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Going to the dark side ZWO ASI1600

souls33k3r

By souls33k3r
in Discussions - Cameras

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souls33k3r

souls33k3r

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Hi All,

I've been going back and forth with my decision on this but i guess it's time i do step over to the dark side.

I am looking to make a purchase of the all so popular ZWO ASI1600 CCD as my first purchase.

This CCD is going to be imaging with my main Celestron EdgeHD 8" scope ... i do have a reducer

Now here comes the question, should i go for the ZWO package which will include it's own EFW and LRGB & NB filters? or should i start to look in to a different FW and filters?

ZWO claims that there's very little or no vignetting up until f/5 as a scope because the filters are so closely placed next to the CCD but even if is, are the ZWO filters really good?

Either i go for the ZWO package OR i can look for SX EFW and Baader LRGB & NB filters.

Please advise. 

Thanks

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souls33k3r

souls33k3r

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On 12/13/2016 at 00:19, SkyBound said:

Well even with a reducer on your scope you will not get to f5 so you will get some vignetting with 1.25" filters

i am biased anyway, as I have an SX USB filter wheel for sale in the classifieds.... :)

hahaha of course mate, i'll be imaging at f/8 so you reckon 1.25 are going to be sufficient or do i have to go bigger?

 

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SkyBound

SkyBound

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Yes I think you will get some vignetting.....joking aside

i have a full set of Baader 36mm unmounted filters, so am keeping them, but wanting a bigger wheel, as mine is the mini one that takes 5 filters, but has the built in OAG which is very useful...especially for guiding an SCT....

i have the Atik 383L+ Mono which I am highly tempted to sell and get the ASI1600mm cool, just can't bring myself to do it in case I regret it, although I don't think I will looking at the love for the camera on here...

:)

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alexbb

alexbb

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Hi,

Vignetting is more an issue for faster F ratios than slower. So at F/4 you would get some vignetting, but at 6 you shouldn't.

Some say Baader filters are a little overrated. The zwo filters would be even narrower for o3 and s2 at 7nm, but I didn't see any tests with them.

Regards,

Alex

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souls33k3r

souls33k3r

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I am hoping that someone will just say that "Go for the 1.25 filters and you are guaranteed to have no vignetting" for my EdgeHD.

Also do you think that i should go for the ZWO filterwheel or the SX one? The main selling point so far for their FW is that it places the filters close enough to the CCD sensor that it doesn't produce vignetting so not sure if the same hold true if i go for the proven and tested SX filterwheel.

Also another thing is if i should go for the ZWO LRGB + NB filters or say Baader ones ... in the end, price difference is nothing, they're almost the same if i go for the complete ZWO package or choose their CCD, SX FW and Baader filters.

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SkyBound

SkyBound

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1 hour ago, souls33k3r said:

I am hoping that someone will just say that "Go for the 1.25 filters and you are guaranteed to have no vignetting" for my EdgeHD.

Also do you think that i should go for the ZWO filterwheel or the SX one? The main selling point so far for their FW is that it places the filters close enough to the CCD sensor that it doesn't produce vignetting so not sure if the same hold true if i go for the proven and tested SX filterwheel.

Also another thing is if i should go for the ZWO LRGB + NB filters or say Baader ones ... in the end, price difference is nothing, they're almost the same if i go for the complete ZWO package or choose their CCD, SX FW and Baader filters.

I don't think there is much, if any difference in distance from filters to chip with the two filter wheels, as long as they are screwed on directly to the imaging camera, the SX has male and female T threads, and those can be changed if needed as they are bolted on, and SX do a full range of adapters.

As for filters I have the full set of Baader, and highly rate them, ZWO filters are new to the market, and so need a bit more time for a good cross section of reviews to come in, I would guess that they don't produce them, they are just re branded, and there are many many Chinese manufacturers of Astro filters, the biggest I think being Optolong, which seem to be doing very well....so can't really advise on the filter question, other that to say I prefer the Baader or Astronomik option...but that just me....! :)

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souls33k3r

souls33k3r

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Right i guess i'm going to stick with the ZWO FW and might even look to stay with their LRGB filters unless someone has suggests otherwise.

Need to complete the set and look in to narrow band filters as well ... again, ZWO are fairly new to the market or at least their branded ones are. Is anyone out there who is using their complete broadband and narrowband set?

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Gina

Gina

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I use the ASI1600MM-Cool and ZWO EFW mini with 1.25" filters and get negligible vignetting down to f 2.5.  I have no experience of ZWO filters as I already had Astrodon 3nm NB filters and Baader LRGB filters.  The 8 position wheel is the same optical length as the mini so should work exactly the same.

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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From the look of the ZWO camera in pictures the chip seems to be mounted very near the front, which is great news for filter buyers because the smaller ones will work better.

You'd presumably aim to be working binned 2X2 to give you about 1.2 arcsecs per pixel? Are we sure the camera bins well? This can't be taken for granted with CCD cameras but I guess we'd know about it if this were a problem with the new technology.

Olly

 

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RobRob

RobRob

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I've tested 2x2 binning with this camera and it resulted in no more extra light. I understand this is because binning is done in software on these camera's (I'm still a bit puzzled why this should result in a different behaviour compared to doing this in hardware). It should have a larger S/N ratio using binning though...

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alexbb

alexbb

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There's also an option for hardware binning. There are several comments from Sam on the zwo forum about binning, software vs hardware binning and I also remember Sam saying that 2x2 binning is only done hardware on adjacent pixels on a single row for CMOS sensors and added with the value read from the row below/above, can't read all 4 pixels at once. So 2 read once + another 2 read once. Read noise only reduced by 2, not by 4.

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Gina

Gina

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That is exactly what I have :)  Note that 1.25" filters work fine with the ASI1600MM.  Slight but correctable vignetting with the Atik EFW2 - negligible with the ZWO EFW mini :)  Should be the same with the new 8 position ZWO EFW.

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Gina

Gina

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Also, I suggest going straight for the 3nm Astrodons.  Start with the Ha as that is the most useful and you can get some great mono images.  They when funds permit get the 3nm OIII.  With that you can add colour to your images.  Finally, the SII 3nm filter but the SII wavelength nebulosity is a lot rarer and dimmer than the other two. 

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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35 minutes ago, Gina said:

That is exactly what I have :)  Note that 1.25" filters work fine with the ASI1600MM.  Slight but correctable vignetting with the Atik EFW2 - negligible with the ZWO EFW mini :)  Should be the same with the new 8 position ZWO EFW.

That is great news for this camera.

Olly

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