Planetary imaging camera recommendations

[rustigsmed]

Well, i'm finally upgrading the old laptop to something a lot quicker (i7, usb 3, ssd etc).
The benefit being i'll be able to now do things like capture high frame rates for things like planetary imaging... and 2018 is looking like a good year for planetary (Mars).

Does anyone have any advice on make and model? it would most likely be paired with the 12" f5 dob and a 5x powermate. I'm leaning toward a OSC option for simplicity (and weight). zwo asi 290mc?

Cheers

Rusty

[Camelopardalis]

Depends on whether you want colour or mono...

OSC go for 224
mono go for a 290

Get the beasties up to around f/20 and you should be laughing. On a good night at least...

The ZWO mini EFW isn’t very heavy if you go mono.

Here’s hoping the sky is kind to us next year...

[Shiraz]

your QHY163m on your Newtonian with the moonlite focuser and a 5x Barlow maybe?

[Saturnine]

Have been using an ZWOasi290MC for about a year now and am quite happy with it, coupled with an 127mm triplet or 203mm f6 newt and 2.5 X Powermate, so can recommend the camera. Having said that, with our summer temperatures a cooled version would be better.

[SuperG]

I still use an old zwo ASI120MC. Cheap these days but still a great performer; I’d probably go the USB3 version these days though. Regarding cooling I’m not sure there is any benefit for planetary.

[rustigsmed]

thanks Dunk, i'm leaning toward the 224 or perhaps the 120mm with filter wheel.



hi Ray, thanks for responding. you've got me thinking about filter wheels now ... i use filter draws and haven't really had the urge for a filter wheel as i' use 2" filters (not 36mm), so would need either 2x wheels or would need to take everything out when switching between rgb and nb.

the 12"f4 astrograph is taking a back seat for a while (probably until i have a permanent setup - which could be ages) although you've got me thinking of moving the focuser over to the dob in which case perhaps a mono/fw camera may work.



thanks for the feedback, good to hear that you are happy with the 290mc. yep i'm thinking cooled is probably a safer option.



thanks superg, yes the 120 really is a winner from a price to performance - i had kind of forgotten about it, i've put it in the mix of options. cheers :thumbsup:

[SuperG]

I know this diverging a little bit but while you’re at it buy a baader neodymium filter as there is a significant boost in contrast when imaging Jupiter. The 1.25 inch should only set you back a little over a $100.