Question on best camera for Ha solar imaging

[lineout]

Hi all,

I have a question which is no doubt going to open up a can of worms. I'm looking to get into solar astro-photography and was all set to buy the DayStar Quark & use my DSLR to capture images. Someone then said that a DSLR is not the way to go and I should look into a monochrome CDD & filters. I then started doing some research and found that colour CCds can be used as well. Now I'm confused. Which is best DLSR, mono CCD or colour ccd.

I'm looking for the nest balance between convenience & image quality.

What's everyone's thoughts?

Thanks

[alocky (Andrew lockwood)]

It sounds like you're interested in H-alpha solar imaging. In this case a Bayer matrix (the permanent array of colour filters over the chip in a colour camera) is going to waste 75% of your chip. You probably don't want a mono ccd either, since the best approach is video. There are a few mono vids around, the most popular at the moment being ZWO. I use a imaging source dmk41 which is a few years old, higher end manufacturers include point grey. The features you want are the biggest chip and the highest frame rate you an afford. size to minimise having to do a mosaic, and frame rate to help get as much data during periods of good seeing.
Having sad this, if you can record video on your DSLR this is probably a good place to start...
Cheers,
Andrew

[dannat (Daniel)]

most convenient is d-slr [it works standalone]..most people take single shots with these

but youll get better images caturing many frames [think video mode] using a mono ccd [a good colour ccd is in-between the 2] If you are just doing the Sun , mono is really what you want -as its really 1 clour [& you can colour it yourself]

you do have to rig it to a laptop though -which is less convenient & youll need drivers etc

[lineout]

Originally Posted by alocky

It sounds like you're interested in H-alpha solar imaging. In this case a Bayer matrix (the permanent array of colour filters over the chip in a colour camera) is going to waste 75% of your chip. You probably don't want a mono ccd either, since the best approach is video. There are a few mono vids around, the most popular at the moment being ZWO. I use a imaging source dmk41 which is a few years old, higher end manufacturers include point grey. The features you want are the biggest chip and the highest frame rate you an afford. size to minimise having to do a mosaic, and frame rate to help get as much data during periods of good seeing.
Having sad this, if you can record video on your DSLR this is probably a good place to start...
Cheers,
Andrew

Yeah should have mentioned I'm interested in Ha imaging.

I have a Canon 7D which shoots 1080p video, so maybe I'll start with that and see how I go.

[lineout]

Originally Posted by dannat

most convenient is d-slr [it works standalone]..most people take single shots with these

but youll get better images caturing many frames [think video mode] using a mono ccd [a good colour ccd is in-between the 2] If you are just doing the Sun , mono is really what you want -as its really 1 clour [& you can colour it yourself]

you do have to rig it to a laptop though -which is less convenient & youll need drivers etc

When you say "colour it yourself" how is that done? in post-processing or capturing RGB with a filter wheel?

[alocky (Andrew lockwood)]

Originally Posted by lineout

When you say "colour it yourself" how is that done? in post-processing or capturing RGB with a filter wheel?

H-alpha is only one colour, a very dark red that most colour cameras have very limited sensitivity to. The solar images you see that are yellow, orange, etc are all coloured in Photoshop.

[SteveInNZ]

I have a Quark and a 70D. It's not practical to get focus with the DSLR as the sensor is too far back.
Ideally you'd want a video camera with a large monochrome sensor and fast readout but if you were going to go for just one of those things, I'd go for the larger sensor. The inbuilt barlow in the Quark means that it takes lots of frames to build up a full disk with just a 80mm scope.
I use a QHY5L but might ask Santa for a ASI174 for that reason.

Steve.

[lineout]

Originally Posted by SteveInNZ

I have a Quark and a 70D. It's not practical to get focus with the DSLR as the sensor is too far back.
Ideally you'd want a video camera with a large monochrome sensor and fast readout but if you were going to go for just one of those things, I'd go for the larger sensor. The inbuilt barlow in the Quark means that it takes lots of frames to build up a full disk with just a 80mm scope.
I use a QHY5L but might ask Santa for a ASI174 for that reason.

Steve.

What's your view on monochrome vs colour?

So I'm getting the sense that DLSR is out and a specialised CCD is the way to go (oh God more money to spend)

[SteveInNZ]

It doesn't have to be too specialised. It's the Sun so there's plenty of light.
I don't know what you have or where you interests lie but I would consider it in that context. If you have a hankering for planetary imaging and don't want get into mono and filters for that, I'd go with a colour camera for that and also use it for the Sun. If you're going to buy a mono camera for guiding, then use that for the Sun.

Steve.

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

The ASI 174 is the way to go, mono, good pixel size and fast frame rates, stack 500-100 frames and you'll get close to the best solar images obtainable.
Which Ha solar scope do you intend to use??

[DarkKnight (Kev)]

Nikon have just released the D810A....

Introducing the new D810A, Nikon’s first FX-format DSLR*1 exclusively created for astrophotography

http://www.nikon.com.au/en_AU/produc...-cameras/d810a

I'm very new to this genre but I thought I'd just toss this into the ring.

Cheers

Kev

[lineout]

Originally Posted by Merlin66

The ASI 174 is the way to go, mono, good pixel size and fast frame rates, stack 500-100 frames and you'll get close to the best solar images obtainable.
Which Ha solar scope do you intend to use??

SW Black Diamond ED 80 will be the scope I use. Yes it has a longer focal length than recommended but it will do.

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

OK, but which Ha filter will you use?
The ED80 is a good "base" scope, I use it with a SM60/ BF10 combo.

[lineout]

Originally Posted by Merlin66

OK, but which Ha filter will you use?
The ED80 is a good "base" scope, I use it with a SM60/ BF10 combo.

The Daystar Quark.