Hi Dunk,
What you have said is exactly why I purchased the 224MC; I did a lot of research before I purchased this camera & like you have stated found it to be very good in terms of both sensitivity & noise levels.
Amusingly, I haven't actually used it that much for planetary work since I got it; between weather (our wet season) & shift working during the dry season, my opportunities for any astronomy have been extremely limited. I have however, managed to use it to provide live views of some DSO's on a tablet & played around with some DSO captures... a DSO camera it is not but, then again, it's not bad when you take into account it's limitations & use it accordingly.
Noise certainly is an issue up here; sensor temperature on the ZWO is routinely up around 35 degrees or more on the ZWO & I have no idea what the temp is on the DSLR. I'm toying with the idea of a heat sink & fan setup on the ZWO to drop the temp a little; I don't want to go the Peltier route as dew point here is usually high & it will induce moisture buildup.
With the DSLR, I need to investigate turning off some internal functions that aren't required to try & minimise heat buildup as much as possible.
Fortunately, to some extent the noise issue can be ameliorated in post processing together with darks & flats; again, something I am only just beginning to experiment with.
Whilst a purpose built cooled camera would be nice, it's not on my agenda for a long time (if ever, in fact) partly because of cost & partly because I think I will be able to achieve acceptable results with what I have.
As you say, best thing is to get to grips with what I have & push them to the limit before determining whether something else is needed or, I have reached the point of personal satisfaction with the outcomes. I have my plan of attack... it involves the KISS principal & moving ahead one step at a time, only when I have become competent in the previous step. First in line is getting my head around the EQ mount I just acquired; it's not the greatest mount ever but, it was very cheap (2nd hand) & will keep me happy for sometime to come I suspect.
The next purchase will likely be an 80mm APO but, not solely for AP; we have some travel plans that involve flying which makes taking the SCT or my next acquisition (a Gondwana Marana 12" dob} impractical. My decision on purchasing an APO will come down to how my little Orion 80mm ST performs both visually & for basic AP (I know it will have issues but, they may be acceptable in the short term), I also am thinking about something like the Sky Adventurer mount to combine with a decent photo tripod, again for air travel but, if I decide to only go with visual, then one of the cheap handraulic mounts I currently own will suffice for my immediate needs.
Cheers
Quote:
Originally Posted by Camelopardalis
Carlton, for planetary with your SCT, the 224 will be streets ahead of anything else. Only the 290 comes close. It’s just the most sensitive to date.
DSLR must be tricky up there with the noise, it’s bad enough down here for half the year  I ended up buying a cooled camera and it works well. There are plenty of options...
Best thing I can suggest is get to grips with your gear and get some images you’re happy with before splashing out on too many toys. Especially when it comes to the cameras, the technology is changing all the time and it doesn’t make sense to buy one you’re not ready to make full use of. |