Advice for a 150$-250$ Astrophotography camera

[Gaurav Mk]

Hey Guys,

I am looking to buy a camera in US and my budget being max 250$. I currently have a 8 inch f/5 skywatcher Newtonian telescope.

 If some one has a good suggestion for a QHY/ZWO camera please let me know. I am very new to astronomy, hence asking for your help

I primarily intend to catpure planets as well as deep space objects, with the latter being more important to me. 

I have the following additional doubts:

1. How does the camera fit to the telescope? Do we attach it in place of the eyepiece? If so, who does the function of the eyepiece?

2. What does backfocus mean? How much of a concern it is to me? 

3. Will one camera do the job like capture good planetary images as well as deep sky objects? Like say Jupiter and Orion?

[Astrid]

Hi! I'm exactly in the same situation as you: SW 8inch f/5 Reflector (EQ5) and a max camera budget of around 200$.

The best for deep sky objects (DSO) would be a DSLR camera. With this budget I've found the Canon 2000D or 4000D (I think the name is different in the US). I read some reviews and those are very good and have the same sensor as an 800D, and I saw some pretty amazing pictures captured with those. The problem is that with long exposure you can get noise (because the camera is not cooled and designed for very long exposure photography). But I'd say that it'll do amazing jobs for guided exposures under 30 minutes. 

You can buy a webcam too (which is amazing for planets), but you will be limited when it comes to DSO (only bright ones like Andromeda, Messier 42, etc).

As for an ASI camera, the one you can find within this budget is the ZWO ASI120MC, but it says that it works best for planets. A good ZWO ASI camera for DSO would probably cost a lot.

1. Yes, the camera becomes the eyepiece. You need either a T2 ring, M42 or M48 adaptor, depending on the telescope, focuser, camera, etc.

2. Backfocus= the distance between the back of your telescope and the point at which light is focused.

3. It depends on the camera, but also on a lot of factors: mount, light pollution, exposure time and the processing part. You need to know how to work in Photoshop, Deep Sky Stacker or Registax (for planets). Most images don't have spectacular detail until they are edited. But don't worry, you'll find lots of good tutorials on youtube for PS, DSS and Registax. 

But in my opinion, a good DSLR (you don't need a very expensive one) would do a good job for both planets and DSO. Btw you can also check second hand shops for used cameras. 

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2020 by Astrid

[Gaurav Mk]

Ok. Thankyou for the detailed reply. Owning a DSLR is a big investment for me. 

What would you suggest about ZWO ASI 290MC or ASI 224MC

[Astrid]

6 minutes ago, Gaurav Mk said:

Ok. Thankyou for the detailed reply. Owning a DSLR is a big investment for me. 

What would you suggest about ZWO ASI 290MC or ASI 224MC

No problem! The 290MC is marketed as being good for Deep sky objects too, which is great! The 224 isn't.

Looking at the specs, the 290MC has a bigger max exposure time (30min) compared to 16 for 224 (so almost double)... but the max exposure time is useless if you don't have a RA (right-ascension) motor. 

And the 290 can take 170 images per second, while the 224MC 150.

I'd say that both are some amazing cameras, and I'm thinking that the 224 can work very good for DSO too. From what I'm seeing, those 2 cameras are kinda similar in terms of theoretical specs. You can look at different reviews online (ASI cameras are very popular so naturally you can find lots of reviews) and decide, based on whether or not the price difference is worth it. (and DSLR vs ZWO ASI comparisons)

Clear skies!

[rnobleeddy]

2 hours ago, Gaurav Mk said:

Ok. Thankyou for the detailed reply. Owning a DSLR is a big investment for me. 

What would you suggest about ZWO ASI 290MC or ASI 224MC

Definitely recommend looking second hand. You can get a stock Canon 450D body only for maybe $70 on eBay (converting from £ to $ based on sold listings in the UK). If you look around, you might get an astromodded DSLR with your budget, or a better, less noisy sensor than the 450D.

I'm not sure any of the cameras max exposure time will be an issue - if your mount is so good you want to expose for that long, you've probably got money to spare for a camera!

[JamesF]

12 minutes ago, rnobleeddy said:

a better, less noisy sensor than the 450D.

I believe, for what it's worth, that the 450D sensor is actually one of the better ones in terms of noise, though more modern cameras may have other advantages for some people, such as the flip-out screen.

If you're on a budget, second hand is definitely the way to go.

James

[rnobleeddy]

2 minutes ago, JamesF said:

I believe, for what it's worth, that the 450D sensor is actually one of the better ones in terms of noise, though more modern cameras may have other advantages for some people, such as the flip-out screen.

If you're on a budget, second hand is definitely the way to go.

James

Interesting. I've been looking to get a cheap second hand Canon with an 18MP sensor because somewhere I read they were less noisy, but I don't think I've seen anywhere that tries to quantify that. Also because I want to try astromodding on something cheap!

At least getting a model that records video would presumably help with planetary imaging, regardless of sensor noise.

[JamesF]

12 minutes ago, rnobleeddy said:

Interesting. I've been looking to get a cheap second hand Canon with an 18MP sensor because somewhere I read they were less noisy, but I don't think I've seen anywhere that tries to quantify that. Also because I want to try astromodding on something cheap!

Have a search for Gary Honis's website.  He did quite a few comparisons of Canon DSLR models that might be useful.  As I recall, there are cameras that are better than the 450D in terms of noise, but not that many.

James

[Gaurav Mk]

17 hours ago, Astrid said:

No problem! The 290MC is marketed as being good for Deep sky objects too, which is great! The 224 isn't.

Looking at the specs, the 290MC has a bigger max exposure time (30min) compared to 16 for 224 (so almost double)... but the max exposure time is useless if you don't have a RA (right-ascension) motor. 

And the 290 can take 170 images per second, while the 224MC 150.

I'd say that both are some amazing cameras, and I'm thinking that the 224 can work very good for DSO too. From what I'm seeing, those 2 cameras are kinda similar in terms of theoretical specs. You can look at different reviews online (ASI cameras are very popular so naturally you can find lots of reviews) and decide, based on whether or not the price difference is worth it. (and DSLR vs ZWO ASI comparisons)

Clear skies!

I was looking at the pixel size and related articles for best sampling. I see that with 1000mm focal length, both ASI220MC & ASI290MC make an oversampled setup with my telescope. Would this be a concern?

[happy-kat]

Hi

What mount are you using for your telescope?

[Gaurav Mk]

I am using EQ5 mount with RA motor