Webcam Astrophotography

[sykes111s]

Hi

Have just started getting into stargazing, have bought a Sky-Watcher SkyMax 127 Auto.

Am wanting a cheap web cam to take some pictures with, what are peoples current recommendations.

James

[Moonhawk]

The usual answer is the Philips Toucam or SNC900NC - although these are no longer made so you'll be relying on the second hand market (there are a few currently listed on ebay for example). One thing to bear in mind - the Toucam is no longer supported from a driver point of view and will only work on machine up to and including windows XP (although there are hacks available to get it to run under win-7).

I have a few photos taken using my toucam on this thread (as well as a couple of later B&W pics taken with a DMK)

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Any webcam with a detachable front lens should do the job as long as you can get a 1.25" adapter for it - although CCD based webcams (like the Philips) seem to be regarded better than CMOS based ones.

I have no idea which of the current webcams are suitable though - I upgraded to a dedicated planetary camera last year (The DMK21AU04).

[anonymous-user]

If you have a Canon dslr then get an adapter and use that with external pc control.

[Moonhawk]

ash73 said:

Out of interest, anyone know how these products compare to a SLR type camera for this purpose?
http://www.firstlightoptics.com/imaging-source-cam...

(eta: oops Moonhawk has already answered that with the quality of his pics!)

They are far better for this particular purpose because they can be designed with high sensitivity, but crucially - very high frame rates. Their small sensor size also makes the movie files conveniently small. You don't need a 10-20MP SLR for planetary imaging.

It is the high frame rate that gives the ability to freeze out atmospheric distortions - allowing you to choose those best few hundred frames from a movie consisting of thousands (or tens of thousands).

Stacking these best frames together and processing (using a program called Registax) is what allows you to pull out the fine detail which otherwise gets lost in the atmospheric turbulence.

SLRs are far better suited to long exposure, wide field photography of DSOs, and the moon.

[sykes111s]

Thanks for the replies it does look like the Philips Toucam or SNC900NC path is weel trodden.

I really want something that I can use with a more moden PC then xp.

I used the telescope for the first time last night, this was my best shot with an iphone.

[Moonhawk]

sykes111s said:

Thanks for the replies it does look like the Philips Toucam or SNC900NC path is weel trodden.

I really want something that I can use with a more moden PC then xp.

The SPC900NC has drivers up to windows 7 and these drivers will run under windows 8.

The Toucam doesn't work by default with any PC older than XP - however it can be tricked into using the SPC900NC drivers as it is based on the same hardware. I recently did this with my Toucam to get it working on my windows 8 laptop.

You could always just buy a cheap webcam and modify it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9khTIkwNmW8

[don4l]

When I started imaging I bought a cheap webcam. I quickly upgraded to a Toucam. The noise on the cheaper webcam was appaling.

I'd vote for a second hand Toucam.

OP, if you cannot find on, then feel free to pm me. I should have one lying around somewhere.

[sykes111s]

I have decided upon a SPC900NC

I got out bid on this once so will keep on searching.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Philips-SPC900NC-Nosepie...

Second night with telescope and the moon/iphone pics are getting better.

[Moonhawk]

Try AstroBuySell as well. I have bought (and sold) a few things via that site and it seems pretty OK - just heed the regular scam warnings on the main page.

[sykes111s]

Once I have got the cam I will obvious need something to plug it into Mac or PC?

[Moonhawk]

sykes111s said:

Once I have got the cam I will obvious need something to plug it into Mac or PC?

You'll probably need a laptop - since you'll need to be able to see the live feed from the camera for focussing and tracking.

You'll also need a copy of a program for registering and stacking frames. Registax is the go-to software for this purpose - and it's free.

http://www.astronomie.be/registax/

You may also need image editing software for final touchups (photoshop/GIMP etc).

[don4l]

Moonhawk said:

You'll probably need a laptop - since you'll need to be able to see the live feed from the camera for focussing and tracking.

You'll also need a copy of a program for registering and stacking frames. Registax is the go-to software for this purpose - and it's free.

http://www.astronomie.be/registax/

You may also need image editing software for final touchups (photoshop/GIMP etc).

I see that GIMP can now open 16 bit files. Does it carry out its operation in 16 bits?

If it doesn't the I wouldn't recommend it for this type of image editing.

[Moonhawk]

don4l said:

I see that GIMP can now open 16 bit files. Does it carry out its operation in 16 bits?

If it doesn't the I wouldn't recommend it for this type of image editing.

Not sure I see the relevance. The types of manipulations i'm talking about are very simple colour corrections, contrast and curve adjustments etc.

The AVI produced by the camera will be in 8 bit format as will be the JPEG output by Registax.

16 bit image formats are more applicable to long exposure DSO photography where you may be using the camera in RAW mode.

Edited by Moonhawk on Friday 3rd October 14:32

[don4l]

Moonhawk said:

Not sure I see the relevance. The types of manipulations i'm talking about are very simple colour corrections, contrast and curve adjustments etc.

The AVI produced by the camera will be in 8 bit format as will be the JPEG output by Registax.

16 bit image formats are more applicable to long exposure DSO photography where you may be using the camera in RAW mode.

Doh!

Of course - it doesn't matter if you only start with 8 bits.

It's a few years since I did any astrophotography.