(tifs replaced-sorry) Player One Astronomy Apollo M MAX vs PGR Grasshopper Express

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(tifs replaced-sorry) Player One Astronomy Apollo M MAX vs PGR Grasshopper Express

Post by solarchat »

I have been using the new Player One Astronomy Apollo M MAX camera for a couple weeks now in appreciation of Sean Wang marketing a camera directly to Solar Imagers, a first in the industry. He has said that he will also put out Mac and PC software for capture and stacking in the near future. This is something that I have talked to every retailer and manufacturer out there about for over a decade and finally someone sees the value in our niche market. I realize that this camera can also be used for planetary and lunar but I think it is great that Player One is packaging and marketing it to us. I fully support that and hope that it catches on. This hobby could sorely use some manufacturer support but Apple has made it cost prohibitive for small companies to write apps for the OS. I never thought I would be saying that about Apple as it was basically founded by and for the niche nerds to write code but, times have changed.

Anyway, here are some stills and videos from the live driveway broadcast I did with both cameras the other day.
Not unexpectedly, the PGR had more room for editing and post processing with it's 3x resolution but since PGR and the software used to run it, ASTRO IIDC, are no longer in business...uh, well.
I am ecstatic at the high frame rate and ease of use of the Apollo M MAX. 130 fps with zero bogging on a 2011 iMac with 16GB of RAM is pretty impressive and 20 times the frame rate from the PGR. It's UV sensitivity is far superior also. The packaging is very cool and it comes with an actual heavy duty USB cable. There is also a very ingenious focal plane tilting adjustment built right in to the camera housing allowing the removal of Newton's rings if they present themselves.
I highly recommend this camera for the beginner and novice solar astronomer/imager.
20220111_121903_L_96LN-color.jpg
20220111_121903_L_96LN-color.jpg (4.96 MiB) Viewed 251 times
110122_125711.jpg
110122_125711.jpg (774.94 KiB) Viewed 251 times
20220111_115948_L_82LN-color.jpg
20220111_115948_L_82LN-color.jpg (1.61 MiB) Viewed 251 times
110122_132416.jpg
110122_132416.jpg (366.04 KiB) Viewed 251 times
20220111_123736_L_70LN-inverted.jpg
20220111_123736_L_70LN-inverted.jpg (2.28 MiB) Viewed 251 times
110122_131851.jpg
110122_131851.jpg (465.69 KiB) Viewed 251 times


















Stephen W. Ramsden
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Founder/Director Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project
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Re: Player One Astronomy Apollo M MAX vs PGR Grasshopper Express

Post by EGRAY_OBSERVATORY »

Thanks Stephen for the videos (still to be watched), but unable to open those shown below, as TIFF and possibly too large.
Can they be added as JPEG format, where no detail will really be lost ???

Terry

110122_125711.tiff
110122_125711.tiff (6.7 MiB) Viewed 12 times
20220111_121903_L_96LN-color.tif
20220111_121903_L_96LN-color.tif (31.71 MiB) Viewed 12 times
110122_131851.tiff
110122_131851.tiff (5.85 MiB) Viewed 12 times
20220111_123736_L_70LN-inverted.tif
20220111_123736_L_70LN-inverted.tif (32.77 MiB) Viewed 12 times
110122_132416.tiff
110122_132416.tiff (6.75 MiB) Viewed 12 times
20220111_115948_L_82LN-color.tif
20220111_115948_L_82LN-color.tif (29.08 MiB) Viewed 12 times

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Re: Player One Astronomy Apollo M MAX vs PGR Grasshopper Express

Post by Montana »

Thanks Stephen, but the Tif files won't open and they are absolutely huge!, can you upload JPEGs instead so they open up in the post :)

Great videos :bow what luck to get a plane transit too :hamster:

Alexandra


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Re: Player One Astronomy Apollo M MAX vs PGR Grasshopper Express

Post by torsinadoc »

Nice transit. Thanks for posting the videos. Mine was shipped today. I cant wait to test it with my Daystar set up. I was going to use sharpcap but noticed it worked well with FC. I may test it SC, FC and Genika.


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Re: Player One Astronomy Apollo M MAX vs PGR Grasshopper Express

Post by marktownley »

Interesting results Stephen, I quite like the results of the cameras.

I can't see the images from the uploaded TIFF files, is it just a Brit thing or is same for everyone?


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Re: (tifs replaced-sorry) Player One Astronomy Apollo M MAX vs PGR Grasshopper Express

Post by solarchat »

I run the forum and I can't remember to post jpgs instead of tifs... lol

edited and sorry


Stephen W. Ramsden
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Founder/Director Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project
http://www.solarastronomy.org
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Re: (tifs replaced-sorry) Player One Astronomy Apollo M MAX vs PGR Grasshopper Express

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Steven,
The Player One camera does a wonderful job. I think ZWO is going to have a real competitor now!

James


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Re: (tifs replaced-sorry) Player One Astronomy Apollo M MAX vs PGR Grasshopper Express

Post by Montana »

They look fab :bow :hamster:

Alexandra


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