Nice review. The one Con to this camera was dodged by your setup. It is that it works best with an OAG being connected to the camera first to maintain the 55mm backfocus. Unlike the other ZWO cameras with protruding threads these are recessed. As a result…if you use a filter wheel, one must disassemble the wheel, mount a special flange with a light leak seal and more or less permanently mount the wheel to the camera. It also eliminates any tilt adjustment as the filter wheel is in the way of the tilt screws. I could not find anyone…now 2 years later…come up with a wheel mount system that does not take apart the wheel…and very fine screws I might add that will wear down switching it. I had hoped to use the wheel with a series filters on other mono cameras but now it’s locked on to the 2600. I have given up and went with a filter drawer system that gives me the freedom to switch the camera around. I just lost the ASIAir filter automation routine. I think ZWO shot themselves in the proverbial filter foot not following their other camera styles. Especially caught this newbie by surprise. I thought staying in the ZWO ecosystem would avoid this problem. Boy was I wrong. Thanks for the review again.
Thanks for the info Todd. The only filter I use is the l extreme dual band so the filter drawer is perfect. In combo with the oag it gives correct backfocus system with my esprit 120. With the askar 300 fra this largely is irrelevant. Thanks for watching and for the useful comments! Cheers R
curious if you have had any issues with oversampling on larger diameter scope at longer f ratios? trying to decide between 294MC-Pro vs. 2600MC-Pro for my 130mm f7-5.6 refractor?
Hi Larry, The 2600mc has a 3.75micron pixel ssize which under ok seeing is a great match for my Esprit 120 APO. A good resource is astronomy.tools/ calculators where you can plug in any telescope/camera combination to work out the degree of over or undersampling is present. From what I can tell 3.76 microns is a good compromise across a wide range of scopes. I suspect your scope wont be radically different to mine..but check it out using the 2 camera specs using these tools. I have to say ive never had any huge issues using the 120 with the 2600mc and any problems ive had have been down to my ineptitude. Hope that helps - thanks for watching!!! Cheers R
Great review of the salient features of the 2600MC Pro! Thanks so much. I'm waiting for mine to arrive and it's nice to hear the 'reinforcement' that I didn't make a big blunder! :-)
Thanks Ray, great review of the 2600MC Pro. I am about to splurge on my first deep sky astro camera. I have the ASI-Air Plus, AM5 mount, and Televue 5"inch NP127 refractor. Fully agree that the IMX571 chip seems to be right up there with the mono-cameras. I'm wondering if I should go for the 2600MC Pro (about $2,500 AUD), or the 2600MC Duo which costs an extra $1,000 AUD. The Duo eliminates that extra guidescope/camera (albeit I have one), and also higher full well capacity of the chip, compared to the 2600MC Pro.
Hi ya..firstly thanks for watching and for your kind comments. Of you already have a succesfull guide set up, I would say where is the benefit in an extra 1000 bucks? I would sincerely doubt the extta well depth would justify this either. Like eveeything its all down to cost v benefit..imho..and for me...i couldnt justify that additional cost. Buy an oag with the money you save...a better and less costly investment! Hope that helps....thanks again!!
Nice video ☺️ I have the ZWO 1600 MM. My first astro camera so I really threw myself in the deep end. Due to poor weather over the past few months I've had few opportunities to image and LRGB imaging with the 1600MM eats up a lot of time and I didn't anticipate how tricky narrow band imaging can be either. Looking forward to one shot colour with the 2600MC; being able to do live stacking with colour and getting more complete datasets with nightly imaging sessions 👌
Hi there! Yes It is v frustrating getting incomplete datasets due to inconsistent weather. The 2600 mc is a great compromise especially when used with the l-extreme filter! In terms of lrgb IMO the difference between this camera and a monochrome with filters is questionable....especially when you consider the time savings. I hope you enjoy the camera as much as I do. Thanks for your comments and for watching!!
@@astrogadge2276 some of it was my learning curve too. I imaged the Eagle Nebula a few months back. It was my first time doing narrow band (Hubble palette) and not only were the filters incorrectly labeled but not all of the channels were in focus. Tremendously frustrating after 3 cold nights. I was also using Stellarmate, which I could never really get to work reliably. I've switched to using a mini PC with NINA/PHD2 and Stellarium and when combined with the 6200MC I'm hoping for much more productive and enjoyable imaging sessions 🤞 P.s I also purchased an L extreme filter.
