will an IR/cut filter help me?

Use this section to discuss "standard" Baader/Coronado/ Lunt SolarView/ Daystar, etc… filters, cameras and scopes. No mods, just questions/ answers and reviews.
Post Reply
rbenton
Ohhhhhh My!
Ohhhhhh My!
Posts: 78
Joined: Wed Apr 06, 2016 5:33 pm
Location: El Dorad Hills, CA
Been thanked: 34 times
Contact:

will an IR/cut filter help me?

Post by rbenton »

I am trying to image the sun in WL using a standard DSLR and Nikon 600mm telephoto lens. I have experimented with a Baader ASTF white light solar filter, but (naturally) the results are not up to the quality of others I see on this forum. I have read that when using the Baader filter, adding their Solar continuum filter and IR cut filter will enhance contrast and sharpness significantly. I understand why this works, but I don't think there is an easy way to add these two filters to my system as they are designed for astronomical telescopes and not DSLR lenses. I thought I could find an IR cut filter that could be added, however. My question is this: Would adding the IR filter alone make any discernible improvement? I have attached a sample photo. This is the best I have managed with just the simple gear I have.

Randall Benton
full frame
full frame
whiteLight_11_400x2A.jpg (602.28 KiB) Viewed 3014 times
muddy details
muddy details
whiteLight_11_400x2C.jpg (35.32 KiB) Viewed 3014 times
soft edge
soft edge
whiteLight_11_400x2B.jpg (27.76 KiB) Viewed 3014 times


User avatar
Montana
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 34527
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:25 pm
Location: Cheshire, UK
Has thanked: 17526 times
Been thanked: 8763 times

Re: will an IR/cut filter help me?

Post by Montana »

Wow! I think what you have got is already possibly the best you can, these are really crisp!

I have no idea what aperture a 600mm lens has but I think the limit for seeing solar granulation (resolved) is around 80-100mm aperture.
You will need to take maybe 100-500 shots then stack them in Autostakkert 2 and then sharpen them, this will make the biggest difference. However I think you may be doing this already as the images are very sharp, well done :bow
Alexandra


User avatar
robert
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 3066
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2011 1:49 pm
Location: N.W.Scotland
Has thanked: 4 times
Been thanked: 1252 times
Contact:

Re: will an IR/cut filter help me?

Post by robert »

Totally agree with Alexandra. There is a marginal improvement in contrast with IR cut, UV cut, Continuum but cheaper and massively more useful is stacking a series of single shots (maybe not as many as she says would still work, I have tried 10 or 20 and it is worth doing) from a camera using Autostakkert or Registax. (Both free to download)
Nice shots
Robert


images and animations http://tinyurl.com/h5bgoso
2024 images https://www.flickr.com/photos/69734017@ ... 0313830045
2023 images https://www.flickr.com/photos/69734017@ ... 0304905278
2022 images https://www.flickr.com/photos/69734017@ ... 0295810277
ED80. ED100. SW200. Celestron-150mm-PST mod. C8 edge. ES127
LS60PT-LS60F-B1200. B600-Cak. PGR-Ch3-IMX265
Post Reply