Choosing a fullframe camera

CMOS Buying Advice
14 replies•487 views
Brian avatar
Brian avatar

Hi,

I’m currently considering buying a fullframe camera, but I’m not entirely sure which one to choose yet.

At the moment, the camera will be used with my Epsilon 160ED. However, I could also imagine adding a telescope with a shorter focal length (under 200mm) for widefield imaging in the future, as well as a telescope with a longer focal length, such as a 9.25" EdgeHD. The camera should be usable on all of these telescopes.

The IMX455 color camera is basically out for me, since it ends up costing almost the same as the mono version, especially once DNB filters etc. are included.
So I think the mono version would be the better choice price wise.

An alternative would be a camera based on the IMX410 sensor. The ToupTek offer is also quite appealing here. The larger pixels would likely be less sensitive to tilt and similar issues.

The last option would be the ASI4400. However, I think that from a price perspective, it’s probably not a great choice, since with accessories it ends up costing about the same as the IMX455 mono with accessories in the ToupTek deal.

Which camera or sensor would be the right choice for me?

At the moment, I’m strongly leaning towards the IMX410.
But since I currently only have mono cameras, the IMX455 mono is also very tempting.

I would really appreciate any thoughts or suggestions to help with the decision.

Greetings
Brian

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Tony Gondola avatar
Tony Gondola avatar

Gather up the performance graphs of all the cameras in question, and do a basic performance comparison. Then check what the sampling would be for each camera with every system you want to use it with. That should zero you in on the best choice pretty quickly.

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Noah Tingey avatar
Noah Tingey avatar

Very very much agree that you should go monochrome for this — an OSC full frame camera would be wasted potential, IMO. I’d rather have APS-C mono than OSC full frame… or I’d even rather take 533 mono vs OSC FF.

Also I’ve been eyeing Player One’s astronomy cameras. I appreciate the amount of details and data they publish about the camera’s performance.

As for the 410 vs the 455, make sure you consider your desired pixel scale. IMO pixel scale really drives gear selection, rather than the other way around.

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Spacey avatar
Spacey avatar

An IMX455 camera is the way to go for the focal length you are imaging at. The only downside is the processing overhead with the large files if you are doing short exposures.

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Aloke Palsikar avatar
Aloke Palsikar avatar

I recently upgraded from my ASI 533 MC Pro to ASI 2600 MC Pro which has a IMX 571 sensor and is a APS-C type with zero amp glow and good resolution for going after Deep Sky Objects

Worth a consideration as it has a Mono version as well

Rick Krejci avatar
Rick Krejci avatar

IMX455 mono for sure. I have 2 Player One Zeus cameras/filter wheels and they’ve both performed perfectly. Their tilt adjusting mechanism is superb, where you can adjust using Nina/HocusFocus tools on stars without removing and replacing everything. And it doesn’t take up any extra backfocus. Cooling is much quicker than the ASI6200 I had. And you can adjust the fan speed to very slow when it’s colder out. I’ve always struggled with QHY’s quirky drivers and recent Zwos have had driver issues with their newest models as well I’ve seen on forums (I think it’s been fixed by now).

The only issue I’ve had with the Player One setups was that the ASCOM filter wheel driver didn’t handle having 2 of the same filter wheels running simultaneously on one PC with 2 Nina instances. I contacted support and they had an updated driver for me to try out within a few days and quickly updated the main driver after I said it worked great.

I’ll stick with Player One for sure in the future. Plus they’re cheaper than Zwo and QHY, which makes it a no-brainer

Willem Jan Drijfhout avatar
Willem Jan Drijfhout avatar

Tip 1: Go mono, unless you have a very specific need for OSC

Tip 2: If you want to add a full-frame camera to the Epsilon, pay good attention to the focuser. The standard focuser is often considered to be insufficient for full-frame, resulting in flexing of the camera, showing up as a kind of sensor tilt in your images (but isn’t). There are great options out there for solid Epsilon focusers (Optec has an Epsilon specific kit) but be prepared for significant cost.

Tip 3: Matching a camera with telescope is mainly about pixel-size. Too small is fine, too big not so much. A 3.8 micron size is about the maximum you want to put on a 500-ish mm telescope. Anything bigger than that and you’ll want to do a lot of drizzling. A Celestron 9.25” would work well with all the options you mention. Within the pixel-size selection choose the largest surface-size that your scope and wallet allow.

