ZWO 7x2″ Filter Wheel review: the 2 inch EFW on my rigs
Where does it rank on our leaderboard
| Rank | Accessory | Stars for Your Buck | Recorded UK price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GEMINI EAF | 100 out of 100 | £42 |
| 2 | Generic Dew Heater | 93 out of 100 | £9 |
| 10 | MeLE MiniPC | 84 out of 100 | £490 |
| 13 | ASIAIR Plus 256GB | 81 out of 100 | £399 |
| 25 | ZWO 7x2″ Filter Wheel | 71 out of 100 | £398 |
| 30 | Celestron 0.63x Reducer | 62 out of 100 | £165 |
| 44 | Unihedron SQM-L Sky Quality Meter with Lens | 32 out of 100 | £149 |
| 45 | SKY ROVER 2x54 Binoculars | 28 out of 100 | £139 |
| 46 | 365 Solar Telescope Cover | 5 out of 100 | £73 |
Contents
- 01 Where does it rank on our leaderboard
- 02 Specifications and features
- 03 In use
- 04 In my words
- 05 Watch it in my videos
- 06 Should you buy it?
- 07 Questions and more about this review
In 30 seconds
Stars for Your Buck 71/100
Reviewed 18 May 2026 Updated 25 Sep 2026
- Rank
- #25 of 46 accessories
- Verdict
- Worth a look
Written by Damon Scotting 2 min read
Buy it if
- You image with a mono camera and 2 inch filters
- You want an LRGB set and Ha, OIII and SII loaded at the same time
- You run your rig from an ASIAIR, which drives only ZWO filter wheels
Skip it if
- Your rig is light and every gram of payload counts
- Your filters are 1.25 inch: the five-slot 1.25 inch wheel costs half as much
Specifications and features
Against the accessories I have reviewed
Compare with
| ZWO 7x2″ Filter Wheel reviewed #25 of 46 | ZWO 5x1.25″ Filter Wheel #27 of 46 | |
|---|---|---|
| Recorded UK price | £398 | £198 |
| Stars for Your Buck | 71/100 | 65/100 |
| Model | EFW-7x2-25 (2025) | EFW-5x1.25-25 (2025) |
| Positions | 7 | 5 |
| Filters | 2 inch mounted, filter area up to 7 mm thick; 50 mm unmounted, 1.5 to 3.5 mm thick | 1.25 inch mounted, filter area up to 7 mm thick; 31 mm unmounted, 1.5 to 3.5 mm thick |
| Effective thickness | 20 mm | 20 mm |
| Weight | 720 g | 300 g |
| Power | 5 V, 120 mA over USB | 5 V, 120 mA over USB |
| Connection | USB-C, USB 2.0 Type-A to Type-C cable included | USB-C, USB 2.0 Type-A to Type-C cable included |
In use
Behind the SQA60 Pro on the AM3N
On the AM3N at dusk
Fitting the camera
Tightening the camera on
Seven 2 inch filters loaded
Behind a RedCat 51 on the TeSeek 11
In my words
“Connected to the telescope, we have a 0.7 times reducer as well as a T-adapter, camera angle adjuster from ZWO as well, as well as a 7 by 2 inch filter wheel, and then the ASI2600 monochrome Air camera.”
From my ZWO AM7 video review
“I could have made the payload of this setup a lot less, particularly by replacing the huge filter wheel, guide scope, and swapping for a non-cooled IMX533 sensor camera like the Player One Saturn camera, and an SVBONY filter drawer.”
From my TeSeek 11 video review
Watch it in my videos
£58 vs £1369 Filters, Can You Tell the Difference? · published 18 May 2026 · 16:23 · Watch on YouTube · 14,155 views, 497 likes on 2 Oct 2026
Jump to
- 2:55 The test rig, SQA106 + 2600MM + 2 inch wheel
- 3:36 North America Nebula reference image
Check out more videos on the ZWO 7x2″ Filter Wheel
I tried a £299 Telescope mount?! Surprisingly GOOD! (TeSeek 11 mount)
30 Aug 2025
One of the BEST Mounts in the WORLD or Underwhelming...? (AM7 Review)
4 May 2026
Should you buy it?
