ZWO ASI224MC (color) Planetary Camera

Astrophotography Performance

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

High QE

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

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

Most sensors 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 beneficial for ASI224MC, so this upgrade is specifically implemented for ASI224MC  and ASI224MC-C.

We made this change since April 2016, which means the current unit s(ASI224MC and ASI224MC-C) that we produce, are all equipped with the newest PCB version —V1.3.

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?