Disclaimer: This text is part of a five part series, which was originally published in the UK magazine Astronomy Now. The text is copyright Pole Star Publications Ltd, the publisher of the magazine and the images are copyright Nick Howes, the astro-photographer. Text and images have been reproduced here with kind permission of Astronomy Now and Nick Howes respectively.

Up until the turn of this century, imaging Solar System objects was either something you spent a huge sum of money on a professional CCD on, or you used film.

The images printed in many astronomy books and magazines up to that date, even from the largest professional ground-based telescopes, were often relatively poor. Then, with the coming of the Phillips ToUcam, video images combined with simple to use software to stack and combine them transformed amateur lunar and planetary imaging.

Exponents of such equipment, like Damian Peach, began producing shots of our Solar System’s finest that were often better than any ground-based telescope had been able to deliver over the previous 15–20 years.

After a few years of deserved success, the limitations of the ToUcam, being a USB 1.1 interface, began to become evident. Uncompressed video, something serious imagers required to maintain high quality, was limited to ten frames per second, and the typical sensitivity and colour nature of the CCD of an off-the-shelf ToUcam limited the quality of the final image.

Amateurs modified the ToUcam with more sensitive monochrome CCDs, but still the ten frames per second rate meant that with objects such as Mars or Jupiter, only a certain number of frames could actually be captured before the planet rotated enough to blur the image. This limit in the number of frames, combined with the average seeing, would ultimately determine and limit the final image quality.

Recently, cameras offering much higher frame rates and outstanding sensitivity have become available, two of which, from the leading scientific and industrial manufacturer The Imaging Source, are the subject of this review.

In the May 2008 issue of the UK magazine Astronomy Now, Nick Howes takes a look at two new high quality CCD cameras from The Imaging Source that are set to revolutionise Solar System imaging (his wording). The article is entitled The Imaging Source USB 2.0 CCD cameras and can be found starting on page 73.

The words in the title of this post, constitute the final sentence of Nick’s review!

In co-operation with Astronomy Now, we will be publishing the review here in the astronomy cameras blog, serialized into five sections. One section will be published on each of the following five days.

Below, links to the five sections:

• Astronomy Now Review 1/5: USB 2.0 CCD Cameras
• Astronomy Now Review 2/5: Getting Started
• Astronomy Now Review 3/5: Software
• Astronomy Now Review 4/5: Spectral Response
• Astronomy Now Review 5/5: Concluding Words

A great thanks goes out to Nick Howes and the editor of the magazine, Keith Cooper, for allowing us to publish this article here.

The Italian astronomy magazine Nuovo ORIONE published a detailed test report on the DMK 21AF04.AS and DFK 21AF04.AS in their January 2008 issue.

The cameras were tested on their ability to perform in planetary and deep sky imaging. Furthermore, the article contains a paragraph dedicated to the camera control software IC Capture.AS. This software is shipped with all astronomy cameras, manufactured by The Imaging Source.

The author of the article concludes that The Imaging Source astronomy cameras are much better suited to planetary imaging than traditional web cameras, as their noise is far lower and their resolution far higher.

Turning his attention to deep sky imaging, the author is convinced that the cameras are absolutely suited to capturing relatively faint Messier objects.

If you speak Italian or would just like to take a look at the sample images in the article, please feel free to download the full article - Le videocamere Imaging Source - below.

Simply click on the following screenshot to download:

We send a big thank you to the editors at Nuovo ORIONE for taking the time to test and publish this detailed test report about The Imaging Source astronomy cameras.

Following our recently post about the test report in Coelum ASTRONOMIA, we came across the following clipping in an older issue of the same magazine:

The short article introduces the FireWire cameras to the Italian market, offering an overview of the camera’s technical merits and noting that Centro Ottico San Marco is one of our official resellers in Italy.

The article was originally published in December 2006.

Again, a (some what belated) thank you goes out to Coelum ASTRONOMIA for publishing this news bulletin.

The Imaging Source astronomy cameras have arrived in Italy! And that, more than a year ago!

The Italian magazine Coelum ASTRONOMIA sent us a copy of their April 2007 issue (#105), in which the FireWire astronomy camera DMK 31AF03.AS was tested. The result is a five page article, which discusses the camera in detail.

The text was written by Odi Plinio Camaiti.

The journalist examines the practical aspects of the camera, looks at the advantages of monochrome cameras and discusses in detail the shipped camera control software IC Capture.AS. For his article, he has captured images of the Moon and Saturn, in addition to some deep sky objects.

He concludes the article in a positive light (paraphrased from Italian):

The DMK 31AF03.AS and IC Capture.AS are a powerful and flexible combination, which by far surpass the limits of the typical webcam.

The text is illustrated by a number of images that you can admire, even if you do not speak Italian. For our Italian-speaking customers, feel free to read the full article, which can be downloaded below. Just click on the screenshot.

A great thank you goes out to Coelum ASTRONOMIA for publishing this in depth review.