ZWO ASI224MC USB 3.0 colour CMOS camera for hires imaging

ZWO ASI224MC USB 3.0 colour CMOS camera for hires imaging

ZWO ASI224MC USB 3.0 high speed colour CMOS camera for hires imaging. This camera is perfect for planetary, lunar and solar imaging, equipped with one of the best Sony CMOS chip, the Sony EXMOR IMX224 sensor with very low read noise, very high QE (~80%) extended also on the near infrared and very high efficency. One of the ZWO ASI best-sellers!

Astrophotography Performance

The ZWO ASI224MC has a 1/3″ and 1.2M pixels sensor IMX224 with SONY Exmor and NIR Technology. Extremely low read noise (1.5 e) and high sensitivity especially in IR range. Read Noise of ASI224 is less than 1e which can compare with sCMOS or EMCCD sensors. Very suitable for astronomy planetary and small DSO imaging.

High QE

Relative QE Curve, we estimate the Peak Value should between 75%-80%.

PCB Version1.3 (include Anti-amp glow function)

Most sensor will have amp-glow problem only if you do long-time exposure capture, such as longer than 1s.

We apply “amp glow reduction technology” to our ASI224MC and ASI224MC-C camera, it is a hardware modification to reduce the amp-glow of the sensor, not every sensor can benefit from this modification, but it is obvious for ASI224MC, so this upgrade is for ASI224MC  and ASI224MC-C only.

ZWO made this change since April 2016, which means the current unit (ASI224MC and ASI224MC-C) manufactured are all equiped with the newest PCB version —V1.3 or later.

USB 3.0 Port & ST4 Port

USB 3.0 Port: can provide 5Gb bandwidth to let ASI224 run at 64fps (12bit, normal mode) or 150 fps (10bit, high speed mode)  at full resolution(1.2Mega).

ST4 Port: can be used connect with auto guide port of mount, for guiding.

Mechanical Diagram

What is in the box?

Specifications

• Sensor: CMOS - 1/3"Sony Exmor IMX224/225 (Colour, RGB Bayer Matrix)
• Resolution: 1.2 Mpx - 1304x976 px
• Pixel Size: 3.75 µm
• Sensor size: 4.8 x 3.6 mm
• Sensor diagonal: 6.09 mm
• Exposure Range: 32 µs - 1000 s
• ROI: Supported
• Interface: USB 3.0 / USB 2.0
• Bit rate: 10 or 12 bit output (ADC native 12 bit)
• Protect window: AR coated window
• Adaptor: 2" / 1.25" / M42x0.75 (T2)
• Dimension: φ 62 x 28 mm
• Weight: 100 g
• Working Temperature: -5°C—45°C
• Storage Temperature: -20°C—60°C
• Working Relative Humidity: 20%—80%
• Storage Relative Humidity: 20%—95%

Supported resolution

Binning 1x1, 10 bit or 12 bit mode

• 1304×976 150 fps / 64 fps
• 1280×960 152.4 fps / 65 fps
• 800×600 241.2 fps / 102.9 fps
• 640×480 299.4 fps / 127.6 fps
• 320×240 577.9 fps / 256.4 fps

More resolutions can be user defined (ROI).

Some example