The ZWO ASI 2600 MM Pro monochrome cooled camera is designed to meet professional needs, featuring a top-quality back-illuminated Sony CMOS sensor. This sensor represents Sony's latest development with one of the highest sensitivities and 16-bit color depth (bit depth). While using color cameras reduces the time and effort required for astronomical imaging, monochrome sensor cameras can achieve better results with some extra work, provided there is adequate technical support and patience. It is advisable to combine the equipment with a motorized filter wheel, as successful imaging will require a 3+1 filter imaging technique.
The ZWO ASI 2600 MM Pro monochrome cooled camera features a special APS-C sized, high dynamic range back-illuminated CMOS sensor measuring 23.5 x 15.7 mm (28.6 mm diagonal), which combines ultra-low noise with high sensitivity. The sensor is composed of 3.76-micron pixels, allowing for particularly good resolution. Its 16-bit ADC converter and over 91% QE sensitivity promise extremely high performance for deep-sky photography.
The camera includes a high-performance Peltier cooler that keeps the sensor up to 35°C below the ambient temperature, allowing for the capture of fine details of galaxies. To compensate for the high cooling capacity, the camera also boasts anti-dew heating. Even without cooling, the camera requires a 12V power supply with a minimum of 3A, making an external power source essential for operation.
The camera is equipped with a USB 3.0 connector but can also operate with USB 2.0 standards, although the former allows for much higher image transfer speeds, enabling more images to be captured in a given time, which is particularly justified by the 26-megapixel (6248 x 4176 pixel) sensor. The camera features 512 Mbyte DDR3 memory buffer, responsible for stable, high-speed data transfer.
Numerous free software options are available online for image capture, and under Windows, the SharpCap and FireCapture applications are particularly recommended. The camera requires Windows XP or later versions but is also usable under Linux and even has Macintosh support.
Contents of the ZWO ASI 2600 MM Pro package:
- ASI 2600MM monochrome camera
- soft carrying case
- M48-M42 adapter
- 2 m USB 3.0 cable
- T2-T2 21 mm extension
- T2-M48 16.5 mm extension-adapter
- 2-inch dust cap
- 0.5 m USB 2.0 cable
