ZWO ASI 178 vs ASI 290

Equipment Beginner Buying Advice
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Halfstar avatar
Halfstar avatar
Looking at purchasing either a ZWO ASI 178 color or a ASI 290, would greatly appreciate suggestions on which is better.  Want to photograph both Lunar and DSO
I have a Sky Watcher 80ED and an EXOS 2GT EQ
Just beginning to start into astrophotography, and finding that it is very confusing
Also does anyone use a MAC computer with either of these cameras, or will I need to buy a Windows computer
Michael Timm avatar
Michael Timm avatar
Hello Halfstar,

i own the ASI178MC which performs very well when it comes to planetary or lunar imaging. DSO works also, but later on you will miss a possibility to cool the cam down. Also the field of view is a little tiny because of the relatively small chip -> though your 400mm focal length and the pixel size of 2,4 will work very well together, leading to a nearly perfect sampling rate. See Astronomy.tools for details. But if you ever want to buy a scope with a larger focal length, you will get in trouble with over-sampling. If you want to see some sample pictures take a look at my gallery. All images you see there were taken with the ASI178MC.

Long story short: I cant say anything about the ASI290, but the ASI178 is a good one to start with astrophotography, especially in combination with your scope.

Greetings,
Michael
Helpful
bobzeq25 avatar
bobzeq25 avatar
Both have small chips, are much better for planets than DSOs, which are usually much larger.

The 290 chip is really tiny.

AP is very unintuitive, confusion is natural.  The antidote is books.  I suggest you start with this, while it says DSLR, most of it applies to any camera,  And consider using a DSLR for starting out in AP of DSOs.  Much bigger chip, makes life a lot easier.

http://www.astropix.com/bgda/index.html