Thanks. I am thinking about ordering one of these. Coming from a 294mc which has been great but I hate the amp glow and as you mention I also don't get enough clear skies to go mono. I am also missing out on the FOV provided by my scopes. I think you might have tipped me over to pull the trigger.
@13:00 ZWO has published a statement about the oil-leakage problem. They say, the oil comes from the old thermal paste they used, when the camera got hot, the oil did extract from the paste. Models since October 2021 should not be affected by it anymore -> new thermal paste I assume. Anyhow, if someone experiences this, they will repair or replace it. as much as I understand, this problem was probably more for people who have it in their astro-domes? and when it gets hot inside during summer?
Enjoyed the video. I am a 2600 fan. Best I've ever used. ZWO puts out some nonsense about cables. I am using a 20m (65') active USB3 cable + a 5m active USB3 cable + a 7 port powered USB 3 hub on mount. The 20m cable and the hub both have external power supplies. This supports the 2600, a 294Pro, a 290mono guide cam, 2 focusers and the mount. The 5m cable is from Cable Matters. The 20m from a Chinse supplier via Amazon. Short of careful measurement or cutting the cable open there is no way to tell much about the quality of the cable. Buy something expensive from a maker you have heard of or buy something much less expensive and make use of the Amazon return policy. You can get powered, active USB3 cables that are longer than 20m, but I have no experience with longer USB3. USB2 can be daisy chained to a considerable length.
Hello @ASTROGADGE I just got this camera and had some issues with it giving me "exposure failure" error message! was wondering if you have encountered that? thx
Hello. No..ive never encountered this. Have you contacted zwo or the people you bought it from? Have you tried reinstalling its drivers and/ or using different software??
Hi there A c11 edge with this sensor will lead to slight over-sampling under good seeing conditions. If this is problem you can mitigate this by binning 2x2. Hope that helps and thanks forvwatching!
Thanks Dr. Ray! I thinking about upgrading from my DLSR to a dedicated astrophotography camera. I found you insights into the differences between OSC and mono to be very interesting and helpful. As I am new to astrophotography I assume that you can still use narrow band filters with the OSC, correct? I am lucky to live in a Bortle 2-3 region outside of Zion National Park, so seeing and clear skies are typically not an issue. If clear skies would not have been an issue what camera would you have upgraded to if you stayed with mono? Thanks again! Ron
Hi Ron, I still have my mono set up and yes if infrequent clear skies were not an issue i would be using it a lot more. You can get narrowband filters for osc cameras they are usually dual band. Optolong , zwo, and other companies supply these. See my post on the l-extreme dual band filter on how they are used with osc cameras. Narrowband filters used for mono are not recommended for osc cameras. I hope that answers your questions. Thanks s much for watching! Cheers, Ray.
Have you ever considered the ZWO ASI 071MC-PRO ? Would it be comparable to the more expensive ASI2600 MC ?? For a beginner like me ? I am currently using a modified Canon 600D as my APS-C alternative to my ZWO533... From Iceland with thanks.. P.s. The Northern lights are "killing" me...yesterday the entire sky was green all night..