Tip 4: There is no camera that is a good match for telescopes ranging from 200mm to 2400mm. If you get a 200mm scope, I would put the 585 on it that you already have.

John Stone avatar
John Stone avatar

Tip 5: But sometimes is about the FOV and not the pixel scale. Especially with the very small focal lengths.

Robert Lagasse avatar
Robert Lagasse avatar

I love my canon Ra, definitely worth a look!

Willem Jan Drijfhout avatar
Willem Jan Drijfhout avatar

John Stone · Apr 2, 2026 at 08:44 AM

Tip 5: But sometimes is about the FOV and not the pixel scale. Especially with the very small focal lengths.

Absolutely true.

Alex Nicholas avatar
Alex Nicholas avatar

With an epsilon 160, based on the focal length alone, the imx455 is the best option, but then the IMX410 is actually a really good option too, as it will not be as sensitive to collimation due to its larger pixels…

All the other performance metrics of the cameras etc pale in insignificance next to pixel scale.. and that’s a personal choice.. imx410 will be undersampled, but that’s not a big deal, dither and drizzle… The imx455 is a better scale for the e160, but its nearly $1000 more.

I would go an imx410 if you dont need mono, and if you already plan to dither and drizzle the data. Otherwise, 455.

John Stone avatar
John Stone avatar

I’d be careful to check the pixel sampling in arc-seconds and be sure it matches your seeing before choosing.

📷 image.pngimage.png📷 image.pngimage.png

Unless you have terrible seeing, the IMX455 looks like the right call.

Georg N. Nyman avatar
Georg N. Nyman avatar

I have both - OSC and Mono in APS size and OSC and Mono in Full Frame size (QHY 296 and 600). OSC is an option if you live in a region with a very limited amount of clear nights. Mono is certainly the first choice if you can count on a reasonable amount of clear nights and good to excellent seeing.
Full frame - think about the file size, my QHY600 files are about 120Mb per file - if you take LRGBHaOIIISII and only 30-50each, you can calculate the end result - you need a lof or RAM, a fast PC and a very reliable stacking program.
APS is certainly a valuable alternative and if you do not hesitate to go sometimes for a mosaic, then it is maybe worth to be considered.
I also shoot sometimes with my Canon Ra - fine for long focal length and not too dim targets and very limited clear nights, but not really good for fl below about 400-500mm imo. 24Mpx is not my recommendation due to undersampling (dithering every single frame and drizzling helps), 61Mpx would be fine - I do imaging with it on my RASA11 and on the SQA70 (there it is already on the border of undersampling) - would be optically my first choice.

Glenn Mitchell avatar
Glenn Mitchell avatar

I use a ZWO ASI6200MM Pro, which uses an IMX455 sensor.

You will very likely wrestle with tilt, regardless of the mfg and sensor you choose with full frame.

I have a device from PrecisionAstro that I bought to measure and remove sensor tilt.

My camera is used on a ZWO FF107 scope (a restencilled Askar 107PHQ).

The scope and camera are going to a remote observatory in TX. Getting the sensor tilt removed from it and from my other scope (an ASI2600MC Duo and ZWO FF65) is critical. That’s why I was willing to pay for the AstroPrecision laser device.

Cheers,

Mitch

Rick Krejci avatar
Rick Krejci avatar

Glenn Mitchell · Apr 6, 2026, 04:22 AM

I use a ZWO ASI6200MM Pro, which uses an IMX455 sensor.

You will very likely wrestle with tilt, regardless of the mfg and sensor you choose with full frame.

I have a device from PrecisionAstro that I bought to measure and remove sensor tilt.

My camera is used on a ZWO FF107 scope (a restencilled Askar 107PHQ).

The scope and camera are going to a remote observatory in TX. Getting the sensor tilt removed from it and from my other scope (an ASI2600MC Duo and ZWO FF65) is critical. That’s why I was willing to pay for the AstroPrecision laser device.

Cheers,

Mitch

+1 for Astroprecision’s laser tilt adjuster. It removes one big variable from the tilt equation by ensuring your image train is tilt-free. Especially great with a Player One camera since you can have most of your train (camera/wheel/OAG…)in place and still adjust the 4 point tilt. It was such a relief when I got my f2.7 OCAL H2, put everything together and there was virtually no tilt showing in my images. A testament to both the value of Astroprecision’s device and the sturdy build and focuser of the Ocal H2.

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