New NexImage cam.

dlofnep

Huge upgrade to the popular NexImage cam by Celestron coming. Will retail at $199, although - the pre-orders from UK stores is 250 sterling, however I worked it out at €203 (with shipping) if you order from the US.

Details as follows:

The Celestron NexImage 5 is a dedicated Solar System Imager (CCD camera) that can be used with virtually any telescope in any size or price range. The NexImage 5 takes very high resolution 5 megapixel lunar and planetary photos in full 16-bit color with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of convenience. The 5 megapixel color sensor with Micron® DigitalClarity® technology dramatically reduces image noise levels.
The NexImage 5’s small pixels size provides sub arc-second planetary detail with most telescopes. Combined with the included software package, the 5 megapixel NexImage 5 can bring out tremendous detail and produce images that will rival those taken with astronomical cameras costing hundreds of dollars more.

The NexImage 5 captures streaming video of any solar system object at as many as 52.37 frames per second when binned 4 x 4, ideal for recording transient events such as lunar occultations of the planets, or the rare occasions when a planet occults a star. At its maximum resolution, it captures high resolution images at a user selectable 0.71 to 5.99 frames per second. Shutter speeds are also user selectable, from 1/10,000th of a second to 30 seconds. Camera control software allows you to manually change the gain, contrast, exposure time, frame rate, and color saturation using your PC.

Specs:

Imaging sensor: High sensitivity/high dynamic range 1/2.5" format color CMOS progressive scan sensor. Sensitivity is under one lux, comparable to imagers costing over $1000. The sensor chip measures 5.7mm x 4.28mm (7 mm diagonal).

Resolution : 5 megapixels (2592 pixels wide x 1944 pixels high, 5,038,848 total pixels). Each pixel measures 2.2 microns square. Nine different user selected settings from 640 x 480 pixels (4x4 binning, VGA resolution), up to the maximum resolution of 2592 x 1944 pixels, to match the camera resolution to the seeing and the focal length of your telescope.

Exposure times: From 1/10,000th of a second to 30 seconds (user selectable) at frame rates of 0.71 to 52.37 frames per second, depending on the resolution.

One US website was selling them, but is out of stock already. Looks like a huge improvement to the old NexImage (Which I have two of!). Anybody going to get one? Looks like we'll be able to do some entry level deep sky stuff with it too.

Pat Dunne

Problem I find with trying to buy Celestron stuff from the State is that the retailer won't sell to Ireland.

Ag rince Bo

Seriously thinking of buying one! thanks for the heads up dlofnep.
With the australian $ (I'm in Oz) higher than the american $ hopefully they won't be too expensive (still might be just as easy to buy direct from the US though?)
I was checking out the local website suppliers a few nights ago and they didn't have anything mentioned about the new model (heads back for another look) :pac:

dlofnep

No worries - Gunna order one myself next week. The chip's specs are up on the Celestron website now.