Choosing a fullframe camera

CMOS Buying Advice
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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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