ZWO ASI2600mm Pro USB 3.0 Cooled Monochrome Astronomy Imaging Camera
Manufacturer Part # ZWO ASI2600MC-P
The ZWO ASI2600MC Pro is a high performance camera for imagers looking for an APS-C style sensor. The back lit Sony IMX571 will provide you with a more satisfying imaging experience.
ASI2600MC Pro uses Sony’s latest back-illuminated IMX571 APS-C format native 16-bit ADC sensor. It has an ultra-high 14 stops dynamic range, ultra-low 1.0e readout noise and an innovative breakthrough resulting in zero amp-glow. It is a camera born from the appeal of astrophotography lovers.
This is a 26MP camera featuring a small pixel size of 3.76um yet also having the incredible ability of accommodating a large well depth of 50ke.
The sensor length and width are 23.5mm * 15.7mm. The diagonal is 28.3mm.
IMX571 backlit sensor:
Sony’s back-illuminated CMOS image sensor improves sensitivity and noise reduction – the key factors to enhancing image quality, while radically realigning their fundamental pixel structure from front-illumination to back-illumination. It has retained the advantages of CMOS image sensors such as low power consumption and high-speed operation.
With a conventional front-illumination structure, the metal wiring and transistors on the surface of the silicon substrate that form the sensor’s light-sensitive area (photo-diode) impede photon gathering carried out by the on-chip lens. A back-illuminated structure minimizes the degradation of sensitivity to optical angle response, while also increasing the amount of light that enters each pixel due to the lack of obstacles such as metal wiring and transistors that have been moved to the reverse of the silicon substrate.
Sony has newly developed a unique photo-diode structure and on-chip lens optimized for back-illuminated structures, that achieves a higher sensitivity and a lower random noise without light by reducing noise, dark current and defect pixels compared to the conventional front-illuminated structure.
The ASI2600MC Pro is equipped with a USB 3.0 transmission interface and a built-in 256MB DDR3 cache to ensure stable and secure data transmission. Under long exposure, it effectively avoids frame dropping and greatly reduces the glow effect caused by slow reading speed.
Anti-Dew Heater:
There is a polyimide heater completely fitting the protective window in the ASI2600MM Pro camera. It can help avoid any potential annoying dew or icing issues depending on the environment in which you capture images.
The power of the heater is around 5W. You are free to turn it off anytime in your photography software if you want to save power.
Like the ASI6200, the ASI2600MC Pro also uses two stage TEC cooling and can lower the CMOS sensor temperature to more that 35c below ambient, which can greatly reduce dark current generation and sensor noise even with extended exposure times.
The unique dark current suppression technology can even further reduce dark current noise.
At a cooling temperature of 0 °, the dark current noise is only 0.0024e/s/pix. Which means 300s exposure can only cause 0.7e dark current noise, which is completely negligible!
This is the one you will need.
Please note that the camera needs to be connected to an external 11-15v power supply to implement the cooling function. We recommend you use 12V@3A DC adapter (5.5*2.1mm, center pole positive) or lithium battery with 11-15V to power the camera.
ZWO has all their information available for download on their website in a perfectly laid out section. Check it out here for software and drivers and here for manuals and guides.
One of the coolest gadgets, and a neccessity according to a majority of ZWO users, is the ASIair Pro. It is an all-in-one wireless camera solution. The ASIair pro gives you control of focus, image taking, plate solving, and computerized mount control with the included SkySafari bridge all controlled by your smartdevice or tablet. It really is pretty awesome.
Camera technical details
| Sensor | Back-Illuminated CMOS |
| ADC | 16 bit |
| Back Focus | 17.5 mm |
| Color or Mono | Mono |
| Cooled or Uncooled | Cooled |
| Dynamic Range | 13.9 stops |
| Full Resolution Frame Rate | 3.51fps |
| Full Well | 50ke |
| Mega Pixels | 26.1 mp |
| Peak QE | 80% |
| Pixel Array | 6248 x 4176 |
| Pixel Size | 3.76 microns |
| Read Noise | 3.3e |
| Sensor Diagonal | 28.3 mm |
| Sensor Type | CMOS |
| Sensor | Sony IMX571 CMOS |
| Guide Port | N/A |
| WIndow | AR |
| Exposure Range | 32us - 2000s |
| Weight | 1.5 pounds |
Tech Details:
| Normal Num Pixel High | 4176 |
|---|---|
| Normal Num Pixel Wide | 6248 |
| Pixel Array | 26.1 mega pixels |
| Pixel Size | 3.76 |
| Weight | 1.5 pounds |
| Warranty | 2 years |