The trials & tribulations of the ZWO ASI294MM Pro. Was it worth the Headache? My 294MM 1st Light!

I finally got around to posting my Pros and Cons with the ZWO ASI294MM Pro. I figured out what I needed for proper calibration frames after many tireless nights. Included is all of the images to date that I was able to capture using the ZWO ASI294MM Pro camera. Images included The Running man (NGC1977), Thor's Helmet (NGC2359), The Whirlpool Galaxy (M101), Bode's Galaxy (M81), The Hercules Cluster (M13), The Lagoon Nebula (M8), The Crescent Nebula (NGC6888) #astronomy #astrophotography #nebula #galaxy #firstlight
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[@perry3928]

Absolutely stunning images. Thanks. Received my 224mc for my 8se. Expected clouds, but no. Smoke from Canada's wild fires here in Rochester NY. Go figure 😅

[@AZ4Runner]

If it is not clouds, it is something else. Summer time is the time I try to purchase gear since it is 110+ and I can't image anyways. Hope the smoke clears up for you soon. CS.

[@IcemanAstro]

Some great images man!! The struggle with those flats were something else , but glad you got it dialed in.The Lagoon is my favorite!!

[@AZ4Runner]

Thanks Isaac!! next is the 533MM. Oh wait aren't you suppose to keep me from buying stuff!!!🤣😂😁

[@user-pi5xu7qs7n]

Beautiful pictures. I have the 6" RC with a ASI533MC and the CCDT67 reducer and starting to really enjoy that combo.

[@AZ4Runner]

Thanks! I was considering the 533. That has gotta be a great FOV!

[@nikaxstrophotography]

Wonderful images now you have sorted out the flats excellent work!!

[@AZ4Runner]

thanks Nik. I almost sent it back but kept at it.

[@ronlundgren4391]

I’ve been shooting with the 294MC Pro for about two years. Love it. I’m using NINA Flat Wizard to shoot sky flats and that’s been working well. I use it on a C8 and a Radian Raptor 61. Great video!🍻

[@AZ4Runner]

Thanks Ron! I about sent the camera back for a 533MM but I kept at it and really like it now. The 294 is a very formidable workhorse because of the Bin2 and Bin1 option. CS

[@AstroSoundscape]

Hey Jason glad you got all those finicky issues sorted out mate. I had the 183MM for a while but it was fairly straight forward to calibrate out the frames. Some nice images there especially the brain with all that O3.

[@AZ4Runner]

Yeah Ollie, I was bout ready to send that thing out to pasture. but finally got it working well.

[@williamhouse5081]

Absolutely beautiful images!!!!

[@AZ4Runner]

Thanks William!

[@astrojohn70]

Good job! I have had the ASI294MM P for several years and once I figured out the flats, it has been a great camera. I had to use a different light source (had to use an LED tracing pad vs an Android tablet), it has worked well with the new light source. I use bin 1 on my Redcat 51 and bin 2 on my Stellarvue SV102. Those 90MB files fill up your hard drive pretty fast! I also have the ASI294MC P and have made combined images with both cameras, using the 294MC for RGB and adding Ha with the ASI294MM.

[@AZ4Runner]

Thanks John! Camera is pretty good now after pulling out some of my hair. I just purchased an addition 6TB Raid1 NAS to compensate for more files and I am seriously considering a 294 color camera for broadband targets .. CS

[@dumpydalekobservatory]

Great video mate you got some nice images to, I were always put off by the 294 & 183 because of the amp glow but looks like they calibrated out ok. Clear skies!!

[@AZ4Runner]

Thanks Tich and I hear ya! I'm not a fan of ampglow either after using the IMX571 cameras. (they kinda spoil ya). but I really wanted the Binning options, and the fact that the camera is a little smaller, I can image further into summer without catching fire!!🔥🔥🔥 CS

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Hi Jason, I did not know about that bin 1 secret of the 294. Also, great information about taking flats. Flats have saved me so many times for those dust bunnies (why they call them bunnies is beyond me ... they are more like dust 'bugs'). Really fine and crisp final images. I like that idea of adding RGB stars to the narrowband images. Have you tried to capture the supernova yet? With that great M101 image, it would make a great before-after comparison.

