Beginner CCD

[Purplehayze104]

Hi SGL

just wanted to ask if anyone could point me in the direction of a CCD camera that would be good for starting out imaging havnt a great budget but advice on bang for buck would be appreciated

thanks

clear skies

[riklaunim]

What you want to photograph with it? Planetary imaging needs different cameras than deep space objects imaging (and different equipment/accessories too).

[red dwalf]

really depends on what you want to do, for Planetary imaging i`d go for a philips webcam, fairly cheap second hand for £50-£70, may be less if your lucky.

great for planets and the Moon as they have fast "ish" frame rates and you`ll get reasonable results, good results if your lucky enough to have little light polluted skies.

for deep sky stuff you could go for a canon camera, cheap and can be used for every day pictures also or go for a Atik 16ic or Titan, Mono give slightly better results but then you`ll need to purchase filters later.

second hand 16ic around £200 or the Titan around the £300-£400 price range.

reconditioned Canon 1100d cameras can be bought for £265 modded and have a nice big chip compaired to the Atik`s very small chip.

there`s lots of pros and cons for both so it really comes down to budget.

[Purplehayze104]

arh yes sorry that info would of been handy I was looking more towards DSO's than planetary, I have a Nikon dslr at the moment but was thinking of a more dedicated one.

[swag72]

One of the great entry level CCD's is one of the Sony 285 chips. There's a number of different incarnations out there, there's an Atik 16HR for example, or an Artemis 285, or the very well considered Atik 314L+. But be warned, the chip size on these CCD's are massively different to your DSLR.

Have you also considered whether you want a mono or colour CCD? You've narrowed it down to DSO imaging, how is your light pollution for example as a mono with narrowband filters will work well. Of course if you have a mono CCD then you also need to add in the price of a filter wheel and also filters.

If you want larger chips the QHY8 is often looked at. This is a colour (OSC) CCD, but none of them are cheap I'm afraid. Although you could pick up a second hand older 285 chip for a few hundred ££'s.

Bear in mind that many DSOs are big and so you will be looking at mosaics with the small chip - Are you up for that?

Another thing to consider perhaps is modding your existing DSLR - This will make it much more sensitive for astro use.

There's a few things to consider there!

[Reeny]

Amazon have a CCD camera at a bargain basement price of £43.

Search for - orion starshoot imager

It's on my wish list as a cheapy gadet, rather than a serious tool.

The negative Amazon reviews appear to be from a few people who can't set up the focus, the scope, the maginification, or operate the software correctly.

[Grotemobile]

http://www.opticstar.com/Run/Astronomy/Astro-Imagers-Opticstar.asp?p=0_10_0_50

This site might be of

interest to you

Steve

[riklaunim]

Opticstar cameras aren' the best thing you could pick. Including community / troubleshooting it will be even worse. Those are odd 12/14 bit "lab" cameras made by Tucsen (and maybe by some other Chinese vendors).

[pete_l]

arh yes sorry that info would of been handy I was looking more towards DSO's than planetary, I have a Nikon dslr at the moment but was thinking of a more dedicated one.

Have you considered all the accessories you'll need above and beyond? Apart from a CCD, you'll also have to dive in to tracking whatever you're imaging which will be an extra cost.

However, if your heart is set on buying a CCD, I'd suggest having a look at a QHY5 (or one of its newer incarnations). It's a few £hundred but can be used later as a guide-cam if you want to go further with guided CCD imaging. If you choose not to, there's always a s/h market for cameras like this.

[valefor]

Sorry to hijack this old post but as an extension of the op. If given the choice. Would ppl buy a atik 16ic-s, sx mx716 or mx916, qhy6 or something else around the £200 mark. Btw im after a cooled mono. I have skywatchers ed80 mak150 and 250p newt wanting to do dso's 

[Cornelius Varley]

On 04/10/2013 at 14:28, Reeny said:

Amazon have a CCD camera at a bargain basement price of £43.

Search for - orion starshoot imager

It's on my wish list as a cheapy gadet, rather than a serious tool.

The negative Amazon reviews appear to be from a few people who can't set up the focus, the scope, the maginification, or operate the software correctly.

The Orion Starshoot SSI doesn't have a CCD sensor, only a CMOs and is not a DSO imaging device. The OP already has a better planetary camera than the SSSI.

[Uranium235]

As already stated by Sara, get the Atik 314 - I consider that to be the best entry level CCD there is. Anything less is a false economy.

[valefor]

But you cant get one for 200. Thats why i asked whats the best sub 200 mono ccd

[swag72]

Have you considered that it may be best to save up some more money and get the best entry level camera for the job? I would wait for a second hand 314L+ to come up for sure.

[ollypenrice]

As well as the 314L there is its predecessor, the 16HR. This will take exactly the same photographs. The 314L has set point cooling, which is not really needed on this chip, and the download time is faster - but that is hardly a game changer. It's just a minor convenience.

Honestly I would not be inclined to go below that. The chips are sooo small.

Olly

[Gina]

I agree with Sara and Olly   I haven't used the 16HR but I did use the 314L+ and found it amazing.  You really do need to save up for something decent.

[nightster]

If budget is a deciding factor you may want to look at the new cooled ASI 1600's.  They are CMOS vs CCD chips but with the cooling and their price they should be on your research list.