(My 2 cents)
As far as I know, the Philips CCD webcam has gone through 3 generations:
(1) = PCVC 740K (market name ToUcam Pro), USB1.1, 30 f/s max
(2) = PCVC 840K (market name ToUcam Pro 2), USB 1.1, 60 f/s max
(3) = SPC900 NC (amateurs call it “ToUcam Pro 3”), USB1.1, 90f/s max
They all use SAME light sensor ICX098BQ which is SONY made. It is a 640x480-pixel CCD chip. Each pixel measures 5.6 x 5.6 microns. I got both (1) & (2) at affordable price, and was happy with their performance in Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, lunar and sunspot imaging. In fact all my lunar images in “Photographic Moon Book” were taken by ToUcam Pro ! You can also view the 2003 Mars captured by ToUcam Pro in my website.
So it makes virtually NO DIFFERENCE if you choose (1) , (2) or (3). In fact I enjoyed (1) better due to its Q-look and extra long USB cable, 1-m longer than (2). Don’t be fooled by the “90 f/s” advertisement, as the link speed is always limited by USB1.1 (not USB 2), and the planet brightness at high power never gives you a chance to go as fast as 90 f/s. Most of the time I used 10~15 frames, which is acceptable really. Higher speed resulted in dropped frames.
Two years ago, there was a time I was tempted to buy the Imaging System camera DMK 21AF04.AS. However, it is much more expensive than ToUcam and it uses the same Sony ICX098 chip ! To me, it is not justified to buy DMK21 just for that little gain of performance. I would guess the less-expensive SPC900NC will perform as good as DMK21, if no better. (Those DMK fans, please don’t blame me for these wordings, personal opinion only).
I don’t know which CCD chip used by the Meade LPI camera. If it uses ICX098, it is basically same as ToUcam.
AC |