ZWO ASI 120MM-S Panetary Test

[Mickoid]

First time using one of these, I think I'll throw my DSLR away. These were taken through my 8 inch Newt last night and the seeing wasn't even that good. I can't wait to try it when conditions are better. I have purchased some RGB filters, so I'll have fun trying to make some colour images with this camera. :)

PS. Just added another Jupiter and ran it through Winjupos by joining four video grabs in Pipp for a total of 6 mins duration. I think it looks better. :)

[Saturnine]

Fast frame rate astro video cameras are the way to go , you will enjoy the results I'm sure. A good first outing for the new camera, can only get better from here.

[xelasnave]

You may find that you will start thinking cooled mono before you realise it☺.
Very nice images indeed.
Alex

[foc]

Great image Michael!:) Mono cams should beat color.
While I think using the right sized ortho (not necessarily a Tak ortho) would give you better projection images with the Canon, being able to easily get some good images with a specialized planetary camera is a great way to go.

You should have a lot of fun now when the clouds disperse.

[Startrek]

These are superb images captured with your ZWO 120MM S ( I use this camera for guiding which works well )
By the way your images of Jupiter and Saturn a few days ago taken with your 550D are also very good , don’t discard your DSLR all together
By the way what capture software do you use with your DSLR ?? and have you been using any filters in your DSLR as the moon has been fairly close to Jupiter for a while and glare is a problem for my 600D. Also how many frames do you take on your video , 1000 to 1500 ?? at what ISO setting
Sorry to ask so many questions as I’m sticking with my 600D for Planetary and DSO for a while yet
Thanks

[Mickoid]

Thanks for the encouragement Jeff, things are looking very promising by the results I've achieved first off. Capturing at higher resolution helps a lot too.


There's a big jump in price to follow in those footsteps Alex, one day perhaps and if my motivation continues for long enough, I may take the plunge. Who knows, the way technology in this field is progressing, you may do better using just your smartphone!


You're probably right Ross, better optics will always improve the results but my DSLR always relies on optimum seeing to achieve a reasonable result. What surprised me about this camera last night was that the seeing was average at best and the result was as good, if not better, than anything I've ever done with the DSLR under good seeing.


Thanks Martin, I'm not discarding the DSLR, it plays an important role in my deep sky work at the moment ( and probably for a while to come ), in fact, I purchased this CCD camera to try autoguiding. I'd like to take longer subs in the future. Certainly the DSLR has the advantage over CCD imaging, when it comes to keeping things simple - no computer needed to capture an image. It was still a pain having to lug out the laptop in the cold, juggle the scope around to get the planets on the screen and focus using the ZWO.

Now to answer your questions in consecutive order: 1. I don't use any software to capture the planets when using the DSLR, that's the beauty of using the 550d, just press the button in crop video mode and start recording. 2. No filters used with the camera, I just use my Canon unmodded 550d. No glare issues so far, it may be tricky if the planet was only a few degrees from the moon but it's far enough away from it at the moment not to cause problems. Don't know why you're experiencing that issue. 3. I shoot at 50fps, 640 x 480 in crop mode, that gives me about 3000 frames at 1 minute for Jupiter. Pipp sorts out the crap from the better frames, so I end up with roughly 1000 frames. 4. I shoot Jupiter at 800iso around opposition, as the weeks pass, I may have to use 1600iso. For Saturn, I rarely shoot below 1600iso because of it's reduced surface brightness and minimum 1/50 sec shutter exposure.

The advantage the Canon 60d, 60da and the 550d have over other Canon DSLR models is their ability to shoot video at 1:1 pixel ratio. The best you can do with other Canon DSLRs, is capture at 5x zoom in Live view via Backyard Eos or equivalent. That's almost as good but you need a computer which adds more Hardware to your session.

[Startrek]

Thanks Michael
Yes your 550D is exactly 1:1 pixel res , my 600D gets close to 1:1 pixel res by using 5 x zoom in live view , BYEOS
I’m using Televue powermates to get my focal ratio to f20 on ordinary seeing conditions and up to f30 on good seeing nights
We must have more crap in our Sydney atmosphere than Melbourne as I couldn’t even get a clean view of Jupiter the other night it was a yuck tan colour , also the Jetstream was running around 100kt as well which doesn’t help , planet was jumping around quite a bit
Thanks for the info
Appreciate it
Keep those planetary images coming in
Clear Skies

[Anth10]

Mick,
Looks like the investment has payed off in spades mate! Looks like a pro shot to me. It was always going to be a struggle to get the best from the DSLR for planetary work as the pixel size just doesn’t do the image justice. Now with your recent acquisition you are well on your way to capturing some amazing planetary images. Looking forward to seeing the addition of colour with your RGB filters.
Congrats
Anth

[Imme]

So your obviously using a laptop I take it mike?
All we need to do now is download a few free programs, plug in a couple cables, whack a crappy guidescope on top of your rig and we’ll have you guiding and platesolving in no time.

[Mickoid]

:lol: :thumbsup:

[Mickoid]

I got the camera for a good price so it wasn't a huge investment but money well spent perhaps. The DSLR's fun and easy to use and there'll be times when it will be quicker to use it than the 120MM but if you want that extra detail and punch, I'll be using the ccd camera, especially with Jupiter when there's so much surface detail on offer. The RGB filters will make it more aesthetically pleasing to the eye.