Debate: was that guy right about stacking nebula filters? My Orion photo says yes.

Last month I posted my Orion Nebula shot and this user named AstroFrank commented that I was killing contrast by stacking a dual band filter with an L-Pro. He said it would wash out the dust lanes. I ignored him at first because I thought more filtering = more detail. But then my buddy Dave tried it with his setup and got way sharper Ha data on his Andromeda shot. So I went back and shot Orion again with just the dual band alone. The difference was pretty clear the background was darker and the dark nebula structures popped way more. Now I'm wondering if filter stacking is ever worth it for broadband targets. Anyone else gotten burned by advice that sounded smart but was actually holding you back?

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aaron1971d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah man I feel you. I wasted two months stacking an L-eNhance with a UV/IR cut on my rig. Thought I was being clever. Ended up with these weird halos around stars and the background looked all blotchy. Went back to single filter and it was night and day better. I still stack filters on narrowband stuff but for broadband targets its usually a mistake. Its like adding too many toppings to a pizza just makes a mess.