Digital cameras for amateur astro-photographers

Press release:
Bremen, June 18, 2008 - The Imaging Source, a multi-national manufacturer of imaging hardware and software for industry, medicine and astronomy, is now offering amateur astro-photographers a series of highly affordable, low noise astronomy cameras to capture high quality images of the night sky.

The astronomy cameras ship in beautifully crafted, blue and black anodized aluminium and zinc industrial housing, measure 50 mm x 56 mm and weigh 260 g. The included nose piece is mounted onto a C/CS mount on the front of the camera. On the rear, a USB or FireWire connector is available (model specific). A threaded tripod adapter on the bottom rounds off the exterior of the camera.

Monochrome and color models are available with and without an IR cut filter in three resolutions: 640x480, 1024x768 and 1280x960. The astronomy cameras deploy low noise CCD chips from Sony, which have an exposure time of up to 60 minutes and a maximum frame rate of up to 60 fps.

The cameras ship with the camera control and acquisition software "IC Capture.AS", which allows image sequences and singular images to be written to disk. Furthermore, using the highly intuitive graphical user interface, all camera parameters, such as exposure, sensitivity and frame rate, can be set.

In the American magazine "Sky & Telescope", Sean Walker wrote:

"The Imaging Source [CCD imager] is a well-designed, versatile camera that is a natural progression for planetary astro-photographers looking to upgrade from a consumer webcam. The camera control software IC Capture.AS seems to be a mature program itself, complementing the camera perfectly."

Similarly, in the British magazine "Astronomy Now", Nick Howes wrote:

"The Imaging Source have delivered cameras and software that offer the serious Solar System imager a product which will deliver outstanding results for years to come."