Baader Planetarium

Home/Filters/Visual & Photographic/UHC-L / Ultra-L-Booster-Filter
image-product
image-product

UHC-L / Ultra-L-Booster-Filter

6 Reviews
7 Answered Questions
Please choose version to see SKU number
Price from
€98.00

Price excl. German VAT tax (19%): € 82.35

Filter size:None
  • Visual and photographic UHC-L Nebula filter with highest transmission
  • Ultra High Contrast L Filter blocks city lights and increases contrast of nebula and comets (C2 lines)
  • Can be used as LED-opimized Luminance filter for RGB-Imaging wtih skyglow suppression
  • Blue transmission optimized to block blueish skyglow caused by LED car- and streetlights.
  • Creates a much brighter image than a conventional Nebula filter
  • Ideal for deep-sky observers. This UHC-L filter is the perfect visual complement to narrowband OIII filters.
  • Reflex-Blocker™ hard coated and planeoptically polished – with sealed coating edges (Life-Coat™)
  • Blackened edges all around, with filter-lead-side-indicator in the form of a telescope-sided black outer rim
Read more

Baader UHC-L DeepSky Filter

Planeoptically polished

Baader UHC-L DeepSky - Alle Filter
All Baader UHC-L DeepSky Filter
1¼", 31mm, 36mm, 2", 50.4 mm, 50x50 mm, 65x65mm

Baader UHC-L Nebula filter with highest transmission, realistic star colors, also usable as highly effective LED-optimized luminance filter for LRGB imaging.

The Baader UHC-L filter is the classic allround "light pollution rejection filter", but now also blocked against the main LED emissions in the blue part of the spectrum. The passband curve corresponds to a wide dual-band filter without distorting star colors. The two passbands transmitt all light emitted by the known gas nebulae (the H-alpha and H-beta lines of fluorescent hydrogen as well as the OIII line of oxygen), while both the atmospheric most disturbing stray light from LED lamps and intense bluish car headlights as well as further stray light from classical street lamps and the natural night sky glow (airglow/skyglow) of the atmosphere are blocked to a large extent. At the same time, the UHC-L filter is coated with latest technology (CMOS-optimized) and therefore blocks false light much more effective than all previous UHC filters.

Use of the UHC-L filter

The application of the UHC-L happens mainly in visual and photographic observation of emission nebulae (star forming regions, planetary nebulae, supernova remnants) under medium to highly polluted skies. Its use is also interesting for comet observation: It passes the OIII line at 501nm as well as the two C2 lines at 511nm and 514nm which are characteristic for the gas tail of many comets.

This UHC-L filter is the successor of the well-proven plane-optical polished Baader UHC-S filter. It consequently complements it with the advantages of CMOS optimization (no disturbing halos, blackened filter edges, Life-Coat™-coating) while providing an improved transmission spectrum adapted to also cover modern LED light pollution. It provides a brighter image than many classic LPR (Light Pollution Rejection) filters and is therefore not only suitable for large, fast instruments, but also for smaller telescopes collecting less light, where a large exit pupil cannot be achieved. This applies for long-focal length telescopes as well as for small aperture telescopes that only have an eyepiece socket for 1.25" eyepieces. Unlike the single line or dual.line narrowband filters, the image is also bright enough for high magnification, while not diminishing the number of stars. For deep-sky observers, therefore, this UHC-L filter is the perfect visual complement to narrowband OIII filters.

The UHC-L filter is also excellent for photographic use. It does not just block polluting terrestrial light sources, but at the same time it serves as a luminance filter (L-filter), since it blocks all UV and IR transmission like a UV/IR cut filter. An additional UV/IR-cut filter is therefore not necessary: Cameras without a built-in UV/IR-cut filter thus deliver significantly sharper images on refracting telescopes. Both classical photographers and users of EAA/LiveStacking do benefit from the increased sharpness of stars and better contrast of nebulae, as well as the improved transmittance in H-alpha.

Like all Baader CMOS-optimized filters, Baader UHC-L filters likewise are plano-optically polished, with ultra-hard, sputtered dielectric coatings. Even a one-hour bath in boiling water cannot harm these filters! They are scratch-resistant and can be cleaned as often as desired.

The Baader UHC-L / Ultra-L-Booster Filter offers all the advantages of the CMOS-opitmized Baader filters:

  • Increased contrast, matched for typical CMOS quantum efficiency and s/n ratio
  • Reflex-Blocker™ coatings, for largest ever freedom from halos, even under most adverse conditions concerning aux-optics
  • Identical filter thickness to existing standards, with utmost care for parfocality
  • Blackened edges all around, with filter-lead-side-indicator in the form of a black frontside outer rim, to additionally eliminate any reflection due to light falling onto the edge of a filter
  • Each filter coated individually, with sealed coating edge (NOT cut out of a larger plate with coatings left exposed, read more)
  • Life-Coat™: evermore hard coatings to enable a non-aging coating for life – even in a most adverse environment

Show more

UHC-L / Ultra-L-Booster-Filter

  • Technical data not yet specified
    Please choose product variant from dropdown above to see technical data of your chosen product

Customer Reviews

4.9
reviews
Tell us what you think about this item!

