Quick Overview
ZWO ASI533MM-Pro cooled monochrome astronomy camera with a 1”-format square (11.3mm x 11.3mm) Sony IMX533 CMOS sensor
High 3008x3008 resolution (9.0 megapixels) and 3.76-micron pixel size
Ideal for capturing high-resolution astronomical images of deep-sky objects and lunar/solar/planetary images
Integrated two-stage TEC cooling reduces sensor temperature to 35oC below ambient to enable low-noise imaging of faint deep-sky objects
Fast USB3.0 transfer rate of up to 20fps
256MB DDR3 buffer for quick and stable data transfer and reduced amp glow
Attractive red anodized CNC aluminum body stands up to heavy field use
Ready to go out of the box with cables, adapters, and manual; Software and drivers available from manufacturer's website
Compact body with 78mm diameter and weight of only 470 g (16.8 oz)
Product Details
Compact Cooled Astronomy Camera for Deep-Sky and Solar-System Imaging
The ZWO ASI533MM-Pro cooled monochrome astronomy camera is equipped with Sony’s CMOS IMX533 1”-format sensor with a square aspect ratio. With a resolution of 9.0 megapixels, this camera has large pixels for high signal-to-noise ratio for imaging deep-sky objects. It’s also ideal for fast, high-resolution lunar, solar, and planetary imaging. A small telescope with 400mm focal length, for example, gives a field of view of with this camera of 1.6 degrees square. A telescope with 1500mm focal length gives a field of 0.43 degrees square.
State-of-the-Art Sony Backlit IMX533 Sensor
ZWO engineered the ASI533MM-Pro camera around Sony’s IMX533 9-megapixel CMOS sensor with 16mm diagonal (11.31mmx11.31mm) with a 3008x3008 pixel array. Each pixel measures 3.76 micron on each edge. The sensor’s square format is ideal for framing many symmetric deep-sky objects such as globular and open clusters, planetary nebula, and many emission nebulae.
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 increases 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.The pixels have a 50000e well capacity to help you capture sharp images of bright stars without saturation. This back-illuminated sensor has a high estimated QE of 91%. Read noise is as low as 1.0e.
Zero Amp Glow Control Circuitry
Traditional CMOS sensors produce a weak infrared light source during operation quite often seen in the corner of uncalibrated images as the tell tale signs of ‘amp glow’. As the ASI533MM-Pro uses zero amp glow circuitry, you won’t have to worry about amp glow even when using high gain, long exposure imaging.
DDR3 Memory Buffer and Fast Data Transfer
The ‘Pro’ designation of the camera comes from its internal 256MB DDR3 buffer for quick and stable data transfer and reduced amp glow. The USB3.0 port offers a fast 20 fps capture rate at full resolution with 14-bit ADC.
TEC Sensor Cooling and Anti-Dew Heater
The two-stage TEC cooling system brings the sensor temperature down to 35oC below ambient to keep sensor noise as low as possible, even on warm nights. The heat generated by the TEC is used to counteract the formation of dew on the front window of the camera. The camera’s TEC cooler requires 12V@3A provided with an external power supply (not included). If the camera is powered with a USB2.0 host, the external 12V power supply is also required.
Superb Low-Noise Performance
The ASI533MM-Pro camera has a dynamic range of 8 to nearly 14 stops depending on the camera gain settings. At a camera gain of 100, you get 13 stops of dynamic range with a read noise of just 1.5e. At higher gain, read noise can be as low as 1.0e which makes this an ideal camera for electronically-assisted astronomy (EAA).