ZWO Asi533MC Pro

[laserguide]

Hi. I need some advice on choosing a suitable camera. I'm currently using a modified Canon 450D but have decided to upgrade to a one shot colour camera. I'm hearing good things about the ZWO ASI 533MC Pro but I'm not sure if it is suitable for use with my Skywatcher 80ED Pro refractor. I'm mainly interested in deep sky astrophotography and my budget is around the £900 mark. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks,Gary. 

[TerryMcK]

I have the ASI 183 Pro MC OSC and it pairs well to shorter focal length, relatively wide field OTAs like mine (William Optics 73mm x 430mm). It is around 20 meg with 2.4 micron pixels. It certainly is a good one and very sensitive. The 533 has bigger pixels, lower resolution and may well work better with longer focal lengths. The 80mm scope you have might suit either one. Most people recommend mono cameras but in my experience in the fickle skies of the UK, especially for beginners, OSC cameras like the 183 or 533 are fab to collect data before the clouds roll in. The 533 does have“zero” amp glow- allegedly. Any amp glow I have seen with the 183 is easily removed with calibration frames.

The cooling on the 183 is a real boon after using a DSLR and the 533 also has this. Similar prices. You make the choice. However DSLR work is much, much easier. You end up spending lots of time troubleshooting dedicated astronomy cameras (usually in the cold) but the efforts are well worth it.

Edited January 8, 2020 by TerryMcK

[geeklee]

2 hours ago, laserguide said:

Hi. I need some advice on choosing a suitable camera. I'm currently using a modified Canon 450D but have decided to upgrade to a one shot colour camera. I'm hearing good things about the ZWO ASI 533MC Pro but I'm not sure if it is suitable for use with my Skywatcher 80ED Pro refractor. I'm mainly interested in deep sky astrophotography and my budget is around the £900 mark. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks,Gary. 

Hi Gary - I have the ASI 533MC Pro attached to a Skywatcher 80ED Pro (with 0.85 FF/FR).  I've really just started imaging (October 2019) so don't have a lot of experience or guidance but I came from using an older, original Nikon DSLR.  The FoV is smaller with the 533 after using the DSLR but I've not found it restrictive in any way yet on targets I've selected - just something to get used to after starting out with a high resolution, larger pixel APS-C format DSLR.

I haven't seen any amp glow in the dark frames I've taken for the 533 (going up to 360s so far) and calibration has been straight forward when you understand the work flow.  I've certainly found the data easier to process coming off the ASI 533, including noise (as you'd expect) and colour.

Depending on your equipment, you may also need to consider an additional power supply / feed for the cooler on a dedicated astro cam.  You've already got a modified camera with a high resolution and larger pixels so I guess it's looking at those differences between it and a dedicated astro cam and deciding if they're worth the money.

I've got a few pictures in the "Imaging - Deep Sky" forum that you can check out and there a few more dotted about here and on Astrobin.

Hope this helps.

[laserguide]

2 hours ago, TerryMcK said:

I have the ASI 183 Pro MC OSC and it pairs well to shorter focal length, relatively wide field OTAs like mine (William Optics 73mm x 430mm). It is around 20 meg with 2.4 micron pixels. It certainly is a good one and very sensitive. The 533 has bigger pixels, lower resolution and may well work better with longer focal lengths. The 80mm scope you have might suit either one. Most people recommend mono cameras but in my experience in the fickle skies of the UK, especially for beginners, OSC cameras like the 183 or 533 are fab to collect data before the clouds roll in. The 533 does have“zero” amp glow- allegedly. Any amp glow I have seen with the 183 is easily removed with calibration frames.

The cooling on the 183 is a real boon after using a DSLR and the 533 also has this. Similar prices. You make the choice. However DSLR work is much, much easier. You end up spending lots of time troubleshooting dedicated astronomy cameras (usually in the cold) but the efforts are well worth it.

Many thanks for the advice, Terry. I'm certainly leaning more towards the 533 now. 

[laserguide]

42 minutes ago, geeklee said:

Hi Gary - I have the ASI 533MC Pro attached to a Skywatcher 80ED Pro (with 0.85 FF/FR).  I've really just started imaging (October 2019) so don't have a lot of experience or guidance but I came from using an older, original Nikon DSLR.  The FoV is smaller with the 533 after using the DSLR but I've not found it restrictive in any way yet on targets I've selected - just something to get used to after starting out with a high resolution, larger pixel APS-C format DSLR.

