On his web site, SkyTrip.de, Mario Weigand has published a review of the DMK 21BF04 FireWire camera. The review is written in German.

We have translated the main text of the review from German into English to make it accessible to our world wide audience.

Copyright information and source is cited at the end of the review.

Mario Weigand writes:

As my old ATiK 1HS II was broken, I needed to get a new camera that ideally was technologically better than the old one. I wanted the camera to output uncompressed images at a high frame rate. The CCD should be comparable to the one in the old camera and offer similar performance.

As the camera I was going to purchase would output a large data stream (due to its high frame rate), it was important that the connection to the host PC be as fast as possible - certainly faster than USB 1.1. USB 2 and FireWire are currently the only interfaces that come in to question.

At the time of my product research, it was impossible to buy any decent USB 2 cameras, hence I decided to go for one with a FireWire interface. I came across a company called The Imaging Source. They manufacture high quality industrial cameras with FireWire connectors.

Two cameras in their range came into question: DMK 21BF04 and DMK 21F04. They differ only in their maximum exposure time. I decided to purchase the more expensive DMK 21BF04, as I wanted to be able to expose the camera for several seconds, in order to capture faint Moon images, for example.

Using this camera, I am able to capture up to 30 frames per second. The high sensitivity of the camera, especially in comparison to the ToUcam, allows narrow-band filters to be used.

The workmanship of the camera is top notch. Similarly, the software that ships with the camera is well thought through and works well. Furthermore, the base of the camera has three threads that allow the small cube to be mounted on a normal tripod from any photography shop.

Text and images copyright Mario Weigand.

Source: http://www.skytrip.de/dmk21.htm

Dietmar Hager from Austria has published a whole series of astounding sun images that he has captured with his DMK 21F04.

Below are a couple that especially caught my attention.

See his web site for the complete series:

http://stargazer.christelhager.info/sun.htm

The fifth day of the fifth month in the Chinese calendar or June 19, 2007 (this year) sees many Chinese-speaking people celebrate their Dragon Boat Festival.

During the festival, dragon boat races take place, in which competing teams row boats to the rhythm of pounding drums. This lively and colorful tradition has continued unbroken for centuries to the present day.

But what does this have to do with astronomy cameras?

In the Yahoo! Groups ‘DMK CCD Cameras’ Mailing List, Oldfield So from Hong Kong recently presented himself and his work to the group. His main interests lie in capturing solar images with his DMK 31AF03 FireWire camera.

In the synopsis to his ‘Oldfield’s Observation Log and Astronomy Topics‘ blog, he writes:

My major interest is solar observation, lunar and planets mostly due to the poor sky in Hong Kong. I also love to do some short exposure wide field images, when I’ve time and a suitable sky. This is my observation blog and also any topics related to astronomy.

Below is an image of the Sun that reminds Oldfield of a rice dumpling with a boiled egg yolk inside - a type of food typically consumed during the Dragon Boat Festival.

His blog is bursting with spectacular solar, lunar and planetary photos. It is well worth a look:

http://osastrolog.blogspot.com/

This past week I had the opportunity of visiting the International Robots and Machine Vision Show held at the Rosemont Convention Center in “The Windy City“, Chicago, Illinois. As the yearly gathering for manufacturers, buyers, and sellers of the latest and greatest “toys” for the machine industry (like The Imaging Source), for many, this one was the best yet. The show was chalk full of hands-on demonstrations, new product presentations, and even a brief magic show. This hands-on demo saw many attendees!

Although I couldn’t make it to the Ernie Banks Tribute Night at Wrigley Field, I had the pleasure of shaking hands with Steve Squyers, Principal Investigator for the Science Payload on the Mars Exploration Rover Project. His talk entitled “Roving Mars: Spirit, Opportunity and the Exploration of the Red Planet”, provided an up-to-date summary of the missions of Spirit and Opportunity, from their initial conception through their development, launch, landing, and operations on the surface of Mars.

Dr. Squyers shared engineering stories and panoramic photographs never before heard nor seen culminating with remarks on the newly found silica rich Martian under layer further signifying a water laden past for The Red Planet. After reviewing 1200 days of the Mission, the highlight for this solar head-case, was the Rover’s self-portrait with the first ever recorded Martian Solar Eclipse in the distant background. For these and more inspiring images, go to the dedicated Rover NASA site:

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html

Many DMK users and potential customers have contacted both AstronomyCameras.com and The Imaging Source wondering the differences between our astro cameras and their industry counterparts. This answer, as well as, the reason behind the 64 thousand dollar question, is quite fascinating and warrants this post.

A few years ago, a few eager imaging buffs like yourself, looking for higher quality yet affordable astrophotography cameras ran across the DMK line and adapted them to fit their needs and their scopes. These pioneers subsequently contacted The Imaging Source with numerous questions and comments regarding the features of the robust IC Capture software. With the help of the software developers at The Imaging Source, the astronomers were not only able to update their DMK’s (and their blue siblings), but also increase the functionality of the cameras. The so called “dot” AS version of the software now included the ability to extend the exposure time to 60 minutes for deep sky attempts.

After receiving countless kudos and just as many images from the astro community, The Imaging Source decided to launch an additional company division beginning with the advertisement in Sky & Telescope (and this blog!). To see the DMK in all its 4 color glory, pick up this months issue or just click here !

imagingsource_jul_st.pdf