ZWO ASI 485MC USB3.0 Colour Camera

The ASI485MC is one of the latest OSC planetary cameras released by ZWO in 2021. Packed with Sony sensor IMX485, this camera has some very great highlights, including a large resolution of 3840*2160, compatible with USB 3.0 interface, large full-well depth of 13ke-, extremely high sensitivity and super low read out noise, etc.

1/1.2” 8MP backlit sensor

ASI485MC shares the same pixel size of 2.9um with ASI462MC, but when it comes to resolution, ASI485MC is 4 times bigger than ASI462MC. The total number of pixels is 8.28 million. The sensor length and width are 11.13mm*6.26mm. The diagonal is 12.86mm.

Extremely high sensitivity

One benefit of the back-illuminated CMOS structure is the reduced readout noise and improved sensitivity. Sony particularly uses the STARVIS™ technology on the IMX485 sensor, bringing it excellent visibility at low illumination. You may get very high light efficiency when taking astrophotos, also realize high picture quality in the visible-light and near infrared light regions.

This, combined with the large FOV provided by the big sensor format, makes ASI485MC not only ideal for solar, lunar and planetary imaging, also can be used as the live streaming camera, or all-sky camera to observe or monitor weather condition.

HCG Mode

ASI485MC has a built-in HCG mode which can effectively reduce the readout noise at high gain and keep the same wide dynamic range as you would expect at low gain. When the gain is 80, the HCG mode will automatically turn on. The read out noise fall off a cliff while the dynamic range still can reach close to 11 stops. The minimum read noise is 0.7 e.

QE curve

We assume the QE peak value of ASI485MC is 85% at 530nm.

USB 3.0 Port & ST4 Port

USB 3.0 Port: Like other ASI cameras, the ASI485MC is powered and controlled via USB 3.0. It provides 5Gb bandwidth to let the camera run at 39fps (10bit, high speed mode) or 27.2fps (12bit, normal mode) at full resolution(8.2Mega).

ST4 Port: Can be used to connect with auto guide port of mount for guiding.

Mechanical Diagram