[@AZ4Runner]

Hey Pat, I do have post M101 supernova data that I have yet to process. RBG stars are pretty easy to add to a narrowband image thanks to StarX and you don't need a whole lotta time on the stars either.

[@GordinhoTube]

Great job with the asi294M I have one too, and I love the high h-alpha sensitivity. Thank you for the tips :-)

[@AZ4Runner]

Thanks Paulo, it is a very nice camera, once you figure out all its quirks. CS

[@hael8680]

Great results!! You managed to tame that camera well. Have you ever discussed the collimation of your RC?

[@AZ4Runner]

Thanks! I have not discussed collimation of my RC. I'm pretty sure it is out of collimation a bit. I'm working on Acquiring the proper tools to deal with it, so maybe in a future video. 😊

[@LogansAstro]

You've certainly captured some fantastic images with the 294mm and that Crescent nebula is awesome! I considered the 294mm myself to use with the Mead 10" and Redcat but dealing with the amp glow put me off (we get spoiled with the 2600mm). My first camera was the ASI294mcPro and although I was able to deal with the amp glow through calibration frames, occasionally I just couldn't get rid of it. Clear skies Jason and stay out of the heat. And congrats on the 1k subs!

[@AZ4Runner]

Thanks Logan! I'm still considering adding a 533mm to my camera arsenal or maybe the Orion G10 (their 294 OSC) but I need to stop buying stuff. The last time I purchased something it started wildfires all the way in Canada and now there is smoke everywhere. 😄

[@LogansAstro]

@@AZ4Runner 🤣you dangerous man!

[@SimonsAstro]

Excellent video Jason! Some awesome images there mate, really nice star cluster! I like my 2600’s no amp glow😀 congrats on 1k subs Jason👍 Clear skies!

[@AZ4Runner]

Thanks Simon.. I almost went with the 533 because of the no amp glow and I might still put one in my arsenal of cameras eventually. Still love the 2600 of course! CS

[@DavidCotePhotography]

Jason, those were some awesome images! I really loved the one of Thor's Helmut (this coming season I will capture that one) and the Lagoon Nebula! I debated about getting the 294, but decided to get teh ASI071MC camera instead. Looking to get another 2600MM pro camera and will try that on my RC6 and see what it looks like! CS and see you guys in the fall!

[@AZ4Runner]

Thanks Dave! the 071 and the RC should produce a great FOV. I have shot with the 2600 and the RC just need to have great guiding.. Looking forward to your images and yes see you in the fall! CS

[@azrayastrophotography2260]

Hey Jason, good infor on the 294mm . I considered getting one for my Rasa 8 but I already have the color one and in works great on the Rasa. Bye the way I do my Galaxy images with Ha,Green and Blue only. Give it a try you'll be surprised. Cs

[@AZ4Runner]

Thanks Ray! I'm gonna give that a try next go around for galaxies. CS

[@gerryvaldez654]

Good stuff, Jason. Images look amazing and glad to see you got the calibration frames worked out. The 294mm pro has some nice spec's and your images demonstrate it well. Some time back, I did some simple tests on various binning with my 071mc pro (4.78µm pixel size) to see what effect it had on stars at the long focal length but didn't notice much of a difference. Might be a interesting experiment to try again.

[@AZ4Runner]

Thanks Gerry! would definitely be worth the experimentation. I did try binning with the 183 a while back but couldn't tell much difference either. CS

[@tullyfisher]

Really interesting video about your new cam (congrats!). And some very cool first images. Did you think about other potential mono camera models as well? Clear skies

[@AZ4Runner]

Thanks Tully! I did consider other mono cameras like the 533 and the 183 because of the smaller sensor size but the 533 had the same size pixels as my 2600. The 183 was not a good pairing for my longer focal length scopes. The 294 seemed the logical choice. CS

[@tullyfisher]

@@AZ4Runner Thanks very much! Great choice.

[@williamhouse5081]

I had problems with my 294mm pro. I was sure it was my flats, after many attempts at shooting new flats with no difference I got on KZbin and found out that it was my darks, shot new darks and problem solved. Apparently darks go stale fast with the 294.

