Which camera for Nexstar 6se

[daveangie0110]

Hi All,

I want to get a camera for my Nexstar 6SE, i am torn between the Neximage 5 or the ZWO ASI120MC can anyone tell me what the difference is between the two , and if anyone has had any experience using them.

many thanks

[JamesF]

Hi All,

I want to get a camera for my Nexstar 6SE, i am torn between the Neximage 5 or the ZWO ASI120MC can anyone tell me what the difference is between the two , and if anyone has had any experience using them.

This is for planetary imaging, presumably?

James

[daveangie0110]

Yes mainly for planetary use but might try some DSO's

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have the ASI120MC and like it. I have used it quite a bit on planetary imaging with the C8 I have. A few images:

[JamesF]

I've seen very little imaging done with the Neximage 5 so it's hard to compare the two.  One thing about it that I'm really not keen on is the tiny size of the pixels.  I think they're just over 2um square.  I know it does 2x2 and 4x4 binning, but for planetary imaging I'd prefer not to.  I think it's fair to say that the ASI120's credentials as a planetary imager are well-proven on the other hand.

James

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

2x2 micron square pixels is very small, and that might impact on dynamic range of the pixels. The ASI120MC has a very high quantum efficiency (percentage of photons actually detected; over 70%) which is very handy

[JamesF]

2x2 micron square pixels is very small, and that might impact on dynamic range of the pixels. The ASI120MC has a very high quantum efficiency (percentage of photons actually detected; over 70%) which is very handy

Whereas I think the Neximage 5 is somewhere around 40% to 45%, which is pretty poor by comparison.

James

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

My old SPC900 had only 38%, and the difference with 68% of the DMK and 73% (I think) of the ASI is noticeable. The DMK has the edge over the ASI because it is monochrome, but the ASI is handy for situations with intermittent cloud, because you gather all data in a single shot. 

[daveangie0110]

Hi All,

Thanks for everyone help and reply's i have gone for the ZWO ASI120MC, it comes with software with it, but doses anyone know if this is the best software to use ?

[JamesF]

Hi All,

Thanks for everyone help and reply's i have gone for the ZWO ASI120MC, it comes with software with it, but doses anyone know if this is the best software to use ?

On Windows I'd probably go for FireCapture.

James

[daveangie0110]

Hi, I got my zwo camera today , this might be a silly question but how do you use a barlow lens with it ?

[Cornelius Varley]

The camera is supplied with a M42 x 0.75mm 1.25" nosepiece. The camera with the nosepiece attached will fit into the end of the barlow. Alternatively, if your barlow has a t thread then the camera will attach directly to it.

[tekkydave]

Hi All,

Thanks for everyone help and reply's i have gone for the ZWO ASI120MC, it comes with software with it, but doses anyone know if this is the best software to use ?

I have used Sharpcap. Took this with my 127Mak & ASI120MC

[daveangie0110]

Thanks for that

[daveangie0110]

Tekkydave what settings would you recommend using, your picture of Jupiter looks amazing well done.

[tekkydave]

I originally posted the image here: http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/209881-first-ever-jupiter/

Looking back at the details I posted back then:

Best 2000 frames of 10025 at 320x240 shot with Sharpcap, stacked in AS!2, Wavelets in Registax 6 and post-processing in Gimp.

Exposure was 0.003569s and the fps was at maximum (I think it said 240fps in Sharpcap but that sounds a bit too high).

I think I could have got a much better image if I had used the 2.5x Barlow which was sitting in my case but I forgot I had just got as a birthday present

[alcol620]

Michael, you posted the following with images: ""I have the ASI120MC and like it. I have used it quite a bit on planetary imaging with the C8 I have. A few images:""

Which eyepiece(s) did you use with the 120MC to get the images that size and quality?

[JamesF]

I very much doubt that the images posted by Michael are afocal.  More likely he used one of his barlows/powermates increase the effective focal length and thereby the size of the image.  Judging by the filenames some of them have been rescaled during processing too.

James