Top customer reviews

Stefan S.
I recommend this product
Rating
00
Kontrastverbesserung auch bei rein visueller Beobachtung
Im Gegensatz zu den bisherigen Bewertungen bin ich nicht im Bereich Astrofotografie unterwegs sondern rein visuell. Habe den UHC Filter Größe 1,25" am Orionnebel in relativ lichtverschmutzter Umgebung (Bortle 5 bis 6) getestet in einem Celestron Nexstar 127 SLT. Der Kontrast wird verbessert und der optische Eindruck ist dreidimensionaler und strukturierter. Die Ausläufer vom Nebel sind im Okular mit dem Auge besser zu erkennen. Insgesamt wird der Eindruck natürlich etwas dunkler und grüner aber eben strukturierter und der Übergang heller Nebel zu dunklem Hintergrund ist besser erkennbar. Der Filter lässt sich problemlos ein- und ausschrauben, ist präzise gefertigt und es gibt keinerlei Probleme oder Kollision beim ein- oder ausstecken vom Okular. Vermutlich ist der Effekt bei der Astrofotografie größer aber auch rein optisch hilft der Filter. Ich empfehle bei der Beobachtung zwischen ohne und mit Filter zu wechseln, um die Unterschiede und Beobachtungsergebnisse besser zu erkennen.
Show more
Yannick Akar
Rating
10
Test report: Comparison of the Baader Ultra-L-Booster-Filter with a classic light pollution filter
For my test of the new Baader UHC-L filter I chose the Orion Nebula, a bright winter object in the constellation of Orion. After 5 years of astrophotography, it was also the first time I photographed the bright emission nebula. I used my personal setup consisting of Celestron RASA 11" / QHY268M, the f/2 Ultra-Highspeed H-Alpha filter, and the CMOS-Optimized RGB filter set. For the luminance images, the new Ultra-L-Booster filter and the popular Hutech LPS-P2 (optimized for monocameras) were used. More on the direct comparison of the two luminance filters below. First impression of the UHC-L filter: All shots were taken around the new moon and with my moderately good sky (Bortle 6) the use of classical luminance filters in combination with the super-fast f/2 lens is almost impossible. So, I always had to use light pollution filters to get exposure times of more than 30 seconds per image. My first impression of the UHC-L filter was very positive. Exposures of 60 seconds were easily possible without the sky background becoming too bright and the signal-to-noise ratio becoming too bad. Maybe I'm a little too used to the narrow band ultra-high-speed filters and was hoping for the same contrast, but there's no substitute for a good sky. However, a clear difference in contrast between the two luminance images was immediately apparent. Due to the hard cut of the UHC-L filter in the yellow region, the well-known brown tones of the Orion nebula were missing in the final image, but in combination with the wider band Hutech LPS filter I was able to recover the missing tones without any problems and enjoy the additional contrast in the final luminance image, which would not have been possible without the UHC-L in any case. I could not see any reflections or halos around the bright stars. Here the UHC-L filter has a clear advantage. However, by combining the two luminance images to starless variants, the slight halos of the LPS filter were not a problem. For the colored stars in the final color image, I use only the color information of the RGB filters anyway, so the burned-out stars of the luminance images can be neglected. A direct comparison shows the true strength of the UHC-L filter. The fine details of the Orion nebula stand out much better from the background, including the contrast enhancement. Conclusion: The Baader Ultra-L-Booster filter is an excellent filter for astrophotography, especially for high contrast luminance images. With its high-quality workmanship and improved transmission, it is a valuable addition to any astrophotographer's arsenal. The significant contrast enhancement and reduction of light pollution make this filter a reliable tool for creating stunning images of emission nebulae and other objects such as comets. I would recommend the Baader Ultra-L-Booster filter to any astrophotographer who wants to take their photography to the next level.
Show more
Great contrast enhancement for luminance shots with a monochrome camera
Dr.Georg N. Nyman
Rating
30
Ausgezeichnete Ergebnisse im Vergleich zu anderen Filtern
