Logitech Fusion first half light

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Last night I managed to get the "new" webcam aimed at the moon through the 200mm Newt. It was supposed to be a first light test, but got half done for a variety of reasons. The Met. office people told me that it would be all cloudy, so I hadn't got ready for it properly, which didn't help.

First off, the Newt dewed up at both ends! Never had that before, so it must have been a very damp night indeed. Then the moon decided to hide behind a tree, which didn't help.

The result of the test is that the Fusion does 1280 X 960 colour images. It was supposed to be doing 5 fps, but the file size doesn't seem to support that, so more testing required when sober.

It looks like it will be a killer weapon for lunar, and probably planetary imaging just because of the number of pixels available. It's got the same resolution as the Atik 16HR, in colour, but the ADC is only 8 bits which calms the comparison down somewhat. The frame rate is massively better than the Atik though, as the CCD takes 6 seconds per frame via USB1, compared to the millisecond speed of the Fusion.

There are going to be a lot more Fusion images on here once the moon gets into a suitable position, hi-res colour jobbies as well.

The camera also looks good for guiding, as its as sensitive as the Toucam (from what I've read, at least) but has 3.5 micron pixels compared to the 5.6 micron fat pixels in the Toucam. More guiding accuracy with a shorter, faster guide 'scope.

Link here to some more stuff written by a bloke who knows what he's doing.

http://ghonis2.ho8.com/fusiontest3.html

Kaptain Klevtsov

[mcut]

I thought that the general consensus was the CCD was better than CMOS?

I will, one day, consider venturing into the world of astrophotography.

the link you posted was very interesting and the images with the Fusion certainly looked very good.

[barkis]

I get the distinct impression you are happy with the new toy KK. I have not used mine in anger yet, but I have see some superb lunar images on the forum, either by Gaz or Caz. So, I am now anticipating some fireworks from you as soon as the lady Seline gets into a good line of sight.

Ron.

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

What light through yonder Fusion breaks Ron. It'll get used ASAP after the tests on various bits of trees and walls in daylight turned out good. The hi-res 5 fps works OK in daylight, so no reason that it shouldn't on the moon.

Kaptain Klevtsov

[beamish]

KK you have have my attention !! Who, what, where,did you find this very interesting webcam? I await with baited breath your test images.

Karlo

[GazOC]

I get the distinct impression you are happy with the new toy KK. I have not used mine in anger yet, but I have see some superb lunar images on the forum, either by Gaz or Caz. So, I am now anticipating some fireworks from you as soon as the lady Seline gets into a good line of sight.

Ron.

I don't know about 'superb' Ron but they were mine.

[SteelRat]

I don't know about 'superb' Ron but they were mine.

I missed them at the time, just had a scan back. They were pretty good Gaz 8)

Looking forward to seeing some from your fusion KK. That link you posted was an interesting read mate. CMOS go!

[beamish]

Wow Gaz !! ? Would they have been that good with an sp900nc ?

Karlo

[FLO]

I thought that the general consensus was the CCD was better than CMOS?

The industry have always wanted to use CMOS chips for their low power consumption and for the way they can integrate analogue and digital circuits on the same chip. Initially CMOS chips were considered too noisy for serious use but advances have been made with on-chip noise reduction circuitry so that today they are in common use. Worth noting that most of the sensors used in DSLRs are CMOS.

[barkis]

I get the distinct impression you are happy with the new toy KK. I have not used mine in anger yet, but I have see some superb lunar images on the forum, either by Gaz or Caz. So, I am now anticipating some fireworks from you as soon as the lady Seline gets into a good line of sight.

Ron.

I don't know about 'superb' Ron but they were mine.

So they were Gaz, and don't argue, they were damned good.