Good camera for planetary imaging

Hi,
I have taken a few shots of Jupiter, Saturn, and the Moon with my Phillips ToUcam.

I would really like to get a better camera that is optimized for the planets. I have CCDs for deep space, so that is not an issue. I have heard of the Firewire cameras:
http://www.1394imaging.com/products/cameras/?
sid=85d8622059239e8ffa36d8c8c25762c0

I have also recently noticed the Lumenera line of cameras.
http://www.lumenera.com/industrial/docs/Industrial-
FeatureComparisonMatrix.pdf
There are other pages with other models also.

I was wondering if any members have any experience with any of these cameras and would be willing to provide information and opinions about their use for planetary imaging.
One tradeoff that I am mulling over is color vs B&W. I have heard (and it is true in CCD imaging) that the B&W with high resolution and used with a color filter wheel will provide higher resolution than
the color models of similar resolution. I believe that this is probably true. There is also the tradeoff of resolution and speed. You can get the cameras with 480 x 640 resolution that will provide
60 fps uncompressed through firewire or USB or you can get 1.4 Mpixel but limited to 15 fps (although it will still do 480x640 at 30fps). If I go with the B&W, I will need a good filter wheel to mate to it. I don't think I need a fancy one like the CCDs, and even manual would work, so I would love to hear suggestionson this also.

I would appreciate any opinions and or experience regarding these cameras and tradeoffs. Thanks so much for any help!!
Rick

Hi Rick.

I'm waiting on a camera, the Dragonfly Express from Point Grey Research (www.ptgrey.com). It's unknown how it will be for astronomy, I can't find anyone who's used it for that but from my research it looks like the best option available.

It's expensive, which is a drawback, but if it's sensitive enough then it should be a real planet killer. The ccd is from Kodak and can run up to 200fps, also gives 12 bit per pixel as compared to the Lumenera cameras at 10 bit per pixel.

The biggest unknown is how sensitive it is, and how suited to astronomy it is. I've arranged to purchase it under their evaluation program, so I can return it if it ends up not being suitable, but I have good expectations. The CCD is rated as 55% QE, peaking in the blue which is the part of the spectrum where I always seem to have trouble getting enough light.

You might consider other cameras from them as well - the dragonfly and high-res dragonfly are also good looking cameras. The dragonfly uses the same ccd as the Lumenera LU075M.

regards, Anthony

Thanks Robert,
Sounds like the speed (fps) is the major difference with some sensitivity improvement as well. I am still curious about the tradeoffs between speeds of 15-30-60 fps vs higher resolution. For example, on a good night with the right scope, would the 480x640 at 60 fps outperform the 800x1260 (rough size) @ 15 fps. Some of the M-pixel cameras also have smaller pixels (4.5u vs 6.8u). The M-pixel cameras can also be run at 480x640 @30 fps (Lumenera).

I am starting to think I have two decisions to make.
1) 480x640 @ 60fps camera OR; 800x1200 @ 15fps/480x640 @ 30fps camera
2) Color or B&W with filter wheel

Thanks for the help,
Rick