Astrophotography Cameras: How to use a OSC One Shot Color Astronomy Camera

This video gives an overview on setting up and using a one shot color astronomy camera with APT and Sharp Cap Pro.
My Link Tree - linktr.ee/avastronomy​​​​​
Links to my other videos that explain layer masks, camera settings, Collimation and image processing in more detail.
• How to process Astroph...
HLVG - www.deepskycolors.com/archive...
Gradient Xterminator - www.rc-astro.com/resources/Gr...
OPT telescopes and Agena Astro have a tremendous inventory of astrophotography gear and great service. You can check them out here through my affiliate links. This is the setup I currently use.
Agena Astro - bit.ly/3D3U8id
ASI AIR PLUS - bit.ly/46BTfej
IOPTRON GEM 28 MOUNT - bit.ly/3O2QpGX
WILLIAM OPTICS Z61 - bit.ly/44v5Hv7
IOPTRON IGUIDER - bit.ly/44AXRzv
ASI 294MM CAMERA KIT - bit.ly/46Clqd3
Links to helpful astrophotography items that can be purchased directly through Agena Astro.
TELESCOPES
Redcat71 APO telescope - bit.ly/3D6cT4s
Sky Watcher 8" Dobsonian reflector telescope - bit.ly/3XGYwNy
ASTRONOMY CAMERAS
QHY 600M - bit.ly/3rbHgno
ZWO ASI533MC Pro OSC camera - bit.ly/3XPlzpx
ZWO ASI2600MC pro camera - bit.ly/3pDJFHg
MOUNTS
ZWO AM5 Mount - bit.ly/44eHUzn
Sky Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Pro pack - bit.ly/44gXXMV
Sky Watcher EQ6 R pro mount - bit.ly/3riYbVc
Sky Watcher EQ8 (for heavier payloads) mount - bit.ly/3D3UFkd
Celestron CGXL mount - bit.ly/3O2u6lQ
FILTERS
Optolong Luminance Pro (broadband light pollution filter) - bit.ly/46FIdEJ
Optolong L-extreme(vary tight/narrow dual band light pollution filter) - bit.ly/3NLwrjJ
Optolong L Ultimate - bit.ly/3NIHABV

[@astroimager3010]

Good starting point for anyone looking to upgrade from DSLRs to dedicated astronomy cameras. Appreciate the effort to share your experience.

[@AVAstronomy]

Thank you Phil!

[@Big.Ron1]

Cool. I am just getting into astrophotography and things like this are worth their weight in gold. Thank you!

[@AVAstronomy]

You’re welcome! This hobby is a journey, and an awesome one at that. Clear skies, God bless, and good luck on your astrophotgraphy adventures.

[@enriqueboeneker]

Now I know where to start when I get my OSC! Thanks for sharing!

[@AVAstronomy]

👍 cheers Enrique!

[@ChucksAstrophotography]

Excellent and informative video for OSC cameras, I'm thinking about diving into an OSC as well.

[@AVAstronomy]

Hi Chuck! Thank you! Yes I’m loving the new camera.

[@TaCtiCaL323]

Hey Chuck! You're next on my list to watch and absorb as much as I can! You produce some INCREDIBLE images.

[@FR3EKELITE]

I have had issues with My OSC ASI183MC Pro. Massive color noise, i think this will help out. I think now after watching this i was way under exposed and only collecting noise data basically

[@cainmh]

Great video!

[@AVAstronomy]

Thank you!

[@Tihpem]

Even as i dont have an OSC yet it was a good heads up what to expect initially. Great video, really well explaining :)

[@AVAstronomy]

Thank you Ivar! 🙂

[@astrodad656]

Thank you. I have my dslr imaging as I type...i.e., =noise...and am awaiting the arrival of my QHY268c.This video is totally spot on.

[@AVAstronomy]

Great camera! Prepare to be blown away. 👍

[@MarkoPola]

Thank you. Another nice feature in sharpcap pro is the smart histogram brain tool that measures yours sky brightness and guides you to the best subexposure times for your area to swamp your read noise and improve your SNR

[@AVAstronomy]

You’re welcome and thank you for watching as well as the tip. Clear skies and God bless!

