Budget planetary camera recommendations

[Moonshed]

I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to take some images of Mars through my scope. First I tried using a tele-extender and my Canon 1100D,  but that proved hopeless, couldn’t even get an image. So last night I tried again using a cheap £50 planetary camera I bought a few years back for getting images of the moon, which it is very good for, but all I could achieve was a decent size disk of Mars but pure white with no detail whatsoever, it looked overexposed no matter how much I adjusted the settings. I think I need a decent planetary camera.

What planetary camera would members recommend bearing in mind I am on a tight budget? My max would be around £150 but may be able to stretch a little further.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks, Keith

 

[Spacecake2]

Can I see your images?

 

[Bruce Leeroy]

How about trying an aperture mask or moon filter using your existing camera. And the fastest frame rate possible.

[Tommohawk]

Maybe if you post the camera type and capture software plus image someone might be able to suggest how to sort the exposure issue?

If buying another camera I'd definitely suggest second hand. I dont think cameras really suffer from wear and tear like other items so second hand could be a good buy. 

[Scorpius]

Perhaps a Celestron Neximage 5? It's not the newest model available but I have one and also the same scope as you. It does a good job when the conditions are ideal. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Celestron-93711-NexImage-System-Imager/dp/B006ZN4VE2/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=neximage+5&qid=1602328817&sr=8-1

[Cosmic Geoff]

I have used a ZWO ASI120MC with good results. The ASI120MC-S should be more or less in your budget, or look for a second hand one.

[Moonshed]

1 hour ago, Spacecake2 said:

Can I see your images?

 

I would love to show you but they were so bad that the frame rate drop out was massive. I set capture for 1200 frames but after ages it had only captured about 30 so I gave up.

[Moonshed]

45 minutes ago, Scorpius said:

Perhaps a Celestron Neximage 5? It's not the newest model available but I have one and also the same scope as you. It does a good job when the conditions are ideal. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Celestron-93711-NexImage-System-Imager/dp/B006ZN4VE2/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=neximage+5&qid=1602328817&sr=8-1

Those images look amazing so I will definitely look into that more. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Moonshed]

1 hour ago, Tommohawk said:

Maybe if you post the camera type and capture software plus image someone might be able to suggest how to sort the exposure issue?

If buying another camera I'd definitely suggest second hand. I dont think cameras really suffer from wear and tear like other items so second hand could be a good buy. 

My camera is a Canon  1100D, un-modded, and I am using Sharpcap capture software. I can’t show an image as I was unable to get one.

Your suggestion of looking at used cameras is a good idea. Thanks.

 

[happy-kat]

Please can you post what your existing £50 planetary camera is? It would be helpful so we can look it up. An old xbox 360 webcam can capture Mars so your existing camera may be ok.

Are you using a current version of sharpcap.

[Astrid]

3 hours ago, Moonshed said:

I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to take some images of Mars through my scope. First I tried using a tele-extender and my Canon 1100D,  but that proved hopeless, couldn’t even get an image. So last night I tried again using a cheap £50 planetary camera I bought a few years back for getting images of the moon, which it is very good for, but all I could achieve was a decent size disk of Mars but pure white with no detail whatsoever, it looked overexposed no matter how much I adjusted the settings. I think I need a decent planetary camera.

What planetary camera would members recommend bearing in mind I am on a tight budget? My max would be around £150 but may be able to stretch a little further.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks, Keith

 

Almost any webcams would do a great job, and those are absolutely within your budget (ASI cameras are usually pretty expensive...). 

 

Here is a great article:  https://www.planetguide.net/astrophotography-webcam/

 

[rnobleeddy]

+1 for the zwo 120MC. That's not to say the other shouldn't work. In fact, if you were to use Backyard EOS your camera should be able to do a decent job of recording video - I haven't tried it yet, but it should be possible to zoom in on the live view and capture what you see on the screen.

[Moonshed]

1 hour ago, happy-kat said:

Please can you post what your existing £50 planetary camera is? It would be helpful so we can look it up. An old xbox 360 webcam can capture Mars so your existing camera may be ok.