Hi Gunnar The 2600 is a 16 bit camera compared to the 071 which i beleive is 14 bit. The 2600 also has a much lower read noise it also has a much better quantum efficiency. In addition the 2600 has zero amp glow. Its as easy to use as the 533. Im my opinion the 2600 would be a 'better' purchase as although it more expensive its specs are more attractive. Hope that helps - at the end of the day its all about budget. We also get the aurora here in the north of scotland but isnt as intrusive as it seems to be in your country!! Thanks for watching!! Cheers, Ray
Hi Ian, To be honest despite what ZWO told me, Im pretty sure it was the lead that was the problem in the end! If Im being cynical I think what ZWO were saying is 'only use our hub'! I dont know of anyone who has a problem using the 2600 with the ASIair's. Im lucky enough to have a permanent set up and I do use non ASI products (which the ASIair cant work with) and I can still operate it remotely via wifi using my home network and free software. If youre interested I explain it in this video; ua-cam.com/video/pQ3rrrBZeOQ/v-deo.html Thanks so much for watching!!! Cheers Ray
Hi Gunnar, Thanks for watching! A hub allows you to connect several usb devices to a single usb port on your computer. Despite ZWO telling me the hub was the problem, I suspect it was actually the lead as I have spoken to quite a few people who use this camera with a hub and have had no problems. Cheers Ray
Hi!! Thanks for the kind remark. The issue I had was I was using the usb hub on the eq8-r mount and a faulty usb lead which caused the problem. I ended up using the hub on the camera with a better quality lead to connect to my laptop, which solved the problem. The camera does come with leads, but none were long enough to reach the laptop. Thanks for watching!!! Cheers Ray
@@astrogadge2276 Ohh I see I’ll be using iPad tablet with asiair But for planetary I might use lop top to keep planet in to the center with fire capture
I think ZWO is great and their products have allowed me to advance in this new hobby much more quickly than I once thought. But some of the things they do really baffle me. They include USB cables to customers buying their cameras costing hundreds or thousands of $s, that they know are complete garbage. And then you attach your new camera to their ASIAir and you can't access all of the camera settings??? Someone is smoking too much weed over their at HQs and overlooking the simple stuff. Make the ASIAir box a tad bigger and just stop including cables.
Interesting to meet you and the accent tells me you country of birth. Are you a medical Dr? I ask this because many of my global Astro contacts are also medical-often in Radiology. My background has been in pathology in its various applications, diagnostic, research and forensic. The latter using my furthers skill base in medical/scientific imaging both at crime scenes and nether lab. This aspect has always allowed me access to a wide range of scientific cameras at no cost, so I have had a parallel career in astronomy from amateur to professional over 60 odd years. A Pom ex Leeds Med School moved down under 1968 to help set up an new dept. of Pathology & become involved with the same University astrophysics dept. with big professional toys to play with. Astronomy has filled in my years since ‘retirement’. Will follow your channel with interest. Greetings from Tasmania Australia 42 south-Southern Cross Observatory. I have left Astro imaging last in my line of interest, because the objects are always there, unlike so many of the transient micro lending, photometry, spectroscopy, not on most peoples list. I have been involved with an ongoing climate research project that has taken me down so many challenging tracks. Clear skies and stay safe.😁🇦🇺🦘🔭
@@astrogadge2276 Thank you for the feedback. I have a variety of ZWO gear a dozen or so of their cameras and other stuff some still waiting to be unpacked. Latest purchase is the Rising Star version 26mp SONY imx571 1.8" APS-C 16bit Zero Amp Glow USB Astro TE Cooling identical in specs in the same case etc.(ZWO AU $4,431.52) versus (RS AU $1,846.74) It does not have the option to tilt adjust for parallel setting, otherwise identical Industrial spec detector Peltier cooling etc.. I have several of their cameras astro and microscopy. Recovering from a second round of spinal surgery, so things have slowed down a touch the next 12 weeks. Spent the last 16 plus years working as an honorary academic at the University -on climate data collection and instrument design. I designed computer controlled all sky camera back in 2005 well before they became available-so projects like this and many others keep the brain cells active. Not sure if this link will work for you, but you may find some albums of interest. photos.google.com/albums Wishing you clear skies, Best from Tasmania down under.
Nice review. The one Con to this camera was dodged by your setup. It is that it works best with an OAG being connected to the camera first to maintain the 55mm backfocus. Unlike the other ZWO cameras with protruding threads these are recessed. As a result…if you use a filter wheel, one must disassemble the wheel, mount a special flange with a light leak seal and more or less permanently mount the wheel to the camera. It also eliminates any tilt adjustment as the filter wheel is in the way of the tilt screws. I could not find anyone…now 2 years later…come up with a wheel mount system that does not take apart the wheel…and very fine screws I might add that will wear down switching it. I had hoped to use the wheel with a series filters on other mono cameras but now it’s locked on to the 2600. I have given up and went with a filter drawer system that gives me the freedom to switch the camera around. I just lost the ASIAir filter automation routine. I think ZWO shot themselves in the proverbial filter foot not following their other camera styles. Especially caught this newbie by surprise. I thought staying in the ZWO ecosystem would avoid this problem. Boy was I wrong. Thanks for the review again.
Thanks for the info Todd. The only filter I use is the l extreme dual band so the filter drawer is perfect. In combo with the oag it gives correct backfocus system with my esprit 120. With the askar 300 fra this largely is irrelevant.
