Any one use a ZWO ASI 294MC?

[Astro Waves]

So, looking at upgrading from me DSLR and wanting to stick with a one shot colour rather than switching to monochrome (for now) just due to the having such limited sky time and long set up times due to no garden etc. The camera mentioned above looked like quite a good fit, basically just wondering if any one uses one and has any feedback on it? 

Cheers

[AKB]

Absolutely love it.  For me the size is right (not too many pixels.)  Its only slight downside is amp glow, but that calibrates out just fine with darks.

Check out my gallery images using it with an Esprit 120ED or a 9.25" Hyperstar.

[Budgie1]

The ASI294MC Pro is a good camera. I upgraded to it from a modded Canon EOS 1300D in January and only touched the EOS again when I was testing my Samyang 135mm F2 lens.

As @AKB has said, it does have amp glow on the subs but the Darks calibrate this out. I also found that using Bias frames caused a residual of the amp glow to remain in the stacked image, so I don't use Bias frames, just Darks, Flats & Dark-Flats. Some have reported issues with taking the flat frames or getting them to wok correctly but if you stick to an ADU of about 25,000 and exposures of 1-3 seconds then they work fine (for me!). 

A big advantage over the DSLR is being able to take your dark frames off the scope, when you want too, and just re-use them. It means more imaging time, no stopping early to take your Darks!   I have a library of darks for the different exposure times I use, I tend to keep the set point cooling temp, gain & offset the same for all to make things easier. 

The image is cleaner than my DSLR and it picks up a lot more detail from the likes of galaxies.

If you're going to use it mainly with the Redcat 51 in your sig' then it may under sample with this scope. You may want to look at the ASI183MC Pro as another option. HERE's a link to the Astronomy Tools calculator which should help. 

[GoldTop57]

A great camera in my humble opinion. Had what I think were dew issues when creating flats due to rapid cooling so I don't tend to cool when creating flats and dark flats. I don't bother with bias frames.

[Astro Waves]

19 hours ago, Budgie1 said:

The ASI294MC Pro is a good camera. I upgraded to it from a modded Canon EOS 1300D in January and only touched the EOS again when I was testing my Samyang 135mm F2 lens.

As @AKB has said, it does have amp glow on the subs but the Darks calibrate this out. I also found that using Bias frames caused a residual of the amp glow to remain in the stacked image, so I don't use Bias frames, just Darks, Flats & Dark-Flats. Some have reported issues with taking the flat frames or getting them to wok correctly but if you stick to an ADU of about 25,000 and exposures of 1-3 seconds then they work fine (for me!). 

A big advantage over the DSLR is being able to take your dark frames off the scope, when you want too, and just re-use them. It means more imaging time, no stopping early to take your Darks!   I have a library of darks for the different exposure times I use, I tend to keep the set point cooling temp, gain & offset the same for all to make things easier. 

The image is cleaner than my DSLR and it picks up a lot more detail from the likes of galaxies.

If you're going to use it mainly with the Redcat 51 in your sig' then it may under sample with this scope. You may want to look at the ASI183MC Pro as another option. HERE's a link to the Astronomy Tools calculator which should help. 

Thanks for you input, much appreciated.

I think unless I'm spending closer to big bucks amp glow seems to be more or less on issue from what I've been reading, but if it calibrates out then I'm fine with that. Last time I shot on my Canon 750D there was some horrific banding going on so sadly I couldn't push the processing as far as I wanted as I struggled to get rid of it, wasn't too much as a problem.......as the image was out of focus! haha (see image below).

Being able to take dark frames off the scope would be so nice as I have no garden and use a friends allotment so the nights can get pretty dam chilly especially when you only have a shed to sit in. I always get a bit of itchy feet when I have to wait around for darks to be done (and I always have early starts in the morning which don't help).

More detail sounds good to me. Not being doing the hobby too long but definitely feel like I'm turning into a bit of a galaxy hunter. 

The camera would be for the Redcat 51, I would like to up grade the scope at some point get about another 200mm on the go but no idea when I can do that as then I'd be looking into go-to mount territory rather than my portable set up. Well....funny you should mention the ASI 183 as there is one going on the 'For Sale' section in here as well. Not sure I fully understand the Astronomy tools calculator, what is the colour bar at the bottom representing? There's a pretty decent/significant crop factor when using ASI183 which is good as well. I've popped in a screen shot from the calculator so you can have a quick look but I'm guessing my current set up would suit the 183 more?

Cheers