ZWO, QHY, ATIK camera? Which one provides better quality/support? Any other companies that might be even better?

I use Altair cameras (based in UK), currently 26C and have a good opinion of them. It is effectively the same as the ASI2600MC and the QHY268C, all of which use the Sony IMX571 chip. For good or bad, it seems Sony makes most of the CMOS chips these days (Panasonic still make a few I think), so the vendors are packaging the same supply of chips and should give essentially the same performance and operation. They all have a mono version of this camera now too, which may be the one you want to consider - going from 12-bit to 16-bit dynamic range was revolutionary for me. I've had the 26C for about five months now with no regrets.

As for support, I did have my previous Altair camera go bad (a 269C) last year. Something happened to the USB controller and it would randomly stop downloading frames, which is not good in a the middle of an imaging session. Altair has a support portal like many companies do these days and I filled out a ticket, exchanged a couple messages with them over a few days where they asked me to do some tests on the camera, change a few system settings, etc. Once I had verified for them that the camera was bad, they had me return it to them for replacement. The dealer here in the US (I saw you were in Florida) is "Land, Sea, and Sky" in Houston, TX and they handled all the international shipping to the UK and back for me to exchange the camera for a brand new one (which is now my backup camera). LSS is very good to deal with and one of the reasons I continue to use Altair cameras since I know I will have a dealer here locally in the US to help with problems like that. The shipping to the UK and back took about a week each way I think, so there is some delay, but not too unreasonable. My impression from reading various forums is that it sounds like replacement/repair from ZWO and QHY are both done in China (which can take even longer to ship to), so there is always going to be some international shipping delays regardless. 

Things like the software/drivers and packaging issues would be other considerations. I see you are using an asi1600 in most of your recent images. If you have their drivers and software working to your liking, that may be one reason to stay with ZWO. I use SharpCap for capture and it supports all three brands (Atik too I believe), so that part wasn't too important to me. One packaging issue I noticed in comparing the three color cameras is that ZWO and Altair install IR blocking windows into the camera, but QHY apparently does not (at least on 268c), so one would want an external IR block filter for the QHY. The QHY also used a larger flange size (M54 I think), so the attachment might be something to consider if you like your imaging train setup.

Hi Uwe,

the experiences are quite subjective and every one makes different ones: My personal are:

ATIK: Had a 16200 CCD. I had issues with debris inside the sealed argon chamber coming from the mechanical shutter. Returned it 2 times for repair to England could not be fixed. Returned it after third time happening. Actually a quality and design problem. Very noisy fans (not suitable if you have close neighbors) and also causing notable vibrations. The service team was very friendly and always responsive. The software was a mess. I did some testing for them and after a couple of dozens of errors I gave up.

QHY: Never possessed one, bud got aware of some very nasty quality issues with their driver SDK where SW suffered from. But it seams to improve slowly. ASCOM driver was more stable.

ZWO: My current camera(s). No issues so far, no driver problems. Support replies, but with some delay. Big advantage: Huge user community. Errors will pop up very quickly. Also many sources and information in the net.

But as said, these are my very personal experiences and often only negative things pop up. Others may have experienced quite the opposite and are super happy.

CS
Rüdiger

Well, I can not talk about long-term reliability much, but my initial experiences were as follows:

QHY (294M): Huge issues: Drivers unusable for several months in several modes. Several updates breaking the dark library by tweaking sensor response. Also hardware problems, I am on my third camera now (banding issues on the first, the second one broke the USB port). Cooling is barely reaching specs. Support was responsive. They offered an exchange but that would have meant for me to pay international postage (within EU) and customs+tax again for their replacement from China. They suggested misdeclaring the package which would have opened me to charges from customs (who are quite sharp in my city). I dealt with it through the vendor then which went smoothly. Still, strange suggestion, as there are procedures for international replacements that do not incur taxes/customs but are a bit more involved for the sending company than underdeclaring. After 6 months, I still have no usable narrowband image with that camera and I am creating my 6th dark library now and drivers are still in beta. The attachments make it difficult to get to usual backfocus distances (55 or 65mm), the guidance from the company is confusing. No sensor tilt on my sample. My guiding cam (QHY174M) works fine but I needed to remove the AR window to push it in far enough on my OAG.

Atik: I had a used 460exm. Great chip, good quality built, stable driver, no issues. Sold it off because the FOV is too small for my new scope, othherwise by far the easiest data to deal with of all my cameras. No contact to support necessary. No sensor tilt on my sample. In comparison, the fan is a bit louder. Recommended if you can expose long enough and do not mind the small FOV.

ZWO: Got several of their cameras: 120MM mini, 290MM mini, 183MC cooled, 1600MM Pro and now finally the 2600MM Pro. No issues at all. The 1600MM was used for about 70 nights in one year. Drivers are stable, ASCOM and native. The sensor of  my new 2600 is almost as clean as the IMX694 in the Atik 460ex and of course much larger. Bolted FW and OAG are great to have. The built seems a bit less sturdy than QHY and ATIK and my 183 and 1600 had serious sensor tilt, the 2600 is good. TS is now offering local service in Europe. I had no contact with service, as none was necessary.

All in all, I would currently recommend the ASI2600MM with your scope, or if you do not need a large FOV the ATIK 460exm. I think FF (ASI6200) creates too many hassles to get a good field.

