From: "Milton Aupperle" <milton@outcastsoft.com>

Date: November 21, 2006 3:55:01 PM MST

To: Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com

Subject: Re: new firewire Italian camera

--- In Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com, "David Illig" <usenet@...> wrote:

David wrote:

But does a webcam

with Astro IIDC count for DSO images compared to a CCD camera or

even a good DSLR? I don't think so. Pushing the envelope is fun, and

I've seen some surprisingly good DSO images from Astro IIDC and

webcams, but there is a qualifier: "Very nice, considering..."

You seem to have some really weird pre conceptions about what cameras

are and are really hung up on this "Web Cam" versus "CCD camera"

versus "DSLR", david.

Exactly what is a "CCD Camera"? Is a Meade DSI a "web camera" or a

"CCD Camera"? If I run multiple frames per second out of an SBig

camera, does that make it a "Web Cam" now instead of a "CCD Camera"?

And most of the DSLR your talking about are CMOS sensor (except for

Nikon), so does that make them "inferior" now because they aren't CCD?

Basically the feature set for a "Web Cam" depends on how much you want

to spend. If I want to spend $1500 to $2000 USD I can get a large

(1280x1024) format 16 bit FireWire Color or Mono CCD camera with <4

pixel defects which can run at frame rates as high as 200 fps and do

exposures as long as 60 minutes. And it comes in a package that fits

in my shirt pocket and doesn't require adding a complete weight system

to balance it out.

And as to "all things considered", I try to put up images that show

what  people can achieve under urban light polluted skies under normal

turbulence and weather conditions and less expensive scopes and

mounts. It shows realistically what people can achieve without a lot

of effort, rather than best of breed stuff shot under perfect skies,

perfect weather, perfect high end hardware and 10+ years of experience

with image processing.

Milton Aupperle