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

I love my OSC, ZWO ASI294MC Pro. Thought numerous times about going to full mono narrowband. Currently however, I don’t fully see why I would. Can’t wait to see some of your results with this!

[@AVAstronomy]

Hi Ed! Yeah, love the results your getting with the 294MC pro. My latest M45 pic on Instagram was shot with the QHY165C. Cheers bud!

[@MayfieldCreekObservatory]

I am fixing to watch this video. I have a ASI533MC OSC. I came over from a DSLR. I am having trouble with star colors. Hoping I can get some tips here. My DSLR always was easy on getting good star colors.

[@AVAstronomy]

What kind of Star color issues are you having? Could be from a filter your using or just in need of a color balance adjustment in post processing.

[@syberand]

Do you happen to have a link to that light panel?

[@AVAstronomy]

A4 LED Light Box Tracer Ultra-Thin USB Powered Portable Dimmable Brightness LED Artcraft Tracing Light Pad Light Box for Artists Drawing Sketching Animation Designing Stencilling X-ray Viewing www.amazon.com/dp/B074QMTX2B/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabt1_6TAUFbJ3ZWP9X

[@suzannebeers6238]

Thanks very much Aaron!! I just made the switch to a OSC because I can't find a second Canon ESO Ra anywhere. This is exactly the info I needed!! Do you have a recommendation on temperature settings? Or a source to determine the ultimate one? Finally, do you adjust gain by target brightness or just go with same value most/all of the time? Thanks again!!!

[@AVAstronomy]

Hi Suzanne! Congrats on going with an OSC. Your going to love it. So, for me, the temperature thing really depends on a couple factors. How cold it gets where you live and how many dark libraries you want to create. I went with a temperature that I knew I could get the camera down to year round. So, I went with -10C. If you live in area that doesn’t get as hot as it does where I live you could maybe go for -20C. But really it’s totally up to you. Generally. The colder the better but I haven’t seen a lot of difference in my images between -10C and -20C. I usually just keep the gain in the middle of the road so to speak. Gain actually doesn’t change the sensitivity of the sensor it only amplifies the data that’s been collected. Good luck and clear skies!

[@jdblock412]

I hope to 'graduate to a OSC camera at some point from a DSLR and this video was very good at removing some of the intimidation factor. I've heard the image format from a OSC camera presents some additional (perhaps confusing?) complexities as far as post processing. Is this your experience and if so, is there any advice you might have for that part of the process?

[@AVAstronomy]

Good morning and thanks for watching. I used to have some of the same reservations regarding this transition to OSC but it's totally worth the move. I'll still use DSLR for trips and such but all my backyard work will be OSC going forward. The stacked images are the cleanest data I've seen. The small hurdles regarding GAIN and OFFSET are easy to overcome. Go for it!

[@skipfranzese5667]

Hi Aaron, Great clip!! I am considering purchasing one of these types of cameras so I can have two setups going. What I am very confused about is, what does one shot camera (OCR) mean as I think I understand it can be either a CCD or a CMOS camera, is that correct and if so what does one shot mean? I understand that a CCD is a global shutter and a cmos is a rolling shutter so I do t think it has anything to do with how the light hits the pixels? I’m a bit confused. Thanks for your knowledge as I find your clips so very helpful! Thanks, Skip

[@AVAstronomy]

Hi Skip, one shot color refers to the fact that you don’t have to take separate frames for Lumiance, red, blue, and green like you would with a mono camera. It’s merely referencing that it’s a color camera. Glad you find the videos helpful. God bless amd clear skies!

[@nicklaplaca8438]

Thank you for the tutorial. I purchased the light pad that you referenced / linked in the comments. However, I think it may be different from what you used in the video. The light pad I purchased from the link has a black grid with small holes for the light to get through. I was expecting a uniform white/illuminated surface. Does your light pad have a black grid with many little points of light? It certainly doesn't seem correct.

[@AVAstronomy]

I’ll re check the link Nick, it should have been the correct one.

[@glaceda1]

What software do you use after you have your stacked image? I have a ASI533MC and I cannot get it to show color. I keep getting black and what images.

