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Deep Sky Camera advice

Sky-Watcher CQ350 Pro ZWO ASI2400MC Pro Equipment Buying Advice Deep Sky
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Marco Grisolia avatar
Marco Grisolia avatar
Hello everyone! 
I recently got my self a Quattro300P with a CQ350 mount. The combination of those two instruments is just astonishing, but perhaps quite expensive...

Since I still don't have a cooled camera, I am currently imaging at 1200 FL with a planetary cam (ASI 585MC) and I was wondering what type of camera to buy to get started seriously in deep sky imaging... 
After some research on the appropriate FOV and pixel-size at this focal length I came up with few options based on the assumption that I image from a Bortle 3-4 sky.
Firstly I'm much more concerned on a OSC camera rather than a MONO for time reasons. Secondly I would love to get a full frame camera although I know that I will have to put a larger effort to get rid of vignetting and tilt problems. Perhaps I still consider an APS-C size sensor a great option, I am very afraid that my imaging time (sky-conditions, work ecc..) will not be enough to create mosaics on certain targets... 
That being said, I am considering:
- 2400MC Pro from ASI (5.94um pixels scares me a bit on under-sampling at long 1200FL since I have fair sky conditions)
- The new Zeus Cam from Player-One (Poseidon C really impressed me and I'm considering it even though it's an APS-C)
- Other options on a 3/4k budget ? 

Thanks a lot
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Patrick Graham avatar
Patrick Graham avatar
The ZWO ASI 2600MC-Pro might be what you're looking for.  That's well within your budget constraints.

CS

Patrick
Well Written
Francois Theriault avatar
Francois Theriault avatar
Marco,

I use the ZWO ASI1600mm (mono). I would suggest this camera as a nice "entry" level camera. You can then get a good set of filters, including narrowband and open up a with variety of targets.

It is a common misconception that one shot color (OSC) is faster. Not necessarily. In addition, LRBG or Narrowband gives you more flexibility and control on colors.

The 1600mm has 3.8nm pixel size. That puts 1200mm within the range of 1x1 and 2x2 binning. You could even go as much as 2000mm at 2x2 binning and as low as 450mm with 1x1 binning.

Get your feet wet with an entry level camera and then upgrade to a better camera in the future. If you are planning to upgrade though, I would suggest you invest in 2 inch filters right away.

With the 1600mm, I use the 32mm screw-in type filter with no vignetting.

By the way, the site Atronomytools.net has a good calculator to determine you FOV, pixel scale and telescope/ camera combination. Just look at calculators on the top menu bar and then CCD suitability to access the calculator.

Hope the advice can help you.
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Marco Grisolia avatar
Marco Grisolia avatar
Thank you guys for the advices, I created another forum on image acquisition deepsky where I have come to the conclusion that I'll go for a Mono camera… if you have some time go follow that discussion it helped me a lot on my choice and I still have some doubts. 

Thanks, Marco.