[@AZ4Runner]

yes, I have found the 294 to be very finicky. I about went bald pulling out all my hair as I figured out the flats etc.. really liking the camera now and my hair is growing back! 😁 CS!

[@robertarmstrong9406]

Very well done. Thank you. I'm in Tucson. My question is do you really need dark flats? With Lights, Darks and Flats isn't that enough?

[@AZ4Runner]

I did try without Dark Flats and for me and my stacking dark flats did seem to improve the images.. I think dark flats also work as a bias frame due to the short exposure time.. but I could be wrong. CS

[@elbagre71]

Hi Jason, I hope you are well. Hey, question about the ASI 294 mm pro with short focal tube. I have a WO RedCat 51 that has a 250 mm focal length and according to Astronomy tools data, in BIN 2x2 it has undersampling but in BIN 1x1 it does not, it is an ideal combination for that setup. In which BIN would it be ideal to shoot with that tube? The thing is that, for example, in 2x2 if I apply Drizzel when stacking in PixiInsight I resolve the undersampling and I do not lose certain capabilities of the camera that in 1x1 I do, in addition to the fact that in 1x1 the file size is almost 100 megabytes. I would please appreciate your comments, you already have experience using that camera and I would like to know your opinion. Thank you very much and clear skies without moon, without wind and with excellent seeing. Greetings from Monterrey Mexico.

[@AZ4Runner]

I Bin 1x1 when paiting it with my RedCat51 or other shorter focal length scopes. I don't drizzle so I can't speak to that. as far as file size in Bin1, that is a consideration but I choose to get my image scale as close to ideal as possible. I know that Isaac drizzles with the redcat51 and his 2600 (3.76 pixels) and he gets great results. so maybe drizzle is the answer and keep it in Bin2.

[@AZ4Runner]

I Bin 1x1 when paiting it with my RedCat51 or other shorter focal length scopes. I don't drizzle so I can't speak to that. as far as file size in Bin1, that is a consideration but I choose to get my image scale as close to ideal as possible. I know that Isaac drizzles with the redcat51 and his 2600 (3.76 pixels) and he gets great results. so maybe drizzle is the answer and keep it in Bin2.

[@elbagre71]

@@AZ4Runner Thanks a lot Jason! 👍🏻

[@anata5127]

Is ASI294MM worth trouble? No it is not. I got “looking good calibrations” quite quickly. However, I was constantly getting low SNR. Always needed Pixinsight trickery to overcome it. Always blaming bortle 7, Moon, etc. ASI294MM is just not good. It is not about that sensor, it is about ZWO, their crap filter wheels and electronics controlling 294 sensor.

[@AZ4Runner]

I just about returned the 294 cause it was so finicky.. But instead I kept at it until I figured it out. Now as long as I use the proper calibration frames it is not too bad. CS

[@anata5127]

@@AZ4Runner This is what I thought during entire year, until I compared with QHY294M and QHY533M. ASI doesn’t come even close. It is not about calibration. Calibration looks good. It is about SNR. In my estimation, SNR obtained by QHY533M was whooping 3 fold more! The same target the same scope the same focuser the same integration the same filters the same everything except filter wheel and camera. Both has been QHY in one case, and both has been ZWO in another case. Whooping 3 fold more SNR! Let’s put this way, 5-6 fold more integration. 3h instead of 18h.

[@williamhouse5081]

I love mine, pared with my 127mm triplet I get amazing images. Any issues have been easily remedied with a little research.

[@AZ4Runner]

I'm gonna have to try a QHY camera.. they are suppose to be better quality, didn't think about that though.

[@anata5127]

@@AZ4Runner They are not plug and play type of camera. But they are excellent. It could be expected, since half of QHY produces research grade cameras. We could go back and forth, but quality of equipment is really matter in this hobby. Unfortunately, quality comes with price. I have tackled resolution by getting gradually lower and lower FWHM (in arcsec) and eccentricity. But just couldn’t beat low SNR. A lot of pictures could have been much better if not ridiculously low SNR that I have been getting. Always loosing nebulosity around galaxies, etc. Finally, it boiled down to simple solution - just change camera and filter wheel.