Which filters should I buy? Which filters are right for my telescope? The simple answer is- it’s complicated. You’re going to need to do some research to find the best fit. In my case, where I’m trying to collect photons as fast as I can and as wide as I can, it’s REALLY complicated.

Here’s a recent set of photos from a set of Antlia’s new 50mm LRGB Pro filters. Jury is still out but here are my first stacked frames. There’s a notable NASTY halo on the red frame. I’ve reached out to Antlia so I’ll let everyone know what I find out.


I also did a quick assembly of an HA-LRGB image to get an idea of how they’d look stacked. I compared them to my previous Baader filters for a comparison.


It might seem flippant to simply say “DO YOUR RESEARCH” but it really will net you the best set of filters for the price. These sets and the technology are changing every day! Right now, the filter market is in a bit of an upheaval with CLEAR issues at hand (see above). Filters sets seem out of stock just about everywhere as of January 2021. The recent price hikes and tariffs don’t seem to help, but hopefully things will settle and the supply chain will fill again.

At the end of the day it’s about catching the best data you can and that is worth all the time you can give it.

My good friend on another Tak106/QHY600 system did some testing for me so I could compare the good LRGB channel image to his. Here are the results:




Another nice visual cue is the difference of the “native” f5 fov compared to the ultra wide view from my system with the Tak 645 reducer.

UPDATE: 1/31/21 -6:08am EST

Antlia have confirmed the R filter to indeed be defective and have started the replacement process. I will update the images once the filter is received.

Update 1/31/21 -1:30pm EST

I have been amazed by both Antlia Filters and Cyclops optics as they communicate with me to facilitate a replacement. Kudos to the great customer service of both Antlia Filters and Robin Lee at Cyclops Optics. I will keep the story updated!


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