I haven't seen any amp glow in the dark frames I've taken for the 533 (going up to 360s so far) and calibration has been straight forward when you understand the work flow.  I've certainly found the data easier to process coming off the ASI 533, including noise (as you'd expect) and colour.

Depending on your equipment, you may also need to consider an additional power supply / feed for the cooler on a dedicated astro cam.  You've already got a modified camera with a high resolution and larger pixels so I guess it's looking at those differences between it and a dedicated astro cam and deciding if they're worth the money.

I've got a few pictures in the "Imaging - Deep Sky" forum that you can check out and there a few more dotted about here and on Astrobin.

Hope this helps.

Many thanks for the quick reply. Sounds like you have a similar setup to myself. This makes me feel a lot happier about purchasing the 533 🙂

[geeklee]

6 minutes ago, laserguide said:

Many thanks for the quick reply. Sounds like you have a similar setup to myself. This makes me feel a lot happier about purchasing the 533 🙂

No problem, if you have any other questions about the camera or setup, let me know and I'll do my best to help.

[cletrac1922]

4 hours ago, laserguide said:

Hi. I need some advice on choosing a suitable camera. I'm currently using a modified Canon 450D but have decided to upgrade to a one shot colour camera. I'm hearing good things about the ZWO ASI 533MC Pro but I'm not sure if it is suitable for use with my Skywatcher 80ED Pro refractor. I'm mainly interested in deep sky astrophotography and my budget is around the £900 mark. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks,Gary. 

 

I am in same situation, and been looking at ZWO ASI 290MC, matched with ZWO ASI 290MM mini as autoglider

One of my club mates uses ZWO ASI1600 cooled camera on his Celestron

Take really beautiful images

Comes down to really on how much you are prepared to spend on  a ZWO ASI outfit

John 

 

Edited January 9, 2020 by cletrac1922

[laserguide]

55 minutes ago, cletrac1922 said:

 

I am in same situation, and been looking at ZWO ASI 290MC, matched with ZWO ASI 290MM mini as autoglider

One of my club mates uses ZWO ASI1600 cooled camera on his Celestron

Take really beautiful images

Comes down to really on how much you are prepared to spend on  a ZWO ASI outfit

John 

 

Hi John, 

I was really torn between the ASI 533MC-PRO or the ASI 294MC-PRO, which admittedly is slightly outside my budget of £900. Both appear to be very capable cameras. I'm definitely leaning more towards the 533 at the moment. Decisions, decisions 🙂

[Adam J]

6 hours ago, laserguide said:

Hi. I need some advice on choosing a suitable camera. I'm currently using a modified Canon 450D but have decided to upgrade to a one shot colour camera. I'm hearing good things about the ZWO ASI 533MC Pro but I'm not sure if it is suitable for use with my Skywatcher 80ED Pro refractor. I'm mainly interested in deep sky astrophotography and my budget is around the £900 mark. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks,Gary. 

Honestly with your scope being up at almost 500mm focal length I would be more inclined to go with a larger sensor like the ASI294mc pro but if your willing to sacrifice field of view then the 533 is most likely a better sensor. 

On the other hand why not mono? Someone is selling a Atik460ex on here for only £880 I would take that over osc any time. 

[laserguide]

6 hours ago, Adam J said:

Honestly with your scope being up at almost 500mm focal length I would be more inclined to go with a larger sensor like the ASI294mc pro but if your willing to sacrifice field of view then the 533 is most likely a better sensor. 

On the other hand why not mono? Someone is selling a Atik460ex on here for only £880 I would take that over osc any time. 

I just don't feel ready to jump into mono cameras yet,wirh separate filters etc. Maybe one day 🙂

[teoria_del_big_bang]

2 minutes ago, laserguide said:

I just don't feel ready to jump into mono cameras yet,wirh separate filters etc. Maybe one day 🙂

I love my mono but think maybe you are making a good choice if that is what feels right for you. Mono would mean more expense in filters and wheel so your budget would be depleted when it came to buying the camera. Also it is less complex and good results may come quicker too.

