Imaging Source introduce new series of telescope cameras

Press Release:

The Imaging Source, an international manufacturer of imaging hardware and software for astronomy, is now offering amateur astro-photographers a series of highly affordable, low noise telescope cameras to capture high quality images of the night sky.

The telescope cameras ship in blue and black anodized aluminium and zinc housing, measure 50 mm x 56 mm and weigh only 260 g. The included nose piece is mounted onto a C/CS mount on the front of the telescope camera. On the rear, a USB 2.0 or FireWire connector is available (model specific). A threaded tripod adapter on the bottom rounds off the exterior of the telescope camera.

Monochrome and color types are available with and without an IR cut filter in three resolutions: 640x480, 1024x768 and 1280x960. The 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 telescope cameras ship with the camera control and acquisition software "IC Capture.AS", which allows image sequences and singular images to be saved 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 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."

Similarly, 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."