Anthony1979 Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 (edited) Is this ideal for a guide camera Edited May 26, 2020 by Anthony1979 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrosharkey Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 I use the mono version of this in my guide scope with no issues, was originally bought as a lunar / planetary camera and repurposed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wimvb Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 Probably good as a guide cam, but because of the Bayer matrix, not ideal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony1979 Posted May 26, 2020 Author Share Posted May 26, 2020 What should i go for then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vlaiv Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 Don't worry about camera being color - I've been guiding with color cameras and never had any issues with them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruno Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 Try this https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-cameras/zwo-asi290mm-usb-3-mono-camera.html same camera just mono when your not guiding get a filter holder some RGB and have go doing colour images just a suggestion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickwayne Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 (edited) Likewise re guiding with a color camera. I grabbed a 120MC because it was the cheapest thing I could find, and because I thought I might use it for comets or planets or something someday. The 120MM Mini is probably one of the most popular guide cameras; small, light, mono. Edited May 26, 2020 by rickwayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony1979 Posted May 26, 2020 Author Share Posted May 26, 2020 1 hour ago, vlaiv said: Don't worry about camera being color - I've been guiding with color cameras and never had any issues with them. It says something about the ir and that i will need a filter for it... What does this mean Due to the high IR sensitivity and the various ways that this camera can be used, IR cut-off fiter is not built in so we would also recommend to buy it separately as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vlaiv Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 1 hour ago, Anthony1979 said: It says something about the ir and that i will need a filter for it... What does this mean Due to the high IR sensitivity and the various ways that this camera can be used, IR cut-off fiter is not built in so we would also recommend to buy it separately as well I guide without IR cut filter. IR cut filter is important in few cases - but mostly when imaging. If you are imaging with refractor telescope that does not have good correction in IR (or UV) part of the spectrum - you'll need IR/UV cut filter to avoid star bloat / blur because of unfocused IR/UV light. Reflectors don't have this issue - but you still want IR/UV cut filter when imaging with reflector if you care about proper color balance. For guiding - you simply don't need IR/UV cut filter even if you use refractor guide scope (and most people do). In fact refractor guide scope is likely to be fast achromat that will bloat stars even in visible part of the spectrum (blue halo around bright stars and such) - however, that does not have significant if any impact on guiding. In fact - guiding sometimes benefits from slight de focus of guide star - less seeing impact and that way you avoid saturation on bright stars - you want to guide on bright stars because they provide better SNR - but you want to avoid stars clipping / saturation as it is not good for centroid calculations (exact star position). For guiding - don't bother with IR/UV cut filter, but if you want to do EEVA or image planets with that camera as well - get 1.25" IR/UV cut filter to use for those purposes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fireballxl5 Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 ZWO ASI 290MM Mini - great guide cam https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-cameras/zwo-asi290mm-mini-usb-2-mono-camera.html#specifications Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony1979 Posted May 26, 2020 Author Share Posted May 26, 2020 1 hour ago, vlaiv said: I guide without IR cut filter. IR cut filter is important in few cases - but mostly when imaging. If you are imaging with refractor telescope that does not have good correction in IR (or UV) part of the spectrum - you'll need IR/UV cut filter to avoid star bloat / blur because of unfocused IR/UV light. Reflectors don't have this issue - but you still want IR/UV cut filter when imaging with reflector if you care about proper color balance. For guiding - you simply don't need IR/UV cut filter even if you use refractor guide scope (and most people do). In fact refractor guide scope is likely to be fast achromat that will bloat stars even in visible part of the spectrum (blue halo around bright stars and such) - however, that does not have significant if any impact on guiding. In fact - guiding sometimes benefits from slight de focus of guide star - less seeing impact and that way you avoid saturation on bright stars - you want to guide on bright stars because they provide better SNR - but you want to avoid stars clipping / saturation as it is not good for centroid calculations (exact star position). For guiding - don't bother with IR/UV cut filter, but if you want to do EEVA or image planets with that camera as well - get 1.25" IR/UV cut filter to use for those purposes. I will be using it with a skywatcher evoguide 50ed... So its worth buying it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony1979 Posted May 26, 2020 Author Share Posted May 26, 2020 Something like this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vlaiv Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 19 minutes ago, Anthony1979 said: I will be using it with a skywatcher evoguide 50ed... So its worth buying it For guiding only - I would not bother, even if using ED guide scope (in fact - it will give tighter stars than regular achromat). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony1979 Posted May 26, 2020 Author Share Posted May 26, 2020 so should i just go for the 120 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vlaiv Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 1 minute ago, Anthony1979 said: so should i just go for the 120 Depends what you need it for? If it is only for guiding - just go with cheapest model. I used QHY5LIIc for guiding (has same sensor as ASI120mc) and it worked fine. Now I guide with ASI185mc - but only because I did some planetary imaging with it and some regular imaging with it at the time (higher pixel count at 1920x1200). I would swap it for ASI385mc at some point - but for the time being it is not priority for me. If you want to do something else with it - then pay attention to other specs that you might need (read noise, QE and frame rate for example). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony1979 Posted May 26, 2020 Author Share Posted May 26, 2020 Main use was for guiding but was looking into imaging moon with it and try a bit of dso Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gorann Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 It will depend on what imaging scope you are guiding. You will be fine with that camera if you are using a guide scope and not an off-axis guider. Mono will be a bit more sensitive but I was using an ASI120MC on a finder-guider for 3 - 5" refractors and always found guide stars. Then for a bit better guiding I went for an QHY5LIIM (mono) using an ST80 as guide scope. It was only when I started with long focal length SCTs that really need off-axis guiding I found I had to have something more sensitive and more expesive to be sure to find guide stars (like a Lodestar X2). So in my experience, small CMOS cameras (like those from ASI and QHY) work well if you use guide scopes but maybe not for off-axis guiding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vlaiv Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 28 minutes ago, gorann said: It will depend on what imaging scope you are guiding. You will be fine with that camera if you are using a guide scope and not an off-axis guider. Mono will be a bit more sensitive but I was using an ASI120MC on a finder-guider for 3 - 5" refractors and always found guide stars. Then for a bit better guiding I went for an QHY5LIIM (mono) using an ST80 as guide scope. It was only when I started with long focal length SCTs that really need off-axis guiding I found I had to have something more sensitive and more expesive to be sure to find guide stars (like a Lodestar X2). So in my experience, small CMOS cameras (like those from ASI and QHY) work well if you use guide scopes but maybe not for off-axis guiding. I use my ASI185 with OAG at 1600mm and have no issues finding guide stars. 2 hours ago, Anthony1979 said: Main use was for guiding but was looking into imaging moon with it and try a bit of dso If you want to image other things then you probably want some other camera. 290 is good choice and so is 385. Maybe also look at 178. For planetary - I would go with color camera for simplicity. You don't want to mess with filters and filter wheels just to do a bit of planetary imaging. For DSO (like EEVA) and Lunar only, mono could be better choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony1979 Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 This one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vlaiv Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 5 hours ago, Anthony1979 said: This one That one is USB 2.0. That is fine for guiding and DSO imaging but will have somewhat smaller frame rate for planetary / lunar. This does not that results will be bad for planetary - it just means that USB 3.0 would have a bit more potential - again, if that is important to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony1979 Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 Thanks everyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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