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Atik & Artemis Cameras
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- Atik 16ic
- Atik 16ic-s
- Atik 314E
- Atik 314L
- Atik 16 Series - End of line reductions
- Artemis 11002 & Artemis 4021
Atik 16ic - £359
Without a doubt this is the best 16 bit cooled CCD camera available, in it's class, in the market today. A camera with image quality so good that in most cases dark frames are unnecessary. It's the perfect introduction to CCD imaging. My package includes: Camera with embedded T thread, 1.25" nosepiece, CD-ROM with drivers, capture software, User's manual (pdf) and plug ins for Astroart and MaxIm DL.There's also a quick start guide, 3m USB cable and 1.8m cigar plug lead. A 1250mA mains power supply and a 2m ST-4 autoguiding cable are available if required.
What you can achieve
Test image of M27, made with the prototype camera. 3x240s with IR block filter.
The central region of the Rosette, showing part of the cluster NGC 2239.
Atik 16ic-s - from £549
After receiving feedback form numerous customers, Atik decided to introduce a new, bigger image sensor on the 16IC body. Many also reported that the 16IC was sweet, but a few more pixels wouldn't hurt, especially if they were a little bigger. The answer, the 16IC-S!
The 16IC-S features the Sony ICX415AL progressive scan image sensor with a resolution of 782x582 pixels and a pixel size of 8.3 x 8.3µm. Although not as sensitive in the Ha region as the ATK-16, the 16IC-S has lower noise and fewer hot pixels. With similar specifications as the 16IC, this new camera is another step in providing the astro imaging market with cameras capable of pleasing both the beginner and the advanced astrophotographer.
1250mA mains power supply and a 2m ST-4 autoguiding cable are available if required.
Atik 314E - from £778
The new 314E camera from Atik is is a landmark in both price and performance. It's especially useful with small refractors and bigger telescopes with focal reducers. Since it is a ½" class CCD, it fits really well within the corrected circle of even 3.3 reducers, making it a good choice for SCT's. It's an excellent choice when using Starizona's Hyperstar system. Featuring the same small low profile case as the 314E this camera has incredibly low read noise and will provide images with a very high sampling rathe even with short focal length instruments.
Atik 314L - from £1249
The new Atik 314L is based on the excellent Sony 285 CCD but sets new standard in performance and specification.
Featuring USB 2.0 performance allowing high speed downloads, with 1M pixels/second readout speed, with a 2M pixel/s preview mode. Extremely low noise electronics - Readout noise is the lowest possible 4e
Low power requirements - 12V, 0.8A. Extra life from your batteries means longer imaging sessions in the field. Highly efficient cooling - Delivers -25°C cooling difference from ambient temperature. Reduces noise in your images dramatically, making dark frames unnecessary.
Atik 16 Series - End of line reductions - from £599
The Atik 16 line of cooled CCD cameras has been specifically designed with the amateur imager in mind. With a groundbreaking price-performance ratio, quality and ease of use, the new ATK-16 line brings advanced features within reach of everyone.
The idea behind the ATK-16 camera is to have an upgrade path to the ATK-1 and ATK-2 line of air cooled CCD cameras. Simplicity and ease of use are maintained, but there's a substantial increase performance wise.
A 16 Bit Analog to Digital Converter is now standard, meaning that over 65500 levels of greyscale are available, compared with the 256 levels on the Atk-1 and 2 line.
Peltier thermo-electric cooling is used, maintaining the CCD at 25°C below ambient temperature, which means that much lower thermal noise is generated on the CCD. Exposures of over 20 minutes are now possible, and the need of dark frames is greatly reduced. A very high quality BK7 optical window is used, with very high transmission coatings. Basically, the window "disappears" when looked at.
A few engineering improvements have been also made. For example, power requirements have been maintained to a minimum, with only 800mA of consumption, and 12V input has been used, eliminating the need of extra power supplies in the field. Also, a Magnetic Levitating fan is used, to minimize any residual vibration.
A guider port allows the camera to be used as an autoguider, and it's compatible with the ST4 type pinout.
Another interesting feature is the communications port. This port enables the camera to communicate with external peripherals, such as a motorized filter wheel, focuser, etc. Some of those accessories are already under development.
What you can achieve
The Crescent Nebula in H-alpha. 6x600s with a 130mm f/6 refractor. Image by Rui Tripa with a ATK-16
M76, the little Dumbell, with the ATK-16C and a TMB 130 f/6 refractor.
The Trifid Nebula in LRGB With a ATK-16HR. L=5x300s, RG=5x180s (binned), and B=5x210s (binned)with the TMB 130 f/6 refractor. Image by Rui Tripa
M42, the Orion Nebula in full colour. ATK-16HRC and 80mm refractor at f/6.
