Can you tell me what this is?

[F15Rules]

Hi,

Sorry to gatecrash as a visual only observer but I'd be grateful for some advice on this (I think!) Philips webcam..(it says "Philips" on it -but nothing else!).

I acquired this recently with a scope I bought..it came with a carrier bag of bits and bobs and I didn't even realise it was part of the sale until I got it home (socially distanced handover!).

It looks  to be in good condition (the seller said he hadn't used the scope for over 10 years due to ill health, so the camera must be at least that old), and has a cable running from it which ends in a usb connection, so I assume it works via a pc or laptop?

I wouldn't use it, but might be of use to someone else..would it be worth anything? Oh, and it had with it the two filters shown..an IR Blocking filter and an "ND 96" filter, unbranded but looks well made..

Thanks for any insight you can give..I've attached a few pictures🙂👍.

Dave

Edited December 7, 2020 by F15Rules
Additional text info

[Graham Darke]

SPC900NC Webcam. Was very well regarded back in the day, 10 years ago I guess. No idea what it’s worth now. 

[x6gas]

This is the famed Philips SPC900NC - webcam of choice for the early "lucky" imagers.

They certainly used to be worth a few quid so would be worth putting it on the for sale forum if you don't want it...

[x6gas]

Just now, Graham Darke said:

SPC900NC Webcam. Was very well regarded back in the day, 10 years ago I guess. No idea what it’s worth now. 

Beat me to it!

[tooth_dr]

It might be an 880 which were sold in abundance a while ago from an electrical shop. Identical to the 900 minus the microphone.  Good in it’s time, very much outdated now though.

[DaveL59]

If you fancy trying it out you can find drivers linked on here for it, think it was HappyKat who posted them. I bought one recently and it works ok on Win10x64 tho it doesn't show as a webcam, Sharpcap still picks it up fine. Not really had much of a chance to test mine given the weather but it's low-res VGA at best. They seem to sell for £40-60 on the bay, yours looks to be missing the wee lens that sits inside the silver shroud/focus ring and isn't modified for long exposure but should be fine for planetary. At least it has the 1.25 adaptor and IRcut filter and the ND filter is likely useful on the moon.

[JamesF]

I bought several for only a few pounds perhaps fifteen years ago, but then I recall them going for £100 or more at one point, after production stopped and they were still sought after.  But then all the high frame rate CMOS cameras came along and everything changed.  These days they're perhaps more of a historical curiosity than anything else.  I have a feeling I saw one on AB&S not too long ago for around the £20 mark and I'm not sure it sold even then.

James

[JamesF]

5 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

They seem to sell for £40-60 on the bay

I'm genuinely shocked.  I'm sure I've seen a DFK21.618 go for little more than that.  Perhaps I should dig mine out and stick them on the bay as well.  I must have at least three, possibly four.

James

[DaveL59]

4 minutes ago, JamesF said:

I'm genuinely shocked.  I'm sure I've seen a DFK21.618 go for little more than that.  Perhaps I should dig mine out and stick them on the bay as well.  I must have at least three, possibly four.

James

I didn't pay that high as I spotted one listed at a more sensible price so curiosity got the better of me. It works but how much I'd actually use it is another matter, esp now I bought a DSLR and the T2 adaptor arrived for that today. I'm not serious about imaging but nice to have the option of giving it a go should the mood take me.

[Davey-T]

Had one gathering dust for years, gave it to a young fellow member a few months ago.

Dave

[F15Rules]

Thanks guys for all the helpful info!

I know I've heard of these in the past but as a purely visual hobbyist (no offence to the imaging community, I think some of the images you get nowadays seemed as detailed or better than the Mt Palomar 200" reflector photos you would find in astro books in the 70s and 80s!!), anything with wires and or a camera scares me witless!!😂😂

I'll probably put it on UKABS and see if someone wants to give me £20-£25 for it with the two filters and postage included..

Thanks again,

Dave

[Budgie1]

I've still got two SPC900's. One has an adaptor to screw it into a 9x50 finder which I used as my first guiding setup, the other has a 1.25mm eye piece adaptor on it.

I also remember drilling a hole in the base of an old 35mm film canister (the black plastic ones) so it could screw onto the SPC900. The film canister slipped over the EQ5 polar scope eye piece so you could use it for polar alignment without getting wet knees.

[Starflyer]

Cracking camera in its day, take a look at the planetary images people were taking with it.