Should I go to a DFK 21AU618.AS?

[Stargazer Jack]

Hi,

I currently have a SPC880NC but was thinking about upgrading to a more astronomy suited camera and I have found the DFK 21AU618.AS. Firstly, is this a good upgrade to make or do you think I should stay with my current webcam? Secondly, I have read that this camera can do 60 mins exposure so does that mean I could do basic DSO imaging?

Thanks

[riklaunim]

Those cameras can't do exposures longer than few or bit more seconds with good results (no cooling, high gain), so they aren't good for DS imaging (they will work a bit for surface-bright objects like some planetary nebulae or star clusters). DFK will be noticeably better than a webcam... but you can always go mono

[Stargazer Jack]

Thanks for that With a mono camera, do you use filters to change the images to colour or to make certain details stand out more?

[riklaunim]

You shoot 3 AVIs for every R,G,B filter to make in the end the color RGB image. You can also shoot via other filters, like broad luminance filters to get a color LRGB type image with less noise/better quality (or just shoot mono without making color versions).

[Stargazer Jack]

Thanks for that

[x6gas]

Hi,

I currently have a SPC880NC but was thinking about upgrading to a more astronomy suited camera and I have found the DFK 21AU618.AS. Firstly, is this a good upgrade to make or do you think I should stay with my current webcam? Secondly, I have read that this camera can do 60 mins exposure so does that mean I could do basic DSO imaging?

Thanks

You could look at the QHY IMG0H. It has the same chip as the DFKAU618 but can also be used as a guidecam (has onboard ST4 port) and has TEC cooling which means it is a little bit more suitable for DSO imaging. I have both the colour and mono versions and now that you can use them with FireCapture I can recommend them. There is a review in the September issue of S@N magazine...

[SeedyF]

You could look at the QHY IMG0H. It has the same chip as the DFKAU618 but can also be used as a guidecam (has onboard ST4 port) and has TEC cooling which means it is a little bit more suitable for DSO imaging. I have both the colour and mono versions and now that you can use them with FireCapture I can recommend them. There is a review in the September issue of S@N magazine...

I have been tempted to swap my phillips for a DFK and was also quite intrigued by the QHY when I saw it in S@N. But considering I paid a total of £40 for the camera, nose piece and IR filter I'm struggling to justify the leap to a £350 camera. It's not really possible to quantify the improvement in quality but I'm not able to convinve myself that 9x hike in price will equate to 9x increase in image quality. Especially as it's the same idiot driving - lol

For me mono is out of the question. Adding a filter wheel and filters is only going to make the cost comparison tilt further to sticking with the philips.

[Stargazer Jack]

I am also tempted by the QHY. Looks a very good camera but could someone tell me what is better about the QHY and what is better about the Philips. I know about the cost and everything but it is more the specs of the cameras. Also, thanks for all your help so far.

[riklaunim]

The review in the magazine was bit limited. Amount of IMG0H users is very low and I don't see any regular imager using it - while there are few unclear issues like if the camera really allows 60 FPS capture. At the moment (until some deep review and test happens) safer choice is DMK21AU618 (DFK) - that is widely used and "tested" with known performance.

[Stargazer Jack]

Thanks for that. I had a look at the QHY camera on the Internet and the reviews and sellers of it are on the low side which puts me off a bit.

[x6gas]

As I say, I have the IMG0H though I must confess that the most use it gets is as a guidecam.

I have used it for planetary imaging but the limitation is very much my ability rather than the camera. I can confirm that it will do 56 fps in 8 bit mode over USB 2.0.

The biggest problem with QHY cameras is software support as far as I can tell. The capture software supplied (EZPlanetary) works but is limited, QHY apparently provide poor SDK support so they aren't supported by the likes of SharpCap. Fortunately Fire Capture does support it and is a nice piece of free software...

I went for the IMG0H purely because of the chip and it's capabilities as a guidecam - the ST4 switching and port are why it scored over the DMK for me and I don't regret the choice... but I'm not a hard core planetary imager...

[FarSide]

DFK 21AU618.AS are primarily used for planetary imaging. They are extremely good for that and IMO are probably the best in the UK for solar system imaging. If you can get hold of the Flea3 more the better. The DFK isn't used at all for DSO imaging. Sorry if this has been said before.

[Stargazer Jack]

Thanks for the input and help

[michaelmorris]

One option, for planetary/lunar imaging at least, is to use a DMK 618 and your SPC880. The DMK will provide really nice mono images; the SPC880 will provide pretty good colour information. For lunar imaging just use the DMK camera. For planetary use LRGB imaging. The trick here is to capture the Luminance (L) data with your monochrome DMK camera, then quickly swap it for the SPC880 and use this to capture your colour data (RGB) all in one shot. The fine detail will all be captured in the L layer. This way you don't have the expense and hassle of having to buy and use a filter wheel and RGB filters. These could be bought later if you wished.

You could reduce your costs even further by going for the original DMK camera (not with the 618 chipset). This is still a very good camera and the bonus is that they can be found going secondhand for £150-£190.

I hope this helps.

[Stargazer Jack]

I quite like that idea. I also like the idea of getting a DMK (I would like the 618) secondhand as that would save me some money. Will have a look into that, thanks