Atik 420L

[lensman57]

Hi,

I have been thinking of ordering this camera as my first dedicated DSO camera in preference to Atik Titan and the Orion starshoot G3 Mono. My budget was originally about £500.00 but on recommandation I would be ready to up it to about £800.00 for a better signal to noise ratio .If however, it is advised that no real benefit would be had for the money, I would either stick to my present set up a Modded Canon 1000d or just purchase the Orion G3 or the Titan. I have an SW 1000 ED with FF/RD and an old StarWave 80 mm ED F7 with reducer. Many Thanks for your guidance.

Regards,

A.G

[Nathan_Pembs]

I'd save a bit more and go for the 420L, if you're used to using the Canon I think you'd regret getting the Titan because of the small field of view it would give you.

I was tempted by the Titan myself but it's worth getting something that gives you a better view, rather getting a cheaper cam.

the 420L is £850? so I'd stick with the Canon or maybe go for a secondhand CCD

[Nathan_Pembs]

Also just to add, on AstroBuySell there's a Starlight Express camera going for £575 at the moment

[swag72]

You can get a used Atik 314L+ for about £750. This is a cracking camera and very well considered. That's the way I'd be going. Just make sure that you are aware of the difference that you will get regards to image size, pixel size and the resulting field of view. There is a HUGE difference between the fov with a DSLR and one of the smaller chip CCD's. Saying that though, it would be a CCD every time for me. I'd never go back to a DSLR.

Check out this site for fov confirmation http://www.12dstring.me.uk/fov.htm

[Gina]

I like my 314L+ so much I'm getting a second to make a dual imaging rig

[lensman57]

I like my 314L+ so much I'm getting a second to make a dual imaging rig

Hi,

Thank you all for your kind advice, I have spent quite some time playing with ccdcalc just to get used to the FOV. I have also bought a used Atik 16lc just to get used to the idea of ccd imaging. It was nearly half the price of the Titan and I belive it has the same small chip . If it doesn't work out I can always put it up on the Fleabay. I need to start saving up for a larger chip Atik I guess.

Many Thanks and Regards,

A.G

[NickK]

I bought a used 16ic for a grand total of £250. I used it unguided initially at SGL6 before moving onto a 383L and the 16ic performing guiding duties. It's USB 1.1 so it's slower to download.

Personally I'd go second hand and look for a medium sized sony sensor to keep the noise down - you'll need to research the targets vs CCD size vs time to mosaic. However most DSLR people consider the drop in sensor size vs drop in noise argument to really be one sided in the favour of noise.

I like the Titan for it's ability to do solar (ie fast exposures) too but it could do with 2x the resolution but with 5.4um pixels and 2-4x frame rate - keeping the same interline (ie fast frame rate) sensor. Just my opinion