ZWO ASI120MC/MC-S or ZWO ASI224?

[matt_baker]

As this is my first time buying a camera, I was wondering which one of these I should choose. I've read about them all but is it worth going for the USB 3 120MC or 224? Is is really worth is having double the frame rate or not at all and is there any significant leaps with getting either? 

Thanks, 

Matt

[ian_bird]

Matt

What do you want to use the camera for? And what will you be attaching it to? A 50mm lens or a 2000mm Telescope? Or somewhere in between?

What kind of targets are you aiming for? The Moon? Planets? Or DSOs?

I have the ASI224 - which I use on a 2000mm RC, shooting the Moon and Planets. I would not use that setup for DSOs (I have an Atik 4000 for that!)

USB 3 is good for high frame rates - but I would suggest an SSD to store the data during acquisition. Most of the data will be dumped anyway - so storage capacity is not so important. Storage speed is.

High Frame rates help with "lucky imaging" and solar system objects.

But I am sure someone who knows the answers to your questions a lot better than I do will be along shortly! 

But if you could provide the information mentioned above - they could probably be able to help you more.

Good luck with whatever you end up buying!

Cheers

Ian 

[PeterCPC]

These are planetary cameras really so I assume you are going for planetary imaging. Of the two the 224 will give better results but you will need an IR block filter with it. The 120 has a filter preinstalled. I have used my 224 for some small DSOs like the Owl - you take lots of very short exposures to stack - so called "lucky imaging" as Ian has said.

Peter

 

[matt_baker]

1 hour ago, PeterCPC said:

These are planetary cameras really so I assume you are going for planetary imaging. Of the two the 224 will give better results but you will need an IR block filter with it. The 120 has a filter preinstalled. I have used my 224 for some small DSOs like the Owl - you take lots of very short exposures to stack - so called "lucky imaging" as Ian has said.

Peter

 

Yeah, I was more intending to use this for planetery imaging. I also have a 130SLT and a 2x barlow which should make the 650mm focal length 1300mm. I personally might order the 120MC (not 3.0) because my laptop hasn't got a particular fast hard drive and see how decent it is

Matt

[PeterCPC]

It should be fine. Remember to align the colour chanels when processing and use AS!3 for that.

Peter

[matt_baker]

On 07/12/2017 at 09:24, PeterCPC said:

It should be fine. Remember to align the colour chanels when processing and use AS!3 for that.

Peter

Even though I know this post is rather old, I went along a bought a 120MC but only now have I been able to use it on Jupiter since it comes up alot earlier now. I managed to get this with it but I know I can get better images with it. Do you have any suggestions? I've been reading that this cameras optimal f/ratio is 19 and if I get a 3x barlow I can get mine to f/15. Do you think this would help or should I try something else?

 

Thanks,

Matt

[PeterCPC]

Options are a bigger scope such as an SCT or you could try a 3x Barlow. You need to ensure that you get the focus spot on so I would use a Bahtinov mask on a nearby star for that. Take videos of about 30 secs duration or so for stacking in AS!3 and then tweak the image in Registax wavelets etc.

Peter

[Stub Mandrel]

Last year I used a 120MC with a 150PL and x3 barlow, so effectively 3600mm focal length. It's probably a bit over-long at f24, but it's getting there.

[PeterCPC]

Also, check the collimation.

Peter

[BrockW]

Since I only hava the asi120mc, I can't give a comparison. I will say the asi120mc has been a solid performer for me. Registax had been my photo editor for several years but they changed Register so I have to go through other programs to make the image work in Registax. Very annoying. Getting through the menus on deep sky stacker, etc., is a hassle for me, so if the other camera is Registax ready, consider that. Now I'm using a Canon T5 Rebel for picture and the asi120mc for autoguiding. If I'm just doing planets the asi120mc is still great.