So I have bitten the bullet and shelled out on an Imaging Source DBK 41AU colour camera. I was hoping to get a Mono DMK 41 but they are hard to get ATM and Bintel had one of these in stock to it will have to do!
My query is that I will be using this first in my Solarmax 60 II scope.
Any one have any experience or suggestions as to the best setup of this camera for Solar imaging. I note there are lots of settings that I can use (frame rate, gain, gamma, white balance etc) or am I best of just using it out of the box.
My shakedown of the DBK on Saturn from last Thursday showed me how excellent these cameras are. MUCH more sensitive than the ol' toucam....
For the gain and gamma etc, I left these alone, I simply changed the frame rate and exposure levels when capturing Saturn. Having said that, I have taken Annual Leave for the 6th June for the Solar transit of Venus, so I will be a bit like you, relearning on the fly with the solar disk to see the best settings for the camera due to the conditions.
In summary, what I found is that if it looks good on your capture screen, its pretty spot on when it comes to slicing and dicing and stacking it for later in Registax or your stacking program of choice.
Enjoy the new beast. My DBK618 kicks the Toucam for sensitivity into the next century......
Thanks Chris, appreciate your reply.
I have been exploring some of the options on the software and I notice I can bring up a live histogram, that should help in setting it up correctly.
I think you might struggle with the colour camera for solar work, I never got good results from my DBK and use the DMK for solar use.
But if you get it working well, let me know!
Ha imaging will only use 1/4 of the available pixels and you'll end up basically with a 2 x 2 binning. Provided the image scale/ focal length takes this into account you'll get reasonable images, but not as detailed as you'd have using a mono.....
Thanks for the replies Merlin and Peter. I estimate that the image scale will be quite large for solar. I am notr expecting super duper images and I knew that going in. Would have preferred a mono but will get that later on.
Unfortunately the mono simply could not be had b4 the transit so have to make the best I can.
I am using the same scope and a mono camera. Ha light is monochrome and the camera you have bought is not. My suggestion, send it back and order a mono in. Consider the 31 mono, faster and it might actually be available.
Hi guys,
I have a DMK 41 Mono but I am having trouble with it.
It works fine on my desk top but only worked for about 20minutes on my lap top.
I have tries to use a double conector but no good.
Any sujestions??
Mike, what do you mean is works for 20 minutes and then stops. What happens exactly? Is it freezing up? Which capture program are you using? Do you have a point grey product installed on the same laptop? (there is a current problem with having both software installed)