What camera after an SPC900?

[AstroManDan]

I am looking to get a better CCD camera for planetary, lunar and solar work.

I currently use a Philips SPC900 but wondered what to start looking at. I suppose budget would be up to around £300. I also have a Canon 450D and DSI II.

What about the DMK21 cameras? Also should I get colour or B&W?

[simon84]

Hello Dan, I just had the same problem, I was looking for a camera to do dso work with really but I think the Atik Titan that Steve has on FLO could be of interest to you. I went with a QHY6 in the end.

There was a lot of discussion in the end about mono or colour. I've gone mono so that I can image with narrowband filters.

HTH.

[Merlin66]

IMHO the DMK21 is a good choice. Does what it says on the tin...gives good images!

RGB filters can be used for colour....

Ken

[brantuk]

I'd use the £300 to get the 450D mod'ed with a Baader UHC filter and do some deep sky stuff with it. In fact - I bought a mod'ed 350D at Kelling for just that purpose. The mod should cost just under £200 at Astronomiser.

Alternatively the DMK's look quite interesting, and within that budget.

[AstroManDan]

Does the QHY6 take AVI video and long exposures? I suppose it does, I read it only get 10fps - which does not seem much. I was hoping for about 30fps. I wonder if the DMK can get more.

[riklaunim]

Non-planetary cameras don't make AVIs. They usually save each image as FITS file, which you later can process in software like Nebulosity, Atik Dawn or Maxim - software for processing DS images. And when exposure takes seconds or minutes you don't need high speed per second

So for good DS imaging with monochrome camera you could look for:

- DSI III Pro

- Atik 16HR or current model 314L, QHY 2 Pro...

- Atik Titan could be quite good, but the sensor isn't the best thing they could used. Low sensitivity.

Interlaced cheapest DS cameras aren't that good.

DMK21 is lunary/planetary camera and it's quite good at it. Only incoming new cameras - Basler Ace and Point Grey Flea 3 are (much) better (ICX618 - the new very sensitive CCD). It can be used for some DS imaging (like globular clusters) but it gets very noisy at 6-10 sec exposures and longer.

[GuillermoBarrancos]

I thought the DMK camera's from TOS were pretty ok for DSO work?

They have a max exposure time of 60 minutes.

I have seen some nice user DSO images made with a DMK camera.

[riklaunim]

I thought the DMK camera's from TOS were pretty ok for DSO work?

- high noise at long exposures (> ~5 sec) and no peltier cooling.

- 8 bit only

- sometimes reset exposure time if long exposure used.

- low sensitivity in red (H-alfa). Decent in green (O-III). Lower than most other CCDs.

Here is my image of M5 taken with DMK21:

2 sec exposures and it come out quite good (as stars have continuum spectrum). When I was hunting 81P comet I had to use 10 sec exposures to get some details of the comet at f/5 and darks taken at 10 sec had noticable noise levels.

Using DSI III Pro on the Moon allowed me to get much better images like this or this one.

DMK21 is designed for planets and Moon and it's quite good at it. Fast, easy to focus and collect a lot of frames, but it's not really good at longer exposures. The CCD in DMK21 is from the webcam family - ICX098 and it didn't changed for years. ICX424 found in Lumenera or Atik Titan in absolute scale isn't noticably more sensitive.

New ICX618 is much more sensitive - 2 x blue, 1,8 x in green and 3 x in red. It's even more sensitive than ICX285 in DSI III Pro or Atik 314. Plus new cameras have newer electronics And guys from Australia already play with those new cams:

[GuillermoBarrancos]

Yes I know about the DMK21 more being a lunar/planetary camera due to the fast framerates.

I was more thinking about the DMK31 (1024x768 -30fps) and the DMK41 (1280x900 -15fps).

Those 2 have a completely different CCD sensor that suppose to have a lot less noise at longer exposures.

The DMK31 has the Sony ICX204AL CCD chip. And the DMK41 has the Sony ICX205AL CCD chip.

But yeah it's still 8-bit.

I guess the Atik 16ic is a better low budget choice then? As after that. Prices already go straight beyond 1000 euros/pounds/dollars.

[riklaunim]

The DMK31 has the Sony ICX204AL CCD chip. And the DMK41 has the Sony ICX205AL CCD chip.

The same familly. Not really usable for DS.

Look at astrobuysell.com where you can find DSI III or other cheap cameras. Even cheaper you could try buying one from USA where USA-made Meade DSI and Orion cams are cheapest (although you may get some extra taxes on such packages). To compare cameras you can use my cameras list

[resonator77]

The same familly. Not really usable for DS.

Look at astrobuysell.com where you can find DSI III or other cheap cameras. Even cheaper you could try buying one from USA where USA-made Meade DSI and Orion cams are cheapest (although you may get some extra taxes on such packages). To compare cameras you can use my cameras list

Where can I buy the Basler Ace or Point Grey?

did you test them yet? any good in comparison to DMK or Lumenera ?

[riklaunim]

Basler Scout with ICX618 shoud arrive for tests today/tomorrow. Basler Ace with ICX618 is sheduled at 15-17 of may. I'll post results on the forums when I get some Point Grey Flea 3 is already in use by few expert imagers from Australia. Both cameras cost slightly more than DMK21.