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Excellent Camera
Working out of box, Cooling very quick down, Stars are crisp and round. Sofar very happy with my new Camera.
I had a DSLR, and I'm never going back.
Here in suburban Florida under Bortle-8 skies, imaging DSO's other than the Orion Nebula was an exercise in futility when using a DSLR. Between the light pollution and the high thermal noise, it was pretty much hopeless - plus the high resolution of a DSLR wasn't a good match for my high focal ratio 8-inch SCT scope. Using the ATIK 414EX Monochrome has taken the frustration out of this hobby. Its increased sensitivity and very low noise means even dim objects like Thor's Helmet pop out with just an hour or so of 2-minute exposures, even here. In my first week, I nabbed great images of the Pinwheel Galaxy and the Whirlpool Galaxy. It's been very exciting. You will of course need a filter wheel and filters with this camera if you want to do color or narrowband imaging. While this camera itself is probably lighter than your DSLR, once you add in the filters you'll be looking at some extra weight on your telescope, so you may need another counterweight too. All in all though buying this camera has opened up a whole new world - or should I say universe - of astrophotography for me, and without the need to travel hours to a dark site. As for OPT's service, the item arrived quickly and was well packed. They had it in stock, unlike many of their competitors at the time. I'm a happy camper all around.
Super sensitive and low noise! Awesome CCD
This is an amazing little CCD. I upgraded to it from the ATIK 314L+. Fantastic purchase. I can tell how much more sensitive it is and am very impressed with the noise levels.