laserguide

6 hours ago, Adam J said:

Honestly with your scope being up at almost 500mm focal length I would be more inclined to go with a larger sensor like the ASI294mc pro but if your willing to sacrifice field of view then the 533 is most likely a better sensor. 

On the other hand why not mono? Someone is selling a Atik460ex on here for only £880 I would take that over osc any time. 

I just don't feel ready to jump into mono cameras yet,wirh separate filters etc. Maybe one day 🙂

55 minutes ago, cletrac1922 said:

 

I am in same situation, and been looking at ZWO ASI 290MC, matched with ZWO ASI 290MM mini as autoglider

One of my club mates uses ZWO ASI1600 cooled camera on his Celestron

Take really beautiful images

Comes down to really on how much you are prepared to spend on  a ZWO ASI outfit

John 

 

Hi John, 

I was really torn between the ASI 533MC-PRO or the ASI 294MC-PRO, which admittedly is slightly outside my budget of £900. Both appear to be very capable cameras. I'm definitely leaning more towards the 533 at the moment. Decisions, decisions 🙂

42 minutes ago, geeklee said:

Hi Gary - I have the ASI 533MC Pro attached to a Skywatcher 80ED Pro (with 0.85 FF/FR).  I've really just started imaging (October 2019) so don't have a lot of experience or guidance but I came from using an older, original Nikon DSLR.  The FoV is smaller with the 533 after using the DSLR but I've not found it restrictive in any way yet on targets I've selected - just something to get used to after starting out with a high resolution, larger pixel APS-C format DSLR.

I haven't seen any amp glow in the dark frames I've taken for the 533 (going up to 360s so far) and calibration has been straight forward when you understand the work flow.  I've certainly found the data easier to process coming off the ASI 533, including noise (as you'd expect) and colour.

Depending on your equipment, you may also need to consider an additional power supply / feed for the cooler on a dedicated astro cam.  You've already got a modified camera with a high resolution and larger pixels so I guess it's looking at those differences between it and a dedicated astro cam and deciding if they're worth the money.

I've got a few pictures in the "Imaging - Deep Sky" forum that you can check out and there a few more dotted about here and on Astrobin.

Hope this helps.

Many thanks for the quick reply. Sounds like you have a similar setup to myself. This makes me feel a lot happier about purchasing the 533 🙂

2 hours ago, TerryMcK said:

I have the ASI 183 Pro MC OSC and it pairs well to shorter focal length, relatively wide field OTAs like mine (William Optics 73mm x 430mm). It is around 20 meg with 2.4 micron pixels. It certainly is a good one and very sensitive. The 533 has bigger pixels, lower resolution and may well work better with longer focal lengths. The 80mm scope you have might suit either one. Most people recommend mono cameras but in my experience in the fickle skies of the UK, especially for beginners, OSC cameras like the 183 or 533 are fab to collect data before the clouds roll in. The 533 does have“zero” amp glow- allegedly. Any amp glow I have seen with the 183 is easily removed with calibration frames.

The cooling on the 183 is a real boon after using a DSLR and the 533 also has this. Similar prices. You make the choice. However DSLR work is much, much easier. You end up spending lots of time troubleshooting dedicated astronomy cameras (usually in the cold) but the efforts are well worth it.

Many thanks for the advice, Terry. I'm certainly leaning more towards the 533 now. 

Hi. I need some advice on choosing a suitable camera. I'm currently using a modified Canon 450D but have decided to upgrade to a one shot colour camera. I'm hearing good things about the ZWO ASI 533MC Pro but I'm not sure if it is suitable for use with my Skywatcher 80ED Pro refractor. I'm mainly interested in deep sky astrophotography and my budget is around the £900 mark. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks,Gary.