite their reduced thickness, Astronomik XT filters offer the highest optical quality: they are finely polished, free of streaks, internal stresses and bubbles, and suitable for the most demanding applications.
Astronomik XT filters are manufactured using the same durable coating technology as all Astronomik filters. They are extremely scratch-resistant, insensitive to high humidity and non-ageing. This ensures that they maintain their performance for years to come.
Please note that not all Astronomik filters are available as XT versions, as the manufacture of these extremely thin filters is very complex. Currently, filters are being produced that are ideal for photography with wide-angle lenses.
Astronomik ProPlanet 742 IR-pass filter
Ideal filters for the reception of the moon and planets, notably Mars, with telescopes from 6" (150mm) aperture.
The ProPlanet IR 742 only allows infrared light with wavelengths of more than 742 nm to pass. In this wavelength range the effects of seeing are significantly lower than in the visible spectrum of the human eye. This allows much sharper images than are usually obtained from your device and location. Another advantage is that the sky background of advanced dawn is dark and so the filter even allows photography of the planets and the moon at daylight.
Main use
The Astronomik ProPlanet IR 742 cuts off the visible part of the spectrum and allows the light of wavelengths longer then 742nm to pass. Due to this behavior the part of the spectrum that is most sensitive to bad seeing is rejected. This approach does a big improvement to the imaging of planets and the moon. The image is more steady than the image in the visible light with nearly identical exposure times.
A bit of help with your selection:
- As a first filter, we recommend the Astronomik CLS filter. This filter suppresses artificial light pollution and natural airglow. By using this filter you get a dark-sky background and can therefore use much longer exposure times to make fainter objects visible. The filter is optimised in such a way that objects are reproduced in their natural colours. Important: the simple CLS filter has no built-in IR-blocking. Therefore you will need the CLS-CCD filter for an astro-modified camera!
- A good choice for working in locations with really heavy light pollution is the Astronomik UHC filter. The transmission curve of this filter only allows the light of the H-beta, OIII, H-alpha and SII lines to pass through. The background suppression is significantly stronger than with the CLS, however this filter works only for gas nebulae! Star clusters and galaxies are largely filtered out.
- For a more in-depth introduction to astrophotography, we recommend the OIII, H-alpha and SII emission lines filters, available with full width at half maximum of 6nm or 12nm. With these filters you can create detailed images of faint objects even from locations with extreme light pollution and a full Moon high above in the sky. Images in these narrow emission lines are not naturally coloured.
- For the owners of astro-modified cameras we offer the Astronomik OWB filter: OWB stands for "original white balance". The filter corrects the displaced colour reproduction of a converted camera so that it can also be used for normal every-day photography, without having to revise every image on the computer.
Please note: In principle, all camera lenses can be used with the Clip-Filter - i.e. Canon EF lenses or camera lenses from other third party manufacturers such as Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, Walimex etc. However, the use of clip-filters with Canon EF-S lenses is NOT possible!
