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bwh · Joined: 06 Feb 2007 Posts: 95 Location: Dalgety Bay

New generation of webcams now appears which jump from previous 640x480 (toucam-level ) to 1280x1024 resolution (3mega pixel) range.

good news: circa £20 from amazon.

What remains to be seen is are these new generation cameras:
- as light sensitive as the toucam range (<1 lux)
- can they do long exposure (toucam has known mod to fix this)

My 1st attempt is the Trust Megapixel WP5400 usb 2 camera.

Webcam is very small - eyeball type, easily split from the initial mount and the initial lens is removed by removing the front cover panel.

Good news: toucam style eyepiece adapter fits the thread of the len.

CCD chip in this device much larger than toucam - so locating object onto it will be much easier than toucam.

review: http://sweiller.free.fr/TRUST/Trust-tests.htm

Yet to try at night (no clear skies)

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bwh

Meade 8inch (228mm) LX5 Smidt-Cassegrain fl=2000
Skywatcher 120mm Refractor fl=1000m
Toucam Pro II 840k

bwh · Joined: 06 Feb 2007 Posts: 95 Location: Dalgety Bay

1.3 Megapixel camera

comparison with toucam here

http://ghonis2.ho8.com/fusiontest3.html
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bwh

Meade 8inch (228mm) LX5 Smidt-Cassegrain fl=2000
Skywatcher 120mm Refractor fl=1000m
Toucam Pro II 840k

twinsen · Joined: 13 Mar 2007 Posts: 8 Location: north berwick

think your camera is actually a cmos chip i havnt seen any ccd high res cameras i think ccd is more sensative for the same size sensor.

bwh · Joined: 06 Feb 2007 Posts: 95 Location: Dalgety Bay

your correct that chip in this new webcam (Trust WP-5400) is CMOS and therefore not as sensitive as the CCD in toucam..

But makes interesting comparison... and toucams harder more expensive to acquire at present....

question is: with 4 times more detail, but 2 times less sensitivity is it any better ?

so far not easy to tell - looks like my scope not yet fully collimated - or jupiter to low to allow clear images...

doh!
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bwh

Meade 8inch (228mm) LX5 Smidt-Cassegrain fl=2000
Skywatcher 120mm Refractor fl=1000m
Toucam Pro II 840k

bwh · Joined: 06 Feb 2007 Posts: 95 Location: Dalgety Bay

More details on this trust megapixel.

For avi's its maximum res is : 1280x1024 = 1.3 Million pixels
For snapsnot (1 shot) res is : 2304 x 1728 = 3.9 Million pixels

Small button fires the snapshot.
_________________
bwh

Meade 8inch (228mm) LX5 Smidt-Cassegrain fl=2000
Skywatcher 120mm Refractor fl=1000m
Toucam Pro II 840k

twinsen · Joined: 13 Mar 2007 Posts: 8 Location: north berwick

I spose the higher res is better as it allows you more flexibility say for imaging the moon. Is the chip size twice as big though or just the resolution?

Alex

bwh · Joined: 06 Feb 2007 Posts: 95 Location: Dalgety Bay

hi

chip is much bigger, and therefore getting object onto chip far easier.

http://sweiller.free.fr/TRUST/Trust-tests.htm has comparison photos of the chips involved so you can compare.

The small button is a nightmare to operate - as needs strong push - and not sure if this using the digitial zoom to over sample the 1280..... there is very little documenation on whats happening - my guess is its only 1280x1024 resolution - but that is more than toucam....

I think they will probably be very similar, with toucam better (more clarity) but trust easier for a beginner... £16 for trust, £30+ for toucam.

true heaven as paul said at meeting, is cheap , long exposure, fully controllable chip.

We now seeing quad-core chips as speed growth of PCs hit quantum tunnelling effects and tracks could go no smaller - next stage looks to be banks of CCD chips to take better pictures.
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bwh

Meade 8inch (228mm) LX5 Smidt-Cassegrain fl=2000
Skywatcher 120mm Refractor fl=1000m
Toucam Pro II 840k

adt175 · Joined: 16 Jan 2007 Posts: 91 Location: Edinburgh

Hmm, bit sceptical about these type of cameras. The bigger chipped cameras tend to end up with much lower res images unless they support ROI (region of interest) applications. Add CMOS and you further reduce the res. But the prof is in the pudding so look forward to some images.
Andy
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WO 80mm, Solar stuff, HEQ5, and lots of other stuff.