Product Description
Camera Sensor
Back-illuminated CMOS Image Sensor with 14bit ADC. ASI178MC has a 1/1.8″ and 6.4M pixels sensor (IMX178) with SONY STARVIS and Exmor R Technology.
Astrophotography Performance
Extremely low read noise(1.4e-2.2 e), 1.4e @27db, high sensitivity and 14bit ADC make it very suitable for astronomy and microscopy high resolution photography.
Relative QE Curve
USB 3.0 Port & ST4 Port
USB 3.0 Port: Can provide 5Gb bandwidth to let ASI178 run at 30 fps (14bit, normal mode) or 60 fps (10bit, high speed mode) at full resolution(6.4Mega).
ST4 Port: Can be used connect with auto guide port of mount, for guiding.
Mechanical Diagram
What is in the box?
Comes with a 2.5mm all-sky lens which can provide a nearly 170° view of the sky.
Camera technical details
Sensor: 1/1.8” CMOS IMX178
Resolution: 6.4 Mega Pixels 3096*2080
Pixel Size: 2.4µm
Sensor Size: 7.4mm*5mm
Diagonal: 8.92mm
Exposure Range: 32µs-1000s
ROI: Supported
Non-volatile memory/On camera storage: Build-in total 192K byte user-accessible space(image size up to 480X320)
Interface: USB3.0/USB2.0
ST4 Guider Port: Yes
Focus Distance to Sensor: 12.5mm
Shutter Type: Rolling Shutter
Protect window: IR-CUT window
Operating System Compatibility: Mac, Windows, Linux
Interface: USB3.0/USB2.0
Bit rate: 14bit output(14bit ADC)
Adaptor: 2″ / 1.25″ / M42X0.75
Dimension: φ62mm X 36mm
Weight: 120g or 4.2 ounces (without lens)
Working Temperature: -5°C—45°C
Storage Temperature: -20°C—60°C
Working Relative Humidity: 20%—80%
Storage Relative Humidity: 20%—95%
Supported resolution
10bit ADC/14bit ADC
3096×2080 60fps / 30fps
USB3.0
2560×2048 62fps / 31fps
2048×1080 116fps / 58fps
1280×960 130fps / 65fps
800×600 204.7fps / 102.3fps
640×480 253.1fps / 126.5fps
320×240 479.7fps / 239.8fps
USB2.0
3096×2080 6fps
2560×2048 8fps
2048×1080 19fps
1280×960 34fps
800×600 89.5fps
640×480 139.9fps
320×240 479.7fps
More resolutions can be defined by user
Our website is continuously updated with the most recent camera drivers as well as software for DSO and planetary imaging. Please make sure the most recent Driver and software have been installed before you start shooting:
It is also recommended to read the Manuals first before shooting.
Shipping & Delivery
Fast Shipping: we will choose DHL, UPS, FedEx etc to deliver it. Usually you will get your package within 15-20 days.
- Fast Shipping(amount ≧ 199USD) for free
- Fast Shipping(amount < 199USD) : $30.00 (We do not provide free shipping from now on.)
Introduction
- It will take around 60-90 days for shipment via ePacket/China Post Registered Air Mail/EMS, which can’t be guaranteed due to force majeure. If you can’t get the air mail package after 2months, please let us know ASAP: info@zwoptical.com
- Customers from Brazil and Chile should leave a message to provide your CPF or CNPJ as your custom needs it.
- Customers from Russia need to provide the complete English name with three words as well as the English shipping address.
Tracking site
DGM: http://webtrack.dhlglobalmail.com/?locale=en-US
China air mail: http://www.17track.net/en
Tax
- The price list on our website is USD without tax.
- Please note that buyers are liable to pay tax involved, such as Import tax, VAT , customs handling fee, etc. The additional fees may be collected at time of delivery by courier.
- For best local service we advise customers buy our cameras from local dealers.
Warranty & Return
1. ZWO hereby declares that it will provide customers with a warranty period of 2 years for ZWO branded products (excluding APO), as per this policy. APO products will be covered by a 1-year free warranty service, starting from the day following the receipt of the product by the customer. For ASIAIR Plus users, the warranty period will commence from the day of device activation.