Thanks for watching and for the useful comments!
Cheers
R
curious if you have had any issues with oversampling on larger diameter scope at longer f ratios? trying to decide between 294MC-Pro vs. 2600MC-Pro for my 130mm f7-5.6 refractor?
Hi Larry,
The 2600mc has a 3.75micron pixel ssize which under ok seeing is a great match for my Esprit 120 APO. A good resource is astronomy.tools/ calculators where you can plug in any telescope/camera combination to work out the degree of over or undersampling is present. From what I can tell 3.76 microns is a good compromise across a wide range of scopes. I suspect your scope wont be radically different to mine..but check it out using the 2 camera specs using these tools. I have to say ive never had any huge issues using the 120 with the 2600mc and any problems ive had have been down to my ineptitude. Hope that helps - thanks for watching!!!
Cheers
R
Great review of the salient features of the 2600MC Pro! Thanks so much. I'm waiting for mine to arrive and it's nice to hear the 'reinforcement' that I didn't make a big blunder! :-)
Its a great camera Greg - you will enjoy using it! Glad you found the post useful and thanks for watching! Cheers, Ray.
Thanks Ray, great review of the 2600MC Pro. I am about to splurge on my first deep sky astro camera. I have the ASI-Air Plus, AM5 mount, and Televue 5"inch NP127 refractor. Fully agree that the IMX571 chip seems to be right up there with the mono-cameras. I'm wondering if I should go for the 2600MC Pro (about $2,500 AUD), or the 2600MC Duo which costs an extra $1,000 AUD. The Duo eliminates that extra guidescope/camera (albeit I have one), and also higher full well capacity of the chip, compared to the 2600MC Pro.
Hi ya..firstly thanks for watching and for your kind comments. Of you already have a succesfull guide set up, I would say where is the benefit in an extra 1000 bucks? I would sincerely doubt the extta well depth would justify this either. Like eveeything its all down to cost v benefit..imho..and for me...i couldnt justify that additional cost. Buy an oag with the money you save...a better and less costly investment! Hope that
helps....thanks again!!
Nice video ☺️ I have the ZWO 1600 MM. My first astro camera so I really threw myself in the deep end.
Due to poor weather over the past few months I've had few opportunities to image and LRGB imaging with the 1600MM eats up a lot of time and I didn't anticipate how tricky narrow band imaging can be either.
Looking forward to one shot colour with the 2600MC; being able to do live stacking with colour and getting more complete datasets with nightly imaging sessions 👌
Hi there! Yes It is v frustrating getting incomplete datasets due to inconsistent weather. The 2600 mc is a great compromise especially when used with the l-extreme filter! In terms of lrgb IMO the difference between this camera and a monochrome with filters is questionable....especially when you consider the time savings. I hope you enjoy the camera as much as I do. Thanks for your comments and for watching!!
@@astrogadge2276 some of it was my learning curve too. I imaged the Eagle Nebula a few months back. It was my first time doing narrow band (Hubble palette) and not only were the filters incorrectly labeled but not all of the channels were in focus. Tremendously frustrating after 3 cold nights.
I was also using Stellarmate, which I could never really get to work reliably.
I've switched to using a mini PC with NINA/PHD2 and Stellarium and when combined with the 6200MC I'm hoping for much more productive and enjoyable imaging sessions 🤞
P.s I also purchased an L extreme filter.
Very very good video!!! Thanks for sharing your OSC-Thoughts
Thanks so much for watching and your kind comments!! Cheers, Ray.
Thanks so much for watching..glad you found it useful. Cheers, Ray
Thanks. I am thinking about ordering one of these. Coming from a 294mc which has been great but I hate the amp glow and as you mention I also don't get enough clear skies to go mono. I am also missing out on the FOV provided by my scopes. I think you might have tipped me over to pull the trigger.
Hi Rishi..my decision to buy one was based exactly on the rationale you describe! Thanks so much for watching ..its really appreciated!;
Thank you for your insightful review and buying advice.
Thanks for watching...and thanks for your welcome comments!!!!!
@13:00 ZWO has published a statement about the oil-leakage problem.
