Webcam for Imaging

[Astrosurf]

Hi all,

The S@N mag suggests Philips SPC-900NC Webcam for imaging. It's not too expensive so I'd like to go for it. At least until I get to grips with my camera! I'd like to try both methods.

What do you think?

Alexxx

[jgs001]

The SPC900 works great, but good luck finding one Alex. They are nearly as rare as hens teeth.

[red dwalf]

i found a second hand one on SGL site, they appear sometimes, also checkout ebay although the price tends to be high on ebay, last one i came accross went for £65 without an adapter which is another £20 purchase, very sort after piece of equipment

[Astrosurf]

Darn it! Can anyone suggest another good one?

[Jarndyce]

Darn it! Can anyone suggest another good one?

I'm in the same stuation.

Forget the Toucam and SPC900. Although a few turn up second hand from time, we need an alternative...

[Milamber]

Alll you are really after is a ccd-based webcam - and this only for lower noise characteristics. There are quite a few out there, though some of them will be the sharp chip (which is a little more prone to noise) rather than the sony one. If you want to modify for long exposure then having the 16510 chip controller is pretty much a definite requirement also. A visit to the QCUIAG group will give you a list of your cam options.

To be honest, modern cmos-based cameras are fine for local/planetary stuff - it's ony when you want to go out of the solar system and long-expose that the cmos chips become a pain - they will fill up and saturate with signal and noise in about 4 seconds and their colour definition sometimes leaves a little to be desired... The fact the the cmos chips are pretty much all on one chip is responsible for this noise - both from heat and from interference.

Arthur

[MidnightSun]

Thx for this thread. I am currently looking for a webcam for planetary shooting. I was under the Phillips, Toucam hex also, but will try practically anything that shows some promise...

[Terry]

Has anyone used an Acuter Digital Imager. Ive been looking at a few sites on the web with the thought of having a try at some imaging, and they are offering these for around £60.00. Are they any good

[jgs001]

I'm looking into a ccd based webcam I found. if it works, I'll post up about it, with instructions on how to convert too.

[Milamber]

Just in case any of you may accidentally be re-inventing the wheel...

http://www.pmdo.com/wwhich.htm

Arthur

[Astrosurf]

Thanks guys but this is all getting a bit complicated for me! I just wanted poeple to say that they use a particular webcam and how they rate it! I'm a bit lost on all the techie stuff!

[Astrosurf]

Can anyone suggest an webcam similar to Philips SPC-900NC? All I want is a simple but suitable webcam! I don't want to worry about really technical stuff yet. Just to get started and do some simple imaging!

Alexxx

[Reggie]

celestron neximage, its a dedicated planetary camera rather than a webcam but uses the same gubbins as an spc900nc , or you could use a trust wb-5400, higher resolution, bigger sensor.

[Dante]

Hi, Recent newcomer to SGL. I want to try astro-imaging when I grow up so I read everybodies comments about the SPC900NC.

Finding one, now there's the rub, but find it I did.

Amazon.co.uk. Don't look for Phillips SPC etc but do look for Phillips 1.3MP USB Webcam 90fps. It's there:hello2: but a bit pricey:eek:.

I did try Amazon.de and found it there but they will not deliver outside Germany or Austria. That said I contacted the seller direct to ask if he would sell directly to me - the was yes but I got his reply after I had bought from the UK seller The fellow in Germany was selling it for 30 euros.

Anybody interested I have an address and phone number.

[Astrosurf]

Thanks Dante. The problem is, if it's no longer made, could you get warranty? You certainly couldn't get a replacement!

[Astrosurf]

celestron neximage, its a dedicated planetary camera rather than a webcam but uses the same gubbins as an spc900nc , or you could use a trust wb-5400, higher resolution, bigger sensor.

Is this the one?

Amazon.co.uk: trust wb-5400

Can anyone say how this performs in astro-imaging??

[Reggie]

That's the one I can say that it performs ok as an imager, it will also do as a starter guidecam should you delve that far into imaging. It can do a 1.4s exposure using wcrctrl software so might be useful for globular clusters as well. No problem doing lunar stuff either, can't comment on the planetary as I never got the chance on the planets (house is in the way). It's not the best imaging cam in the world, but for £20 (1/3rd of the price of a neximage) you can't really go wrong.

[Astrosurf]

Thanks Reggie. I might go for that!

[astromerlin]

Hi, Heads up, SPC900nc is on ebay. 6 days to go item number 230336778521

Cheers

John

[Astrosurf]

Many thanks! I've placed a bid but I won't go very high as I don't trust eBay! And as I said, there'll be no warranty!

[Macavity]

I wonder if the Orion Starshoot Mk.III with "improved sensitivity" now becomes a contender? I am a bit baffled why Astro webcams seem not to have not progressed beyond the 1.3 Mpixels 1/2" chip, while the rest of the camera world... HAS.

I quite like my Orion SSCI Mk.II, where the larger chip makes for a good lunar (or filtered) solar imager. I suspect the S@N review gave a reasonable summary of it's restriction to "brighter planets" only. Not exactly "rubbish", as sometimes claimed, but lacking a little...

For someone who asked, the Acuter imager is quite fun to dip that toe in the water.