Steve

[AndyThilo]

I recently had to decide between the 294 and 533. In the end the FOV/Framing of the 294 won me over. Good darks negate the amp glow and whilst it's a bit undersampled with my Esprit 80, a x2 drizzle takes care of that. Mono will definately be an future upgrade but only when I have a semi-permanent setup that I can leave running for hours,

[Adam J]

2 hours ago, AndyThilo said:

I recently had to decide between the 294 and 533. In the end the FOV/Framing of the 294 won me over. Good darks negate the amp glow and whilst it's a bit undersampled with my Esprit 80, a x2 drizzle takes care of that. Mono will definately be an future upgrade but only when I have a semi-permanent setup that I can leave running for hours,

I think that at 400mm of the esprit 80 its a more even choice, much less though and I would say for me it would swing over to the 533. 

Certainly with 50 - 70mm scopes I would chose the 533, I might also chose it if I wanted to image smaller galaxies at much longer focal lengths due to the better calibration (on deep images the 294 can show artefacts against a black backdrop) and higher sensitivity.

I think that if the OP selects the 533 he will not be disappointed at all with the performance, some targets wont fit into the FOV but there are plenty that will. 

Edited January 9, 2020 by Adam J

[AndyThilo]

Yeah it was a close call but the framing really sold it, plus the fact the 294 will be better suited to a longer scope if I get one. Upto 1200mm should be ok according to the CCD Suitablilty checker

[dannybgoode]

12 hours ago, laserguide said:

I just don't feel ready to jump into mono cameras yet,wirh separate filters etc. Maybe one day 🙂

Mono with filters really isn’t complicated, just more expensive usually because of the need for filters and wheel. 
 

Other than that it’s no more or less difficult than OSC and the extra data you capture, particularly narrow band, is beneficial. 
 

Processing too isn’t much different these days with the majority of the heavy lifting done by the software. 

[2STAR]

On 09/01/2020 at 08:56, laserguide said:

I just don't feel ready to jump into mono cameras yet,wirh separate filters etc. Maybe one day 🙂

For my West Yorkshire backyard  sky (bortle 😎 I am going to Stick with a OSC, with a optolong or zwo duo band filter, & sharpcap.

The new OSC CMOS cameras are very sensitive with low noise and image capture in colour is a lot easier learning curve than messing with Mono & filters etc.

The duo band filter is a good LP suppressor & boosts certain Emission Nebula colour.

The Mono cameras are a favourite amongst some folk, but not for me.

I was torn between the 294 & 533 , the square sensor and FOV of the 533 is sufficient through my 80 mm Espirit to capture the images I want.

Each to their own and as is often said regarding astro gear, it is a very subjective subject !!

On order ZWOASI533pro with FLO, due March sometime hopefully,  🤔

regards

Eric

ZWO 533 pro arrived, optolong L-eNhance dual band filter arrived, next step, as I do EAA mostly is to try the new ASI Studio software, simple UI and although in its initial development looks ready made for EAA enthusiasts, Sharcap although tried & tested software has a steep learning curve and I found 'glitches' in its stacking of images, so next clearish night I will have a go with the ZWO Studio software and see how things go.

regards

eri 

Edited April 18, 2020 by 2STAR

[2STAR]

On 20/02/2020 at 16:53, 2STAR said:

For my West Yorkshire backyard  sky (bortle 😎 I am going to Stick with a OSC, with a optolong or zwo duo band filter, & sharpcap.

The new OSC CMOS cameras are very sensitive with low noise and image capture in colour is a lot easier learning curve than messing with Mono & filters etc.

The duo band filter is a good LP suppressor & boosts certain Emission Nebula colour.

The Mono cameras are a favourite amongst some folk, but not for me.

I was torn between the 294 & 533 , the square sensor and FOV of the 533 is sufficient through my 80 mm Espirit to capture the images I want.

Each to their own and as is often said regarding astro gear, it is a very subjective subject !!

On order ZWOASI533pro with FLO, due March sometime hopefully,  🤔

regards

Eric

ZWO 533 pro arrived, optolong L-eNhance dual band filter arrived, next step, as I do EAA mostly is to try the new ASI Studio software, simple UI and although in its initial development looks ready made for EAA enthusiasts, Sharcap although tried & tested software has a steep learning curve and I found 'glitches' in its stacking of images, so next clearish night I will have a go with the ZWO Studio software and see how things go.

regards

eri 

Tried the ASI Studio software, easy peazy, good stacking with no star count issues like I was getting thrown up in the more sophisticated Sharpcap 3.2 every time I tried to stack, came up with either not enough or too many stars, even after tinkering with it, very frustrating, wouldn't be too bad if we had plenty of clear decent nights in W/Yorks then i could afford to fine tune my skills on Sharcap, but ZWO ASI Studio is lookng very promising, especially with the mentioned additions to the software.