71/100 Stars for Your Buck
Pros
- Seven 2 inch positions: L, R, G, B, Ha, OIII and SII all stay loaded
- Powered and controlled over one USB-C cable at 5 V and 120 mA: no separate power lead
- It carried the 2 inch Ha filters for my back-to-back filter comparison on the Askar SQA106
- It has ridden behind a RedCat 51 on the TeSeek 11 and the C11 EdgeHD on the ZWO AM7
Cons
- 720 g plus seven filters is a big share of a small mount: on the TeSeek 11 it is the first part I would swap for a filter drawer
- Twice the price of the five-slot 1.25 inch wheel ($399 against $199 at ZWO)
- Unmounted filters must be 1.5 to 3.5 mm thick and mounted ones no more than 7 mm in the filter area
Seven 2 inch filters stay loaded at once, and it has ridden behind my C11 EdgeHD and my SQA106; on a small mount, its 720 g is the first weight I would cut.
One alternative I have reviewed
ZWO 5x1.25″ Filter Wheel Five 1.25 inch positions, 300 g, half the price 65/100 £198 Read the review
Questions and more about this review
Reviewed by
Damon Scotting
The Telescope Man Verified
BSc (Hons) Physics with Astrophysics and Cosmology, Loughborough University PGCE / QTS, University of Nottingham
About Damon About Damon Damon Scotting is The Telescope Man. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Physics with Astrophysics and Cosmology from Loughborough University and a PGCE with QTS from the University of Nottingham, and taught physics in secondary schools before becoming an astronomy creator. He is a contributing writer for BBC Sky at Night Magazine and the author of 42 Wonders of Our Night Sky, and his photograph of the galaxy M100 with the dwarf planet Ceres was Highly Commended in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2024 competition run by Royal Observatory Greenwich. He has appeared on the BBC's Blue Peter. More than 750,000 people follow his astronomy channels on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, and he has reviewed more than 140 telescopes, mounts, cameras, filters and accessories hands-on for this site. More about Damon · How I test · Damon's book
I review all kinds of gear: most of it I buy, some is gifted and some is loaned, and all of it is reviewed the same way. How this site is funded
Five questions, answered
Questions about the ZWO 7x2″ Filter Wheel
Reviewed 18 May 2026 ·Updated 25 September 2026
I review all kinds of gear. Most of it I buy, some is gifted and some is loaned, and all of it is reviewed the same way: no company sees or approves a review before it is published. Shop links marked Ad are affiliate links: I earn a commission when you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. How this site is funded
- What filters fit the ZWO 7x2″ Filter Wheel? Seven 2 inch mounted filters with a filter area up to 7 mm thick, or 50 mm round unmounted filters 1.5 to 3.5 mm thick. The 2 inch Ha filters for my filter comparison went into it. The specifications and the comparison table ↓
- How is it powered and controlled? Over one USB-C cable: it draws 120 mA at 5 V, so it needs no separate power lead. An ASIAIR only drives ZWO filter wheels, so this is the 2 inch wheel to pick if you run one. The specifications and the comparison table ↓
- Which telescopes have I used it with? A RedCat 51 with an ASI533MM Pro on the TeSeek 11, the C11 EdgeHD with an ASI2600MM Air on the ZWO AM7, and the Askar SQA106 with an ASI2600MM for my filter comparison. Watch it in my videos ↓
- Where can I buy the ZWO 7x2″ Filter Wheel? The prices I recorded: £398 at First Light Optics (UK), in stock; $399 at Agena Astro (US), in stock; $399 at ZWO store (Global), in stock. A record, not a live price The verdict, the readers and the sellers ↓
- What have I not tested on the 7x2″ Filter Wheel? I have not timed a filter change or measured light leaks through it.