They say, the oil comes from the old thermal paste they used, when the camera got hot, the oil did extract from the paste. Models since October 2021 should not be affected by it anymore -> new thermal paste I assume.
Anyhow, if someone experiences this, they will repair or replace it.
as much as I understand, this problem was probably more for people who have it in their astro-domes? and when it gets hot inside during summer?
Thanks for the info and for watching!!! Cheers, Ray.
Enjoyed the video. I am a 2600 fan. Best I've ever used.
ZWO puts out some nonsense about cables. I am using a 20m (65') active USB3 cable + a 5m active USB3 cable + a 7 port powered USB 3 hub on mount. The 20m cable and the hub both have external power supplies. This supports the 2600, a 294Pro, a 290mono guide cam, 2 focusers and the mount. The 5m cable is from Cable Matters. The 20m from a Chinse supplier via Amazon. Short of careful measurement or cutting the cable open there is no way to tell much about the quality of the cable. Buy something expensive from a maker you have heard of or buy something much less expensive and make use of the Amazon return policy. You can get powered, active USB3 cables that are longer than 20m, but I have no experience with longer USB3. USB2 can be daisy chained to a considerable length.
Hi there...thanks for watching and the welcome comments!!! All the best, Ray.
Hello @ASTROGADGE I just got this camera and had some issues with it giving me "exposure failure" error message! was wondering if you have encountered that? thx
Hello.
No..ive never encountered this. Have you contacted zwo or the people you bought it from? Have you tried reinstalling its drivers and/ or using different software??
Great video, very helpful, thanks! =)
Glad its been helpful. Thanks so much for watching!!! Cheers, Ray.
do you think this camera is good for taking photos of small galaxies with a c11 edge hd?
Hi there
A c11 edge with this sensor will lead to slight over-sampling under good seeing conditions. If this is problem you can mitigate this by binning 2x2. Hope that helps and thanks forvwatching!
Thanks Dr. Ray!
I thinking about upgrading from my DLSR to a dedicated astrophotography camera. I found you insights into the differences between OSC and mono to be very interesting and helpful. As I am new to astrophotography I assume that you can still use narrow band filters with the OSC, correct? I am lucky to live in a Bortle 2-3 region outside of Zion National Park, so seeing and clear skies are typically not an issue. If clear skies would not have been an issue what camera would you have upgraded to if you stayed with mono?
Thanks again!
Ron
Hi Ron,
I still have my mono set up and yes if infrequent clear skies were not an issue i would be using it a lot more. You can get narrowband filters for osc cameras they are usually dual band. Optolong , zwo, and other companies supply these. See my post on the l-extreme dual band filter on how they are used with osc cameras. Narrowband filters used for mono are not recommended for osc cameras.
I hope that answers your questions. Thanks s much for watching!
Cheers, Ray.
Could you please explain to me how a 26MP sensor makes 51MP files?
Hi Carol and thanks for watching! The camera produces 51MB (50.9 megabytes to be precise) not MP (mega pixels) of data. Hope that helps?? Cheers, Ray.
@@astrogadge2276 Rookie mistake. Thanks.
@@carolsantulis1990 no worries!!!!
Have you ever considered the ZWO ASI 071MC-PRO ? Would it be comparable to the more expensive ASI2600 MC ?? For a beginner like me ? I am currently using a modified Canon 600D as my APS-C alternative to my ZWO533... From Iceland with thanks.. P.s. The Northern lights are "killing" me...yesterday the entire sky was green all night..
Hi Gunnar
The 2600 is a 16 bit camera compared to the 071 which i beleive is 14 bit. The 2600 also has a much lower read noise it also has a much better quantum efficiency. In addition the 2600 has zero amp glow. Its as easy to use as the 533.
Im my opinion the 2600 would be a 'better' purchase as although it more expensive its specs are more attractive. Hope that helps - at the end of the day its all about budget. We also get the aurora here in the north of scotland but isnt as intrusive as it seems to be in your country!! Thanks for watching!!
Cheers, Ray
Great review, well done
Thanks for watching Eric..glad you liked it!!!
Most excellent intro music.
Yes they are fabulous!!!
RKVC
Don't use a hub? Like the ASIairpro? That is a bit alarming as I have one on the way to take advantage of the wifi.
