CCD, CMOS, SXGA, VGA help

[mcut]

I have Skymax 127. i know it is not ideal for astrophotography, narrow field of view etc and therefore not for DSO. i would like to try lunar/planetary image capture.

DSLR - Pentax K100 Fuji s9600 any views as they are quite cheap but believe the noise is low on these

Webcam - what does it all mean, i know you should avoid CMOS and aim for CCD but is VGA XVGA a type of CCD sensor or what. ALso i have read that CMOS are noisier but that as chip sizes increase they could adequately compare with smaller CCD chips.

I do not want to spend a lot of money but would like some advice. it is difficult on the webcam front to see what cam uses what sensor as some packaging does not say if CMOS or CCD and some just say VGA or XVGA

any advice would be welcome

[FLO]

Traditional CMOS sensors are more prone to noise than CCD sensors, but that can be overcome. Canon worked with Toshiba on a method of noise-reduction (CMOS requires less power so they felt it was worth the effort). They were successful and the resulting CMOS sensors are now fitted to almost all Canon EOS digital SLR cameras and have an excellent reputation for low noise. Not sure about webcams...

VGA and XVGA refer to a PC monitors display mode and indicates resolution and colour depth.

[MikeD]

IMHO if you are going to get a webcam go for the tried and tested Toucam pro 2 or the new SPC900NC from philips.

Then if you decide to try some long exposer imaging at a later data the info on how to mod these cams is already out there.

Hope this helps.

Mike.

[mcut]

IMHO if you are going to get a webcam go for the tried and tested Toucam pro 2 or the new SPC900NC from philips.

Then if you decide to try some long exposer imaging at a later data the info on how to mod these cams is already out there.

i think amazon have the SPC for £43.00. my only worry is how hard it is to remove the lens and whether there is an IR filter that also needs removing

[Trevor]

Try here, http://www.astronomylog.co.uk/2007/07/13/how-to-add-astronomy-adaptor-to-the-philips-spc900-webcam/

You will also need the long reach adapter and a UV/IR filter, another £40

Alternatively give Bern a ring at http://www.modernastronomy.com/ and see if he has anything in stock.

Trev.