Product Description
The ZWO ASI585MC is an upgrade to many of the introductory planetary imagers on the market today. The back-illuminated 1/1.2″ CMOS Sony-IMX585AAQJ1-C STARVIS sensor is capable of producing planetary, solar, Live Viewing/EAA and deep space.
The STAVIS CMOS sensor is capable of recording 46.9 frames per second. Readout noise is as low as 0.8e making it on par with SCMOS or EMCCD sensors. This makes it extremely suited for high definition , low noise imaging.
High-Speed and High-Picture-Quality Rolling Shutter-Type Back-Illuminated CMOS Image Sensors
The pixels of the Sony chip are 2.9 μm square, but they have an astounding well depth of 47,000e. The high dynamic range is further assisted by firmware to help the back-lit chip minimize amplier glow for maximum imaging performance.
High QE
Sony’s back-illuminated Exmor R technology, giving it excellent Deep Sky performance. ASI585MC QE peak reaches 91%.
Having high QE means more of the light that enters your telescope and reaches the sensor is actually used. With 91% peak Q.E. and no less than ~50% within the visible spectrum, the ASI585MC will utilize a high percentage of the light that reaches it, improving your signal quality.
The ZWO ASI585MC conectivity.
ZWO has all their information available for download on their website in a perfectly laid out section. Check it out here for software and drivers and here for manuals and guides.
One of the coolest gadgets, and a neccessity according to a majority of ZWO users, is the ASIair Plus. It is an all-in-one wireless camera solution. The ASIair Plus gives you control of focus, image taking, plate solving, and computerized mount control with the included SkySafari bridge all controlled by your smartdevice or tablet. It really is pretty awesome.
Camera technical details
Sensor: 1/1.2″ CMOS Sony-IMX585AAQJ1-C
Bayer Pattern:R Gr Gb B
QE peak：91%
Back focus length: 6.5mm/17.5mm
Max fps: 46.9fps
Full well: 40Ke
Shutter: Rolling shutter
Resolution: 8.29Mega Pixel,3840*2160
Pixel Size: 2.9µm
Exposure Range: 32μs~2000s
Interface: USB 3.0 /USB 2.0 Type-B
Protect window: φ32-2 AR
ADC: 12bit
Dimension: 11.136mm*6.264mm
Weight: 126g
Working Temperature: -5℃~50℃
Storage Temperature: -10℃~60℃
Working Relative Humidity: 0-80%
Supported OS: WIN7/8/10 32&64、Linux、Mac
Tech Details
| Normal Num Pixel High | 2160 |
|---|---|
| Normal Num Pixel Wide | 3840 |
| Pixel Size | 2.9 microns |
| Warranty | 2 years |
Reviews
I tried this camera out on a brand new Windows 11 Laptop with the included USB cable in SharpCap and it kept dropping connection every couple minutes - replacing the cable with a better quality (tested successfully with 3' and 9' cables now) it runs solid like a champ!
The sensor itself has slightly too small of pixels for my 8" F/6 Dob, but I'm going to try a cheap reducer and enable 2x2 binning to get into the 1~2 pixel per arcsecond resolution to try some DSOs. It seems just right in my AT80ED F/7 scope with a wider view; I managed to grab some 50ms exposure @ 500 gain Live Stacks of the Pleiades and the Orion Nebula (w/ Optolon L-eNhance filter) without tracking on a cheap alt-az mount on a camera tripod. It definitely had some graininess at this high of gain but with just a few seconds calculating and applying "Darks" it really cleaned up the noise.
For actual planetary it seems great as it can capture frames of bright objects rapidly. My first night I managed to take a short 4k video of Moon at around 22 frames per second in a 16 bit FITS subs in a SER file. It can grab just over 40FPS in 8bit FITS or RGBA mode and faster at smaller resolutions as well.
https://ubergarm.com/images/moon-with-optolong-l-enhance-filter.mp4
Good luck aspiring drift imagers! (Posted on 2/8/2023)