ZWO ASI Camera Choices...

[Ian McCallum]

I'm finding the choice of ZWO ASI cameras somewhat bewildering. 

There appears to be different sensitivity to certain parts of the light spectrum, depending on the model. That's even amongst either planetary or DSO types. I'm focusing on the colour models here, so excuse the pun. 

How do you choose what you need in regards to this difference in wavelength sensitivity? 🤔

[Elp]

Tbh I don't think you do. You decide on what you want to image, your setup, your budget and then make a decision.

I started with a modded dslr and wanted to find out whether an astro cam would make a difference but couldn't justify the high cost for a higher end model as didn't see it as useful day to day as a DSLR (the higher cost could go toward a full frame modern dslr for example which I could use for other things). So looking at the lower end I weighed up eachs pixel size, sensor size, full well capacity, read noise etc and recommendations for their uses (ie planetary or DSO etc). I settled on a 224mc as an all round cam and the blurb about ir sensitivity also appealed though to be honest it doesn't really get used for that as most of the time I use an IR block filter on it as it's not really used for DSO which is what the sensitivity is useful for. I chose it also because if I did decide to upgrade down the line I could use it for guiding as well as it being a OSC backup if needed.

So as you do I then bought a mono cooled camera because I wanted more clarity for DSO due to it's utilisation of all pixels via the use of filters and it's more sensitive and it doesn't disappoint.

So decide on what you want to image and make an informed decision that way via research or recommendation. Image scale/size can also be a factor, a useful website to gauge this is telescopius.

[Adam J]

3 hours ago, Ian McCallum said:

I'm finding the choice of ZWO ASI cameras somewhat bewildering. 

There appears to be different sensitivity to certain parts of the light spectrum, depending on the model. That's even amongst either planetary or DSO types. I'm focusing on the colour models here, so excuse the pun. 

How do you choose what you need in regards to this difference in wavelength sensitivity? 🤔

I suspect you mean quantum efficiency which is only one thing of lots of things to consider when choosing a camera. It being nearly impossible to take the conversation further without knowing what the rest of your setup will be, your budget and what. You intend to image. 

[Ian McCallum]

4 hours ago, Adam J said:

I suspect you mean quantum efficiency which is only one thing of lots of things to consider when choosing a camera. It being nearly impossible to take the conversation further without knowing what the rest of your setup will be, your budget and what. You intend to image. 

My interest is mostly planetary and lunar, so I'll be using a SW Evostar 120 achromatic refractor on a EQ5 Deluxe mount, with Enhanced dual axis motor drives.  I'll be using a ZWO ASI 120MM mini camera for guiding. My budget is upto £250, so either the ASI 224 MC or ASI 462 MC.  What I'm trying to figure out is what the graphs below mean for me, as a beginner in planetary and lunar astrophotography?🤔

Shamelessly pinched from Auntie @FLOwebsite.😉

[Adam J]

Both charts are relative values not absolute. The 462 is the better camera for Jupiter particularly as you can use a 850nm filter to better effect. 

[Elp]

Have you tried the Zwo camera comparison page, it's really useful for comparison of camera specs.

The 462 is the newer camera, has a slighter higher resolution, smaller pixel size for grabbing more detail, slightly larger sensor and lower read noise. The full well capacity is lower however but for solar system objects that doesn't matter as they are bright objects.

If you plan to dabble into DSO later on I would stretch to the 482 or 485.

I bought the 224 at the time as my first (the 4s weren't out at the time), my profile pic was taken with that via a 61mm refractor for reference. If you want to see more you can look at my Flickr page (doimg) of different targets and different setups.

Edited January 27, 2022 by Elp