Alternatives to the Philips webcams

[No-i-dear]

As the prices for SPC880/900's on that well known auction site are heading over £100 I was looking for suitable alternatives. The Celestron Neximage looks similar on paper. Are there any disadvantages with the Neximage? I have seen them for a bit less than £100.

[No-i-dear]

And what about the TS Optics cam?

[JamesF]

There are a few around the £80 to £120 price range (Modern Astronomy do one, I think, and there's the Opticstar one). I've not read much about them nor seen many images posted from any of them, but from what I've read you do need to be a bit careful. I believe some of these cameras are quite noisy and struggle to match the SPC900 in some cases. Certainly I'd not buy one without seeing some images from a telescope similar to the one I intended to use it in first.

Paying £100 on ebay is just not sensible in my opinion. There are SPC900s that come up in the classifieds here (which you'll be able to see when you reach 50 posts) and AB&S for closer to the £60 mark.

James

[No-i-dear]

Thanks James.

Sorry to be a numpty but who/what is AB&S?

[JamesF]

Thanks James.

Sorry to be a numpty but who/what is AB&S?

Astro Buy & Sell: http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/

James

[No-i-dear]

I might be wrong here but do the Philips and the Celestron use the same chip? Therefore should the noise on the image be similar, or am I missing something (like a brain!!!!). I am a complete newbie when it comes to imaging. It probably shows.

[No-i-dear]

Hi James, thanks for the link.

[JamesF]

I might be wrong here but do the Philips and the Celestron use the same chip? Therefore should the noise on the image be similar, or am I missing something (like a brain!!!!). I am a complete newbie when it comes to imaging. It probably shows.

The "old" Neximage is the same sensor as the SPC900. The Neximage 5 is some other sensor I believe. The earlier model is probably worth picking up if you see one second hand. I've not seen any for sale new for some time.

James

[Pete Presland]

£100 is madness for them, i only paid a little more than that for a 2nd hand QHY5

[No-i-dear]

There is one listed right now with a few bits and bobs. Its already at £89 with four days to go! Just missed one on AB&S for a lot less.

[No-i-dear]

Actually, what Bunnygod1 say makes a lot of sence. Are these webcams really that good at £100? Is it better to put that money into something that gives better results? Maybe second hand? No idea me. But what say you?

[burger]

I got yet another webcam yesterday £12 (gumtree) for an 840k and flashed it last night to a 900, the lx mod is out of my capabilities though so that will never happen.

Was watching several 900's and all went for close to £100 the 840's tend to go for £20-£40 and it is apparently the same camera inside.

A neximage went for £55 this week as well and still people bid for the 900.

Wish I could find a box full of them...

[Bizibilder]

At £100 you are almost half way to a new "proper" Astro movie camera! Certainly well within the second hand price range. I'm thinking of Imaging Source and QHY types here. They don't often come up but are qiute likely found on an astro site or the classifieds on here.

[Guest]

check these out there new and superb

http://www.altairastro.com/home.php?cat=304

£175 for the planetary model, fantastic internal electronics and an ST4 guide port, also they do long exposures too, but really a guide and planetary cam, thinking of one myself.

MM

[JamesF]

The £175 is basically the same sensor as the SPC900 in a USB2 package with better firmware by the looks of it. If it's that good I can't see the comparable DFK21 hanging around for long at £100 more.

James

[Guest]

check this out too Mono SPC900NC, upgraded sensor

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130868023298?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

MM

[Guest]

The £175 is basically the same sensor as the SPC900 in a USB2 package with better firmware by the looks of it. If it's that good I can't see the comparable DFK21 hanging around for long at £100 more.

James

Well i agree, but it is that good, on par with the DFK21, same spec, no compression and ROI feature and the ST4 guide port too., but i think now with the Imaging source cameras you are paying for the well known name

it is the same sensor as the SPC900nc, but it has far superior electronics to go with it, after all it isn't all about the sensor.

MM

[lensman57]

Well i agree, but it is that good, on par with the DFK21, same spec, no compression and ROI feature and the ST4 guide port too., but i think now with the Imaging source cameras you are paying for the well known name

it is the same sensor as the SPC900nc, but it has far superior electronics to go with it, after all it isn't all about the sensor.

MM

Hi,

I agree with you MM, for about £150, there is opticstar 35C, same sensor as the spc900 but usb2 for bandwidth, uncompressed data transmission and a lot faster frame rate and cooled, another £100.00 will bring other cameras with far superior performance into the equation and some can also be doubled as a guide camera. IMHO paying £100.00 for a webcam that retailed for £39.00 in its peaktime is not warranted.

Regards,

A.G

[edjrgibbs]

Can't recommend the QHY5 enough. I picked one up recently on astro buy and sell for £120 inc P&P. Absolutely awesome guidecam, far better then the SPC900. It won't work with older guiding programmes like guidedog but works well with PHD.

[bottletopburly]

There's always the Logitech fusion webcam mod just picked one up for a tender just a bit of DIY to do details on Gary Honis website actually looks better results than spc900 usb2 and lx mode if you get the first version

[JamesF]

There's always the Logitech fusion webcam mod just picked one up for a tender just a bit of DIY to do details on Gary Honis website actually looks better results than spc900 usb2 and lx mode if you get the first version

I wouldn't want to take anything away from the work Gary Honis has done, but I think it needs interpreting with care. Certainly when I last looked it appeared that he was doing much of his testing with a 20" scope. I think some less-sensitive cameras really benefit from this kind of aperture and can perform at a level that's hard to reproduce if you put them in a much smaller aperture scope.

For example, at one point he suggested that the modded Lifecam Cinema had the potential to perform at least as well as, if not outperform, the SPC900. I have absolutely no reason to doubt that is his honest opinion. We're not exactly seeing hundreds of high quality images produced using Lifecam Cinema cameras though. My suspicion is that this is because few of us have access to such large aperture scopes for planetary imaging and that in smaller apertures the camera just doesn't perform as well.

I'm not saying it won't work or don't try it, just suggesting that people are more open-minded about the possible results with their particular selection of kit.

James