ZWO ASI 533MM Pro - finally!

[Craig_]

I see ZWO have recently announced, and now made available for pre-order, the monochrome version of the 533MC Pro. Long overdue IMO, I've always said I'd buy this camera immediately if it ever became available and indeed I've put a pre-order in for it.

I've been really happy with the 533MC - the sensor is excellent quality and cut from the same silicon so to speak as the 2600 and 6200 sensors. I really don't need an APS-C sized sensor and whilst a 4/3 sensor would have been OK I was never happy with the IQ compromsies with those ones.

Anyone else going to get this camera? Of course with all the cloud who knows when I'll even get a chance to use it Going to pick up a set of 31mm unmounted Chroma filters to go with it I think, won't be a cheap exercise all said and done but looking forward to jumping into mono imaging.

[JohnH]

Ummm...."whilst a 4/3 sensor would have been OK I was never happy with the IQ compromsies with those" - can you explain what you mean? I cannot see how IQ is related to sensor size. The pixel size and well depth and dark current impact it amongst other things. So you need to match to your chip to you optic to get a good image scale but I cannot see any intrinsic reason why APS-C is better. In fact the larger sensor may give you more issues with vignetting, field flatness etc.

[AdamJL]

Originally Posted by JohnH

Ummm...."whilst a 4/3 sensor would have been OK I was never happy with the IQ compromsies with those" - can you explain what you mean? I cannot see how IQ is related to sensor size. The pixel size and well depth and dark current impact it amongst other things. So you need to match to your chip to you optic to get a good image scale but I cannot see any intrinsic reason why APS-C is better. In fact the larger sensor may give you more issues with vignetting, field flatness etc.

It’d be more related to optics. The bigger the sensor, the more precise your focus has to be and the more you have to worry about optical performance at the edges.

[AdamJL]

Yeah it looks like a nice camera, but it’s unnecessarily massive.
A guy on the NINA Discord has been testing it.

[Craig_]

Originally Posted by JohnH

Ummm...."whilst a 4/3 sensor would have been OK I was never happy with the IQ compromsies with those" - can you explain what you mean? I cannot see how IQ is related to sensor size. The pixel size and well depth and dark current impact it amongst other things. So you need to match to your chip to you optic to get a good image scale but I cannot see any intrinsic reason why APS-C is better. In fact the larger sensor may give you more issues with vignetting, field flatness etc.

What I was alluding to is that the available 4/3 sensors on the market today use different designs to the sensors used in the 533/2600/6200 bodies. So, for example, these come with other compromises like amp glow, higher noise, sensor reflection artifacts, take your pick, depending on the model etc.

If there was an 4/3 sensor using the same design as the 533/2600/6200 I'd quite happily use it. That silicon is the bees knees IMO.

[Craig_]

Originally Posted by AdamJL

Yeah it looks like a nice camera, but it’s unnecessarily massive.
A guy on the NINA Discord has been testing it.

It's the same size as the 533MC, which is to say, smaller than the APS-C and larger bodies. Most of the space taken up is due to the cooler I suppose. But at 470g I am not complaining, I never found the 533MC to be too big but YMMV of course.