Zwo Asi 533 mc pro

EuWGb838

I'm having issues finding information on how to set up the camera. When I run the camera it looks like there is alot of pixelation. Is there something i'm missing? I'm fairly new and never had a dslr camera. I'm trying to figure out how to calibrate it to where there is less noise and better quality. However there is no information on how to set it up as far as the parameters and what software is best to run it through to yield best results. Would appreciate some help! Also not sure if my backfocus is correct

flappah

EuWGb838 oh man. This is a rather general question you’re asking. There is not much to go on. I’ve got a 533mc pro on a ZWO ff 80 telescope with an AM5 mount. It’s working wonders. But there is a rather steep learning curve to do.

Sooo how did you start out? And what do have right now? Which telescope, which mount? I assume you’re using an ASIAIR. What settings? Do you use a filter or not? There are so many questions. Let’s try it step by step.

johnpd

The ASI533MC Pro is not a DSLR camera. It is a dedicated CMOS astronomical camera. These color cameras create images in what is known as a Bayer pattern. Any program you use to open or process them needs to "debayer" the image to get rid of the "pixelation". What were you using to do this? To eliminate noise you need to create "darks" which when stacked with the light images will eliminate a lot of the noise.

There are numerous programs you can use to take the images.

For Deep Space objects you can use:
a. ZWO's ASIStudio's ASIImg and stack with ASIDeepStack
b. SharpCap
c. NINA
to name a few.
For Lunar, Planetary, and Solar (normally you would capture videos for this,preferable in .SER format)
a. ZWO's ASIStudio's ASICap and stack with ASIVideoStack
b. SharpCap
there may be others.

For Processing images, there are numerous options out there. Some include stacking and some do not.

PixInsight is the most popular but has a rather steep learning curve and a little expensive.
Photoshop (again rather expensive)
Affinity Photo is good, does not cost you an arm and a leg)
Siril is very good and "free".
There are numerous others.

Regarding backfocus that depends on your telescope and whether you are using a focal reducer. Go out in the daytime and focus at a long distance object to determine a good approximation. That may need to be tweaked a bit when working on an actual sky object.

The ASI533MC Pro is a great camera. I have gotten good results with it.

Good luck,
JohnD

Astrop

The first thing to go through is how is it physically connected up to your optics. If you're not using a flattener or rear corrective lens for your main optics there is no backspacing required as long as the focus travel of your main scope can focus onto your sensor. If you are using a corrective lens then that lens has a specification for projecting a point of focus a set distance onto a camera sensor once the main optics have reach its focus point, typically this distance of backfocus is 55mm but it isn't always. Using filters can change this distance slightly too.