Explore Scientific Deepsky 26MP

[JonHigh]

Hi. Hope someone somewhere can advice me?

I’m looking at buying the ZWO ASI2600mc however I came across the Explore Scientific Deepsky 26MP which uses the same sensor and £500+ cheaper! I can not find any reviews for it or why is that much cheaper? Has anyone got experience of Explore Scientific cameras vs ZWO or just in general? 

 

[vlaiv]

There are several makes of cameras with that sensor and they are much cheaper than ZWO.

Try searching for Poseidon model from Player one or Touptek version.

I know that several members evaluated those cheaper models, but I don't know what is the verdict on those (you'll find threads discussing them for sure here on SGL).

[ONIKKINEN]

The Altair one: https://www.altairastro.com/altair-hypercam-26c-aps-c-colour-tec-astronomy-camera-16bit-6451-p.asp  is nicely priced right now. Would probably buy one of these were i in the market of buying another IMX571 camera right now. Mono versions also exist, and i think the altair one is a good deal in that front too.

[JonHigh]

Hi. Wow. Thanks for the fast replies! 
I will be checking those out. I’m not brand loyal but I do like the ZWO cameras due to their software being rock solid as I understand it. However saving £500 is a major difference especially if build and software are solid as well! 
A little while later… Well, It looks like the Altair is the main contender. Thanks for the suggestion! 

Edited April 3, 2023 by JonHigh

[JonHigh]

Just out of interest. I noticed that the Altair 26c has a non removable IR/UV filter  instead of a clear AR window. Would this cause a problem if I were to take images of emission nebulas with my dual band or narrow band filters?  Or is that something I shouldn’t worry about? If it isn’t then why would people remove this from standard DSLR cameras? 

[vlaiv]

8 minutes ago, JonHigh said:

Just out of interest. I noticed that the Altair 26c has a non removable IR/UV filter  instead of a clear AR window. Would this cause a problem if I were to take images of emission nebulas with my dual band or narrow band filters?  Or is that something I shouldn’t worry about? If it isn’t then why would people remove this from standard DSLR cameras? 

You can use it with said filters and in principle you should not worry about it.

People remove UV/IR cut filter (or rather replace it) from standard DSLR filters as that one is more restrictive in Ha than astronomical one:

With color camera you certainly want to have one (unless you want to do something exotic like spectrometry), and having one preinstalled saves you the trouble of using external one.

[JonHigh]

1 hour ago, vlaiv said:

You can use it with said filters and in principle you should not worry about it.

People remove UV/IR cut filter (or rather replace it) from standard DSLR filters as that one is more restrictive in Ha than astronomical one:

With color camera you certainly want to have one (unless you want to do something exotic like spectrometry), and having one preinstalled saves you the trouble of using external one.

Ah. Thanks again for your help. I see now the DSLRs are much heavier on filtration than Astronomy cameras. That explains it. 👍