Are you using a current version of sharpcap.

The camera is an Orion Starshoot Solar System Colour Imager IV. I have been using SharpCap 2.9 but today I have upgraded to SharpCap 3.2 Pro.

[happy-kat]

Looks like you get a Mars using your setup.

Hopefully you will get more success with the updated sharpcap, Mars is sized as below for example with your gear, though things out of control are atmospheric conditions and seeing, both challenged when the subject is low in the sky.

 

[Moonshed]

4 hours ago, happy-kat said:

Looks like you get a Mars using your setup.

Hopefully you will get more success with the updated sharpcap, Mars is sized as below for example with your gear, though things out of control are atmospheric conditions and seeing, both challenged when the subject is low in the sky.

 

Thanks for the information but I am afraid I don’t understand it. Is it saying that all I should see of Mars is that tiny red dot? The image I did get, even though it was just a white featureless overexposed blob, was a circle about an inch diameter on my laptop screen. 

[inapottingshed]

Sounds like you might have not achieved focus? The guide above overlooked an old but decent Webcam in the Philips  SPC 900. It's a bit dated with the USB 1.x (I think) but the key point is it has a sensitive 1/4" Sony sensor (I think it was discontinued and then the replacements had a CMOS sensor so SPC900 should have CCD). The downside is the image size is 640x480. IIRC the pixel size is 5.6μmx5.6μm. Some bright spark will be along shortly to confirm if it will work well with your SCT. You can find a used one on that well known auction site for around or under fifty notes and get a nosepiece with 1 1/4" adapter for under twenty notes. That will give you a cheap way to prove your setup and, probably, allow you to produce fairly good images. Easy to sell on when you are ready to trade up.

[happy-kat]

8 hours ago, Moonshed said:

The image I did get, even though it was just a white featureless overexposed blob, was a circle about an inch diameter on my laptop screen. 

That sounds like you were not focused. The camera is unlikely to the same focus point as an eyepiece and would need focus adjusting.

[inapottingshed]

Here's a review that might help.

https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/uk/buying-guides/the-best-ccd-cameras-for-astrophotography

[Moonshed]

6 hours ago, happy-kat said:

That sounds like you were not focused. The camera is unlikely to the same focus point as an eyepiece and would need focus adjusting.

I know it sounds like that but the focus was good, the image originally started off very large so using the electric focuser shrank the image down until it started to increase again and ended up with it spot on. It appeared more overexposed than anything else but nothing I could do by adjusting the sliders made it any better. 
I have since downloaded SharpCap 3.2 Pro and hope that will help, along with a new planetary camera when I get it.

[Moonshed]

I have looked at both the ZWO AS1224 MC colour camera and the Celestron Neximage 93711.

What puzzles me is that the ZWO has a 1.2 MP chip  while the Celestron has 5 MP
They are both the same price £219.

Doesn't having more MP automatically make the Celestron a better buy? Or is there a lot more to it than that simple comparison? 

[Tommohawk]

It does sound like you were overexposed. You should be able to reduce the exposure time until the image pretty much disappears. Obviously will depend on your gain settings, but for Mars recently I was using 8ms with just 8% gain. Does that help?

[happy-kat]

This is the camera you own, SI224MC and Neximage 5

I would get to grips with maximising what you can extract from the camera you already own whilst reading up on what you might gain if you did buy a new one.

Things to see if your camera supports to help your imaging.

ROI (region of interest), binning, and I think saving in SER format is another thing I have seen mentioned (smaller file size) and raw format.

Edited October 11, 2020 by happy-kat

[Moonshed]

After much consideration and looking online at the specs and reviews, plus advice given here, I have opted for the 
ZWO AS1224 MC colour camera.

Telescope House are selling it at £219 and I have been dealing with them for years, I even bought my Celestron 8” from them back in 1992! 

Thanks for all the advice, much appreciated.

Keith

[Moonshed]

10 hours ago, inapottingshed said:

Here's a review that might help.

https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/uk/buying-guides/the-best-ccd-cameras-for-astrophotography

Thank you, that proved to be very helpful.