Diagonal 21.63 mm (Type 4/3) Approx. 10.71M-Effective Pixel Color CMOS Image Sensor, This is the official description on Sony website. In our effort, we remolded it to make it Diagonal 23.2 mm (Type 4/3) Approx. 11.71M-Effective Pixel.
The “IMX294CJK” is the first in-house image sensor for astronomic cameras to adopt the Type 4/3 format, and realizes output of the number of pixels needed for 4K at 120 frame/s (in ADC 10-bit output mode, ASI294MC can run up to 25fps at 4k format base on USB3.0 bandwidth). In addition, use of a large-size pixel achieves SNR1s of 0.14 lx* which is very close to the value from ASI224(0.13 lx*)
Exceptional low-illumination performance of SNR1s: 0.14 lx is realized by use of a large-size optical system and by expanding the area per pixel to 4.63 µm. This makes the IMX294CJK ideal for astronomic camera market applications that require low-illumination performance.
ASI294 has 14bit ADC and it can achieve 13 stops dynamic range which is a little better than ASI1600.
HCG mode will be on when gain is higher than 120, read noise drops below 2e but same dynamic range(13 stops).
63700e full well, which is 3 times than ASI1600’s capacity. even a bright stars won’t saturate under long exposure.
This camera can achieve higher SNR(signal to noise ratio) with just one single exposure.
256MB DDRIII memory buffer helps data transfer more stable and no amp-glow issue which is caused by the slow speed data transfer during reading out when connect with USB2.0 Port.
USB 3.0 Port: can provide 5Gb bandwidth to make it possible for ASI294 Pro to run at 16 fps (14bit, normal mode) or 19 fps (10bit, high speed mode) at full resolution(11.7Mega).
We recommends 12V at 3A~5A DC adapter for cooler power supply(2.1*5.5, center positive).
Battery from 9-15V is also suitable for cooling power supply.
USB 2.0 HUB: can connect with various accessories, such as filter wheel, guide camera and electronic focuser, so you can manage your cable better with USB2.0 hub. There are 2 short 0.5m USB2.0 cables coming with ASI294 Pro. the power of hub source from external power supply if you connect it.
ASI294MC Pro has same mechanics as ASI1600 Pro. There are 4 screws seal the chamber. This structure has been fully tested and it is very stable.
Even with high humidity eviroment, ASI294MC Pro will still works fine without dew problems.
IMX294 sensor is a BSI(back-illuminated type) sensor and has very high QE(we suppose the QE peak is better than 75%)
The dark current of 294 is a little bit higher than 1600 from out test result.
Let’s see this table to compare the difference between 294 and 1600 camera:
https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/product-category/new-products/
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By Rumen G.Bogdanovski, Software engineer, PhD in Astrophysics and astrophotographer Introduction I am an astrophysicist, software developer, and astrophotographer. My passion for astronomy dates back to my earliest memories. One
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12 Comments
Christian LABORDE
Hello, I have C11 telescope CELESTRON with CGXequatorial. I want to purchase camera for deep sky. I think ASI294MC Pro should be good solution…
I need also 12 Volt power supply (european for France power supply), may be filter wheel with 4 filters.
Some questions :
About connexion with CGX, will I have “autoguidage” ?
Which software can I use ? I have PC and Mac and prefer to use Mac… if possible.
Many thanks in advance for complete quotation.
May be you can propose other model in your range (less expansive…).
Best regards
Christian LABORDE
Sam Wen
this is one color camera, you don’t need filter wheel
you can use “autoguide port” with your mount with another guiding camera
there is nebulosity under Mac for DSO imaging
Sergio
Hi
Is it planned a mono version for this camera?
Regards
Sergio
Sam Wen
no, SONY don’t produce such sensor
William
ZWO on the cutting edge!! Very exciting. Can you recommend a supplier for purchase of DC-DC adapter for this beautiful camera??
Sam Wen
all our dealer should have this power supply
https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/products/accessories/acdc-adapter-12v-5a-for-cooled-cameras/
OUVRARD
Hello,
I’ve ordered, via Otique Unterlinden ( French dealer ), a ASI294MC Pro camera. The telescope it will be mounted on
(Celestron C11, CGX mount ) is controlled by Prism10 with ASCOM drivers ( Platform 6.3 ).
– Should I download a specific ASCOM driver for the ASI294MC Pro from ZWO Website or ASCOM platform ?
– Is there any ASCOM driver on the CD-ROM included with the camera ?
At the moment, there is no “ASI294MC pro” option available on the Prism10 software ( no ASCOM driver
installed for this camera ). Therefore, I can’t properly set it up.
Thank you for your answer !
Jean Pierre Ouvrard
Sam Wen
you need to install the native driver and ASCOM driver at first
https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/software/
Wes
I really think you should make these available with high grade uv/ir cut filters. Some of us only image with lenses and refractors, adding an extra uv/ir cut filter over the sensor window creates internal reflections, and not having one at all creates bad star bloat.
This has been the main issue holding me back, I will keep using dslr with astronomik clip filters until I can have the same level of consistency in a cooled cmos.
Sean Wang
Hi Wes
Thanks for your message. Yes, we considered it. If some one don’t need IR-cut filter, the protective glass can not be removed.
Drew
I just purchased this camera which is my first dedicated astro camera. Is it normal to have a purple color cast when shooting in daytime (testing)? I noticed the hue is different using the native vs ascom driver with APT but still a color cast.
sara.liu
Please use ASIFitsview to open the images, check whether the color is different from the other two software.