1600mm PRO, worth it in 2020???

[assbutt94]

Ive been contemplating moving to mono for over a year now, but with the release of the 2600MC, im on the fence. If i buy a 1600mm now, i have a feeling a 2600mm will announced. The panasonic sensor for the 1600mm is now discontinued if i recall correctly.
Should i continue to wait for new tech, or is it likely to be a long wait?

TLDR: buy a new ZWO 1600mm in 2020 or keep waiting?

[Atmos]

As mono sensors go it’s a great product although there are a lot of better CMOS sensors out there but they’re all OSC. Until there is an APS-C mono out there the ASI1600 is about as good as it gets in mono at that size.

[sunslayr]

As far as I know there is no sub medium format mono sensor that could be used in a 1600mm class camera, maybe someone else has heard of one? So I'd say buy a 1600 its more than likely there will never be another mono sensor that could be used, there is just no demand for them. ZWO might end up taking a colour sensor and then sanding off the Bayer matrix but I think that destroys the micro lenses cutting its Q.E performance.

[gregbradley]

Per a post on Cloudy Nights a mono 2600 is not on the cards. Sony makes the sensors and whatever they have available to sell is what the camera makers get. I doubt Sony does a special run for ZWO as they wouldn't have viable quantities but you never know.

There are only 3 imaging sensors really in mono, the 183mm, the 1600mm, the 6200mm.

The 1600 seems to be the most popular of their offerings.

So 2600mc versus 1600 or 183mm? It would boil down to field of view and osc versus mono. OSC is less sensitive but when the mono sensor would be 84% QE which is super high then the OSC would still be very high.

From what little images I have seen from the 2600mc they seem quite clean and cleaner than other OSC images. OSC usually have residual noise even with longish exposures. More convenient but they give up a lot and they are not that great for narrowband.

I would not wait for a 2600 mono as its unlikely to arrive.

At 3X the price the 6200mm is the current top CMOS sensor. Downside would be mainly the 122mb file sizes for a 1x1 binned image and its not readily available.

Greg.

[billdan]

You can buy mono APS-C cameras from Chipmod in China, they remove the Bayer matrix and as mentioned you lose the micro-lens as well.

https://shop155484530.world.taobao.com/

I am still considering buying a modded QHY8 off them for $AUS 1100.00, less of a risk if its junk. With 7.8 micron pixels its better suited to my focal length.