ZWO ASI294MM Pro - Cooled Monochrome CMOS Camera for Astrophotography
ASI cameras have a very good finish with modern CMOS sensors. This camera uses Sony's state-of-the-art "back-illuminated" sensor.
Sony gives a sensor diagonal of 21.63 mm. However, measurements made by ZWO showed a true diagonal of 23.2 mm. The 4.3 µm pixels of the ASI294MM make this camera a versatile device with maximum sensitivity for short exposure times.
The ASI294MM convinces with a much higher light sensitivity, a smoother image and more depth. The stars saturate more slowly.
This monochrome version will allow you to make beautiful SHO images, which you can hardly do with its color counterpart.
Advantages and features of the ASI294MMPro monochrome camera
- USB 3.0 for fast download - can also be used with USB 2.0
- DDR3 buffer memory to improve data transfer reliability. Additionally, the use of a buffer minimizes amp glow, which is caused by slow transfer speeds when the camera is used with a USB 2.0 port.
- Powerful Peltier cooling up to 45°C below ambient temperature
- Sensitive CMOS sensor with a diagonal of 23.2 mm - 11.7 megapixels
- Good resolution thanks to its 4.63 µm pixels
- Delivered with AR protection window - complete transmission also in IR. If infrared is to be blocked, an IR cut filter is needed.
- Distance between male T2 connection thread and camera sensor: 6.5 mm
- Distance between T2 connection thread (with female conversion ring) and camera sensor: 17.5 mm
- Very high sensitivity - QE greater than 75% - ideal astronomy camera for dark objects
- 14-bit ADCs
- HCG mode - if the gain is greater than 120 (12 dB), readout noise is reduced below 2nd - - result: low noise images despite extremely high sensitivity.
- Full capacity of the 63700e well - even bright stars no longer burn, you get a better signal-to-noise ratio.
ASI294MMPRO camera application fields
- Deep sky images (nebulae and galaxies): Due to the high sensitivity, nebulae and galaxies are captured after only a few seconds. By cooling the camera up to 45°C below the ambient temperature, the already low noise can be further reduced. By increasing the gain (like the ISO setting of DSLR cameras), you can reduce exposure times below 30 seconds. The effects of sight or reader inaccuracies are eliminated.
- Lunar and planetary images: Extremely short exposure times (due to high sensitivity) freeze turbulence. Thanks to the high resolution of the sensor, many details can be reproduced even at a shorter focal length. Video mode is also possible.
A modular camera
ZWO provides you with a set of rings allowing you to reach a Backfocus of 55 mm easily. This backfocus is often used in astronomy with a wide range of correctors and is a distance to respect if you want round stars. Of course this distance must be checked according to the correctors because it is not always 55mm.
