Webcams and barlows vs. powermates

The LPI can get up to 30sec exposure, which is far longer than a standard webcam. The LPI, as I understand it, was intended as an introductory astrophotography camera for those on a budget. Whilst those webcams are good, they are limited to exposures of approx 0.2sec. Therefore, they are of use only on the planets.

Oops. Darragh I should have forwarded you this link. It's a side-by-side comparison of the LPI to the Toucam as posted on a CloudyNights report. I used this when I was trying to decide.

www.cloudynights.com/documents/meadelpi2.pdf

It's 27 pages but the conclusion was that the Toucam was far superior for planetary imaging, whereas the LPI was far better for DSO's (as Micheal mentioned, it's able to do longer exposures). + the LPI has everything you need out of the box (same as NexImage). The review is also for the older Toucam.

The Toucam or Neximage can be modded for long exposures. It's a bit of a chore though from what I've seen. You'd need to solder and get some parts from Maplin.

If you are looking at the Toucam (can still get them on eBay, astromart & astrobuysell.com/uk occasionally) make sure it's the 840K version. The other ones use less sensitive CMOS sensors.

Hope this helps,

Trev

Michael,

I still have my 350D for long exposures, but my main interest is planetary imaging.

So is going with the Philips SPC900NC the best choice for planetary imaging, considering it is more recent webcam ?

Thanks

Darragh

Don't buy the older Toucam - (even if you can get hold of it.) The SPC900NC is a direct replacement. You can even upgrade a Toucam's firmware using the SPC900NC'c flash image.

True John

I happened to spin by PC World in Waterford about 2 weeks ago (looking for a bargain) and happened to pick up the SPC900NC for 49 yo yos. Dont know if it was a special deal however the lesser model (700 or something like that) was retailing at about 69 yo yos

Oh! and I forgot to mention that I sent for that 1.25 inch adaptor that you recommended on a different post for less that 20 yo yos (inc P & P). And as with your own experience it arrived in less than 10 days and fits a treat!!!

Steve