Re: [APML] OT: CCD ST10 Horsehead

[lovejoyt@ozemail.com.au]

Roland Christen wrote:

>So, until they come out with 2" color CCD chips, >it just is not practical yet. 

Kodak are introducing a new single shot color CCD chip (KAF-5100CE) early in 2002 which is a a 2614 x 1966 sensor with 6.7 micron pixels.  This gives a sensor area of 18 x 13mm which is about half the dimensions of 35mm film but still larger than the CCDs used by most amateurs (including the KAF-3200E used in the ST-10).  The performance is also better than previous Kodak color chips with quantum efficiency near 20% even with antiblooming control.  The cost should also be substantially lower and I have heard that Olympus are planning to sell a complete digital camera based on the KAF-5100CE for under $2000US.  

Talking about 2" color sensors, Kodak (and I not affiliated with Kodak!) has a 4096 x 4096 color sensor (KAF-16801CE) with 9 micron pixels which is being used in some high end professional camera's. This is a 1.5 inch square CCD. Recently I saw a professional camera based on KAF-16801CE advertised for $26000 US so it is perhaps not that long before we see these size chips in high end astronomical cameras.  They still wont be cheap but can you imagine amateurs taking images that rival or equal those of David Malin!

Terry Lovejoy

This message was sent through MyMail http://www.mymail.com.au


This message was sent through MyMail http://www.mymail.com.au



--  APML Archives at <http://astro.umsystem.edu/apml/>  ---
             Unsubscribe at <majordomo@seds.org>