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which webcam to buy?

coventry

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coventry

coventry

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hi. After seeing saturn recently i wud love to start taking pictures of it and also the moon. have been trying to find some webcams online but am not sure what am looking for? is the more expensive better, and will all webcams be able to be connected to a telescope? can anyone recommend a good one please? price range £10-£50

thankyou

trevor

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JamesF

JamesF

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I have both the SPC880 flashed with the 900 firmware and the Xbox Live cam. I have to say that I'm fairly unimpressed with the Xbox camera. It doesn't seem to work as nicely as the SPC900 and it's very much more noisy. I think the Lifecam Cinema might be worth looking at, but I've not got my hands on one of those yet.

James

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glowjet

glowjet

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I think the days of buying an SPC 880 over the counter are now gone as retail supplies have dried up. Morgans say they are trying to source more, but don`t think they will be successful.

The Microsoft Lifecam looks very interesting and Billet Parts have even brought out an inexpensive adapter for it to fit the 1.25" eyepiece holder, the only thing which is stopping me from buying one is having to strip the thing down to convert it for telescope use, I have watched the video on how to do it, but I do not think with my old hands I dare risk it, unless someone brings out a conversion service for it, I and some others will be stuck, other than that the pics I have seen that can be obtained are very good indeed and the camera is not overly expensive ;)

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todd8137

todd8137

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well i have tried all the range as they say i did start with a tesco 2.99 camera and it worked well.at the other end i got a hd Microsoft one 50 quid and wrecked it try get one that it as a "ccd" chip in ,and not a c mos one i would get round your friends and family first see what they have tucked away ,in cupboards i say ccd they better chips but i have used a cmos chip and they work ok

best advice ,get round your friends and family see what they have

pat

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182570

182570

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I have the microsoft lifecam with the billetparts adapter,the mod is easy to do,and the adapter makes it look a professional job,not yet used the cam,but heard good results from them.;)

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yuklop

yuklop

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I don't think the HD-3000 would fit in the adapter. Its a different shape. You may be able to adapt it yourself though. Here is a link to some instructions for adaption. This method obviously works for the Lifecam Cinema but I have done it with a Lifecam Studio for a little extra resolution. One thing I will say is be REALLY careful not to get dust/dirt/paint on the sensor during the modification. It took me ages to satisfactorily clean mine!

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coventry

coventry

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i have just ordered the....microsoft lifecam cinema hd, and also the adapter from billets. i picked that 1 because mainly that it has good reviews and that link in the last comment looks quite good. thanks to all who replied with good advice. thankyou

also ordered a TS-Optics 6mm Plossl Eyepiece while i was there :)

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Matt Scunthorpe

Matt Scunthorpe

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I'd like to get into imagining, I've got a dslr but readi ng a few posts I've gather that webcams are better. Would you need a motor for planet imagining as I've taken pics of saturn by holding up my phone to the eyepeice and that came out ok,just a motor is going to take some saving I think :/

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yuklop

yuklop

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I think saying a webcam is better than a dslr is not entirely accurate. I have both a Canon 500D and a Microsoft Lifecam Studio webcam. I use the DSLR much more. For DSO there is no contest, the DSLR wins hands down. For solar system its a little different as you want many frames taken quickly. For that purpose a webcam works well. A webcam also has a smaller chip size which looks at a smaller area of the sky so the object appears larger which is good for planets. That said, even on planets and the moon I use the DSLR and record video from it. So far I have found the "quality" of the recorded video to be higher than that from the webcam.

As for motor, I *think* you can get away without for imaging planets as the exposure time is very short and alignment can be done later. It's pretty much a must for longer exposure deep sky stuff though.

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M4lcs67

M4lcs67

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I have looked at the Microsoft HD webcam and also the 1.25 adaptor from Billets who have a tutorial on their website on how to fit the cam into the adaptor. I must say it does look a little involved. Are there any places that will do the conversion for you?

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macdonsj

macdonsj

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I have looked at the Microsoft HD webcam and also the 1.25 adaptor from Billets who have a tutorial on their website on how to fit the cam into the adaptor. I must say it does look a little involved. Are there any places that will do the conversion for you?

the modification is whats putting me off getting that set up

a £10 cam would be ok to take apart with little risk

the MSoft one would be an expensive mistake in the making

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