First of all, apologies for the late answer, I would have thought that I would get notifications when someone answers when one is subscribed, that evidently did not work. So I checked today and saw all the great answers, that was a nice surprise.
I am considering a a larger sensor camera since I want to stick as often as possible to the native 925mm focal length of my scope, but also have more area to cover. And there are right now 3 cameras on the market that are very similar. Rich, the ATIK Apx60 sounds like the option from this vendor. Of course everybody jumps on the ASI6200, which sounds also very promising, or the QHY600. Tim passed me some good information about this camera and why the photographic addition is app. $600 more expensive.
Matthew, I did not look so far in the Altair cameras, really is not showing up in a lot of distributors, so I definitely will have a look at those now. You have definitely some good arguments for the support and the speed of it, and a US dealer, yes, that would help. Unfortunately this makes life even more complicated to choose :-).
Interesting what you say about the IR block filter, I definitely have to check that. O wonder why QHY would not offer this if it is that important!
The flange size shall not be an obstacle, since all the cameras with the a wider sensor do have bigger ones than M48. 
Thank you Steven for your views as well, I believe they go along with all the others. I needed once a new camera glass for the 1600, since I was "cleaning" it too much (destroyed it), and this came within 4 weeks or so, yes, definitely some time from China. But the support in general was very good. 
And you Ruediger make my life even worse LOLOL … since I was leaning to the QHY, I must reconsider, and definitely ask about their software problems. Will be anyway interesting to see if the "old" SGPro will support those new cameras, if not I will switch over NINA, since there is one thing that I do not like at all: monthly membership fees, this is becoming a virus, and we know now all too well that a virus is nothing good.
This goes also along what you say Torben, QHY has issues! And the story to cheat on the custom declaration … well well, that would be a no no no for me as well. As a foreigner in the US I have to be 200% correct, and I will continue to do so. I just wonder: there are other that use the 294M, do they have the same problems? Did you contact some of the others that own this camera? I cannot believe that this is an issue for such a long time, and if it is then this is not the best service, exactly what I am looking to watch out for! Interesting your opinion about the 6200, I haven't anything about problems with the field, I will reach out to some that own it. One thing for sure, I do not want to tweak crazily for months, we have way not enough clear nights and "sacrificing" them for tweaks would be a shame.
And thank you Hoschie for your answer, a QHY owner with experience. Interesting that you mention as well some driver issues, that seems to be a little bit a common theme with them. But I hear you also with the built in anti dew heater, in Florida certainly a plus to have this.
A BIG THANKS for all of your answers, I posted locally a comparison sheet of the cameras that I consider, you can find it here if you are interested: https://www.astrobin.com/fpbxp4/?nc=user
Uwe

Uwe,

i am also in the market as I have an old SBIG 8300M that has gone through two sets of chips at $1k apiece. 

Jerry Macon recommends the ZWO ASI6200MM-PRO and is turning out some ridiculously clean images on some obscure targets... like low to the hozizon Abell's. 

This is where I will turn when my system dies... I think he has two.

JY

Hi Jerry,

of course these cameras can be compared, in respect of defining references. The  Kodak KAF 8300 has been something like a standard reference for amateur CCD imaging for many years, long before i joined. There have been others like the KAF-16200, being a full frame sensor and thus better comparable. Bot its not as frequently used, and still expensive.
The Sony IMX 455 (QHY 600, ASI 6200, others?) is the first 16 bit full frame CMOS sensor available in dedicated amateur astonomical cameras, and importantly available in a mono version. Beneath the IMX 571 (QHY 268, ASI 2600, others? smaller than IMX 455 and more comparable in size to the KAF 8300, but very similar to the IMX 455 in specs), these could set the new reference. Depending on what comes next. But i think these two have been the sensors, a lot of people have been waiting for for years. There is no reason to wait any longer, since these sensors are quite mature with respect to technical issues like amp glow, and specs. And there is not much room left with respect to sensitivity, full well and read noise to improve significantly.

Clear skies,
Hoschie

Thank you Jerry, Hoschie and Ray for the additional information!! I definitely see a tendency here, and this one tends more and more to the ASI6200. It really sounds like that the QHY driver problems are not to underestimate, and there is one thing that I do not like at all: driver problems! There are usually so hard to overcome, and it can drive one nuts! ATIK seems to have some problems here and there. And so far I have not heard any complaints about the 6200. Decision time is coming closer for me.
Again, thank you all for commenting and taking some time and effort to help me out here!
Uwe

I will be getting my 10“ RC soon and plan to use it with the ASI2600MM, binned 2x2 in post. The chip is so clean I expect this will work very well (it does on the RC8, even unbinned): Read noise (and dark noise) per area is lower than for a Kaf-16200 or 16803. Full well per area is higher and I am still oversampling. I have other scopes for larger FOV and the price is right in comparison.

Hi Uwe

Stay away from QHY!!!  I started out with SX CCD cameras before switching to CMOS.  QHY has nice hardware cameras but their support and software drivers are- well, terrible.  I returned two of their cameras.

ZWO is serving me well.  I do not think their cameras are as well built as QHY but everything else they do is light years better.  I have had the 1600, 533, 294 and now the 2600.  The 2600 is outstanding and I have heard great reports on the 6200.  I do not think you can go wrong with ZWO. 

From your friend just south of you!

The 6200 is definitely the smartest choice you could make. I’m jealous but I’m happy with my 2600mm and 2600mc and 294mm and 1600mm.  Maybe I’ll sell them all and buy 1 6200mm. 😂

Please keep this thread alive with your unboxing… and set up… hope to follow you eventually… but you make a great guinea pig

Ok Jerry, will try to do so, taking some images of the unboxing and setup. I should be ok since I do have a filter wheel with the same size as the camera, so I will hook it up directly to it. Now the bigger problem is to get the spacers that I need. And now that I think about it, I shall look for them already. I know that I will not be able to take images right away when it comes in, so if I can make this waiting period shorter, good to remind me on this!
And yes Bruce, I think so too, 2600 is definitely a quantum leap to the 1600, I wonder how this all will progress, one day we should be able to take images during the day 😊😊😊. Btw … there was a YouTube video from OptCorp on the 1st of April about that, hilarious!!
All the best to all! Uwe