[@AVAstronomy]

What stacking software are you using? I use primarily photoshop for my post processing work.

[@malanstecker]

Do you have an Amazon link for the $15 dimmable LED light panel for about $15? The least expensive I see cost 3-times as much.

[@AVAstronomy]

Sorry, I don’t. I imagine they have gone up in price a bit since I purchased mine.

[@michaelturner7608]

Arron, where do you get the offset of 200? I'm trying to fully understand what you're doing here and I lost or maybe I didn't see it, where you got the 200.

[@AVAstronomy]

Which camera do you have? It will vary from camera to camera.

[@michaelturner7608]

@@AVAstronomy ZWO ASI183MC-Pro

[@matthilton8959]

Whats the link to the offset thing you mentioned please?

[@AVAstronomy]

daleghent.com/2020/08/understanding-camera-offset

[@AstroDenny]

First thing you can do before first imaging night with a cooled OSC is build a dark library- Definitely the single biggest advantage of that cooled sensor. Also, if you're using APT, the focus aid is very nice to use if you don't have a mask. Are you using that LED panel for to make your flats?

[@AVAstronomy]

Thanks for the advice and yes I plan on using the panel for flats as well. Cheers!

[@AstroDenny]

@@AVAstronomy Cool- I looked at a few but there were light "hot spots" that made them unsuitable (great for lighting, crap for flats). Can you put the link in to the one you have?

[@AVAstronomy]

@@AstroDenny I had a hard time finding the exact link as there are literally hundreds of these on amazon but I believe this is the one. amzn.to/3l2Y3Ah

[@jaspalchadha1041]

Would this method work with mono ccd sensor ?

[@AVAstronomy]

I don't see why not. I can't speak from personal experience but the principal should be the same.

[@redabdab]

unfortunately, the advice I needed was about cooling my ZWO camera. You skipped straight past that. I am not sure what are the best settings to cool the camera down. I think you have to do it slowly right? Do you have a video explaining that?

[@AVAstronomy]

I’d be glad to help. Most cameras allow for a -35C to ambient. So what are the current temps in your area at night. Let’s say your imaging and it’s 21C. The most you should set it is -14 Celsius but I usually go a bit higher in temp to avoid pushing to cooler to far but that’s Up to you. Typically this time of year it’s 27C or higher at night so I set mine to 0C or -5C at best. I’m the winter time it’s a different story. I go down to -35C easily. The key is to go off the current ambient temp and not to exceed going -35C to ambient. Some cameras can do -40C to ambient but check your camera specs. God Bless and Clear skies!

[@redabdab]

@@AVAstronomy thanks for this. I should’ve been a bit clearer in my question. I was meaning how fast is it ok to do the cool down using APT’s cooling aid? I don’t want to shock the sensor. Thanks

[@AVAstronomy]

@@redabdab sure. so, I've always just used the default settings in APT and its always been no problem. 3 degrees cooling step, 5 second pause, 120s timeout.

[@hael8680]

Couldn't see what you were doing for offset....🙁

[@AVAstronomy]

The offset number is small compared to the gain. What camera do you have?

[@michaelbenn4741]

Thanks for that AVA :-) I was following along nicely until you started talking about changing the offset, and mentioning what value it was currently set to. Unfortunately your in-frame talking head video covers that setting (I think?), so it's not possible to see what you're monitoring or changing :-( Anyway, I looked everywhere in my SharpCap for the Offset setting, and couldn't, then eventually discovered that it's not used for ZWO cameras in SharpCap. I've only had my ASI294MC Pro for a week and am still trying to get my head round it compared to a DLSR and this had me stumped for a while :-o Anyway, good work!

[@AVAstronomy]

Thanks, check the camera settings to change offset. This can be found on the settings tab in APT (I’m not sure where to check if your using some other image capturing software)

[@BruceElliott]

This video had some helpful tips, but please ... don't put the thumbnail on top of the part of the screen where you're making your adjustments. I couldn't follow where the cursor was going or in some cases even see what you were adjusting. It might help to remember that just because you're looking at the GUI and clicking something, that doesn't mean we know where you're looking. It's not easy to catch what you did if you don't point it out visually on the screen. But thanks, I did learn some good information.