ZWO Color Astro Camera ASI533MC uncooled, Sensor D= 16 mm - 3.76 µm Pixel Size

Uncooled USB 3.0 CMOS camera with low-noise Sony IMX533 sensor for lunar and planetary photography, EAA and deep sky photography

♦ Great astro camera at a great price

♦ Low noise images due to the Sony IMX533 back-illuminated sensor even without cooling

♦ High resolution due to 3.76 µm pixel

♦ 14 bit ADC - dynamic range like a CCD sensor

♦ USB 3.0 for fast, 256 MByte DDR3 memory for stable download

♦ No more amp glow and better suitability for light polluted sky

♦ Modern back-illumination technology for more sensitivity

♦ Connection on telescope side: M42x0.75 female thread

♦ Working distance 17.5 mm from the inner thread, only 6.5 mm without black front ring

 

ZWO ASI533MC color astro camera of the latest generation

Astro cameras with the square SONY IMX533 sensor have long had their fan base. The fast sensor is not only interesting for the photography of nebulae, star clusters and galaxies, but also for the photography of sun, moon, planets and of course for EAA.

Now ZWO brings this sensor also in a camera without cooling. These cameras are especially interessant for astrophotographers who are looking for a lightweight, versatile and inexpensive camera. Despite the lack of cooling, the images remain smooth, so we can also recommend these cameras not only for lunar and planetary photography, but also for deep sky photography.

The "single shot" colour camera offers more comfort than monochrome cameras. Not everyone wants to go through the laborious L-RGB process for beautiful coloured nebula or planet images. The color cameras offer you the possibility to get beautiful pictures without changing filters. In direct comparison to the DSLR camera, the ASI camera convinces with a much higher light sensitivity, a smoother image and significantly more depth. Stars don´t burn out that easy.
 

Back illumination technology

Sony's back-illuminated CMOS image sensor improves sensitivity and noise reduction – the key factors to enhancing image quality, while radically realigning their fundamental pixel structure from front-illumination to back-illumination. It has retained the advantages of CMOS image sensors such as low power consumption and high-speed operation.

The backside exposure improves the light absorption and increases the amount of light at the same time. This allows significantly shorter exposure times and leads to an improved quantum efficiency of up to 80%.

Sony has newly developed a unique photo-diode structure and on-chip lens optimized for back-illuminated structures, that achieves a higher sensitivity and a lower random noise without light by reducing noise, dark current and defect pixels compared to the conventional front-illuminated structure.
 

Zero amp glow

Traditional CMOS sensors produce a weak infrared light source during operation quite often seen in the corner of uncalibrated images as the tell tale signs of "amp glow". As the ASI533MC uses zero amp glow circuitry, you won’t have to worry about amp glow even when using high gain, long exposure imaging.

 

Sensor:	Sony color IMX533 square back-illuminated CMOS
Sensor size:	11.31 mm x 11.31 mm - diagonal 15.97 mm
Pixel size:	3.76 µm
Pixel count:	9 megapixels, 3008*3008
Exposure range:	32 µs to 2000 s
ADC:	14 bit
Full well:	50 ke
Readout noise:	1.0 to 3.8 e
Sensitivity:	Peak >80% QE (calculated by camera manufacturer)
Memory:	256 MByte DDR3
Frame rate at maximum resolution:	approx. 20 fps (approx. 54 fps at Full HD)
Telescope connection:	M42x0.75 (T2) female thread
Protective glass:	D32-2-AR protective glass with full IR transmission
Working distance from internal thread to sensor:	17.5 mm
Height of thread adapter ring:	11 mm
Working distance from front surface to sensor:	6.5 mm
Ports:	USB 3.0 Type B, ST-4 autoguider
Weight:	129 grams
Dimensions:	62 x 36 mm

In the box:
♦ Camera
♦ 2" cover
♦ Adapter from T2 to 1.25"
♦ 1.25" cover
♦ USB 3.0 cable
♦ ST4 cable
♦ Quick Start Guide