Antlia Tr-Band RGB Ultra filter

I recently purchased an Antlia Tri-Band Ultra 2 inch filter for use with my Hyperstar 8. I did it based on advice that I received directly from Starizona.

To date I have only used it once and I have no reference for comparison. All I have to work off of are reviews.

I should add that I am not a big filter person. I’ve always considered them akin to voodoo but I also respect those that believe in them and use them. A filters role is to select specific wavelengths or a range of wavelengths of light and allow those to pass while strongly rejecting other wavelengths. I’ve always believed the best way to avoid those undesirable wavelengths is to leave them behind and travel to dark sites. I still think you will find this to be the best answer.

According to the literature on this filter ……

“The spectral design selected the most substantial information in the RGB bands, which makes Antlia Triband RGB Ultra Filter possible to shoot over 90% of deep sky objects, in addition to its excellent performance on emission nebula, different from other ultra-narrowband filters, it is able to capture galaxies, reflection nebulae, and star clusters from a Bortle 8 location to Bortle 1 while presenting more balanced RGB colors in your images. Also, it has a broad bandpass designed to cope with faster optics up to the f/2 focal ratio.”

Application wise it is used to shoot galaxies, star clusters and reflection nebula. It has been designed for balanced color transmission. It states boldly that the Triband RGB Ultra can best isolate the H-alpha, O3 and blue spectrum from the background light pollution.

An online search reveals that it can also be used on emission and some absorption nebula.

I still remain skeptical though and I guess I will just wait and see. One thing I will say is that the crew at Starizona is outstanding and has plenty of excellent advisors so I do have to trust them.

Transmission graph shown below will let you decide for yourself.