harleybud 4 LRGB filters for my ZWO 294MC Pro camera. Can you use these filters effectively with this camera?
Yes, but mostly no.
The R filter will simply mostly illuminate 1/4 of the pixels on your "color" camera, the G filter will only illuminate 1/2 of the pixels, and the B filter will only illuminate the remaining 1/4 of the pixels. Check Google for "Bayer Color Filter Array" to see how "color" cameras work.
So, you are just losing light needlessly. And to get a full color image, you will need to make separate R, G and B exposures. The reason you compromised, and bought a "color" camera instead of a monochrome camera, is to precisely avoid dealing with color separations.
However, there are certain cases, where in spite of having to waste time and work to take extra exposures, you may still want to use a B filter to capture just the blues, and G filter to capture just the greens separately.
If you look at the specs of your camera, you will for example see a the G response curve overlapping the B response curve. It is made that way to simulate the human eye spectral response (what in color science is known as a CIE standard observer), but not good when you want to separate OIII from H2. In fact, the G and B pixels in most Sony based sensors will respond equally to a wavelength of about 500nm.
LRGB color filters don't have as large an overlap. The LRGB filters are mostly "brick-wall" filters. With the "color" cameras, taking separate G and B exposures is pretty much the only way to separate the OIII region from the H2 region.
You have also large overlaps of the R response into the G filter's response curve. And because of the human eye's spectral response, the R pixels even respond to the blue region.
So, in those cases, a set of LRGB exposures will help, but you will also be spending 3 times more telescope time to capture the data, and more effort processing the color separations.
If you are a beginner imaging from a Bortal 3 to Bortle 9 area, I would recommend just using light pollution filters with said camera for Galaxies, and the dual/triple narrow band filters for Emission Nebulas (or to capture the H2 regions of a galaxy). Keep the LRGB filter set for a monochrome camera -- if your dealer had sold you an LRGB set and filter wheel along with your color camera, stay away from that dealer in the future; they just sold you stuff you are not likely to use with that camera.
A filter wheel can still be useful with a "color" camera to swap between light pollution and narrowband filters during the night, but a filter tray is usually more than adequate, and has less weight to deal with.
Chen
