DFK41 or DMK41?

[carldr]

Hi guys,

I've got a bit of a dilemma, and I'm after some advice.

I ordered a DMK41 (Monochrome, 1/2") camera online, from Bernard at Modern Astronomy. Except I didn't because for whatever reason, I actually selected a DFK41 (Colour, 1/2".)

It was completely my fault, I'm not blaming Bernard or his site in any way at all. I only noticed the mistake when I read an email from Bernard saying the camera had been shipped direct from the manufacturer.

I've discussed it with Bernard, and he's sure that one way or another, we'll be able to sort it out and no real harm done, although it'll probably end up costing me to ship the camera back to Germany and I guess possibly a re-stocking fee, if the manufacturer charges one. (I'm aware of the distance selling laws, but I hold up my hands as it being my mistake, it's unfair Bernard or Imaging Source be out of pocket for it.)

I intended the camera for use with solar and lunar imaging, hence the large chip size. I hadn't really considered using it for planetary use, because I have a SPC900NC which is fine for that, and the planets don't really need such a large chip.

So my question is, firstly, how much resolution will I lose when imaging the moon and the sun because of the bayering? I guess with the moon not so much since I can take the luminance of each pixel and it will be about right, but for the sun, through my Coronado PST, I won't be getting any blue or green through to the camera and therefore lose a lot of resolution? But in practise, am I really going to notice?

My second question is, is the DFK41 noticeably better than the SPC900NC? Will I be happier with the DFK41?

What should I do?!?

[riklaunim]

Switch to mono DMK. For moon it's good to use IR passing filers (to limit seeing effect), and solar imaging is usually also narrowband.

[Rossco72]

For solar in particular you will want Mono, for the moon not such a big issue but mono would still be better...

Cheers

[carldr]

After researching it for a couple of hours, it seems mono is the only way to go - thanks for your input guys.