Webcams for planetary imaging

[superatticman]

Hi all

With Jupiter still a magnificent object in the evening sky, with Mars and Saturn to come, gonna take the plunge for a webcam, as they seem to be considered by far the best solution for planetary imaging. I've seen some documentation regarding modifying off the shelf webcams, but to be honest, I don't really have the patience or delicate hands to undertake that! I've noticed you can buy them off the shelf for astronomy for less than £100.

Anyone recommend anything? Orion do one for about £80 odd. Any good?

Cheers

[nightfisher]

you would be best looking on astro buy sell for a philips SPC900

[riklaunim]

Webcams aren't the best solution, they are just the cheapest that works. You can get a modded webcam from classifieds (+astrobuysell) or look for things better like: http://www.zwoptical.com/Eng/Cameras/ASI034/index.asp this should fit under 100 GBP (add duties/tax to price), or mono http://www.ebay.com/itm/Point-Grey-Research-USB-2-0-Digital-Camera-/291085772072? (has some disadvantages, but it's cheap non-webcam mono camera)

[sytra]

Here are a couple of SPC's on the bay at the moment:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Philips-SPC900NC-Web-Cam-Astro-Modded-and-IR-Filter-/111302314956?pt=UK_Photography_Telescopes&hash=item19ea228bcc

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Long-Exposure-Modified-Philips-spc900nc-Astronomy-camera-/321353675904?pt=UK_CamerasPhoto_DigitalCameras_DigitalCameras_JN&hash=item4ad22bf480

[JamesF]

The SPC900 is old and has its faults, but tried and tested.  It has worked fairly well for a lot of people.  The ASI034MC looks interesting but there don't seem to be that many people using them at the moment.  365Astronomy do them for under £120.  They also do a couple of cheaper cameras based on the same sensor as the SPC900 but again there's not much evidence of people using them and it can be that poor firmware can mess up what ought otherwise to be a good camera so there's no guarantee that you'd be getting something as good as the SPC900.

James

[leelee970]

What scope and mount are you using?

An SPC900 and variants are a good starting point - prices can be steep for such an old webcam but they are easy to use and fun to start off with.

The main thing is to have fun, and gain experience by going out alot, and make notes of your settings etc.

Not all webcams are equal so be warned and do your research.

if you want something better then you will have to spend the cash and go for a dedicated planetary camera.

Lee