From: "Steve Bryson" <stevebeam@yahoo.com>

Date: November 20, 2005 10:26:32 PM MST

To: Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com

Subject: Having fun with my Fire-i, but what about better cameras?


Hi Everyone - I've been really having a blast with my Unibrain 

Fire-i monochrome board camera in the last month.  Take a look at

http://homepage.mac.com/stevepur/firei_astrophotos.htm

for the results.  I've included my history of Mars shots, showing 

my improvements over time.  (And thanks to Alan Friedman for 

his encouraging words after my first post!)

Comments/helpful criticisms appreciated, of course.


While this is more than I expected from a $150 camera,

I am feeling its limitations.  I want the following: 

- less noise

- more sensitivity

- more resolution

- more dynamic range,

so I'm thinking of one of the more expensive cameras, and have 

tentatively settled on the DMK 31AF03.  That's a lot of money to me,

though, so I have some questions for the group (or maybe just Milton):


1) I am only interested in planetary/lunar photography with the webcam.

For deep sky I am content with my digital rebel.  Does this mean I would

be happy with a camera without the extra trigger and I/O (like that on the

DMK 31BF03)?  As far as I can tell I'm only losing the ability to do long

exposures (which I don't want) and to have very high frame rates (which 

I might use but is not worth $200).  Is this correct? 


2) For more dynamic range it seems I have to move to the Point Grey 

class of cameras such as the Flea, which puts out 12 bits.  This might

be worth the extra money to me, but what exactly happens to those 

extra bits?  Milton's web site says the movie formats saved by Astro IIDC 

supports 16 bits. Can anyone explain the specifics

of how it gets from the camera all the way through stacking to photoshop?

Will it stay 12 bits if I use, say, Keith's Image Stacker (I know KIS is 16 bit

capable, but I'm confused about how the images get in with all 12 bits).  


How does the group feel about the desirability of more dynamic range

in a monochrome camera, particularly for Lunar work?  Is it worth 

several hundred dollars?


3) I was disappointed to discover that the Fire-i is not sensitive enough 

to pick up Saturn through the color filters I have, despite my 12.5" dob 

telescope.  So I'm limited to white-light monochrome images of Saturn.  

I know the more expensive cameras are more sensitive, but can I 

reasonably expect them to be sensitive enough for RGB color filter 

work with Saturn? I would want the images to be at least two stops 

brighter.  


I'd also appreciate general comments about the relative merits of 

Imaging Source vs. Pt. Grey Research cameras.  


But for sure, if you think $500 is a lot of money for a camera, the 

Unibrain Fire-i board camera does a bang-up job for its price!


Thanks and happy skies

Steve