DayStar Camera QUARK for NIKON PROMINENCE Solar Filter

Building on the success of the standard versions of their Quark, Daystar Filters designed this version of the Camera Quark H-alpha Solar Filter to fit Nikon SLR and DLSR bodies and lenses to allow imaging or viewing prominences. To fit your camera system, the each end is equipped with a corresponding bayonet mount for easy attachment, and full disk viewing possible on lenses up to ~450mm focal length. A rear 1.25″ eyepiece adapter is included to allow the use of traditional astronomical eyepieces. This adapter essentially converts your lens into a solar telescope. Daystar recommends the use of red, orange or yellow colored glass lens front filters for apertures over 80mm.

The filter is tuned to the 0.8-0.6Å bandwidth of the 656nm hydrogen-alpha wavelength with the ability to tune it ±0.5Å from the center line for compensate for Doppler shift or to focus on specific regions or features, with indicators every 0.1Å. Prominences, a detail of the chromosphere projected against the blackness of space behind the sun, are seen with improved contrast due to the filter’s narrower bandpass versus a wider bandpass filter tuned for conventional chromosphere surface viewing. The filter is powered via a micro-USB port, and Daystar includes a power cord and an AC adapter to meet the high-power requirements of 5 VDC 1.5A. To enable its use at home and abroad, a set of international outlet plugs is provided with adapters for the US, UK, EU, and Australia.

The Camera Quark comes with a combination lens foot with 1/4-20 tripod holes to mount it on conventional photo/video/field tripods, and a Vixen-style dovetail plate for telescope mounts. While a focal extender spacer ring is included to ensure compatibility with a wide variety of lenses, focus and clearances are not guaranteed with all Nikon lenses. Because there is no electric pass-through on the filter, when installed between the camera body and lens, some lens features such as auto-focus and electronic aperture control will not work.

Filter Properties

Hydrogen-alpha bandpass
Integrated 12mm blocking filter
21mm clear filter aperture
Tuned to 0.8-0.6Å for viewing prominences
Tuning knob allows for ±0.5Å wing shift for Doppler-shift compensation
Markers at every 0.1Å for reference and repeatability
LED indicators for power, warming, ready, and fault

Optics

Integrated 4.2x Barlow lens
Lens and optical coatings designed specifically for 656nm H-alpha wavelength
Two-element telecentric lens design keeps light waves parallel to flatten the field of view and reduce parallax as magnification increases
Camera/Lens Compatibility
Front and rear bayonet mounts for Nikon cameras and lenses
Full disk viewing possible on lenses up to ~450mm focal length lenses
Includes focal extender spacer ring to ensure compatibility with a wide variety of lenses
No electric pass through on filter so lens features like auto-focus and electronic aperture control will not work
Focus and clearances not guaranteed for 100% of lenses
Use of red, orange or yellow colored glass lens front filters recommended
1.25″ eyepiece adapter to use conventional astronomical eyepieces and convert lens into solar telescope

Power

5 VDC, 1.5A micro-USB port
90-240 VAC wall adapter
Set of international outlet plugs for US, UK, EU, and Australia

Mounting

Reversible combination lens foot
1/4″-20 tripod holes for use with standard photo, video, or field tripods
Vixen-style dovetail plate for use with telescope mounts