QHY QHY5III585C v2 Color CMOS Planetary & Guide Camera

Color CMOS Planetary Camera with 8.4MP Sensor & NIR Enhancement!

The QHY5III585C is a color astronomy camera that can do planetary, lunar, and solar imaging, and also works beautifully as a guider when used with the ST-4 guide port. It is a member of the new generation of QHY planetary guide cameras with better compatibility, more memory, a USB3.2 Gen1 Type-C interface, and more. The Sony IMX585 BSI (back side illuminated) sensor is very sensitive in near infrared, in fact it is about 1.7X more sensitive in NIR than its predecessor, the 485C. The photodiode portion of the IMX585 BSI pixel well is physically deeper than in previous sensors, allowing photons of longer wavelengths to penetrate deeper into the substrate. This dramatically increases the sensor’s sensitivity to red and near-infrared (NIR) light. The sensor displays almost equal peak sensitivity to NIR light as it does to light in the visible spectrum!

The 8.4MP Starvis II back-illuminated CMOS sensor has a whopping 3856 x 2180 effective pixel area. Back-illuminated CMOS sensors have better full well capacity than standard front-illuminated sensors since light does not have to pass through the embedded wire structure. This allows more photons to strike the photo-sensitive layer, which generates more electrons that are captured in the pixel well, resulting in higher quantum efficiency.

The QHY5i8ii585C also benefits from the enhanced dynamic range (88 dB) of the IMX585 due to Sony STARVIS II onboard processor. It has a pixel size of 2.9um for imaging of all solar system objects and a full frame rate of 23.5 FPS at 16bit.

QHY5III585C Includes All the Latest V2 Upgrades

The QHY5III585C includes all the improvements and upgrades found in the V2 version of the 5III series of cameras. Here are just a few features of this exciting, and inexpensive, planetary camera and guider:

• 512MB DDR3 Memory: Planetary photography often requires high data transmission in a short amount of time. With a 512MB DDR3 image buffer, pressure on computer transmission is reduced significantly.

• New Front-End Design: The QHY5III V2 cameras, including the 585C, is not only compatible with C or CS lenses, and can shoot through those lenses with filters attached, they are also supportive of a 1.25" telescope interface. Mounted 1.25" filters can be attached to the front end of the QHY5III585C body, and unmounted 1.25" filters, such as lab filters, can be attached above the sensor, giving you a lot of choices in filtering for your images.

• Extended NIR Sensitivity: As mentioned above, the Sony STARVIS II IMX585 BSI CMOS color sensor has extended near infrared sensitivity. This NIR sensitivity is due in part to a physically deeper pixel well which allows longer wavelengths like red & NIR to penetrate deeper into the substrate.

• USB3.2 Gen1 Type C Interface: The version 2 QHY5III cameras have been upgraded from USB3.0 Type B interfaces to USB3.2 Type C. This interface lasts longer and is more flexible, although it is recommended that you use the official Type-C QHY data cable for quality assurance and proper camera function.

• Universal Guiding Interface: The normal ST-4 guiding interface used in previous generations of planetary cameras has been replaced with a more universal ST-4 interface. This upgrade makes it easier to get a replacement cable should the one provided become damaged or lost.

• Indicator LED: A multi-colored status indicator light is located on the back of the camera to alert you of any functionality issues should they occur. The indicator light stays off if all is good, but if a problem arises, the indicator LED will flash to indicate a problem. The color of the flashing light will be dependent on which problem you are having.