Which camera

[Sandy04]

Hi,

I'm currently deciding on my first astro specific camera, and I am conflicted about what to choose.

I currently image with a self astro modified and Peltier cooled M43 body, doing RGB and duo narrowband images. I suppose you could call it a poor man's 1600mc but it can't quite take the sensor temperature subzero, but it's good for what it is.

It has served me well, but I'm now looking for the next step.

I was initially keen on going mono, but the extra expense of filters puts me off. I'm also not that keen on the Hubble SHO palette.

For the same price of the mono 1600 without filters I can get an aps-c IMX571 OSC camera, but I'm back to using my l-enhance filter to generate NB. The upside is, the IMX571 is newer, higher QE, 16bit Vs 12bit, deeper wells and dynamic range, etc etc.

The draw of the 1600 is that I can use it with my l-enhance to maybe generate luminance frames for my current RGB images, before worrying about NB, and all the peripherals.

So I guess my question is which one makes sense for an upgrade, as my imaging is ultimately time and clear sky limited .(I live in the mostly overcast UK)?

My telescope optics are 1080, 585, and 360mm, along with a bunch of other shorter FL prime camera lenses.

Thanks!

[yobbo89]

you have the asi 1600-mc non cooled ?, some people are discouraged to go mono because the idea of imaging for example an hours worth of r and and an hours worth of b or green , just dosn't fit thier imaging time for thier sky conditions and they think it's harder to produce a colour image with disturbed image sets from cloud cover and other weather problems ..

with an automation setup and is pretty on pare to mono image rgb filters vs a osc , if cloud cover is frequent there are methods to help, you can shoot in a sequence where you image for example 10 mins of red,then green and blue then rotate back to red again and keep rotating the whole night aposed to spending 1 night on each channel , mono imaging has other benifits ,cut out light polution signicantly with narrowband filters, you can even just do bi colour imaging as some targets don't produce a 3rd channel of colour as well as the other channels, that's just 2 filter and it can be done in one night !.

any how , i can't drop a recommend for a camera atm, i havn't seen whats new, apparntly there is a replacement for the asi1600 with better bit rate and qe .

i had have my 1600mm-c (cooled mono) for about 4 years or more and havn't looked for an upgrade yet , maybe when full frame become cheaper..

sometimes i'll combined data a year apart due to weather or time , i don't want to sound bais to mono,i'm actualy considering maybe picking up a osc sometime in the future for other objects like comets and wide field ectt. you can image pretty good with osc, it's just a little more work to do in light polution

the time on this was

31x300s ha
48x120s green
48x120s red
60x120s blue

this a bi colour image with just two filters.

[Gordon]

Mono cameras are more 'versatile' BUT, do require the additional time to capture each color. If your clear sky time is limited then color would be the way to go. Processing is easier and the cost is less. The ZWO line of cameras are pretty well established and many examples of images with different scopes can be found on Astrobin.

[Jeff2011]

Upgrading your camera is always a tough decision. I prefer mono cameras and have two but a friend talked me into getting a ZWO ASI 294MC last year and it has been a blast to image with. Here is a link to an image I took with it. There is also now a mono version of this camera available that is the successor to the venerable 1600.

[Sandy04]

you have the asi 1600-mc non cooled ?, some people are discouraged to go mono because the idea of imaging for example an hours worth of r and and an hours worth of b or green , just dosn't fit thier imaging time for thier sky conditions and they think it's harder to produce a colour image with disturbed image sets from cloud cover and other weather problems ..

with an automation setup and is pretty on pare to mono image rgb filters vs a osc , if cloud cover is frequent there are methods to help, you can shoot in a sequence where you image for example 10 mins of red,then green and blue then rotate back to red again and keep rotating the whole night aposed to spending 1 night on each channel , mono imaging has other benifits ,cut out light polution signicantly with narrowband filters, you can even just do bi colour imaging as some targets don't produce a 3rd channel of colour as well as the other channels, that's just 2 filter and it can be done in one night !.

any how , i can't drop a recommend for a camera atm, i havn't seen whats new, apparntly there is a replacement for the asi1600 with better bit rate and qe .

i had have my 1600mm-c (cooled mono) for about 4 years or more and havn't looked for an upgrade yet , maybe when full frame become cheaper..

sometimes i'll combined data a year apart due to weather or time , i don't want to sound bais to mono,i'm actualy considering maybe picking up a osc sometime in the future for other objects like comets and wide field ectt. you can image pretty good with osc, it's just a little more work to do in light polution

the time on this was

31x300s ha
48x120s green
48x120s red
60x120s blue



this a bi colour image with just two filters.

Hi

To clarify, I own a full spectrum set point cooled mirrorless M43 camera body, not an uncooled ASI1600.

It has a Sony IMX109 sensor, whilst the 1600 has a Panasonic sensor. For all intents and purposes, the QE and pixel pitch are the same, hence me roughly comparing my camera to an 1600mc, but with slightly inferior cooling.

if I were to buy the 1600mm, I would continue using my present camera body for RGB, but add luminance with the mono camera. I would also shoot NB with the 1600, but collect only one narrowband channel per night, thus negating the need of a filter wheel. Most of my current duo narrowband images are collected over the course of multiple nights, so I see no immediate need to swap filters during the course of one night.

Nice pictures, btw.

[Sandy04]

Mono cameras are more 'versatile' BUT, do require the additional time to capture each color. If your clear sky time is limited then color would be the way to go. Processing is easier and the cost is less. The ZWO line of cameras are pretty well established and many examples of images with different scopes can be found on Astrobin.

I've previously compared Astrobin images, ad nauseum and I still can't decide.

The 1600mm images all look great, apart from the fact that they're mostly false colour, which I'm not a huge fan of.

IMX571 images don't look as sharp in NB, but you can never tell how good the imager is. A few images with Triad and l-extreme filters do look good, though. The RGB shots don't look much better than mine.

[pakarinen]

I'm old school, but why not shoot black and white (i.e. mono without filters)?

[Sandy04]

I've gone for the QHY294m.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

[yobbo89]

Nice, apparently there is a firmware update for that camera to enable extended pixel mode.

[Sandy04]

Nice, apparently there is a firmware update for that camera to enable extended pixel mode.

That's right.

I'm hoping for some nice telephoto lens images in 47mp mode.

[yobbo89]

Can't wait to see what your new camera can do, congrats on the purchase