Technical specifications
ATIK 16 and ATIK 16C
| Chip | Monochrome: Sony Chip ICX-429 ALL Colour: Sony Chip ICX-429 AKL |
| Resolution | 752 x 582 pixels ( 437,664 pixels ) |
| Chip size | 7.4mm x 5.95mm - diagonal 9.49mm |
| Pixel size | 8.6µm x 8.3µm |
| BIT | 16 BIT |
| Computer Port | USB 1.1 - Download time max. 5s |
| Cooling | Peltier cooling (25° below ambient temp.) |
| Preview function | Only approx. 1 second download time |
| Power supply | 12V DC - 0.8A power consumption |
| Protective glass | optical glass - BK-7 |
ATIK 16HR and ATIK 16HRC
| Chip | Monochrome: Sony Chip ICX-285 AL Colour: Sony Chip ICX-285 AQ |
| Resolution | 1390 x 1040 pixels ( 1,445,600 pixels ) |
| Chip size | 10.2mm x 8.3mm - diagonal 13.15mm |
| Pixel size | 6.45µm x 6.45µm |
| BIT | 16 BIT |
| Computer Port | USB 1.1 - Download time max. 11s |
| Cooling | Peltier cooling (25° below ambient temp.) |
| Preview function | Only approx. 1 second download time |
| Power supply | 12V DC - 0.8A power consumption |
| Protective glass | optical glass - BK-7 |
Whats in the Box?
- Camera body with 1.25" adapter
- 3 meter USB cable
- 1.8 meter battery power connector (Car lighter plug)
- CD-ROM with drivers, software and User's manual (PDF)
- Quickstart guide (paper)
- High quality Pelican carry case
Select your camera
The Artemis larger format cameras are designed to offer big Kodak CCDs a a reasonable price. They provide a step up from the Sony ICX285 cameras such as the Atik 16HR to multi mega pixel deep sky imaging.
Kodak sensors were chosen for the new cameras as Kodak has a great reputation for providing CCDs for high end astronomy applications. The KAI11002 is an 11 million pixel device with an active area slightly greater than traditional 35mm film. The pixel size is 9um square; which is relatively large and a good match for a broad range of telescopes. The KAI4021 is a 4 million pixel device 16mm square with 7um pixels. This camera can make full use of 1.25 inch filters and does not need a an imaging system capable of covering the larger 35mm chip. Both have an electronic shutter which makes it easy to use them for imaging faint deep sky objects or large bright objects like the moon.
The new Artemis cameras are designed to be easy to use and offer good value for money.
These are currently being redesigned and will be re-released soon under the Atik brand
Technical specifications
Art11002 Specs
| Sensor Size | 37.25mmx25.70mm |
| Pixels | 4008x2672 |
| Pixel Size | 9.0µm square |
| Cooling | ~25 degrees below ambient Set point controller |
| System Gain e per ADU | 1.02 |
| Readout Speeds | 1x1 Binning Full Frame 25sec 1x1 Focusing sub frame 1 sec |
| Linearity | r2=1 |
| Read out noise | 13.0 electrons at CCD Temp < -10 degrees |
| Dark Current | 0.03 electrons / sec at -20 degrees |
| Well Depth | 60,000 electrons |
| Quantum Efficiency | 50% |
| Anti Blooming | >1000x |
| Weight | 700g |
| CCD to front of camera distance | 15mm |
Art4021 Specs
| Sensor Size | 16.67mmx16.05mm |
| Pixels | 2048x2048 |
| Pixel Size | 7.4µm square |
| Cooling | ~25 degrees below ambient Set point controller |
| System Gain e per ADU | 0.615 |
| Readout Speeds | 1x1 Binning Full Frame 6sec 2x2 Binning Full Frame 3 sec 1x1 Focusing sub frame 0.5 sec |
| Linearity | r=1 |
| Read out noise | 11 electrons at CCD Temps 0 to -25 degrees |
| Dark Current | 0.01 e/s at -20 |
| Well Depth | 40,000 electrons |
| Quantum Efficiency | 55% |
| Anti Blooming | >300x |
| Weight | 700g |
| CCD to front of camera distance | 16mm |
What you can achieve
Picture: Arend van der Salm - Artemis4021
Picture: Javier Gómez Laina
250 f/4.8 Newton + Lumicon coma corrector - Artemis4021
Picture: Nik Szymanek
Pentax 75 - Artemis11002
Picture:Fotis Rizos
FSQ106 - Artemis11002