And now it really is getting stupid

[JamesF]

I know there was one a few days back for £100, but that was an offer price, not a bid. This one is up to £82.99 on bidding...

Philips SPC900NC Webcam - Astrophotography -? CCD Chip - OEM *BRAND NEW* | eBay

The time is rapidly approaching where I stick all mine on ebay and buy a DFK with the proceeds.

James

[Pauly]

Hmmm, sounds like a plan. I wonder how expensive they'll get before Phillips resurrect them.

[Simms]

Is there really no better alternative out there? I find it hard to believe these are the pinnacle of technology in terms of webcams for Astro use.

[Rols]

i have two more laying around and that leaves me one spare to keep.

if i can make £160-200 for them i will go get myself a small guide scope and sell the ETX90 off.

WOW they managed £117.00 for that one.

[JamesF]

Is there really no better alternative out there? I find it hard to believe these are the pinnacle of technology in terms of webcams for Astro use.

Well, webcams aren't exactly designed for astro use in the first place, and the SPC880/900 just happened to use a particularly good sensor. For planetary imaging you pretty much just need to unscrew the lens and screw in a nosepiece and it's also "relatively" straightforward to modify for long exposure, partly because of the two-board design.

Whilst more modern cameras may have higher resolution (eg. the Lifecam Cinema), they're more complex to modify and there's no LX mod. Even the Xbox camera needs the case cracking open and the LEDs killing off. Ideally you'd remove the IR filter and cut down the case so a nosepiece fits, too.

Also, the controls made available to the user on many more modern cameras are being reduced in number and replaced by automated systems in the camera firmware, presumably to make it easier to use, but for astro imaging that's really not what you want.

James

[JamesF]

WOW they managed £117.00 for that one.

That really is completely crackers. You'd still need a nosepiece and IR filter which has surely got to get you up towards £170 after all the postage has been added in. For that I'd bet you could get a second hand DFK21 which is USB2 rather than USB1, doesn't compress the image and will do 60fps.

James

[JB80]

Is there really no better alternative out there? I find it hard to believe these are the pinnacle of technology in terms of webcams for Astro use.

I think also another factor as to why these were so popular was the price, to have a planetary camera and the whole set up and ready to go for 30 quid was a fairly desirable option.

I think their popularity was/is justified, at 30 quid that is.

I wish I had bought a few of them now.

[Slim]

Well I've got two including an LX modded one. Seems like a no brainer to stick them on the bay and buy something else seeing as I only use one on a guider finder since I got my 1100D.

[Frank the Troll]

What a silly price, might sell mine, seeing as I have two other 99p CCD webcams that have a larger sensor, but will work only with XP, not a problem for me, as I've setup XP on VMware for my astro setup.

[JamesF]

Well, I don't think I'd swap mine for much that's available in the consumer market, to be honest. From an imaging point of view it's still better than most. The Xbox cam is acceptable, but really not of the same standard. I've not tried the Lifecams yet. I'm waiting for a Lifecam Cinema to arrive at the moment.

On the other hand, if someone offered to swap two of my SPCs for a DFK21 they'd probably be wondering where their arm went

James