Sky & Telescope - February 2022 - 66

S&T Test Report by Sean Walker and Johnny Horne
Player One Planetary Cameras
We test two new high-speed video cameras.
Mars-M USB3.0 Mono
Camera (IMX290)
Neptune-C II USB3.0
Color Camera (IMX464)
U.S. Price: $329 each
player-one-astronomy.com
What We Like
Adjustable sensor tilt
Internal memory prevents
dropped frames
What We Don't Like
No models large enough to
frame entire Sun or Moon at
high resolution . . . yet
IN RECENT YEARS, the popularity of
solar system photography has grown
by leaps and bounds. Maybe it's due to
people being stuck at home during the
long COVID-19 pandemic, but fantastically
detailed closeups of Jupiter,
Mars, and Saturn (not to mention the
Sun and Moon) appear in our inboxes
with much greater frequency than in
past years. This surge in popularity is
being met by new companies getting
into the business.
One of those is Player One Astronomy,
a Chinese manufacturer that
Each Player One Astronomy camera comes
with a USB 3.0 cable, a UV/IR blocking filter, a
blower bulb, and a 6-pin autoguider cable. The
Neptune-C II also includes a UV/IR blocking
filter (not shown).
recently announced a line of high-speed
video cameras geared specifically toward
those with an interest in taking pictures
of the large bodies in our solar system.
We borrowed both a monochrome and
a color camera late in the summer of
2021 to see how they perform.
The sensor in the Mars-M (right) measures
6.46 millimeters from corner to corner, while the
Neptune-C II detector (left) is 9 mm. The tiltadjustment
screws are seen along the edges of
each camera.
66 FEBRUARY 2022 * SKY & TELESCOPE
Elegant Package
Player One Astronomy's planetary and
solar cameras are housed in distinctive
hexagonal bodies, which
makes it easy to quickly
determine the orientation
of the detector when
you're inserting it into
your telescope's focuser.
The two sides perpendicular
to the text on the rear
of the camera housing
denote the long dimension
of the sensor, while
the points where the top and bottom
sides meet correspond to the top and
bottom of the chip. This is particularly
helpful when one of us (Sean) was
swapping out the camera for an eyepiece
when attempting to place a target
in the field of the camera's small chip.
In addition, each camera body has an
Both cameras include a
ST4-compatible auto-guider
port, which allows each to
directly connect to most
telescope mounts and function
as a guide camera.
adjustable front plate with three sets of
push-pull screws to allow users to adjust
the tilt of the camera to perfectly square
it with the focal plane. This tilt plate
is also useful for tuning out interference
patterns in images when using the
camera with a solar filter - a nice touch
that suggests that the camera's designers
actually use the equipment
themselves. The
plate has female T-threads
to connect to accessories
or the included T-to-1¼inch
nosepiece. The rear of
both cameras has a ¼-20
threaded socket to attach
it to a standard tripod.
Both Player One
cameras include a 6-pin
ENTIRE KIT: SEAN WALKER / S&T; SENSORS: SEAN WALKER /
JOHNNY HORNE; PORTS: JOHNNY HORNE
http://www.player-one-astronomy.com
Sky & Telescope - February 2022

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