Stepping up to CCD

[Z3roCool]

Hi, I have been doing DSO imaging for about 6 months now and loving it. Got some great results (To me anyway) with my Canon 7D DSLR, Canon 400mm lens and NEQ6 mount.

I am looking at purchasing a scope at some point down the line (William Optics or Skywatcher Esprit (80mm) and further down the line a new camera. Have been reading up on OSC and Mono and think the Mono with filters is the way I would like to go (Or end up). 

Is the jump in difficulty a big step? Should I be looking at going OSC first? Have been looking at the ATIK 428EX Mono (Plus filter setup).

Keep thinking I am jumping the gun by spending big and should really be looking at something like the  ZWO1600 and see how I go.

Any thoughts, experience with anyone who has been in the same position.

Thanks for any help.

 

Tom.

[spillage]

My take on this would be to go mono. The 1600 is a nice camera and I am far from realizing its potential. Yes in the UK the osc will give you a quicker on the screen result but with a mono you can go down the narrow band route and image under moon light increasing your imagining time.

The jump is not too bad you just need to be very ocd when it comes to storing the data. I quickly found that I gathered image files at an outstanding rate and quickly become swamped with them.

Coming from a 500d  I was amazed at the jump in quality of my images and with the 1600 I can easily half my exposure times. Of course taking things like darks is also so much easier with point cooling. I just keep a master and only redo calibration files if I think they need changing.

 

Mark.

[cjdawson]

I don't think it's that it's that much more difficult.  I bought an uncooled ASI mono camera last year, along with a filter wheel and a set of LRGB filters.  Whilst I've not actually used it yet, the process doesn't seem to be that much harder.  The only thing that you have to do is the combining of the channels, which doesn't look to hard.  Looks like you get more control over your capture.

[Z3roCool]

2 hours ago, spillage said:

My take on this would be to go mono. The 1600 is a nice camera and I am far from realizing its potential. Yes in the UK the osc will give you a quicker on the screen result but with a mono you can go down the narrow band route and image under moon light increasing your imagining time.

The jump is not too bad you just need to be very ocd when it comes to storing the data. I quickly found that I gathered image files at an outstanding rate and quickly become swamped with them.

Coming from a 500d  I was amazed at the jump in quality of my images and with the 1600 I can easily half my exposure times. Of course taking things like darks is also so much easier with point cooling. I just keep a master and only redo calibration files if I think they need changing.

 

Mark.

7

Thanks Mark - the narrowband ability is very attractive. I know what you mean with data storage. My laptop is a mess only a half year into this and 4 targets acquired!

[Z3roCool]

2 hours ago, cjdawson said:

I don't think it's that it's that much more difficult.  I bought an uncooled ASI mono camera last year, along with a filter wheel and a set of LRGB filters.  Whilst I've not actually used it yet, the process doesn't seem to be that much harder.  The only thing that you have to do is the combining of the channels, which doesn't look to hard.  Looks like you get more control over your capture.

Thanks. Yeah, did look at that and seems simple enough. Just need to be more methodic in my processes I think. Cheers.

[wimvb]

Mono imaging isn't more difficult than osc with a dslr, maybe even easier.

As far as camera is concerned, if you are set on mono ccd as opposed to mono cmos, go for that. No need to buy twice. But consider what you want to image, and choose the sensor size based on that. Our sponsor, FLO, has a field of view calculator on their website. Generally, cmos is cheaper than ccd.

Good luck, and have fun