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SPC900 vs. PS2 Eye camera


JamesF

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When I posted images from the Xbox, Lifecam and SPC900 for comparison, someone asked about the PS2 Eye camera (not the Eye Toy). Last night whilst I was imaging Jupiter and Europa I had a go with it. Control is very awkward compared with the other cameras and whilst I found it to be quite sensitive it also appeared to be astonishingly noisy which meant I had to wind back the gain and exposure times to try to keep it under control. Even then I struggled and it has resulted in artefacts around the edge of the planet as well as washed out colours. Here are some examples of processed images:

ps2eye.png

There's good detail there, certainly, and in terms of sensitivity I think it's done as well the SPC900 at picking out Europa but the noise just ruins it all.

For comparison, here are three from the SPC900 that I took just prior to the above:

europa.png

In my opinion, the PS2 camera just doesn't have what it takes. I shan't be using it again :)

James

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Thank you. I don't mind spending the occasional fiver on a camera to see how it performs, but I think I'd have to draw the line at buying a DFK21 just to see how it compares with the SPC900 :)

James

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LOL I agree James butif your getting such good images with the SPC have you never been curios to push the boat out for a DFK ??

I might be tempted to spring for a camera upgrade in the new year when the books are done and I can see how things pan out, but it's a tricky decision. The 618 version of the DFK21 is probably at the head of the pack at the moment, but it does have firmware flaws that IS have said they don't intend to fix and to spend that kind of money on something that the manufacturer admits is broken galls a little. The ASI camera looks like a very promising alternative from the images I've seen posted so far, though it hasn't been listed in their shop for a while that I can see and I think you'd have to consider yourself an "early adopter" if you bought one. And then there's the painfully expensive Flea3. I'm not averse to the idea of mono, but the UK weather probably favours colour imaging at the moment.

So, I'm kind of in the market, but mostly hamstrung by indecision :)

James

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Sam at ZWOptical has now added a direct Paypal link to the ASI120 page so you can buy directly from him. Alternatively send him an email, I usually get a reply from him within a few hours.

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  • 1 month later...

On a similar theme I'd like to see some SPC900 VS DFK 21AU04 side by sides as I think the SPC sure do give the big money cams a run for their money. Those SPC images are superb James and Europa really stands out well!

Would love to see a side by side comparison on these two cameras myself having just sold my SPC900 and bought a 2nd hand DFK21AU04. Have I just blown £200?

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Would love to see a side by side comparison on these two cameras myself having just sold my SPC900 and bought a 2nd hand DFK21AU04. Have I just blown £200?

Which chip does the DFK use? If it's the older one with the Sony ICX098 then it's exactly the same sensor as in the SPC900 webcam. If it's the newer one with the Sony ICX618 then it's a good upgrade.

If it's the old version you could have saved some money and bought a new ASI120 and got a better camera. There's a new range of Micron CMOS sensors that are now appearing in cameras that are excellent for the money and probably THE budget cameras of the moment. Some users are even reporting results comparable (or even better) than the ICX618 cameras. Though that's open to some debate. I've just recently bought one of these cameras with a 5MP version of the Micron sensor. I can shoot the Moon at high resolution, or I can use 2x and 4x binning and run at a reduced resolution but have very high sensitivity while still achieving 640x480 resolution of older cameras. I only paid £120 for this camera. The value of second hand SPC900s are about to nose dive..

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