Philips SPC900NC webcam or Microsoft Lifecam HD Cinema Webcam for astrophotography

[flyingbaby (Allan Chan)]

I would like to know which webcam to use

Philips SPC900NC webcam

or

Microsoft Lifecam HD Cinema Webcam

for

Planetary work
astrophotography
Guiding Camera

Also please comment on the difficulty of doing it??

Hope to hear from anyone...

Thanks

Allan

[niko]

Allan,

the Philips would do all of the tasks you're interested in as it is a CCD chip camera. Is the Lifecam a CMOS or CCD camera? Avoid it if it's a CMOS. Have a bit of a trawl around this site for webcam posts and further on the web as there's some good info out there.

cheers

niko

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

Personally for planetary I would steer away from 900 now as it is old tech although it does have a high frame rate compared to many others it has a smaller resolution in comparison.

Most people buy the 900 because it can be modified for long exposures for fainter planets or bright nebs.

CMOS is noisier than CCD but some people have had good success with HD including myself (not lifecam).

I am yet to try guiding application myself as it doesn't appear to receive many stars to guide on, but I have only tested it on 1500mm FL which is not a good test.

I am investigating a webcam software that can stack image in real-time and see if it can record the stacking as well.

[RobF (Rob)]

I suspect you may struggle to get a lot of info on the Microsoft camera. The toucam has been a fantastic achiever for so many people for so many years you know you'll definitely be able to achieve something. Just Google or search here to see what I mean.

I have no personal experience with the Microsoft, but the toucam is a wonderful piece of kit for planetary and polar alignment. I used to use it for autoguiding but a bit on the insensitive side - would suggest you'd need a widefield and low focal ratio (F5'ish). F10 70mm refractor never worked well for me (difficult to find a guidestar).

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

In a word, ToUcam.

It just works across multiple applications with no probs. I've had an 840 and a 900 since they first came out and I still use them. They just work. And they work well for intro planetary, luna and guidecamera.

[LeoLion (Len)]

Garry Honis has a set of instructions for adapting the Microsoft Lifecam HD here http://ghonis2.ho8.com/lifecam/lifecam1.html and a nice housing for it (for astro) is available from Billet Parts UK here http://billetparts.co.uk/catalog/ind...f7c6b5dbd39fb6 . My unit works well as a webcam after re-housing but still awaits astro first light. Too many clouds over the UK at the moment- Just missed a Partial Solar Eclipse and Quadrantid meteor maximum on the same day . Grrrrrrrrr . Hope the info is of some help.