Thommy

Adam, thanks for the explanation. But there is not so much difference in read noise between the 585MC and 553MC. For both cameras the read noise where HCG sets in is 1.5e-. For higher gains the read noise of the 585 is marginally lower. The dynamic range of the 553 is somewhat higher which is not so important if you keep the exposures very short. The pixel area is roughly 70 % larger for the 553. When speaking of sensitivity that is important! On the other hand the QEmax of the 585 is 91% compared to 80% for the 553, according to ZWO. Further, this difference increases for longer wavelengths. I wonder if the 91% is correct for the 585 when taking the color filters into account? I do not see a big advantage of the 585 (for short exposures). Perhaps the higher color resolution of the 585 could be one. Another conclusion: I think, I will stick to mono's ....

Adam, why is that?

I think it depends on how the new sensor fits into existing cameras. If the new mono version of the 533 chip is similar to the color version, which is reasonable to assume, it should be straightforward for camera makers to replace the chip in existing 533 color models. In fact, I see posts both here and on CN claiming that both ZWO and QHY have announced that they will make the mono version available. Im unable to find the actual announcements, though?

Yes! My RGB filters are Baader, and Ha filter is Astronomics. The RGB filters are roughly parfocal, but the Ha is far off. I too have to manually refocus the guidecam when switching between RGB and Ha. The solution is to buy/sell filters to have a parfocal set. Or to use a guide scope instead, of course, but to be honest I've spend too much time avoiding flexure.

Great news! Now, let's convince our European camera producers to look at this chip when planning for next mono camera model! /Thommy

Nice one! Actually, NGC 3184 is the galaxy, while NGC 3180 and NGC 3181 are star clusters in the galaxy. I like your images for several reasons - one is that I own a mn190 as well and consider to purchase the ASI294MM PRO camera, and so I have a good chance to see what to expect! Keep posting! /Thommy

I think it should do the trick - remember to select the AR option when you upload the firmware to your wheel. The download contains both versions!

Are you using the "AR" version of the firmware? /Thommy

Excellent shot - in particular taking the difficult circumstances in consideration. We often see widefield images of vdb objects (or other reflection and emission nebulae), but actually they also provide a wealth of detail, as you demonstrate here. Not to talk down the widefield images - they just have something else to offer. Really nice to see a closeup. /Thommy

Ha, I know the problem. I have loads of master L, R, G and B files (but mostly L) but somehow I never find the time to combine them before going to the next target.

The ASI294MM would fit my needs perfectly (pixel size, sensor size etc.). But strange to see amp-glow, when ZWO already produce cameras without amp-glow. ATIK has announced that they work on a new camera - any rumours? /Thommy

Dear CCD-Freak, or any other owner of a 533 camera - would it be possible to link to some raw files (i.e. non-de-bayered) taken with this camera? I think it could be useful for me to play around with them. /Thommy

That's the one I got as well. It is intended as a warning and not an error. The new version should fix this. Remember to use the most recent SX ASCOM driver.

In the meantime, the NINA guys reported back to me that they had solved the issue in the latest ver. 1.10 beta version. I installed this version on my old laptop to test and voila! Now it connects, you can change the settings and download images from the camera. You may not have the same problem. Actually, my camera connected before as well, but somehow NINA waited until the CCD temperature was read which would never happen as it is not supported by the camera. Try to install the 1.10 beta version to see if this helps. Do you get any error messages?

I tend to agree with you. Do anyone know if a new CMOS based mono camera similar to 553MC (pixelsize, QE, chipsize, full well, read noise and bit depth) is on the rise? Any rumours?