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Mono or Colour CMOS

astro mick

By astro mick
in Discussions - Cameras

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astro mick

astro mick

Posted
Posted

Hi.

Thinking of changing my mono ccd for a cmos camera.I have always had mono ccd cameras,but they are becomming very expensive.

I have been looking at ZWO cmos cameras,namely the Mono ASI 1600MM and The Colour ASI 533MC.

I,m leaning to-wards the Mono as i have all the Broadband and Narrowband Filters in 1.25.

I have had the Narrowband Filters up for sale,but have had no interest.I think people are now mainly switching to cmos.

The scope is a 102mm F7 Triplet,so it should take the 1.25 filters without too much vignetting.

Ths Mono also has a larger chip size,which may enable me to frame bigger targets.

But of course the colour cmos is less hassle,and maybe capture an image in one night,especially with our rubbish night time skies.

Your thoughs guys and gals.

Mick.

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tooth_dr

tooth_dr

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, astro mick said:

Hi.

Thinking of changing my mono ccd for a cmos camera.I have always had mono ccd cameras,but they are becomming very expensive.

I have been looking at ZWO cmos cameras,namely the Mono ASI 1600MM and The Colour ASI 533MC.

I,m leaning to-wards the Mono as i have all the Broadband and Narrowband Filters in 1.25.

I have had the Narrowband Filters up for sale,but have had no interest.I think people are now mainly switching to cmos.

The scope is a 102mm F7 Triplet,so it should take the 1.25 filters without too much vignetting.

Ths Mono also has a larger chip size,which may enable me to frame bigger targets.

But of course the colour cmos is less hassle,and maybe capture an image in one night,especially with our rubbish night time skies.

Your thoughs guys and gals.

Mick.

Going through same quandary Mick. I was decided on a QHY mono CMOS but there is a ZWO sale at FLO and it has me tempted for a colour 2600. There are lots of members on here that know about CMOS so you will get plenty of advice.  I like my mono CCD but have a few I finished images due to missing colour channels. 

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MartinB

MartinB

Posted
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The latest colour CMOS cameras perform very well and work really well with a decent Ha/OIII duoband filter, however, I am still opting for the mono route.  I like the thought that whatever I am imaging and whatever filters I'm using, all the pixels are actively gathering data. With a filter wheel in place there isn't much extra hassle really.  The ZWO ASI 1600 pro is a superb camera.

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Whistlin Bob

Whistlin Bob

Posted
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I've recently seen some superb stuff from OSC CMOS cameras, and they certainly reduce the processing hassle.

However, I converted to mono a year ago with an ASI1600 and I really love the thing. Using high gain/low read noise/short exposures with par-focal filters makes the data acquisition just as fast as OSC, and I have the flexibility of full narrowband. It's a great system. 

If I were to choose again, the only change I'd make would be to go for the recently released 294mm Pro- the performance of the sensor just looks a bit higher than the 1600, which has been out a while now.

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MartinB

MartinB

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3 hours ago, Whistlin Bob said:

If I were to choose again, the only change I'd make would be to go for the recently released 294mm Pro- the performance of the sensor just looks a bit higher than the 1600, which has been out a while now.

I've had my ASI 1600 pro for about 18 months now and have mainly used it with a 200mm lens.  I've recently bought an ASI 294 pro for use in the observatory either with my FSQ or SW MN190.  It has slightly larger pixels which might work a bit better in this situation.  

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tomato

tomato

Posted
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I started out with a small sensor OSC CCD, then moved onto mono CCD with filters, and saw a step change in the quality of the images captured.

However, the UK weather is frustrating to say the least, and I have lots of projects where it takes several sessions to get a complete set of LRGB data.
Having been mightily impressed with the images the latest generation of CMOS OSC cameras can deliver, that is what I have opted for with my latest camera acquisition. I think CMOS have now surpassed CCD cameras in the OSC market.

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geordie85

geordie85

Posted
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Having used both OSC and mono qhy183 CMOS cameras I'm happier with mono, especially as I mainly image from my back garden in a bortle 6 area.

I've seen some absolutely amazing images lately produced by OSC cameras but I keep reminding myself most of these images are taken from very dark sites with alot better skies than the average UK weather allows. 

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dodgerroger

dodgerroger

Posted
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Last year I upgraded from dslr to a dedicated camera. After a lot of head scratching I went to mono, namely a 183mm. It has brought my imaging on in great leaps although I am still learning. One of my iterating habits with my dslr was image hopping. I would end up with loads of different targets on my pc with little data on each target and not a great deal to show for it. Mono has forced me to pick a target and stick with it over several nights to collect a good amount of data, which in turn I now spend more time processing that one image. I bought some narrowband filters as well which has been great fun

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nfotis

nfotis

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I suggest that you check with QHY, their 294mono camera is cheaper than the ZWO version, and it includes dew heater etc as well. All accounts point to a big improvement compared to the 1600 sensor.

 

N.F.

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astro mick

astro mick

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Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, nfotis said:

I suggest that you check with QHY, their 294mono camera is cheaper than the ZWO version, and it includes dew heater etc as well. All accounts point to a big improvement compared to the 1600 sensor.

 

N.F.

Thanks.(Never thought of QHY)

I will certainly have a look at this.

 

WHO sells this mono camera.

Mick.

Edited by astro mick
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tooth_dr

tooth_dr

Posted
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2 minutes ago, astro mick said:

Cheers Tooth.

Too expensive.

The ASI 1600 basic is £945.

I  can hardly justify even this price,so expensive.

I was a big Starlightxpress user,but they no longer cater for people on tight budgets. 

It’s expensive, just sharing the link for you to look at 👍🏻
Though that 1600 isn’t cooled so IMO not worth buying for deepsky. 

 

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tooth_dr

tooth_dr

Posted
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31 minutes ago, astro mick said:

Wow Tooth.

You have stopped me making a big mistake,i had,nt relalised that.I was about to take the plunge as well.

In your debt mate.

Back to the drawing board.

Mick.

Lucky escape!  I can see a few 1600 coming up for sale when people move to the 2600.  If you can wait a few months perhaps.  The 533MC is on sale now though so good value at just over £800

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tomato

tomato

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I don’t know how your diy skills are but one alternative to keep the costs down is to retrofit a Peltier cooler, heat sink and fan to an uncooled camera. It is not overly difficult and the components can be had for a few tens of pounds. It won’t be as efficient as the built in cooler but reasonable results can be obtained, these galaxy images were taken with an ASI 178 with a retrofit cooler, running at 3 deg C.

 

752DF551-2883-4E25-8D01-AA6450B22735.jpeg

4E58E651-4730-4746-99E5-E7809CBB4B73.jpeg

6B95D735-E86A-4135-92AF-3286A8353D09.png

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tomato

tomato

Posted
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7 hours ago, astro mick said:

For those that can,it is a very good idea,but i would,nt like to mess with a new camera.

But lovely images,and just shows what can be done by the brave.

Mick.

Thanks for the compliment. You have a point, to get best results you need to use a heat transfer cement, smearing this all over the back of the camera would no doubt invalidate the manufacturer's warranty.

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