ZWO ASI533MC Pro – 1″ Square Sony IMX533 CMOS Cooled Color Astro Camera, 9 MP, 14‑Bit ADC, Zero Amp‑Glow, DDR3 Buffer, USB 3.0, TEC Cooling
Product Description
Entry-level camera for deep-room photography
The ASI533MC Pro uses Sony's back-illuminated IMX533 sensor.
With a 1-inch square frame, it is particularly suitable for astronomical photography.
A comprehensive upgrade to the ASI183 product family is evident.
As an iterative product, the ASI533MC Pro not only retains the high-quality features of the ASI183, such as high quality and high frame rate, but also features zero flare, a noise level of only 1.0E, a pixel size of 3.76 μm, and a Level 2 Tec cooling guarantee. It is especially recommended for beginners in deep-room photography.
(Note: Asi533mc-p has a high current. When connecting the Air Pro, it is recommended to use an external 12V power supply.)
One-inch square frame:
The IMX533 is a 1-inch 1:1 aspect ratio CMOS image sensor with a pixel size of 3.76μm. It has a 9-megapixel CMOS image sensor. In 14-bit ADC mode, it can output a resolution of 20 frames/s and has a readout noise of only 1.0E, comparable to SCMOS or EMCCD sensors. Therefore, it is suitable for image capture.
All Pro cameras (with a cooler) must be connected to an external 11-15V power supply.
Even if the cooler is not used, the power supply must be used for camera detection.
ASI533MC Pro
Camera Sensor
IMX533
1-inch Square Sensor
The IMX533 is a 1-inch, 9 MP square-format CMOS image sensor with a pixel size of 3.76 μm, capable of 20 frames per second in 14-bit mode.
Readout noise is only 1.0 E, making it comparable to SCMOS or EMCCD sensors and ideal for high-resolution, low-noise imaging.
IMX533 Back-illuminated Sensor
Sony's back-illuminated CMOS image sensor improves sensitivity and noise reduction—key factors for improving image quality—while radically implementing its basic pixel structure from the front to the back illumination. It retains the advantages of CMOS image sensors, such as low power consumption and high-speed operation.
With a conventional front-illuminated structure, the metal wiring and transistors on the surface of the silicon substrate, which form the sensor's light-sensitive area (photodiode), prevent the on-chip lens from performing the same function. A back-illuminated structure minimizes the degradation of sensitivity over the optical angle while increasing the amount of light entering each pixel due to the absence of obstacles such as metal wiring and transistors, which have been moved to the back of the silicon substrate.
Sony has newly developed a unique photodiode structure and on-chip lens optimized for back-illuminated structures. This achieves higher sensitivity and lower random noise without light by reducing noise, dark current, and defective pixels compared to a conventional front-illuminated structure.
Camera Performance
Low leakage noise, high dynamic range.
Zero Amp Glow
Traditional CMOS sensors produce a faint infrared light source during operation, which is often seen in the corner of uncalibrated images as a telling sign of "amp glow." Because the ASI533MC PRO uses zero-amp glow circuitry, you don't have to worry about glow amps even when using high-gain images with long exposures.
With amp glow - 300-second exposure:
ASI533 frame without amp glow - 300-second exposure:
Dark Current
Note: We recommend using an external 12V power supply to power the camera instead of USB 3.0/2.0.
DDR Memory Buffer
The ASI533MC PRO is equipped with a USB 3.0 interface and can achieve 20 frames per second even in 14-bit mode. The 256 MB DDR3 memory ensures stable image downloads at increased USB speeds.
ASI533MC Pro vs. ASI183MC Pro Comparison
The ASI533MC PRO features Sony's latest back-illuminated IMX533 sensor with a 1-inch square sensor and 9.07 MP resolution, ideal for astronomical photography needs and can be considered the latest iteration of the venerable ASI183MC Pro.
As you would expect, this latest-generation camera not only retains key features of the ASI183 series, such as an attractive QE figure, a high frame rate, and other excellent features of the ASI183 cameras, but also now boasts new and improved features such as zero gain illumination, extremely low shutter noise (as low as 1.0e), a 3.76 micron pixel size, and an improved 2-stage TEC cooler for improved cooling capabilities.
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