Ich habe an dem Target IC1396 nach langem, wetterbedingtem Warten endlich die Möglichkeit gefunden, drei ähnliche Filter zu vergleichen - den neuen UHC-L, den L-extreme2.0 und den IDAS-NBZ-UHS. Alle Filter an meinem RASA11 mit der QHY600C Kamera. Alle Frames wurden gleich lang belichtet, gleich entwickelt und gleichartig finalisiert. Natürlich sind die Schlussfolgerungen meine subjektive Ansicht, aber die Bilder zeigen auch recht gut, was ich ausdrücken möchte - um es kurz zu fassen: Der UHC-L zeigt die dezentesten Farben, die aber sehr gut kontrastiert wiedergegeben werden und für subjektive Steigerung der Sättigung noch ausreichend Spielraum nach oben lassen. Auch ist mir sehr positiv aufgefallen, dass der UHC-L Filter als einziger in diesem Vergleich um sehr helle Sterne herum kein Halo erzeugt. Die anderen Filter sind auch gut, zeigen aber meiner Meinung nach entweder bereits eine fast überschießende Sättigung und/oder eine nicht optimale Differenzierung bzw. Kontrastierung. Zur Vollständigkeit - der UHC-L Filter lag in 50x50mm vor, was auch für die Entfernung der Vignettierung der Vollformatkamera wenig Mühen bedeutete. Der verwendete Filter wurde per Photoshop in die drei Bilder zur besseren Identifizierung eingetragen.
Show more
Sehr gute Kontrastierung bei dezenter Farbsättigung - und dass es in allen Größen erhältlich ist
Eine geringere Filterdicke wäre etwas vorteilhaft für eine bessere Beherrschung des Astigmatismus an planparallelen Platten im konvergenten Strahlengang
Dr.Georg N. Nyman
Rating
10
Ausgezeichnetes Kontrastfilter für OSC Kameras
Ich habe diesen Filter für meine QHY600C Kamera bezogen und an mehreren Ha/OIII Nebelfeldern ausprobiert. Da die QHY600 eine Vollformatkamera ist, ist diese Größe sinnvoll um mit meinem RASA11 starke Vignettierungen vermeiden zu können. Eine Vignettierung ist nach wie vor vorhanden, die ist aber mit gut gemachten Flats komplett zu eliminieren. Die Himmelsbedingungen für die Aufnahmen waren nicht besonders gut - das Seeing war durschnittlich und es zogen immer wieder hohe leichte Schleierwolken durch, die den Kontrast von Ha leicht und den von OIII deutlich reduzierten. Dennoch ist das erhaltene Ergebnis mehr als zufriedenstellend - ich finde es wirklich sehr gut. Die starke Ha Region des angepeilten Ziels - NGC2264, wurde gut differenziert wiedergegeben und die OIII Bereiche sind farblich neutral gut unterschiedlich herausgekommen. Trotz der durch das suboptimale Wetter beschränkten Summenbelichtungszeit erhielt ich mit einem vertretbaren Aufwand im Postprocessing ein durchaus respektables Ergebnis. Aufgefallen ist mir auch, dass auch dieser Filter - so wie alle 2- oder 3-Bandfilter der leistbaren Preisklasse, im "Leerlauf" einen Farbgradienten beim Vollformat und der großen Öffnung des RASA (2,2) aufweisen - auch dieser Gradient ist mit den entsprechenden Flats komplett eliminiert worden und nachher bei dem entwickelten Stacks nicht mehr erkennbar. Alles in Allem finde ich, dass diese Neuentwicklung eine sehr sinnvolle und wichtige Ergänzung für die Erstellung von OSC Aufnahmen darstellt.
Show more
Das finale gestackte und entwickelte Bild hat eine feine Farb/Kontrastdifferenzierung
Ein leichter Farbgradient bei Vollformat und Öffnung 2,2 an den Rohdateien - Flats sind unbedingt notwendig
A.BRINGMANN
Rating
10
UHC-L / Ultra-L booster filter 2'' opens up new fields of activity
I have chosen The Angel Nebula (NGC 2171) as a test object for the new Baader UHC-L / Ultra-L booster filter filter. This faint reflection nebula has filled me with desire and respect for years, as all my previous attempts at this object have practically failed. The normal wide open LRGB filters do not provide sufficient contrast at my location (Bortle 5). Only this wonderful UHC-L filter changed the game from the ground up. Admittedly, the night was moonless, but the visibility was not as good as in the high mountains or Namibia. Nevertheless, the result is amazing for me and awakens in me (an inveterate narrow-band photographer) an undreamt-of desire for new fields of activity, unbelievable! How to colour this luminance can be seen here: https://www.astrobin.com/jbza9k/
Show more
Baader Planetarium
Response from Baader Planetarium
Many thanks for your kind review! Since unfortunately it is not possible to render links in a product review, we have linked it again here: www.astrobin.com/jbza9k
UHC-L / Ultra-L-Booster-Filter

Choose Files

(jpeg, png)

No file(s) chosen

    Latest First