ZWO ASI294MC Pro Cooled Color CMOS Camera

I wanted to love this camera—it’s fast, sensitive and creates great images. But with a light pollution filter like the Hutech IDAS-LPS P2 or D2, or the Triad Ultra Quad band filter, it creates weird red and green streaks and blotches in the background that are hard to get rid of—or cause you to lose nebulosity when you do. It took me a long time to figure out it was the filters, and maybe it isn’t—there are lots of posts on the internet about similar problems. Check around and see what other people are saying, but if you’re in a light polluted area where you’ll be needing a filter, you might want to look elsewhere. I returned mine and am awaiting an ASI2600.

This is my first cooled camera. Wow!!!! Because of stormy weather I have only been able to use it once. But what a night it was. My target was the Sunflower Galaxy. Cooled to -10 and away we went. Super sensitive and no noise. I shot a darks library to get the ball rolling.

The ZWO ASI294 MC Pro is a fantastic step up from the modified Nikon DSLR I have been using. The larger pixel size even works well with the Celestron 14" SCT that I'm using. And the camera is easy to use, with only a small learning curve. I'm using it through a powered USB 3.0 hub and get almost instant downloads with virtually no noise. I also use the USB hub on the camera to run my guide camera with the short cable provided with the camera. Dealing with OPT has also been a pleasure with quick shipping and an easy to use site.

I've been using a modded DSLR before I purchased this camera.. The images coming out of this camera are amazing. Products like this are responsible for the rapid growth of astrophotography. 4 stars because of the small type in the quickstart guide. Other than that I have no complaints! I bought it from OPT because they are as passionate about the hobby as I am.

I chose the ZWO ASI294MC-Pro because the 4.63 micron pixels match my telescope's focal length. I use an 80 mm F7.5 telescope for most imaging. The camera is well with in the specifications for use with my 120 mm F 8.3 as well. The ZWO ASI294MC-Pro comes with a good set of adapters and spacers. I wanted to have a hard connection between the camera and the telescope. I used all the spacers and adapters to make the hard connection and get the back focus. The ZWO ASI294MC-Pro is very sensitive for a color camera. The field of view in my telescope is about 1.8° x 1.2° returning a very detailed image. As to the USB hub on the camera I do not use it, but I see the value if you have the mono and are using a filter wheel. I do like the USB cables that are part of the package, particularly the short 2.0 cables. I use one from my guide camera to a powered USB 3.0 hub. I would recommend a powered hub as the sub frames are 22.8 mbs. I am using Nebulosity 4 as capture software and the download speeds are good, but I also have a 10 sec delay between sub frames. I bought the ZWO 12V 3I power supply along with the camera. The power supply is well constructed and has ample power cable. The ZWO ASI294CM-Pro has a delta T 35 cooler. I normally run it at delta T -20. The cooler has a low power consumption as 30% is the highest number I have seen as of this writing. OTP delivered the camera and power supply to me (in Florida) in just under four (4) days. The camera, as does all ZWO cameras is well packaged.

Easy to use and very professional. I paired mine with a Badder Mark 3 coma corrector and a 6” Newtonian Astrograph. My photos have never been better! I even had a Duo Narrowband filter on this camera and had done 6 hours on the western Veil nebula. Unbelievable detail and contrast. 100% recommend if you want a OSC camera.