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Dealer hat on for a bit, I've been in discussions with QHY's USA rep about the new IMX455 based cameras (aka QHY600) and it certainly breaks new ground with combined QE and read noise.
Dealer hat off for the remainder.
The CMOS amp glow problem has not gone away. So if you wan to push the envelope for very long and deep sub-images this will prove to be problematical.
To be sure, you can stack shorter exposures and there seems little doubt the IMX455 will run rings around CCD sensors such as the KAI11002.
With the KAF16803 (my current CCD camera which has a delta-T of 60 degrees or so and zero fixed pattern noise.) the waters are decidedly muddier.
My comparison of the QHY183C to the STX16803 showed the CCD to be far cleaner. This may not be true with the IMX455
...but given they are both cutting edge Sony CMOS, maybe nothing has changed other than acreage.
With 3.76um pixels the IMX sensor gives way over-sampled data for my RC. Binned it goes to 7.5um and 15 megapixels. So, smaller chip, similar sampling, better QE and lower read noise but amp noise limits the exposure time.
I am still tempted to pull the trigger, but at $A8k...not exactly chump change... so I am waiting to see some real world data before I drop that sort of coin.
I note that a QHY600 is now in the skilled hands of Martin Pugh with a very fast RASA to boot. I wait for his results with keen interest!
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