Best ZWO ASI camera for Skywatcher Evostar 150ED

[bluesilver]

Hi,  I am looking to get into a bit for of the astrophotography side of things.

I am mainly looking image galaxies and nebular

I currently have a ASI 224MC camera for planetary imaging but now looking to something dedicated for DSO

My scope is a Skywatcher Evostar 150ED

Focal length is 120mm and F8

I have been trying to find the best camera suited for this scope.

I have been using Astronomy tools to try and work out what is best suited and i wanted to stay with ZWO just because i am already using one of them.

I want to go with a color camera as i am still learning all this and the added extra complications and filter with a mono camera might be a tad too much at this stage for me.

So in the end i came back with two options:

ASI071MC  and ASI294MC

The ASI017MC looks to give a slighter wider view than the ASI294MC  but they both look to be a good match for this scope.

I have no idea on what binning is or what it means,  so i left that part alone

So what i was hoping was for any advice on what my choices on these two cameras are,  weather i have selected poorly or if they would be a good choice.

 I have a guide scope and guide camera,  Guide scope is an Orion 600 guide scope and the guide camera is a ASI290mm mini 

 Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[scotty38]

I'm no expert by any means and other than the built in heater I am not knowledgeable enough to know what £450 extra buys you in the 071.... As you say the FOV is a touch bigger which may be important with your 150.

I have the 294 and that bins up to 4x4 and imagine the 071 is the same but it's basically combining pixels so 2x2 is 2 pixels wide and 2 pixels high so 4 in total merged as one as it were. Improves SNR but reduces definition I think but I've never tried it and tbh not entirely sure when I would.

So, if you are anything like me, experience wise, I'd probably go 294 and spend £450 on something else like the EAF and maybe even mini efw to have a play with 🙂

[smashing]

4 hours ago, bluesilver said:

Hi,  I am looking to get into a bit for of the astrophotography side of things.

I am mainly looking image galaxies and nebular

I currently have a ASI 224MC camera for planetary imaging but now looking to something dedicated for DSO

My scope is a Skywatcher Evostar 150ED

Focal length is 120mm and F8

I have been trying to find the best camera suited for this scope.

I have been using Astronomy tools to try and work out what is best suited and i wanted to stay with ZWO just because i am already using one of them.

I want to go with a color camera as i am still learning all this and the added extra complications and filter with a mono camera might be a tad too much at this stage for me.

So in the end i came back with two options:

ASI071MC  and ASI294MC

The ASI017MC looks to give a slighter wider view than the ASI294MC  but they both look to be a good match for this scope.

I have no idea on what binning is or what it means,  so i left that part alone

So what i was hoping was for any advice on what my choices on these two cameras are,  weather i have selected poorly or if they would be a good choice.

 I have a guide scope and guide camera,  Guide scope is an Orion 600 guide scope and the guide camera is a ASI290mm mini 

 Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

What mount do you have and are you going to be auto guiding?

[The Lazy Astronomer]

First up, don't be afraid of mono!  Yes, it's more expensive than OSC, and is a little more fiddly on the capture side of things, but (all other things being equal) for a given integration time, you will get a better image. Plus, mono is much better for narrowband.

Aside from having to stack each channel seperately, there's really very little difference in the processing side of things. 

Secondly, a warning: starting out deep sky imaging with such a long focal length will not be easy (and it's hard enough already!). You'll need to have a high quality mount (EQ6R minimum, probably), and you absolutely will need to guide. And, while this set up would be pretty good for galaxies (M31 excepted), you may find it's not ideal for nebulae as these tend to be quite large. M42, for example (the go to target for beginners, myself included), doesn't quite fit in your FOV in the best-case scenario (0.85 reducer & ZWO 071 - see below).

Now with all that said, to answer your question directly: due to the long focal length of your scope, you may find the larger sensor to be better for you. You'd probably also want the 0.85 reducer as well, to slightly increase your FOV.

[bluesilver]

Thanks for the replies,  appreciated.

Yes i did forget to mention about the mount.

I am using the Skywatcher AZ-EQ6 and guiding with PHD2

Everything is run of a laptop completely,  just need to get a electric foucuser

I appreciate all input and advise.

Yes,  i will have to have a look at those reducers as well,  I thought the scope might be a tad on the large side for imaging with,  but wasn't planning on using it for that at the time.

A smaller scope like a 80mm or 100mm would of probably been a better choice for imaging with.

Thanks.