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Best Webcam for Planets and Galaxies

mystery21c

By mystery21c
in Imaging - Discussion

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mystery21c

mystery21c

Posted
Posted

Happy 2011 to all.

I've just started to get into Astrophotography and am trying to find the best value method to capture images of the planets and hopefully some bright galaxies.

I have a skywatcher 8" Dob, and a canon G9 camera, but due to the size of the scope I can't afford to spend £500+ on an EQ mount to track the subject with long exposure times, so I think a webcam or a video camera is the way forward.

After looking online the Microsoft H5D-00003 Lifecam seems to be the best webcam around on Amazon for £37.

However I was wondering if I could stretch my budget upto £150 is there something better? Maybe a full HD video cam that is very sensitive to low light conditions? and how would I attach it?

I would love to hear any suggestions.

Thank you very much

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red dwalf

red dwalf

Posted
Posted

there is nothing wrong with the age of the unit it`s the chip inside these that make them appealing, they use a ccd chip and do perform very well, about £10 for the webcam, £13 for the adapter and £20 ish for a uv/ir filter so you are up and running for £43. software is all free from the web. the next camera up from these would be a 21 dmk style camera which sell second hand for about £180 but they are the same size chips as the philips webams i belive.

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Dai150PL

Dai150PL

Posted
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I got a couple from morgans, using them as motion activated security cams ( actually cat and dog cams not security,its cold and I am lazy ) they work in low light and are in my opinion excellent. Also have one for the telescope, sorry no images yet. Will be moving up to the DMK range one day, thats when the Lunt arrives. So next christmas. lol

I would get one and a barlow or powermate first and have fun. Look around the forum for images taken with the SPC, you will be surprised by what is achievable.

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Bizibilder

Bizibilder

Posted
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For the Moon and Planets use a webcam. However these are not normally suited to Deep Sky Objects (galaxies etc) for these the minimum is a DSLR camera or, if you are rich, a proper CCD Astro camera (Plus all the countless extra bits that make astro imaging a bottomless money pit!!)

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riklaunim

riklaunim

Posted
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SPC880 is the basic for planetary/lunary work. HD webcams like Microsoft LifeCam HD or Cinema have bigger sensors so they are also better for lunary imaging and they are faster as they use USB 2.0. None of them can do DS imaging - for this you would need a dedicated camera like DMK/DBK/DFK or one of QHY5* - they can do planetary/lunary imaging as well as some DS imaging as they have longer exposures.

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brantuk

brantuk

Posted
Posted

A good place to look at the different types of cameras is Astronomiser:

Astronomiser - Automated Astronomy and AstroImaging Solutions

There's a lot of great advice on webcams and dslrs and modifications. For lunar/planetary work a SPC900NC (or a flashed 880) is very suitable and cheap - even Damian Peach uses them.

However, for dso's you'll want long exposure. The SPC's can be mod'ed but it's expensive unless you do it yourself. Imho a dslr like the 300D, 350D or 1000D is a realistic and cost effective way forward (particularly s/h). :eek:

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