Best webcam?

[Bruceaust]

Hi,

I am beginning to open my wallet to astrophotography!
There has been a lot of discussion about the Toucam (no longer made) and the Logitech Quickcam 4000 Pro ( fairly easy to get hold of). Are there any other Webcams (up to date) currently available that are as good as/or better for our purpose?

I am a Mac user so sometimes drivers can be a problem, but I can live with that.


I guess I am asking whats currently the way to go to get the best results?

Thanks

Bruce

[iceman (Mike)]

Hi Bruce

The ToUcam can still be bought - the 900nc is available from a few ebay stores and also from telescopes-astronomy in South Australia.

It's still probably the best budget one around.

However the next step up would be the D*K series from Astronomy Cameras.

The DBK is best for a 1-shot colour camera, and the DMK is best if you want to take the extra step and go a monochrome camera (obviously you'll need a filter wheel+filters to get a colour image).

The D*K's have faster framerates, no compression and are more sensitive.

Good luck!

[Bruceaust]

Thanks Mike

[Chief Wiggum (Warrick)]

Bruce, I just bought the Philips SPC900NC from Peter Tan in Hong Kong. Website is www.tan14.com/gears.htm Cost me $84AUD (including postage) and that included the telescope adaptor. Was delievered in about 4 days. Great service. Thought this might help.

Of course it's still in the packaging because it never stops raining in SE QLD!!
Cheers
Warrick

[troypiggo (Troy)]

Bruce - might be best to clarify what you are intending to image. Typically webcams are used for planetary imaging because you are taking AVI clips then breaking that down into individual frames and stacking to combat seeing etc.

If you are intending on using it for deep sky objects like nebulae, galaxies, clusters etc, that's a different story. You are after long exposures.

I'm pretty sure the SPC900NC is recommended a lot is that it will work fine for the planetary stuff, and it's fairly cheap and easy to modify to do the long exposure stuff too. Plenty of DIY/HowTo websites around to show you.

But not sure if some of the other webcams being recommended are as cheap/easy/desirable to modifiy for long exposures. I can't speak for Mike, but I'm assuming he was recommending the DMK/DBK cameras for planetary imaging only.

If you're looking to do the deep sky stuff, you might be looking at a DSLR or CCD camera instead.

I could be reading much more into it that I should, just thought I'd clarify so you don't waste money buying a camera that you think does something it doesn't.

[Bruceaust]

Thanks Troy and Warrick,

I am able to do any mods required to make the cams do long exposures as you described. I will obviously be starting out doing planetary images as I will be using a dob and platform. However I would also like to have the capability to experiment with other DS objects in the future. I understand that dedicated CCD cameras are expensive so I am considering the web cam option to put my toe in the water.

The Philips SPC900NC might be a good starting point?

I am already having some success with a borrowed Meade LPI and I am looking for something of my own as well as gaining any improvements that may be available at a similar cost.

Bruce

Bruce