How good, or otherwise, is the Neximage 5 ?

[pamss]

Good afternoon, I'm a novice at all things astronomical. I would like to buy a webcam for imaging sun, moon and planets. I have just bought a Skywatcher Skymax 127 Synscan goto and took some photos of the moon by simply holding a compact camera up to the eyepiece - remarkably effective! 

I have a Nikon D80 dslr which I will be able to attach to the 'scope once I have bought the ring and adapter.  But I also want to get a webcam.  It seems that the price difference is phenominal. Like most people I have a budget.  At this stage I am reluctant to spend out on a DMK although they seem to be the preferred option of a lot of people.

I wonder what I could expect from the Neximage 5?  Does anyone have any experience of using this please?  If so, any comments?

Thanks

[yelsac]

Hi I don't know what Neximage is like but I have the same scope (absolutely brilliant I might add) & all I use is one of the SPC900 webcams.

You can but them second hand on ebay or I saw one on Astro buy & sell the other day for £35.

They are great for the Planets moon etc.

I've attached a pic of Jupiter taken last year with Mak 127 & SPC900

[pamss]

i've heard good things about the SPC900 too - that's a brilliant photo - I'd be well pleased to have taken that.  Maybe I'll check around and see if I can get one.  Thanks.

[lensman57]

Good afternoon, I'm a novice at all things astronomical. I would like to buy a webcam for imaging sun, moon and planets. I have just bought a Skywatcher Skymax 127 Synscan goto and took some photos of the moon by simply holding a compact camera up to the eyepiece - remarkably effective! 

I have a Nikon D80 dslr which I will be able to attach to the 'scope once I have bought the ring and adapter.  But I also want to get a webcam.  It seems that the price difference is phenominal. Like most people I have a budget.  At this stage I am reluctant to spend out on a DMK although they seem to be the preferred option of a lot of people.

I wonder what I could expect from the Neximage 5?  Does anyone have any experience of using this please?  If so, any comments?

Thanks

Hi

I have read mixed reviews of the Neximage 5, it has a lot of pixels in a 1/3 format chip with pixel size of  2.2 micron. These are very small and I presume it is because that planetary detail could be resolved. How well this camera would work on your telescope with an F ratio of 11.9 is anyones guess as at that ratio you would want as sensitive a chip that you afford, I have not seen any sensitivity tests for tIhe Neximage 5 sensor. I would hold back and save for a cam with the ICX 618 or ICX 445 chip if possible but these cost an arm and a leg. For the time being the ASI 120 cameras are getting good reviews and the mono version has a sensitivity ( QE )in the 70 region, they are reasonably priced too. Another alternative is the OpticStar camera with the IMX035 chip but this is also a pricy piece of kit. You may also consider the QHY range of cameras for an entery level option. What I would advise is not to make judgements based on the published photos of the planets that are mostly taken with large aperture scopes but fast F ratios such as 12" f4.8 newtonians, these show huge amount of detail possible because of the ample resolution afforded by the larrge aperture and fast frame rates during capture due to the fast F ratio, your scope is a bit different.

Regards,

A.G

[pamss]

By the way - does the SPC900 have to be adapted in any way?  I really don't want to get into doing that.  And is your model the colour version?

[lensman57]

By the way - does the SPC900 have to be adapted in any way?  I really don't want to get into doing that.  And is your model the colour version?

Hi,

As good a sensor that ICX098 ( SPC 900 ) is, was. It is now old. The size of the sensor is very small too  ( 3.7 mm X 2.8 mm ) which means that you'd be scratching your hair out trying to centre a planet,  it also works in the slow USB1.1, that shows the age I guess. I am not sure either if it can download files in an uncompressed format. I think that you ought to be aware of it's short comings.

A.G

[JamesF]

If you can find one, and that's quite a big "if" these days, the SPC900 works really well with the 127 Mak.  If you get one that hasn't already been suitably modded it's very simple to do yourself -- barely five minutes work.  These are some of my images taken last year with the same kit:

It is helpful to use an illuminated reticle eyepiece to get the target centred in the field of view, and to combine the camera with a barlow to get a larger image.  I use a Revelation 2.5x barlow which is very good for the price, plus another 40mm extension to get a bit more image scale.

