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hot pixel clumps on ZWO 2600MM and 6200MM cameras

ZWO ASI2600MM Pro ZWO ASI6200MM Pro CMOS Hot Pixels
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Tony Hallas avatar
Tony Hallas avatar
I have five ZWO mono cameras … 2600MM's and 6200MM's … and all of them have varying amounts of "hot pixel clumps".  I am calling them a clump because they appear to be larger than a single pixel.  These cameras range from brand new to several years old.  At first I thought it was damage from cosmic ray hits during the solar storms … but I see them on a brand new camera that I just bought.
At this point I suspect to keep the cost of the cameras down, ZWO is not installing industrial grade sensors … but rather a "lower end" product that has these defects. 
It's not a big deal … dithering and using BFD frames seems to totally eradicate them.  I am just wondering if other imagers are noticing the same thing … do you have "hot pixel clumps"?  They show up very nicely on dark frames.
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Alex Nicholas avatar
Alex Nicholas avatar
Of course they aren't using industrial or class 1 sensors, look at the prices of their cameras. The SBIG equivalent of the 6200mm is about 10k usd more… 

Zwo cameras are great, and they serve their purpose and fill their spot in the market segment. But they are not top of the line research grade instruments and you can't expect them to be.
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Bill McLaughlin avatar
Bill McLaughlin avatar
Indeed, I am pretty sure ZWO only offers the consumer grade sensors where other companies like QHY and Moravian offer a choice of either consumer or industrial. My understanding is that the industrial sensors also have a different substrate, I think ceramic, so should be flatter as well.

I have three ZWO and one Moravian and have to say the Moravian (industrial sensor) is superior in pretty much every way from sensor to cooling to an actual shutter for remote operations. It is on the CDK 14 so gets used about three times as much as the others put together.

Not that ZWO is bad, just that Moravian is better….
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Tony Hallas avatar
Tony Hallas avatar
Hi Guys,

     Thanks for the replies … that's pretty much what I suspected … I have a CDK 14 coming in a couple of months … maybe I will "splurge" and put a Moravian on the end of it.  Might as well make it "as good as it can be".  

     Best,

          Tony
Bill McLaughlin avatar
Bill McLaughlin avatar
Tony Hallas:
Hi Guys,

     Thanks for the replies ... that's pretty much what I suspected ... I have a CDK 14 coming in a couple of months ... maybe I will "splurge" and put a Moravian on the end of it.  Might as well make it "as good as it can be".  

     Best,

          Tony

The only things to be aware of with the Moravians is that they are a lot heavier and the weight is off center ( I made an adjustable counter weight). You also have to order the industrial sensor and the enhanced cooling when you place the order if you want those..... Mine is the IMX 571 sensor so can use the internal style filter wheel. The 455 version uses a separate larger FW, of course...

The enhanced cooling pays for itself the first hot summer night! 

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Ashraf AbuSara avatar
Ashraf AbuSara avatar
Player one claims to use Industrial grade IMX455 sensor and they are being sold at just over $3000. Compared to my 6200mm it is also significantly better built and with more features.

https://player-one-astronomy.com/product/zeus-455m-pro-imx455-usb3-0-mono-cooled-camera/
Alex Nicholas avatar
Alex Nicholas avatar
Ashraf AbuSara:
Player one claims to use Industrial grade IMX455 sensor and they are being sold at just over $3000. Compared to my 6200mm it is also significantly better built and with more features.

https://player-one-astronomy.com/product/zeus-455m-pro-imx455-usb3-0-mono-cooled-camera/

I agree.. My player one camera is SIGNIFICANTLY nicer overall quality than my ZWO camera.
Andreas avatar
Andreas avatar
I use a 26000KMA from Touptek and it also has a lot of “warm pixels”. But it doesn't have any actual hot pixels, i.e. completely burnt out. I actually took a closer look at these pixels in a few tests and took pictures with my dimmable flat panel at different brightness levels. The pixels simply have a significantly larger offset, but otherwise behave linearly like all other pixels.

This is also the reason why I continue to take dark frames. I don't want to rely on bad pixel rejection or dithering.

cs
Andreas
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