Need Help deciding between my 1st ZWO Camera - Please help!

houdini1911

Hello to everyone. I have been lurking around this forum for a while and need some desperate help in choosing a camera. I appreciate all the help in advance.

I have been out of astronomy for many many years now. I honestly have not even looked thru a telescope in over 20 years. But now I have a 8 and 11 year old that is starting to show interest in the stars so we decided to buy some new modern equipment that we just got from Santa Claus!

My main scope will be a Celestron Evolution 8 (8 inch) and my more portable set up will be a Celestron 5SE. Everything is stock right now.

I know these are not the "recommended astrophotography" set ups, but it is what I have to work with at the moment.

Ironically, I have been a free-lance photographer for many years, but I want to leave my DSLR equipment out of the picture for the moment and focus on a ZWO camera.

What I am interested in shooting: Lunar and planetary imaging AND be able to play around with some bright deep-sky objects.

The Cameras in Question: I am looking at the ZWO ASI120S Super Speed Color CMOS Camera - USB 3.0 AND THE ZWO ASI178MC Color Astronomy Camera.

I know these are primaraly Planet cameras, but I do want to get my feet wet in some of the brighter DSO's. Once I get more into the dso, I know I will need to buy a harder core camera, wedge ( which is on order) and autoguider.

Right now I need help deciding which is a better "all around" camera, the 120 or the 178. I know the 120 is proven and been around for a long time. There is no shortage of images on the web. The 178 on the other hand is much newer and has limited images and reviews compared to the 120.

Were I get confused (one of the many places) is the fact that the 178 is said to be a better camera, but it has smaller pixels which in my limited knowledge means less sensitive and for DSO you want sensitive cameras. BUT, the 178 has a higher resolution that the 120, and a more modern chip, so I don't know which is better.

Basically, I dont want to outgrow the camera too fast. As I mentioned, I know that if I get hooked on DSO photography, I will need to invest in a better camera and a better mount etc...... But I want to live in the NOW and just get the better of the two cameras.

Since I want USB 3.0 (120S) the price difference between the two cameras is about $140.00.

Any advice and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

riklaunim

Smaller pixels doesn't equal less sensitive - you would have to compare them at the same resolution with bigger pixels (and not at the same f/ratio).

8" SCT is a very good aperture for planetary and lunary imaging (as well as it's very lightweight, so it may replace that 5SE too ;)). If you really want a color camera then rather pick ASI224 as it's much better than ASI120.

Color ASI178 has the problem of really small pixels but at good f/ratio it could work similar to ASI224 in terms of DS imaging. As both cameras have small pixels you will either have to use a lens with them on EQ mount (or with a wedge on alt/az) or try to find Meade f/3.3 SCT reducer/corrector (it's for sensors 1/3" and smaller diagonals so 178 would not fit entirely by the book). Then in both cases taking a lot of short exposed frames would do the trick (like for an hour or two).

Note that without processing and getting some experience you won't get as good images as those found on the internet.

houdini1911

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riklaunim

You can use M42 (old cheap) or Canon lenses with cameras:

IMG_2776.jpg

The advantage is very short focal length so a) small pixels doesn't give to high resolution, b) guiding may be even unnecessary. c) doesn't require a telescope.

f/6.3 SCT focal reducer would be good for sensors with rather bigger pixels. With ASI178 you would have to have very good guiding, focus and sky conditions (and keep exposures short to prevent seeing affecting DS images) = hard to do ;)

houdini1911

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