Baader UHC filter and small scopes

I had always though that you needed a bit of aperture to get the best use out of nebula filters because of the light losses. I was very surprised when I tried my 1.25" Baader UHC on my 80mm shorttube refractor at M42 a few days ago. The difference was amazing. It was not far off what I could see through my 8" without a filter. I could trace the wings of the nebula right out with ease at X40. Without the filter I could only make out the core of the nebula.

I often wondered if nebula filters worked wirh smaller scopes. I mean are they worth it? do they make a noticable difference?

Now i know.

I have used a red filter on M42 and it almost vanished,LOL.

Thanks for that John,
I wouldn't have thought that an 80mm scope could be used with such a filter, I'd say the fact that its a fast scope helps you out in this respect. What F ratio is it ?

It's an F/5 scope Dave (400mm focal length)

I was doing some reading about this type of filter and apparantly they work quite well on small scopes.................which is something you would not have thought.

My scope is f/11 with 1000 F/L

I'm almost tempted to invest the few euro in one as Nebulae are something i plan to observe long term.

F/11 isnt that fast though! THeres a huge difference between F/5 anf F/11!