WZO ASI 1600MC-Pro colour Camera

[nephilim]

Hi,

I'm just starting out with AP after many years as a mainly visual observer (I've dabbled with AP before with poor results due to poor/cheap quality gear)

Does anyone on the forum have any hands on experience with the above camera (here's the link https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-cameras/zwo-asi1600mc-pro-usb-3-colour-camera.html ). I'll be paring this with the Skywatcher 80ED DS Pro on a HEQ5 Pro Synscan.& hoping (eventually) to image dso's & globular/open clusters. Not sure if this is relevant to camera choices but I live in an area with very little light pollution.

I'd also be interested to hear other/better suggestions that would work well with the above info in the same price range of around £1000 .

At this point I'm not interested in a mono camera with filters (1 step at a time and  maybe that will come after ive gained more experience) I'm also not interested in a dslr as I'd only end up eventually upgrading to a dedicated AP  camera anyway

Thanks in advance

Steve

[RayD]

15 minutes ago, nephilim said:

Hi,

I'm just starting out with AP after many years as a mainly visual observer (I've dabbled with AP before with poor results due to poor/cheap quality gear)

Does anyone on the forum have any hands on experience with the above camera (here's the link https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-cameras/zwo-asi1600mc-pro-usb-3-colour-camera.html ). I'll be paring this with the Skywatcher 80ED DS Pro on a HEQ5 Pro Synscan.& hoping (eventually) to image dso's & globular/open clusters. Not sure if this is relevant to camera choices but I live in an area with very little light pollution.

I'd also be interested to hear other/better suggestions that would work well with the above info in the same price range of around £1000 .

At this point I'm not interested in a mono camera with filters (1 step at a time and  maybe that will come after ive gained more experience) I'm also not interested in a dslr as I'd only end up eventually upgrading to a dedicated AP  camera anyway

Thanks in advance

Steve

Personally if it were me, noting that you are not interested in mono (perhaps worth a re-think?) I would probably be looking at one of the QHY cameras.  From what I've seen of images posted, they just seem to perform better in this area than ZWO, and you don't really hear too many people moaning about them.

Nice OTA and mount, so either would work great with it.

[Adam J]

2 hours ago, RayD said:

Personally if it were me, noting that you are not interested in mono (perhaps worth a re-think?) I would probably be looking at one of the QHY cameras.  From what I've seen of images posted, they just seem to perform better in this area than ZWO, and you don't really hear too many people moaning about them.

Nice OTA and mount, so either would work great with it.

I would not chose a 1600mc pro OSC, the best OSC cameras on the market right now are the QHY168c, QHY247c and the ASI294mc, without going for the full frame ones. Many people would say ASI071mc pro, but the previous model had issues and the pro is still largely untested. Of all those I would personally say go with the QHY168c, people are posting great images with it. 

 

 

[nephilim]

31 minutes ago, Adam J said:

I would not chose a 1600mc pro OSC, the best OSC cameras on the market right now are the QHY168c, QHY247c and the ASI294mc, without going for the full frame ones. Many people would say ASI071mc pro, but the previous model had issues and the pro is still largely untested. Of all those I would personally say go with the QHY168c, people are posting great images with it. 

 

 

Thanks for the info Adam.

I'm now leaning more towards the QHY range. Unfortunately the models you've listed exceed the top end of my budget by quite a long shot (£1000 is my maximum ) I'm looking more at the QHY8l which is just within budget, would you say this is still a good camera though?

Regards 

Stve

[Adam J]

19 hours ago, nephilim said:

Thanks for the info Adam.

I'm now leaning more towards the QHY range. Unfortunately the models you've listed exceed the top end of my budget by quite a long shot (£1000 is my maximum ) I'm looking more at the QHY8l which is just within budget, would you say this is still a good camera though?

Regards 

Stve

It's just a case of looking at other people's results. I really would push you budget to the QHY168c on that basis but I do also see people getting good results with the QHY8L for it's price point. The main thing is to look on something like astrobin. See what you like. The ASI294 is possibly better though and still in budget. It's a very new sensor though so example images are harder to come by. But I have seen at least Two cracking images from it. 

[nephilim]

On 12/01/2018 at 14:01, Adam J said:

It's just a case of looking at other people's results. I really would push you budget to the QHY168c on that basis but I do also see people getting good results with the QHY8L for it's price point. The main thing is to look on something like astrobin. See what you like. The ASI294 is possibly better though and still in budget. It's a very new sensor though so example images are harder to come by. But I have seen at least Two cracking images from it. 

More choices iv had a look at some images taken by the ASI294 & have to say, I'm very impressed,  plus it's well within my budget. I'm going to have to ask on the forum if anyone has experience of it 1st hand, it seems there's not a great deal of user reviews online possibly due to how new it is.

Thanks for the heads up Adam

Steve

[Lee_P]

I have the same telescope and mount as you, and recently moved from a QHY8L to an ASI1600 Mono. I’d really recommend going mono, it opens up so many possibilities. The QHY8L is a good camera, but not in the same league in my opinion.

In case it’s helpful, I’ve made two albums so you can compare and see what to realistically expect. All these photos were taken with your 'scope and mount, but from the centre of Bristol, so at the other end of the spectrum from your dark skies