About this product
Model: zwo_asi482mc
Part Number: ZWO ASI482MC
The ASI482MC is a new (Sep 2021) USB 3.0 OSC planetary camera featuring the Sony IMX482 sensor with large 5.8um pixels, impressive 51.5ke- full-well depth, extremely high sensitivity and super low read out noise.
A versatile camera suitable not only for lunar and planetary imaging but also for DSO astrophography (multiple images with short exposure times stacked to improve SNR).
Can also be used as an EAA or all-sky camera.
FEATURES
- Sony IMX482 Sensor
- 1/1.2" format sensor, 11.1 x 6.2mm
- 1920 x 1080 Resolution
- 5.8μm Square Pixels
- 12bit ADC
- Peak QE ~85%
- 1.5-12.9e Read Noise, 51000e Full Well
- Up to 83fps capture rate
- ST4 Port
- USB3.0
- Weighs only 133g!
Camera Field of View Simulator
1/1.2” format 2 megapixel sensor
Compared to the ZWO ASI 485MC, the Sony IMX482 back-illuminated CMOS sensor fitted to this camera has the same physical size but features 4x larger effective pixels for higher sensitivity.
The sensor length and width are 11.13mm x 6.26mm. Diagonal is 12.86mm.
SNR1s=0.08lx
Sony introduced SNR1s [lx] as an index to quantitatively evaluate picture quality at low illumination. SNR1s [lx] is an acronym consisting of “SNR” (Signal-to-Noise Ratio), “1” (represents that the signal level when noise = 1 is 1) and “s” (for Security). The lower the value, the greater the image quality at low illumination.
The 5.8um large pixel size produces a remarkably low SNR1s value of 0.08lx for the ASI482MC. This results in a sensor with almost twice the sensitivity of the ZWO ASI 385MC with 0.13lx.
51.5ke- full well capacity
The full well capacity of 51.5ke- and very low SNR1s makes this a versatile camera suitable not only for lunar and planetary imaging but also for DSO astrophography (multiple images with short exposure times stacked to improve SNR).
The ASI482MC can also be used as an EAA or all-sky camera.
HCG Mode
The ASI482MC's integral HCG mode effectively reduces readout noise at high gain while maintaining the same wide dynamic range you would expect at low gain.
When the gain is 80, HCG mode is automatically activated. This results in read noise as low as 1.5e- and dynamic range close to 12 stops.
QE curve
Zwo estimate a QE peak value of ASI482MC of 85% at 530nm.
USB 3.0 Port & ST4 Port
USB 3.0 Port: Like other ASI cameras, the ASI482MC is powered and controlled via USB 3.0. The 5Gb bandwidth enables the camera to run at 82.5fps (10bit, high speed mode) or 57.5fps (12bit, normal mode) at full resolution (2 Mp).
ST4 Port: Used for direct connection to a suitably specified mount for auto-guiding.
Mechanical Diagram
What's in the box
- Camera Body
- 1.25" Cover
- 2" Cover
- 1.25" Nosepiece
- 3m USB 3.0 Cable
- ST4 Cable
- Quick Guide
Specifications
| Sensor | 1/1.2″ CMOS Sony-IMX482 |
| Bayer Pattern | R Gr Gb B |
| QE peak | 85%@530nm |
| Back focus length | 17.5mm |
| Max fps | 82.5fps |
| Full well | 51.5K e |
| Shutter | Rolling shutter |
| Resolution | 2.07Mega Pixel,1920*1080 |
| Pixel Size | 5.8µm |
| Data Format | RAW8、RAW16、RGB24、Mono8 |
| Exposure Range | 32μs~2000s |
| Interface | USB3.0 |
| Protect window | AR |
| ADC | 12bit |
| Dimension | φ78mmX73.5mm |
| Weight | 0.133KG |
| Working Temperature | -5℃~50℃ |
| Storage Temperature | -10℃~60℃ |
| Working Relative Humidity | 0-80% |
| Supported OS | WIN7/8/10 32&64bit, Linux, Mac |
Downloads / Manuals
The following manuals and downloads are available for this product:
Software
ZWO Software and Drivers
Customer reviews
| Average Rating (3 Reviews): | |
23 March 2024 | James
I started my journey into astrophotography with my DSLR - Literarily spending months slowly losing the will to live wondering why everything had to be so difficult - Turns out, it isn't.
I'm not a pro (if that wasn't already clear) and I'd made everything overly complicated, this camera plus the bundled software is exactly my level of skill for where I am at the moment. Night ONE (1!) and I've already captured fantastic photos of the moon and got some live stacks of the Orion nebula which are all better than my six months of frustration with my dslr. Stuck the lens back on the camera for use during the day for now, maybe I'll try again when I've mastered this.
Worth noting for others it wouldn't get focus on my 72 ED and did require some spacing, not tried it on my skymax 150.
This really was a good buy 09 October 2023 | James
A superb camera in all respects that, having just got my best images of Saturn and Jupiter, I cannot praise to much. What really makes the package is the excellent suite of software that may be downloaded from ZWO. This software manages both capture, stacking and processing.
In short, if you want a really good planetary, lunar and solar camera at modest price, then this is the one to get.
22 January 2022 | Robert
Package was delivered promptly and well packaged. I have managed to capture a very respectable image of the Horsehead Nebular though my C8 at F6.3. I took around 900 x 12 second frames (probably could have been less) and stacked them with "ASI Deep Stack". I am very impressed with Deep stack which is part of ASI Studio and is included with the camera. I am looking forward to trying some planetary imaging when there's one favourable.
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