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Why is QHY8 so cheap?

michaelmorris

By michaelmorris
in Discussions - Cameras

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michaelmorris

michaelmorris

Posted
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I'm rather foolishly looking at long term plans for upgrading my DSO imaging set up. I presently have a modified Canon 1100D. It strikes me that logical next step would be to get a mono CCD camera for taking luminance/narrow band data to add to that captured with the DSLR. The QHY8 seems to me to be by far the cheapest DSLR chip sized CCD camera available. Why the price difference?

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Zakalwe

Zakalwe

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Its quite an old camera and it's not without it's share of problems. Sensor icing and chip orthogonality are the ones that seem to come up regularly. Both issues are manageable, but not for a complete newbie.

Luckily, QHY's quality control and design have some on massively since this generation of camera was launched.

 

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Zakalwe

Zakalwe

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The QHY8 has been replaced by the QHY8 Pro.  It has the same chip, improved cooling and it has a new narrow barrel body, to better support Farstar / Hyperstar imaging.

You also have the QHY8L, which is now £ 999,-.

Both are colour cameras. The OP is looking for a mono.

The nearest equivalent is probably the QHY9. It's still the old design. 8.9 megapixels, big sensor.

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Thalestris24

Thalestris24

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Yeah qhy9 is probably the nearest mono but £1500 just for the camera, lol. You also need the filters and filter wheel... Mono/LRGB/Narrowband is expensive!

It's useful to have a look over the qhy forum to see what, if any, problems people have had with their cameras: http://qhyccd.com/ccdbbs/index.php?board=5.0

Also, maybe check out the sensor characteristics, camera cooling, etc. As a osc ccd newbie I've found it quite different to imaging with a dslr!

Louise

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Thalestris24

Thalestris24

Posted
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I'm rather foolishly looking at long term plans for upgrading my DSO imaging set up. I presently have a modified Canon 1100D. It strikes me that logical next step would be to get a mono CCD camera for taking luminance/narrow band data to add to that captured with the DSLR. The QHY8 seems to me to be by far the cheapest DSLR chip sized CCD camera available. Why the price difference?

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Hi

Just re-read your original post... Um, I don't think it would be straightforward to merge images between different cameras. It might be easier, and a lot cheaper, to simply use Astronomik clip filters with your 1100d. It would mean longer exposures though...

Louise

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Zakalwe

Zakalwe

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Registar will register and align images from different cameras and taken with different orientations no problem. I have used it to register H-a images taken with an Atik 428 into OSC images from a QHY8L.

The 20 series cameras use chips that are much smaller than the DSLR sensor, so you'd be into mosaics.

Big-chipped mono cameras are expensive, so you'd probably be better off looking for a 2nd hand Atik 383 or a 2nd hand QHY9 mono.

or just junk the idea and go for a modern camera that will probably be more sensitive.

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Thalestris24

Thalestris24

Posted
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Registar will register and align images from different cameras and taken with different orientations no problem. I have used it to register H-a images taken with an Atik 428 into OSC images from a QHY8L.

The 20 series cameras use chips that are much smaller than the DSLR sensor, so you'd be into mosaics.

 

Big-chipped mono cameras are expensive, so you'd probably be better off looking for a 2nd hand Atik 383 or a 2nd hand QHY9 mono.

 

or just junk the idea and go for a modern camera that will probably be more sensitive.

Oh ok - I'll have to bear 'Registar' in mind! :)

Thanks

Louise

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perfrej

perfrej

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Any decent stacking software should be able to stack regardless of resolution. Registrar does, as does Pixinsight. Don't know about the rest, but if they need the exact same resolution they're not really good for anything in my opinion.

As for the cameras... KAF-8300 is an excellent sensor but the quality of the read electronics vary between manufacturers, with FLI, Apogee and QSI at the top, SBIG and Atik in the middle and the rest at he bottom. Without having tried one, I have a feeling that Moravian may very well rank in the top section, so that will be my next choice of CCD supplier.

So, in direct reply to the question posed - what's the difference - I'd say "you get what you pay for". Lower price gives more read noise, a camera more prone to misalignment and freezing, and probably less cooling power. 2 cents.

/p

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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Very happy with my Atik 383L+, but as with any 8300 sensor camera - youre going to need big filters if going below f6.

I'll be bringing mine along next week if you want to see one up close.

But you don't need the full-on, full price (!!!) two inch. Baader do a mid size just for this chip, I imagine.

Olly

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Uranium235

Uranium235

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I went for 2" mounted because Im not quite comfortable with unmounted - the idea of actually potentially having to touch the filter surface to insert or remove an unmounted filter gives me the shivers. I've broken my transition to 2" down into steps, first the Lum, next was Ha, Ive just got the OIII. The next two will be R and B, with G and SII coming in last.

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r3i

r3i

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Oh ok - I'll have to bear 'Registar' in mind! :)

Thanks

Louise

Nebulosity also offers a translation, rotation and rescaling facility - admittedly not as sophisticated as Registar but a lot cheaper.

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