First light with a ZWO ASI 120mm
First light with a ZWO ASI 120mm
Hi Folks--
With the Grasshopper 3 in the shop for repair I picked up this little camera to play with in the meantime---I was curious about it after reading Damien Peach's review in the UK's "Astronomy Now" magazine. Evidently this camera is becoming fairly popular with the planetary imagers. Its relatively "cheap" at abt $328.00 US. I tried some higher res shots but ran into some nasty Newtons Rings that I didnt feel like fiddlying with today.
This is a USB 2 camera with a CMOS chip. It connects and operates with either Sharpcap or Firecapture. It can capture in either 8 bit avi's or 16 bit ser files (when using Firecapture 2.3 beta). It has fairly small pixels (3.75 microns) with a pixel array of 1280 x 960. It captures 35 FPS in 8bit or 15 FPS in 16 bit at full resolution. Noise seems fairly low---The images below were taken with the Lunt 100 DS. Best 251 frames out of 1525 total. They are both from a 16 bit ser file. A .5 Antares reducer was used to get the full disk in one capture.
Jim
With the Grasshopper 3 in the shop for repair I picked up this little camera to play with in the meantime---I was curious about it after reading Damien Peach's review in the UK's "Astronomy Now" magazine. Evidently this camera is becoming fairly popular with the planetary imagers. Its relatively "cheap" at abt $328.00 US. I tried some higher res shots but ran into some nasty Newtons Rings that I didnt feel like fiddlying with today.
This is a USB 2 camera with a CMOS chip. It connects and operates with either Sharpcap or Firecapture. It can capture in either 8 bit avi's or 16 bit ser files (when using Firecapture 2.3 beta). It has fairly small pixels (3.75 microns) with a pixel array of 1280 x 960. It captures 35 FPS in 8bit or 15 FPS in 16 bit at full resolution. Noise seems fairly low---The images below were taken with the Lunt 100 DS. Best 251 frames out of 1525 total. They are both from a 16 bit ser file. A .5 Antares reducer was used to get the full disk in one capture.
Jim
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Re: First light with a ZWO ASI 120mm
Thanks Jim. I was wondering about this one. Looks like it has potential for us folks on the low end pay scales. Can't wait to see what else it can do in the hands of an experienced imager. CMOS is working hard to catch up.
Best,
Joe Jim
Best,
Joe Jim
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Re: First light with a ZWO ASI 120mm
Hi Jim
Very nice first light for the camera....looks promising for some of the newer CMOS chips.
Brian
Very nice first light for the camera....looks promising for some of the newer CMOS chips.
Brian
Brian Colville
Maple Ridge Observatory
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WL, G-Band & CaK Setup: Lunt Wedge & Lunt B1800CaK, Baader K-Line and Altair 2nm G-Band filter
ASI1600MM, ASI432MM, ASI294MM Pro, ASI174MM, ASI462MM
Maple Ridge Observatory
Cambray, ON Canada
Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/185395281@N08/albums
10'x15 Roll-off Roof Observatory
Takahashi EM400 Mount carrying:
C14 + Lunt 80ED
Deep Sky Work - ASI294MM Pro+EFW 7x36/Canon 60D (Ha mod), ONAG
Planetary Work - SBIG CFW10, ASI462MM
2.2m Diameter Dome
iOptron CEM70G Mount carrying:
Orion EON 130ED, f7 OTA for Day & Night Use
Ha Setup: Lunt LS80PT/LS75FHa/B1200Ha + Home Brew Lunt Double Stack/B1800Ha on the Orion OTA + Daystar Quantum
WL, G-Band & CaK Setup: Lunt Wedge & Lunt B1800CaK, Baader K-Line and Altair 2nm G-Band filter
ASI1600MM, ASI432MM, ASI294MM Pro, ASI174MM, ASI462MM
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Re: First light with a ZWO ASI 120mm
That's a great result Jim, it's just a shame of the troubles with Newtons rings though at higher mags...
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Re: First light with a ZWO ASI 120mm
Thanks Jim it may be a good camera at a low price for outreach ventures.
Re: First light with a ZWO ASI 120mm
Thank you Jim for this Test.
To see the potential of this camera, and to see the noise, you should force the gamma on the deep sky to see the noise. In your image, black is too black to see the noise, and faint proms could vanish.
But this is for sure a excellent image.
To see the potential of this camera, and to see the noise, you should force the gamma on the deep sky to see the noise. In your image, black is too black to see the noise, and faint proms could vanish.
But this is for sure a excellent image.
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Re: First light with a ZWO ASI 120mm
Not too bad Jim. I played with Fire Capture tonight with the ZWO 120MM and confirm the 15fps at 16 Bits. Will try on the sun tomorrow if possible. Looks like it will produce a fine mosaic at 16 Bit. The camera price for result puts it way up there for most of the guys. I was always pretty impressed with it although I have mostly only used it on the proms. Also the newton rings can be sorted by tilting or flats. They really have not presented me with too much of a problem.
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Re: First light with a ZWO ASI 120mm
Beautiful job with that new camera Jim.
Ray
Ray
Have a sunny clear day !
Raymond Lalonde
Lat 45.02 N , Long 74.7 W
Cornwall, Ont. Canada
Raymond Lalonde
Lat 45.02 N , Long 74.7 W
Cornwall, Ont. Canada
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Re: First light with a ZWO ASI 120mm
Hi Jim
that camera is a fine price/performance choice
that camera is a fine price/performance choice
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