QHY 8 v QHY 8 Pro

[OzRob]

I will likely be buying a OSC camera in a couple of months. I have more or less being thinking of going with the QHY 8 Pro. It appears that the difference between it and the normal QHY 8 is the positioning of the electronics behind the sensor and regulated cooling. Is the pro version worth the extra cash? Does non-regulated temperature mean that a dark library can not be developed?

Also, are there any other OSC cameras that I should consider?

[marki]

Best person to ask is Doug (Hagar) as he has owned both.

Mark

[Hagar]

G'Day Rob, Yes I have had both cameras ans still have a QHY8 Pro. My personal choise would be to go for the 8 Pro. The rgulated cooling is worth every cent of the extra money. It means you can develope a good dark library which is truely temprature specific. In most cases this camera can get away without any darks as long as imaging is done at -15 to -25 degrees. The other big plus I found between the two cameras was the ability to start your imaging night off by setting the temprature at around the zero mark and keeping it there while you frame your target and setup your focus. By doing this, any moisture in the camera has a chance to settle on the cold metal cold finger while the CCD is just above freezing point. Then run the temp down to -20 for the main imaging run. By doing this I have never had any moisture settle and frost up the CCD. I would suggest you speak to Theo and purchase a null nosepiece. I mount a camera adapter on the front of my nose piece which I knocked the filter out of and have a UV/IR filter on the front of this. This reduces reflections to near enough to nil and reflections were always my bug bear with both the QHY8 and 8 Pro. Others manage them differently but I have been happy enough using this method.

In a nutshell, get the pro.

If you need any assistance give me a call. 0428544481 or doug.braidwood on skype.

Cheers

[dugnsuz]

The other CCDs to consider now are the 8300 sensor crop - but they're all out of the QHY8 price range (similar in price to the Pro though).
From what I've read through web trawling - The Sony sensor in the QHY8 (Pro or standard) is preferable to the Kodak 8300 sensor in the current crop of CCD available (even the QHY9!!).
I'm just talking through what I've learned online - probably best to listen to real world experiences like Hagar (Doug)
Watching with interest...
Doug

ps...see above!!!

[Tandum]

Well depth on the qhy8 is deeper than the 8300's. I wish they made the qhy8 chip in mono.

I don't believe the temp regulation on the qhy8 pro is worth the extra money. The qhy8 needed very few darks anyway and I believe theo, the AU agent for these cameras, does not do darks with the qhy8. I'd prefer a starlight 16 or 25 to the qhy8pro.

If they used quality products in the optic windows in the first place you wouldn't need to screw around trying to get rid of reflections. I guess that means they are built to a price.

[dugnsuz]

Sorry for off topic...but are there adapters to mount Canon EF lenses for use with QHY8 Pro CCDs?
And, are they easy to use (ie focus/ frame)?
Always looking at the widefield angle!!
Doug

[Tandum]

Doug, there's one for the qyh8 so all you need is a t-thread spacer to push it to the right distance.

[TechnoBill]

Hi just to muddy the waters a little bit. :-)
What Hagar said about being able to regulate the cooler is definately a Big plus. Starting off with minimal cooling and increasing it, will avoid lots of icing issues.

You can kind of do this with the QHY8 too. I don't know the price diff between the two cameras, but I already had the QHY8. It comes with a controller called a DC101. For about 100 bux extra you can buy a DC102 controller from Gamma. This is the one that can regulate the TEC on the Pro versions. It is also plug compatible with the QHY8, HOWEVER with the QHY8 there is no thermistat in the camera to read back the temperature. So by adding the DC102 you can use the controller to vary how much power goes to the TEC. So you can use the setting in the DC102 to set the cooling to a minimum initially then ramp it up later. You cant set an exact temp, you are more just setting power to tec from 0 to 100%

This is still not as good as the regulated cooling with the pro where you can set a specific temp. That would still be preferable, but it may be something to consider if its the difference between the two is a real stopper.

Regards
Bill D

[OzRob]

Thanks for the information Doug. It looks like it will be the pro.


That was my next question. I also like to be able to do some widefield photography. I would need to get a couple of half decent lenses and I hope I can get them on eBay. I suspect that the older manual lenses should do the trick?

[dugnsuz]

The L series Canon lenses are excellent. The 70-200mm f4L is a great way to get into them! Sharp as a tac and the "cheapest" one of the bunch.
But you're correct in that all the Autofocus functionality will be lost by coupling the lens to a CCD.
Doug