Hi Ian,
To be honest despite what ZWO told me, Im pretty sure it was the lead that was the problem in the end! If Im being cynical I think what ZWO were saying is 'only use our hub'! I dont know of anyone who has a problem using the 2600 with the ASIair's.
Im lucky enough to have a permanent set up and I do use non ASI products (which the ASIair cant work with) and I can still operate it remotely via wifi using my home network and free software. If youre interested I explain it in this video;
ua-cam.com/video/pQ3rrrBZeOQ/v-deo.html
Thanks so much for watching!!!
Cheers
Ray
Which off axis guider did you choose? I see ZWO has two.
Hi Chris.
I use the zwo mark2 on the 2600mc and the 460ex.
Thanks for watching!!
Cheers
Ray
What is a hub ?
Hi Gunnar,
Thanks for watching!
A hub allows you to connect several usb devices to a single usb port on your computer.
Despite ZWO telling me the hub was the problem, I suspect it was actually the lead as I have spoken to quite a few people who use this camera with a hub and have had no problems.
Cheers
Ray
Great video
I want to ask about issues you had
What you mean using hub?
Doesn’t it come with good usb cables
Hi!! Thanks for the kind remark.
The issue I had was I was using the usb hub on the eq8-r mount and a faulty usb lead which caused the problem. I ended up using the hub on the camera with a better quality lead to connect to my laptop, which solved the problem. The camera does come with leads, but none were long enough to reach the laptop.
Thanks for watching!!!
Cheers
Ray
@@astrogadge2276
Ohh I see
I’ll be using iPad tablet with asiair
But for planetary I might use lop top to keep planet in to the center with fire capture
The music sounds like 38 special
Thanks for watching!
I think ZWO is great and their products have allowed me to advance in this new hobby much more quickly than I once thought. But some of the things they do really baffle me. They include USB cables to customers buying their cameras costing hundreds or thousands of $s, that they know are complete garbage. And then you attach your new camera to their ASIAir and you can't access all of the camera settings??? Someone is smoking too much weed over their at HQs and overlooking the simple stuff. Make the ASIAir box a tad bigger and just stop including cables.
Thanks for your thoughts!
Cheers
Rat
Monty Python forever !!!😀
Absolutely!!!👍
Interesting to meet you and the accent tells me you country of birth. Are you a medical Dr? I ask this because many of my global Astro contacts are also medical-often in Radiology. My background has been in pathology in its various applications, diagnostic, research and forensic. The latter using my furthers skill base in medical/scientific imaging both at crime scenes and nether lab. This aspect has always allowed me access to a wide range of scientific cameras at no cost, so I have had a parallel career in astronomy from amateur to professional over 60 odd years. A Pom ex Leeds Med School moved down under 1968 to help set up an new dept. of Pathology & become involved with the same University astrophysics dept. with big professional toys to play with. Astronomy has filled in my years since ‘retirement’. Will follow your channel with interest. Greetings from Tasmania Australia 42 south-Southern Cross Observatory. I have left Astro imaging last in my line of interest, because the objects are always there, unlike so many of the transient micro lending, photometry, spectroscopy, not on most peoples list. I have been involved with an ongoing climate research project that has taken me down so many challenging tracks. Clear skies and stay safe.😁🇦🇺🦘🔭
Hi Shevill and thanks so much for watching. I hold a PhD and spookily my career was v. similar to yours! Thanks for the positve comments! Cheers, Ray
@@astrogadge2276 Thank you for the feedback. I have a variety of ZWO gear a dozen or so of their cameras and other stuff some still waiting to be unpacked. Latest purchase is the Rising Star version 26mp SONY imx571 1.8" APS-C 16bit Zero Amp Glow USB Astro TE Cooling identical in specs in the same case etc.(ZWO AU $4,431.52) versus (RS AU $1,846.74) It does not have the option to tilt adjust for parallel setting, otherwise identical Industrial spec detector Peltier cooling etc.. I have several of their cameras astro and microscopy. Recovering from a second round of spinal surgery, so things have slowed down a touch the next 12 weeks. Spent the last 16 plus years working as an honorary academic at the University -on climate data collection and instrument design. I designed computer controlled all sky camera back in 2005 well before they became available-so projects like this and many others keep the brain cells active. Not sure if this link will work for you, but you may find some albums of interest. photos.google.com/albums
Wishing you clear skies, Best from Tasmania down under.