Quote:
Originally Posted by benklerk
HI
I want to get into astrophotography. I have a meade 8" ACF and a skywatcher NEQ6 Pro goto mount.
I have been looking at camera in the range of $2000 to $5000 I can found a few cameras. What do you thing of these.
Orion Parsec 8300
FLI Microline 8300
QSI 583WS
and possible the SBIG ST1000-C2 on the ATS website.
are there anymore that I have missed?
Also what is better Color or mono.
If I go with mono I know that I need to get color filters. How can I stack them to get a color picture. Can't I do the same on a color CCD chip.
For filters which brand is better, Astronomik or Baader.
I also live in Katoomba about 2 hrs away from Sydney, so I do have good skies.
Ben
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That's a nice problem you have chosing high end equipment.
I have had several CCD cameras. Most of them are very good really and it comes down to features.
The Orion is the odd one in that list. Its out of place as its a bit like saying BMW, Mercedes, Hyundai.
FLI is often considered the absolute best. I have 2 FLI cameras and I can say they are the best I have used and I intend to continue to use FLI cameras in the future. The most important feature of a CCD using the same Kodak or Sony chip is cooling. Powerful cooling solves almost all problems. Next is quality of electronics. I found out electronics of cameras are not the same brand to brand. Some are quite noisy even with the same chip. Then there is CCD chamber. FLI, Apogee have sealed argon filled chambers. They do not frost ever, they are stable.
SBIG cameras for example do not and need a desiccant plug to keep the chamber dry enough so the chip does not frost over when cooled. This works but needs to be serviced every now and then. My first SBIG camera though - an ST2000XM it did not work well and the desiccant needed to be baked often which was a pain.
QSI are popular as they offer a model with built in filter wheel and offaxis guider. Best to ask those using them on this site how they like it. I believe - as with any offaixs guider, the guider can be tricky to setup and I would check on this point about how easy or hard it is to use. I use a separate MMOAG offaxis guider but its another part, needs its own adapter etc etc a built in one would be really nice.
Orion are cheap and have their place in the market. They are not known for high end gear though as they are the Kmart of the astroworld. Quality may be an issue but they probably represent value for money.
Should that be SBIG STL11000 Class 2?
Topheart is selling one in the classifieds here for $4000. That's an amazing price and better than any of the above. The STL11 is a super well performing camera of proven performance. Other versions of it have improvements over it but as a complete camera with a built in filter wheel and self guiding for LRGB images it is hard to beat. Also it is a much larger chip so you will need a scope that can handle a chip that big. I think the 8 inch Meade ACF can handle it (best to check though).
I would pick a KAI chipped 11002 camera over a KAF8300 chipped camera. You are basically comparing APS sized (8300 is smaller actually) to full frame. Size matters.
Greg.
