Planetary camera for a 150 Maksutov

[bosun21]

I intend to take a few images of the planets with my SW 150 Maksutov f12. I intend to use a 2x ES tele extender and ADC. Which planetary camera would be the best for this application? The pixel size and the optimum fps being the two variables that spring to mind. Thanks.

[Cosmic Geoff]

If you use a small pixel camera (2.9um) you can probably dispense with the Barlow lens at f12.  The choice of cameras is wide, and my favoured model (ASI462MC) is already discontinued. 

fps (frames per second) depends on various things including the target brightness and the camera gain setting. Increasing gain increases fps but also the noise.

[bosun21]

Are there any calculators available to calculate the best pixel size?

[CraigT82]

23 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

Are there any calculators available to calculate the best pixel size?

One I made…. You can look up your intended focal ratio and see what pixel size you can use for that. For colour imaging I’d probably go with the green column

Planetary%20Imaging%20Sampling%20Calculator 2.xlsx

[Owmuchonomy]

5 hours ago, bosun21 said:

Are there any calculators available to calculate the best pixel size?

Old school way is to say 5 x  the pixel size to match the f/.  So for my ASI224 that's 5 x 3.75 or about f/19.  Or for my ASI290 5 x 2.9 or close to f/15.  As mentioned above, your f/15 would be fine with a small pixel camera without any barlow.

[bosun21]

1 hour ago, Owmuchonomy said:

Old school way is to say 5 x  the pixel size to match the f/.  So for my ASI224 that's 5 x 3.75 or about f/19.  Or for my ASI290 5 x 2.9 or close to f/15.  As mentioned above, your f/15 would be fine with a small pixel camera without any barlow.

It's an F12 with a FL of 1800mm. 

[Cosmic Geoff]

In the real world of bad seeing,  a 2.9um pixel camera and f12 would be close enough. 

I use a 2.9um camera and a f10 SCT. I tried using a barlow but it did not confer any evident advantage and was harder to aim.