2. If a User encounters the following Dead on Arrival (DOA) and contacts ZWO within the corresponding time limit to issue the Product purchase invoice and relevant evidence, ZWO will provide door-to-door pick-up service and, as appropriate, after-sale replacement (or partial replacement), repair or return (or partial return) service for the following Products:
1) Product quality problem
Provided that a User detects a quality problem and contacts ZWO within 30 days after receipt of the Products, and ZWO support team confirms that the Products indeed have a quality problem or defect after their inspection, ZWO will provide free replacement service towards such Products;
2) Product transportation problem
Provided that a User finds obvious signs of bubbling, serious overstocking, or deformation on the outer package of the Products upon receipt of the Products, and provides ZWO with pictures of the outer package and proof of receipt within 3 days after receipt of such Products, ZWO support team will verify the actual shipper and determine the responsible party for such transportation problem. In the event that ZWO is the actual shipper, ZWO will be responsible for providing the relevant return or replacement service, however, if the Products are directly sold or transported to the User by an agent of ZWO, the agent will be responsible for providing the relevant return or replacement service.
3. If the Products are under the following circumstances, they are not within the scope of warranty service, ZWO may provide maintenance services to the Users:
1) The Warranty Period of the Products has expired; or
2) The Products are injected into liquid or affected by moisture or corrosion; or
3) The Products are damaged by an external force (such as the broken of the camera protection window glass, the deformation of the product shell, the broken of the USB port, etc.); or
4) Disassembling, repairing by a third party, refurbishment of the Products (such as downloading erroneous firmware) without the written authorization of ZWO; or
5) The product system is modified, or the maintenance notice is lost or changed; or
6) Product quality problem caused by installation not following the requirements or instructions for the Products; or
7) Physical damage or failure of the Products caused by the force majeure (such as strong vibration or extrusion such as flood, fire, earthquake, or thunder stroke); or
8)Damage caused by the improper User operation during the period of shooting or use, such as using without the equipment protection or direct shooting of the sun; or
9) No valid purchase invoice or warranty certificate; or
10) The Products are second-hand products.
Any quality problem with the accessories or other parts of the Products is not a condition for the return or change of the Products, and the User may solely request to replace the accessories with new ones, which shall be handled after verification by ZWO support team.
If the issue with your ZWO product was caused by certain damage (such as severe damage not covered by the 2-year warranty), you might have to pay the replacement value.
4. For the normal repair or replacement of the Products during the Warranty Period, the User will bear the return cost. When returning the Products, Users shall specify the actual reasons for the damage to the Products, and shall provide the corresponding valid certificates, such as pictures or videos, etc.
For the Products that need to be replaced after being confirmed by ZWO in writing, the User shall return the Products with the complete package, together with all accessories, manuals, etc., to the address designated by ZWO.
By sending back the product to ZWO, the User agrees to pay out-of-warranty fees that may arise during the repair process of the product. ZWO will send back the product after charging.
5. If a User encounters any problem during the use of ZWO Products, you may at any time contact ZWO for technical support via ZWO Support.
For the Products that need to be returned for after-sales service, ZWO will provide the corresponding RMA code for reference.
ZWO will not accept any products having no RMA code that have been returned privately without ZWO written confirmation.
6. If a User purchases the ZWO Products from a ZWO agent, the User may contact the ZWO agent directly for the relevant after-sales service.
charles – :
just purchased one of these (ASI 1178MC); Bortle 5 skies in my backyard; will a light pollution filter designed for astrophotography be a useful addition for lunar and planetary imaging?
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chole le – :
Hello! Is your issue resolved? If not, please email us at support@zwoptical.com with further details. If your issue has been resolved or if you have any other questions, feel free to contact us anytime. Thank you for your message and support!
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Sieg – :
Hello,
Is it possible to buy the IR cut filter separately ?
Mine is broken
Kind regards
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sara.liu (verified owner) – :
Sure thing, here is the link for your reference:https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/product/zwo-protective-window-asi-cameras
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Mikael (verified owner) – :
Hello,
I want to use it to guide.
What accessory fits perfectly to connect to the finderscope ?
Is this one ok ? : https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php?products_id=6416&fbclid=IwAR0gcDIvcbw5Hk9xksb8MfaG7TypZEabGFk1muFWv7KwP-OTLvrwj1Uin6k#cs
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Memory Ji – :
Yess, It works with T-mount.
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Wayne – :
Hi,
What is the best Gain/ offset for this camera? I use this camera with a Triband filter and still playing with the gain settings.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
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Memory Ji – :
Hi Wayne,
You can adjust the gain depending on your target 😉
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boldfox – :
What accessories do you recommend to get 55mm back focus with ASI178mc?
