Narrowband Imaging Esthetics

I left out an important distinction between NI and one-shot color imaging: What the end product looks like. DSLRs and one-shot color cameras are very good at reproducing the actual colors of an object. Reflection nebula and galaxies shine by scattered or direct starlight. Both of these are broadband, and so not well captured by NI. NI maps emission bands to the RGB portions of the final image, resulting in colors that are far from realistic. (Think of Hubble nebular pictures, with their bright greens and blues.) This is why you often see hybrid images of galaxies taken through H-alpha and RGB filters. The former accentuates the emission nebulae within the galaxy, while the broadband filters reveal the stellar portion of the galaxy.

The upshot of this is that if you expect realistic colors, NI may not be for you, or you should resign yourself to occasional trips to dark sky sites for some objects. If monochrome images or false colors don't bother you, then NI will deliver what you want from your own urban backyard