p.1 #4 · Breakthrough Photography Night Sky Filter
I was reading about these night sky filters as well, since Breakthrough and Lonely Speck sells them. I'm definitely no expert but read somewhere (probably another thread on this forum) that these filters are used to block out a specific spectrum of lights used by cities, and that slowly and surely, the lights being used are being replaced, thus negating the effect of these filters.
p.1 #5 · Breakthrough Photography Night Sky Filter
Ming-Tzu wrote:
I was reading about these night sky filters as well, since Breakthrough and Lonely Speck sells them. I'm definitely no expert but read somewhere (probably another thread on this forum) that these filters are used to block out a specific spectrum of lights used by cities, and that slowly and surely, the lights being used are being replaced, thus negating the effect of these filters.
Run on sentence expert right here lol
You are correct. Sodium vapor lights are blocked fairly easily, but they are being replaced with less costly lights. These are not blocked by light pollution filters.I have 2 LP sitting on my shelf, unused.
p.1 #6 · Breakthrough Photography Night Sky Filter
Everybody wants LEDs nowadays.
In the 60s and into the 70s mercury lamps were popular for street lights and then HP sodium was in favor. LP sodium was in some uses years ago and easy to filter out.
p.1 #7 · Breakthrough Photography Night Sky Filter
I’ve been using a Hoya red intensifier and it does make a difference in many local locations. LED light is not blocked but I still notice enough difference (lots of old lighting in rural areas) that I still use it. Just ordered the breakthrough night sky filter to replace it due to its optical coatings. The Hoya has none.
p.1 #8 · Breakthrough Photography Night Sky Filter
Another very similar filter made for reducing light pollution in night images is the Haida NanoPro MC Clear-Night Filter. The series has been available for a year or more, and it comes in screw in sizes up to 82mm, as well as square glass filters for slide in mounting in both 100mm and 150mm. They are multi coated like the Breakthrough filters, but watch out for other brands of similar filters that are not coated or are only single coated.
Multi coating is very important in both star images and normal city night images, where reflections can show up in the images, due to reflections from the sensor going forward and then reflecting back off the inside of the filter surface. The bright light sources like stars or night city lights are surrounded by the black areas of the night scene, and the reflections show up in those black areas.
p.1 #9 · Breakthrough Photography Night Sky Filter
Filters like this have been used for astrophotography for many years. With ever increasing light pollution the filters are a worthwhile investment. Cheaper than traveling to a dark sky location.
p.1 #12 · Breakthrough Photography Night Sky Filter
With regards to putting a filter behind a lens, that is very difficult with shorter focal length lenses like normal and wide angle that are for use on DSLR cameras. The optical design of such lenses is complicated, and adding a piece of flat glass behind the lens optics will very likely cause a significant loss of image sharpness. especially for the wide angle ones. You could try a test with a clear filter, and look for the loss while shooting at maximum aperture.
The Haida brand of Clear Night filters that I mentioned above are a fair amount less money than the Breakthrough ones, so if you are working with a lens that has front filter threads of 82mm or less, I would suggest using a screw on filter. If you are considering an ultra wide that does not have front threads, you should look at the Haida square filters, combined with the large filter adapters for ultra wides made by several companies that accept 100mm or 150mm square filters. But that route is not going to be low cost at all.
p.1 #13 · Breakthrough Photography Night Sky Filter
Roland W wrote:
With regards to putting a filter behind a lens, that is very difficult with shorter focal length lenses like normal and wide angle that are for use on DSLR cameras. The optical design of such lenses is complicated, and adding a piece of flat glass behind the lens optics will very likely cause a significant loss of image sharpness. especially for the wide angle ones. You could try a test with a clear filter, and look for the loss while shooting at maximum aperture.
The Haida brand of Clear Night filters that I mentioned above are a fair amount less money than the Breakthrough ones, so if you are working with a lens that has front filter threads of 82mm or less, I would suggest using a screw on filter. If you are considering an ultra wide that does not have front threads, you should look at the Haida square filters, combined with the large filter adapters for ultra wides made by several companies that accept 100mm or 150mm square filters. But that route is not going to be low cost at all. ...Show more →
Thanks for that.
I am using Canon EF lenses with FF Sony.
One of my adapters has a "ledge" that pretty much exactly fits the glass from a 43mm filter (metal rim removed).
It works ok with a 43mm IR filter (behind my 17 TS-E and some others) and no way I want to fork out for a 150mm filter (IR or light pollution) for my Cokin holder which is why I want "cheapish" and thought it might be worth a try (before the Council here puts in LED downlights everywhere).
I am also after a 43mm apodization filter to try but that is another story.
Which would be worse- LED lights that are much more "down" facing or older ones that lose a lot in "up" but with a light pollution filter for urban star shooting?
