ZWO 178 and 290

[JayPea]

Hi All,

One last question before I pull the trigger in an uncooled mono camera (for wide field and DSO, not planets).

I've been looking for a quantum efficiency plot for the mono IMX 178 and IMX 290 chips. All I could find was a colour plot for the 290 IMX290 quantum sensitivity but not a thing for the 178. What I also found was a Sony graphic IMX 178 v 290 sensitivity and the following text: IMX290: "Sensitivity @ 533 nm: 6.9 p" and IMX 178 "Sensitivity @ 533 nm: < 3.3 p".

So based on the second chart and the text I assume that the 290 pixel is just over twice as sensitive as the 179? 

That is a significant difference and would probably swing it for me even if it is a smaller and lower MP sensor.

Does anyone have links to the QE plots or any experience on these two cameras (I found some interesting ZWO 290 mono images).

Thanks, John

 

[animaal]

Hi John,

 

I would say that those types of camera are mostly used for planetary/lunar imaging. They both have small sensors and tiny pixels. Although, I imagine a cooled variant with a widefield setup would be ok in some circumstances.

I have an asi290, and the pixel size works well with my scope for planetary work. If it was cooled, I could probably bin the pixels (if mono rather than colour), put it on a short-focal-length OTA, and create images of smaller objects.

In terms of sensitivity, I think it's more difficult to compare sensitivity when the pixels are different sizes. I'd be surprised if there was a lot of difference once you allow for pixel size in the calculations. Somebody more knowledgeable than me might comment.