Very few people seem to be using the Neximage 5 and posting images on SGL and I suspect that the pixel size is not going to work well with the 127 Mak because it's so small.  My gut feeling is that you'd really want a lot more aperture to get it working well.  Small pixel sizes don't necessarily mean good results in astro imaging -- it's as much about how much light you can put on a pixel as anything else, and if the pixels are bigger they can collect more light.

The DFK21 is well-proven but expensive in either of its guises, but quite a few people are now using the ASI120MC as a (slightly) cheaper alternative.  Note that the DMK (as opposed to the DFK) is a mono camera, so for colour images you'd need to be getting into filter wheels and filters too.  This is from the ASI120MC and 127 Mak:

Due to the smaller pixel size of the ASI120 I only use a 2x barlow with this camera.  I found with Saturn that the image was too faint with greater effective focal lengths.

I'd certainly encourage you to try some imaging with the DSLR too.  I have a Canon 450D that I fit to the visual back and control from a laptop.  That level of control may not be possible with the Nikon, but there's no reason you shouldn't be able to use it for full disc lunar imaging (and solar too if you make a solar filter for the front of the scope).

It's generally said that long focal length scopes such as the 127 Mak aren't suitable for DSO imaging and for faint targets that's probably true enough, but it is possible to capture brighter objects with a DSLR.  This is M13 taken with my 450D on the Mak:

And M27:

So I'd definitely recommend giving it a try.

James

[pamss]

This is definitely a topic where the more I learn, the less I know!  But time and again now I'm hearing ASI120MC and although it may be more than I wanted to pay, maybe it's the path to go down.  I can get one in the US (my daughter lives there) which will get me a better price than I can find here in the UK, I think.  I'll do some searching around for prices and in the meantime, get the bits ordered for my Nikon.  I've got a solar filter that I made for my previous scope and I've just been making it fit better on my new one.  It's all so exciting having all these things to learn about.  Thanks for all your advice so far.

[lensman57]

This is definitely a topic where the more I learn, the less I know!  But time and again now I'm hearing ASI120MC and although it may be more than I wanted to pay, maybe it's the path to go down.  I can get one in the US (my daughter lives there) which will get me a better price than I can find here in the UK, I think.  I'll do some searching around for prices and in the meantime, get the bits ordered for my Nikon.  I've got a solar filter that I made for my previous scope and I've just been making it fit better on my new one.  It's all so exciting having all these things to learn about.  Thanks for all your advice so far.

Hi,

There was an ASI 120 MC on Astro Buy and Sellfor £200.00.

A.G

[JamesF]

Hi,

There was an ASI 120 MC on Astro Buy and Sellfor £200.00.

A.G

I thought that was an MM -- the mono version, rather than the MC.  For colour imaging that would require a set of filters and some sort of filter drawer or wheel, which pushes up the price again.  I'll check though.

James

[JamesF]

I thought that was an MM -- the mono version, rather than the MC.  For colour imaging that would require a set of filters and some sort of filter drawer or wheel, which pushes up the price again.  I'll check though.

James

Yes, there's an MM for sale for £200.  Item 73555.

James

[JamesF]

I see there's also an SPC900 for £90 which strikes me as rather too much.  I imagine other people feel the same way otherwise it would have sold by now.  Or perhaps they don't and the ad just hasn't been archived yet

James

[yelsac]

Hi don't know if you are interested but there's a Philips SPC900 on ebay which has the 1.25" nosepiece/adapter fitted and comes complete with a Baader Neodymium filter

Although I don't know how much it will go for might be worth keeping an eye on.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SPC900-Astronomy-Camera-Webcam-/151130417186?pt=UK_Computing_ComputerComponents_Webcams&hash=item2330132822

[JamesF]

Hi don't know if you are interested but there's a Philips SPC900 on ebay which has the 1.25" nosepiece/adapter fitted and comes complete with a Baader Neodymium filter

Although I don't know how much it will go for might be worth keeping an eye on.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SPC900-Astronomy-Camera-Webcam-/151130417186?pt=UK_Computing_ComputerComponents_Webcams&hash=item2330132822

With the filter, £60 would be a very fair price and I'd suggest even a little more wouldn't be unreasonable.  But this is ebay.  It could easily go for twice that

James