Samples from Atik 383L+

[MG01]

Would anyone be able to tell me if these images raise any concerns about the quality of the camera?  I'm buying this via ebay from the US and these are the sample images the seller sent me.  Initially I thought they are probably not using it to the best of its abilities, but I wanted to check that they don't give away any potential issues that might be difficult to pinpoint for someone like myself with no experience of CCD camers.

Michael

 

 

[Adam J]

11 minutes ago, MG01 said:

Would anyone be able to tell me if these images raise any concerns about the quality of the camera?  I'm buying this via ebay from the US and these are the sample images the seller sent me.  Initially I thought they are probably not using it to the best of its abilities, but I wanted to check that they don't give away any potential issues that might be difficult to pinpoint for someone like myself with no experience of CCD camers.

Michael

 

 

What you really need to see is a dark frame from the camera, you dont say but is this an OSC or a Mono version? If its OSC I would stay clear as they never had a very good reputation unlike the mono version which certainly did. The OSC Bayer matrix seemed to hit the QE badly. 

All I see from the images is that as you say he is not using the camera to its best ability, these look like very short exposures. I have produced much better with a Canon 1000D even when I first got started. 

Adam

Edited November 8, 2022 by Adam J

[tooth_dr]

Ideally ask for a dark frame at say -20deg C to assess noise.  Don’t be alarmed by dark columns as these will calibrate out.

The above M31 image is very noisy.  How much data exposure went into it?

 

Here are some I took with my 383L+

[MG01]

Oh [removed word]!  I just realised its the OSC!  Goddamit I'm such an idiot!  Thought it was too good to be true! aaaargh!

As you can probably tell from the reaction I didn't even know that the camera came as a colour version and I've already paid.  I thought it was a good deal and didn't want to miss out after reading so much good stuff about the 838L+

Is there anything I can do to improve the camera or is the chip just rubbish?

The listing was "ATIK 383L+ CCD COOLED ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY CAMERA" and I didn't see colour until I looked closely just now at the photo where the sticker says colour sensor.

If these photos are examples of what I'm going to expect I may just not waste clear skies on it as I get far better from my Canon 5D mkii. 

This was supposed to be a step up into the big leagues and turns out to be a waste of £400!

Apologies for the outburst but I'm feeling burnt now! 🤢🤮

So glad I didn't waste my money buying some LRGB or Narrowband filters for it. 

Time for a cuppa methinks!

[CCD-Freak]

I has the OSC version of the 383 camera and it was OK.  It is not nearly as sensitive as the new CMOS cameras but it will serve to get you started on your "journey to the dark side" (^8  These are some images I made with the 383L+ OSC and I was pretty happy with them at the time.  The M20 image won the best image award at RMSS that year.  (^8

 

[MG01]

10 minutes ago, CCD-Freak said:

I has the OSC version of the 383 camera and it was OK.  It is not nearly as sensitive as the new CMOS cameras but it will serve to get you started on your "journey to the dark side" (^8  These are some images I made with the 383L+ OSC and I was pretty happy with them at the time.  The M20 image won the best image award at RMSS that year.  (^8

Thanks John, it's not yours is it?  Mine is currently being shipped  from Texas! 😛

Any tips?  It is still advisable to filter LRGB?  I'm a little unprepared for a colour cam!

Does pushing the voltage improve the noise floor at all or is it just a case of needing a good dark library?  Did you find any particular sweet spots with settings?  Can you tell I'm grasping for a silver lining here! 😆

[Adam J]

9 minutes ago, MG01 said:

Thanks John, it's not yours is it?  Mine is currently being shipped  from Texas! 😛

Any tips?  It is still advisable to filter LRGB?  I'm a little unprepared for a colour cam!

Does pushing the voltage improve the noise floor at all or is it just a case of needing a good dark library?  Did you find any particular sweet spots with settings?  Can you tell I'm grasping for a silver lining here! 😆

The silver lining is that at least in this modern era you can slap a duel narrow band filter onto it, back in the day when these cameras first came out no such filter existed. So yeah duel narrow band like the L-extreme and 30min exposures. 

[CCD-Freak]

Probably not mine....I sold it many years ago.  I typically used 5 or 10 minute subs and shot around 30 images.  I now know that it would have been better to shoot many more subs but I was still working on my technique.  The M20 mage was 15 x 5 minutes through an 8"RC.  Not bad for 45 minutes but it would have been much better if I had managed to get 60 to 100 subs. 

Here are some more images from back then.

[CCD-Freak]

This is one of the best images I ever took with the 393L+OSC

[MG01]

I'd be happy with those John...Lets see how it performs and as has been said above it'll be a good start on the journey to the darkside! 😛 

 

[Stuart1971]

2 hours ago, MG01 said:

Would anyone be able to tell me if these images raise any concerns about the quality of the camera?  I'm buying this via ebay from the US and these are the sample images the seller sent me.  Initially I thought they are probably not using it to the best of its abilities, but I wanted to check that they don't give away any potential issues that might be difficult to pinpoint for someone like myself with no experience of CCD camers.

