Looking for an all rounder

[Sierra Golf Mike]

So my budget is limited, but I would like a camera that would let me dabble  in Lunar, Solar, Planetary and DSO AP! Not much to ask I hear you say!!!! There is a plethora of choice out there but I haven't the time to look at them all, I have however picked out two and looked at them a bit closer. These are the QYH5L-II Colour and the ZWO ASI120MC, colour as I cannot afford filters, wheel etc. These two fit the bill I think, they are both the same price and similar specs, but the ZWO has a longer maximum exposure time (will that matter much though?). There are others like the NexImage, Opticstar, ToupTek and Altair Astro to name but a few and all have models around the same price point as the two possible contenders. Are there any preferences out there that people would like to share? Have I missed any options that may be better than the two contenders? With my very modest equipment options, I just want to squeeze what I can out of it without breaking the bank. Please also, share images you have of what I might expect from my equipment. I am not expecting miracles, I just want to enjoy Aping.

[Peter Drew]

If you haven't got it already, a copy of "Making Every Photon Count" by Steve Richards is well worth getting to help you in the right direction.  

[ecuador]

Seeing your choices, may I raise you towards the not much more expensive (£179) Altair GPCAM2 IMX224? It has the much better IMX224 chip like the ASI224, i.e. a generation ahead of ASI120, but it is cheap because it is not USB3. I switched to it from a QHY5L-II recently, and it seems very good, especially when exposures get longer.

Of course, I see you have a nice reasonably fast ED which would give you some pretty wide field images, so another option for you is to get a Canon DSLR which is also not bad at planetary imaging and great at lunar. A second hand 450D, 550D or 600D would be your best bang/buck options, at under £200. The latter two can even do planetary without a PC using their Crop video and 3x zoom video respectively, for the former, like all Canons with LiveView you just use EOS Movie Record. At some point you can mod it (£75 for the simple mod) and it will be great for nebulas as well - unless you find a second hand modded.

PS. for planetary imaging with the above compared to simple webcams etc see here.

[Sierra Golf Mike]

20 hours ago, Peter Drew said:

If you haven't got it already, a copy of "Making Every Photon Count" by Steve Richards is well worth getting to help you in the right direction.  

Yeah I have a copy of that, bought it a few years ago. Must look at it again, cameras are more affordable now so I will get more out of it!

[Sierra Golf Mike]

20 hours ago, ecuador said:

Seeing your choices, may I raise you towards the not much more expensive (£179) Altair GPCAM2 IMX224? It has the much better IMX224 chip like the ASI224, i.e. a generation ahead of ASI120, but it is cheap because it is not USB3. I switched to it from a QHY5L-II recently, and it seems very good, especially when exposures get longer.

Of course, I see you have a nice reasonably fast ED which would give you some pretty wide field images, so another option for you is to get a Canon DSLR which is also not bad at planetary imaging and great at lunar. A second hand 450D, 550D or 600D would be your best bang/buck options, at under £200. The latter two can even do planetary without a PC using their Crop video and 3x zoom video respectively, for the former, like all Canons with LiveView you just use EOS Movie Record. At some point you can mod it (£75 for the simple mod) and it will be great for nebulas as well - unless you find a second hand modded.

PS. for planetary imaging with the above compared to simple webcams etc see here.

The GPCAM2 looks a good option, thanks for the heads-up. I have a Canon 30D but it doesn't have live view and it will be a while before I upgrade it, I see we are now up to the 80D!!! I tried photographing the moon the other night with it through my MAK 102, pics looked sharp through the eyepiece but they turned out pretty blurred, not sure whats going on there? Also I need to clean the sensor but I haven't plucked up the courage to to it yet in case I do any damage!