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Celestron nextimage camera

hunterz

By hunterz
in Imaging - Discussion

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valleyman

valleyman

Posted
Posted

Go for the SPC900as alreday said. You can get them for about £20

You can download the drivers from Phillips Webcam site and get Sharpcap or Amcap for free for the capture software and Registak for the processing.

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malc-c

malc-c

Posted
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I bought the NexImage before I found out about this forum and that it is effectively a re-boxed Phillips SPC900 (although the PCB us a different shape).

As other have said, pop over to Morgan Computers website and purchase the package deal.. Camera, pre-flashed to a 900, with adapter for slotting it into the eyepiece holder and a filter for £35 - get two and then modify one for LX mod with amp off :)

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malc-c

malc-c

Posted
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Uhmmm. just checked and the price has gone up a tad - Now £40 inc Vat, but still a bargain

Or you could buy just the camera and adapter for £25 and flash it yourself (if you have access to an XP machine)

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malc-c

malc-c

Posted
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Thanks for the info. I actually saw that camera first but thought the nextimage one was a bit better quality. what are the images like from it are they easy to flash yourself

If you you are referring to the phillips 880, then yes these are easy to flash from a windows xp machine, and the lx mod is well documented on this forum

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dazmanp

dazmanp

Posted
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Hi hunterz

Just answering your original question

I have a neximage plus the optional reducer lens

I think it cost around £110 but i really like the camera itself and managed to take some reasonably pleasing pics of saturn, jupiter and the moon

But going by the advice from the others, go get that phillips :)

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Cornelius Varley

Cornelius Varley

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Has no one used this camera before:eek:

People tend to go for the Toucam as a starter camera then progress to something like an Imaging Source D*K 21/31.

I would probably only use a focal reducer for solar imaging. For planetary and lunar imaging it is better to opitmize the arcsec/pixel ratio to get the best resolution.

The formula to calculate the arcsec/pixel ratio can be found on this website Astro photo tips

Peter

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hunterz

hunterz

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  • Author
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People tend to go for the Toucam as a starter camera then progress to something like an Imaging Source D*K 21/31.

I would probably only use a focal reducer for solar imaging. For planetary and lunar imaging it is better to opitmize the arcsec/pixel ratio to get the best resolution.

The formula to calculate the arcsec/pixel ratio can be found on this website Astro photo tips

Peter

Thats the cam I was originally looking at but when I saw this for a similar price I got it thinking it was a bit better or was I wrong

I just want to look at the moon and planets

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Catanonia

Catanonia

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Hi thanks for all the advice while looking at the phillips cameras I saw a opticastar PL-131C for the same price so bought it.has anyone used one.

How do you no if you need to use a focal reducer

Don't touch it with a barge pole.

It is ok for lunar, but that is about it.

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Skybrowser

Skybrowser

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Strangely I seem to get better results from the SPC than the Neximage although it's essentially the same piece of kit. I've never had the time or rather the patience to do a side by side trial on the same night so I echo the advice above - go for the SPC and it'll be cheaper and give good results.

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Catanonia

Catanonia

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as said I have already bought it can you explain what is wrong with them

oops sorry didn't see that part.

Well I had a horrid experience with the OpticStars mono version. Not sensitive enough as a mono so hate to think what the colour version would be like, badged as a guidecam as well as a planatery cam and it was pants. It wouldn't pick up anything but the brightest stars and the USB drivers were awful. Constantly messing up, dying and taking the laptop down. I ended up giving it back for a refund.

I live close to the Manchester shop, the owners are great guys and know their stuff. I have bought all my major stuff from them, but they still believe in this camera and there are many reports on the net regarding issues with the OpticStars.

I did try it on the moon once, and it worked ok, never tried it on planets. But the USB drivers did my head in and it would not pick up guide stars so was useless to me.

Hopefully if all you want it for is moon and planets, it will be ok for you, so I wish you more luck than I had with mine.

Just don't try and guide with it if you ever want to go down that route.

I swapped out for a QHY5 mono, perfect guide camera and great for planets / moon even though it is not as quick in the frame rate department as other dedicated cameras out there.

However now if I want to do lunar or planets, I use a flashed SPC880 webcam.

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hunterz

hunterz

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oops sorry didn't see that part.

Well I had a horrid experience with the OpticStars mono version. Not sensitive enough as a mono so hate to think what the colour version would be like, badged as a guidecam as well as a planatery cam and it was pants. It wouldn't pick up anything but the brightest stars and the USB drivers were awful. Constantly messing up, dying and taking the laptop down. I ended up giving it back for a refund.

I live close to the Manchester shop, the owners are great guys and know their stuff. I have bought all my major stuff from them, but they still believe in this camera and there are many reports on the net regarding issues with the OpticStars.

I did try it on the moon once, and it worked ok, never tried it on planets. But the USB drivers did my head in and it would not pick up guide stars so was useless to me.

Hopefully if all you want it for is moon and planets, it will be ok for you, so I wish you more luck than I had with mine.

Just don't try and guide with it if you ever want to go down that route.

I swapped out for a QHY5 mono, perfect guide camera and great for planets / moon even though it is not as quick in the frame rate department as other dedicated cameras out there.

However now if I want to do lunar or planets, I use a flashed SPC880 webcam.

I wish I had known this before buying.I dont seem to be having any luck in this hobby buying used gear from so-called genuine people(vultures)

:eek:Bad day

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Catanonia

Catanonia

Posted
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I wish I had known this before buying.I dont seem to be having any luck in this hobby buying used gear from so-called genuine people(vultures)

Hey mate, that was my experience and I wanted it as a guide camera. You are using it as a lunar and planetary, so you may be ok. Would actually be interested in knowing so keep us posted.

Good luck with it.

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