Michael

 

 

I owned this camera some time ago, the colour version, and to be completely honest, it was dire….I really would not go for a colour version, the mono was very good, but that again will depend on the price you are paying for it, as there are some much better, more modern CMOS one shot colour cameras out there now, for good prices, especially second hand..

sorry to be brutally honest, but my opinion stay well away from the OSC Atik 383L+

[ollypenrice]

Very obviously, the vendor of the camera hasn't the slightest clue about how to take or process astrophotos so don't panic about the awful quality of his/her images. I might have a slight concern about the cross-hatching in what is supposed to be M31 but the subs must be so short as to tell us almost nothing.

This camera will be a little slow but, for £400, you have a proper astro camera from a very serious manufacturer of well made, long-lasting instruments.  Just take your time and shoot for long enough. It's impossible to give a minimum integration time but I would say that, from a dark site, the best-case scenario would be 5 hours. Don't balk at 10. That's astrophotography.

Olly

[david_taurus83]

Is it from a retailer or bought off auction? If auction them I think your stuck with it but if buy it now there maybe a return option? If so can possibly halt the sale?

[The Lazy Astronomer]

1 hour ago, ollypenrice said:

Very obviously, the vendor of the camera hasn't the slightest clue about how to take or process astrophotos so don't panic about the awful quality of his/her images.

Scathing!! 🤣

I'd say the M42 is not bad - it's noisy and black clipped in processing, probably to try and hide issues with the background, which suggests to me the seller is likey a beginner.

The M31 on the other hand... yeeaaahhh...

[MG01]

Thanks everyone.  I've had several pots of tea and am feeling a little less mad with myself now.  

I'm reassured by some of the above inages that there is some hope that I can get something out of it that's at least showing a better range than I'm Limited to with my dslr.  

I don't get a lot of sky time so I'm used to very slow progress, but thought I'd snatched an utter steal so the temptation of the dark side grasped me! 

In fairness, between this and a scope for my son, plus upgrading the scope control I wouldn't have been able to get filters until I'd recovered from Christmas so maybe I'll be thanking myself it's OSC at least in the short term. 

It should be here by the end of next week if I'm lucky so I'm guessing just in time for another belt of clear skies to break through this dire patch of the last fortnight.

Only reminded me that size matters when thinking DSO...in that having large amounts of time on target is one of the most beneficial ways to improve images.

Gives me some time to figure out how to get the correct flattener distance figured out too.  Does anyone know if this camera has the same 17.5mm back focus as the mono version?

Thanks for the input everyone.  I just needed a little reassurance and now I have it.  I'll probably post some darks etc when I get a chance and if anyone has any comments that would be great.  Won't be for a few weeks though.

[ollypenrice]

41 minutes ago, The Lazy Astronomer said:

Scathing!! 🤣

I'd say the M42 is not bad - it's noisy and black clipped in processing, probably to try and hide issues with the background, which suggests to me the seller is likey a beginner.

The M31 on the other hand... yeeaaahhh...

I thought he got off lightly!!!

lly

[gorann]

But it is a CCD OSC, never tried one but never hear anything good about them......

Edited November 8, 2022 by gorann

[CCD-Freak]

46 minutes ago, MG01 said:

Thanks everyone.  I've had several pots of tea and am feeling a little less mad with myself now.  

I'm reassured by some of the above inages that there is some hope that I can get something out of it that's at least showing a better range than I'm Limited to with my dslr.  

I don't get a lot of sky time so I'm used to very slow progress, but thought I'd snatched an utter steal so the temptation of the dark side grasped me! 

In fairness, between this and a scope for my son, plus upgrading the scope control I wouldn't have been able to get filters until I'd recovered from Christmas so maybe I'll be thanking myself it's OSC at least in the short term. 

It should be here by the end of next week if I'm lucky so I'm guessing just in time for another belt of clear skies to break through this dire patch of the last fortnight.

Only reminded me that size matters when thinking DSO...in that having large amounts of time on target is one of the most beneficial ways to improve images.

Gives me some time to figure out how to get the correct flattener distance figured out too.  Does anyone know if this camera has the same 17.5mm back focus as the mono version?

Thanks for the input everyone.  I just needed a little reassurance and now I have it.  I'll probably post some darks etc when I get a chance and if anyone has any comments that would be great.  Won't be for a few weeks though.

I used a 40mm extension tube and it worked well with the AT2FF flattener I had at that time.

 

[tomato]

I started out with a second hand Atik 314 OSC camera and moved on to a mono version of your camera. Here are a some images I managed with my OSC, but please bear in mind I was just starting out, these are short integration times, my processing skills were non existent and flat calibration frames were still a mystery to me. The images posted earlier should certainly reassure you that you a have a serious Astro camera coming your way.👍

Clear Skies!

 

[Adam J]

It is what it is. Give it a go. 

[ollypenrice]

7 hours ago, Adam J said:

It is what it is. Give it a go. 

Exactly.

Olly