best camera suited for imaging through a celestron RASA 11"

[h0ughy (David)]

as is the question i currently have a old canon 450D that's modded and a FLI microline 8300C one shot colour, its a bit weighty at 2kg.

I am looking at getting a Celestron RASA

[JA]

Hi H,
The first thing I thought of was how big is the image circle. I couldn't believe the details I saw here ..... 70mm really (plenty of crop margin) ?? Seems incredulous, but see...... With some mention of cameras used.
https://www.astronomics.com/11-f22-r...be_p20206.aspx

Best
JA

[h0ughy (David)]

Originally Posted by JA

Hi H,
The first thing I thought of was how big is the image circle. I couldn't believe the details I saw here ..... 70mm really ?? Seems incredulous, but see...... With some mention of cameras used.

Best JA

Actually it's only 43mm the 14" is 70

43.3mm optimized image circle maintains pinpoint stars to the far corners of even the largest astroimaging sensors, while the usable field extends even further to 52 mm for larger format sensors

[JA]

70mm does seem odd especially when they speak also of 48mm adapters, but it must be a typo.... See the link I posted above IT NOW WORKS OK - half way down the page

Best
JA

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

One of the full frame ZWO/QHY cameras would work a treat with that sort of imaging circle...

[JA]

Originally Posted by h0ughy

as is the question i currently have a old canon 450D that's modded and a FLI microline 8300C one shot colour, its a bit weighty at 2kg.

I am looking at getting a Celestron RASA

You could start with a quality low noise full-frame DSLR before spending many more thousands on a full-frame Astro cam.

Best
JA

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by h0ughy

as is the question i currently have a old canon 450D that's modded and a FLI microline 8300C one shot colour, its a bit weighty at 2kg.

I am looking at getting a Celestron RASA

I would be worried that an 11" F2.2 astrograph will disappoint if used under light polluted Newie skies...

That said, I'd go with a small cylindrical body, one shot colour CCD Starlightxpress Trius SX26C

This would give you a highly sensitive astrograph with a 2.2deg X 1.5deg FOV at 2"/pix that can produce colour images in a single night with ease and no 4 filter processing and capture and the cylindrical body won't obstruct the light path or produce those crappy looking skewed stars that an odd shaped DSLR will do

Mike

[h0ughy (David)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

I would be worried that an 11" F2.2 astrograph will disappoint if used under light polluted Newie skies...

That said, I'd go with a small cylindrical body, one shot colour CCD Starlightxpress Trius SX26C

This would give you a highly sensitive astrograph with a 2.2deg X 1.5deg FOV at 2"/pix that can produce colour images in a single night with ease and no 4 filter processing and capture and the cylindrical body won't obstruct the light path or produce those crappy looking skewed stars that an odd shaped DSLR will do

Mike

Not really meant for newy skies, to take advantage of dark sky sites like spsp and astrofest and the occasional weekend escape to a dark site. 60sec equivalent to a 10min shot

[glend (Glen)]

Agreed that a small cylinder body camera would be ideal. One of the ASI cooled models maybe. Have you considered a simpler (and lower cost) solution, like a Hyperstar equipped SCT? I have been looking at the cost of the Hyperstar lense element for my Edge HD8. The Hyperstar system can provide a front filter drawer do that you can use mono cameras for RGB or narrowband. You could certainly shoot narrowband from your place. I would avoid DSLRs because of the central obstruction effects mentioned. The Hyperstar system also provides field correction, so standard SCTs can be used.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by h0ughy

Not really meant for newy skies, to take advantage of dark sky sites like spsp and astrofest and the occasional weekend escape to a dark site. 60sec equivalent to a 10min shot

Fair enough, that would be good then The main thing I recon is to avoid the need for a filterwheel, thus you need small pixels so when the Bayer matrix comes into it you still get reasonable resolution

Mike

[RB (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by h0ughy

best camera suited for imaging through a celestron RASA 11"
I am looking at getting a Celestron RASA

I would highly recommend a 'good used' Canon 1Dx.

[h0ughy (David)]

Originally Posted by RB

I would highly recommend a 'good used' Canon 1Dx.

Where would one find ancient cameras like that

[RB (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by h0ughy

Where would one find ancient cameras like that

Next to a pristine door stop.

[h0ughy (David)]

anyway i eventually answered my own question - i bought a ASI ZWO071MC Pro