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CCD & Photographic

A CCD camera is essentially an electronic version of a 35mm camera for astrophotography that saves the images in your computer, rather than on a roll of film. A CCD camera can take snapshots of the Moon and planets and long exposure photos of deep sky nebulas, galaxies, and star clusters. Because the CCD camera has to store up the faint light of deep space objects before it can display an image, just as a 35mm film camera does, a CCD can't give you real-time or instant images of deep space objects.

Because a CCD camera is more sensitive than 35mm film or your eye, it can store up more information during an exposure. Software supplied with the camera, or available separately, allows you to manipulate the image later to bring out details that would be washed out or invisible in a 35mm negative or while observing visually. CCD cameras are surprisingly unaffected by city light pollution, allowing deep sky photography from even heavily light polluted sites.

CCD cameras typically vary in price according to their image size, with large cameras running into the multiple thousands of dollars. Even at their largest, however, their image covers less of the sky than a 35mm film camera on the same scope. CCDs are best at recording small and very faint objects rather than large and bright objects, although excellent images of large objects can be recorded by taking multiple overlapping images and combining them in the computer.

It has been said that CCD cameras on amateur-size telescopes can record fainter objects than the 200" scope at Mt. Palomar could record only 10 or 15 years ago with conventional film cameras. By some measures, CCD cameras can be said to have an effective film speed (ASA or ISO rating) of 20,000, making them ideal for recording very faint objects.

Some CCD cameras can act as autoguiders to take the tedium out of guiding long exposure 35mm photos. Some CCD cameras have their own autoguider built in for recording images automatically and untended; others come with separate guiders or have them available as an option.

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ZWO ASI183MC USB 3.0 CMOS Color Astronomy Camera

$499.00

The ZWO ASI183MC is a fantastic camera capable of handling all you solar and planetary imaging needs.
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ZWO ASI174MM USB3.0 Monochrome Astronomy Imaging Camera

$499.00

The ZWO ASI174MM is the first ZWO camera designed with Solar and Lunar imaging in mind. The great news is that it can do way more than that...
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ZWO ASI120MM Mini Monochrome CMOS Camera and Guide Camera

$149.00

What a fantastic mini guider that will work in Off Axis Guiders. Great performance and focuses at the same distance as an eyepiece. It also makes a heck of an intro planetary imager.
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ZWO ASI174MM Mini Monochrome CMOS Camera and Guide Camera

$399.00

What a fantastic mini guider that will work well in Off Axis Guider, especially SCTs and RCs. Great performance and focuses at the same distance as an eyepiece. It also makes a heck of an intro planetary imager.
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ZWO ASI533MM PRO COOLED MONO CMOS ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY CAMERA

$999.00

The ZWO ASI533MM Pro is a great 1" Square format mono camera to get you headed down your imaging path.
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ZWO ASI482MC Color Astrophotography Camera

$299.00

Packed with Sony sensor IMX482, this camera has some incredible specs, including a large pixel size of 5.8um, USB 3.0 interface, large full-well depth of 51.5ke-, extremely high sensitivity, and super low read out noise.
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ZWO ASI6200MC PRO USB 3.0 COOLED Color ASTRONOMY IMAGING CAMERA

$3,799.00

The ZWO ASI6200MC Pro is designed for the astro-photographer that is looking for a high-end camera using a full-frame format sensor.
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ZWO ASI2600MC PRO USB 3.0 COOLED COLOR ASTRONOMY IMAGING CAMERA

$1,499.00

The ZWO ASI2600MC Pro is designed for the astro-photographer that is looking for a high-end camera using an APS-C style sensor.
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ZWO ASI294MC COLOR CMOS ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY CAMERA

$699.00

The ZWO ASI294MC is a great 4/3 format color camera to get you into imaging without breaking the bank.
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ZWO ASI183MC PRO COOLED COLOR CMOS ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY CAMERA

$799.00

The ZWO ASI183MC Pro is a great camera to get you headed down your imaging path.