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Support@ZWO – :
No need to refer to 55mm back focus for planetary cameras.
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Andre – :
Can this camera be used for any kind of DS photography such as M33, Andromeda and Orion etc? or is it strictly only suitable for planetary photography
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sara.liu – :
Hi Andre,
This camera is more suitable for planetary photography, but it can be used for DS photography.
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NOEL – :
Como puedo conectar la ASI178MC a un microscopio Bresser Science Infinity trinocular con conexion c-mount (macho)???
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ZWO.Moson – :
Sorry we do not have test it, the thread of this camera is M42, and you can use 1.25″ nose piece.
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Jorge – :
¿Puedo utilizarla para ver objetos de cielo profundo? Puedes recomendarme una cámara planetaria que pueda usar para cielo profundo . Gracias
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Katherine Tsai – :
Yes, you can, but I recommend you choose a cooled camera if you want to take photographs, it has better performance on controlling noise.
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George Dunham – :
I am using the ASI178MC for an AllSkyCamera. I want to provide a dew heater element for it. Is the ZWO Dew heater a good choice?
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Katherine Tsai – :
It is designed for ASI cooled cameras. It does not fit uncooled cameras.
Anti-dew heater strip
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Ronald Jorvet (verified owner) – :
What is the back focus for this? I keep seeing topics about 55mm back focus. Do all ASI cameras require 55mm back focus?
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Katherine Tsai – :
The back focus depending on the telescope, the distance from ASI178MC sensor to the upper interface is 12.5mm
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William – :
Hi Sam,
In a previous message you say it’s possible to remove the IR block filter and to replace it by the D21 AR protect window, in order to improve the planetary imaging capability. Can you explain how to do that or to orientate me towards a tutorial describing the process?
Thanks a lot.
William.
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Katherine Tsai – :
Hi William,
You can unscrew the camera cover and change the protective glass.
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Girit – :
Does the latest batch of zwo 178 have any Amp glow issues if i am planning to do some DSO ?
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Katherine Tsai – :
178 is supplied with amp-glow suppression technology, it will help the camera control the amp-glow.
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Robert Brenner – :
Hello,
I am looking at purchasing your ZWO ASI 178MC with your dealer KYOEI in Tokyo.
The dealer website does not include the Orion Atlas EQ-G in its compatibility list of mounts for ST4 autoguiding.
Is it still true that the EQ-G mount is NOT compatible with the 178MC?
Thanks a lot
Robert
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Katherine Tsai – :
Yes it supports.
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tareqalhamrani – :
Hi Sam and all,
I want to know what is this camera good for over another cameras such as 224 or 290 or even 174? i mean i have 3 cameras so far, but i don’t know if this ASI178 can add anything more or different than other planetary cameras, so can you elaborate about that please?
Thanks!
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Sean Wang – :
You got 3 cameras, I think this one can not give you some different experience.
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Dimonchik – :
1) Can this camera work at ambient temperatures of -20 ° C ?
2) What focal length does this camera have?
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Katherine Tsai – :
Hi,
1)About the temperature, you can refer to the manual (page 6) in our website.
https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/manuals/ASI178%20Manual%20EN.pdf
2)the back focus of this camera is 12.5mm.
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greg holzhauer – :
hey, ive been wondering if i need a special connector to connect these cameras to my scope. Do they come with one or is it already installed in the camera? i ve been seeing all these things about t rings for dslr cameras and was wondering if these cameras have one.
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Katherine Tsai – :
178MC supports M42 interface.
Also you can refer to this link.
https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/tutorials/best-back-focus-length-solutions-55mm.html
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milangrajciar – :
Hello. I bought the ASI178MC camera and I can not download the USBST4 converter driver. The link is invalid. For help, thank you in advance.
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Sean Wang – :
only need to download native driver and ASCOM camera driver.
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Geoff Lim – :
Sean, thanks for the answer.
So, the back focus distance is 6.5 mm like ASI 1600 MM Pro.
How about the ASI 178 MM-Uncooled? Is it also 6.5 mm or
7.5 mm (the manual gives 7.5 mm)?
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Sean Wang – :
Uncooled camera is 12.5mm back focus.
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Geoff Lim – :
I was trying to find the answer to this question: What is the actual back focus
distance of ASI 178 MM Cool – from the edge of the camera? Is it 7.5 mm or
12.5 mm? The manual gives different answers.
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Sean Wang – :
Old 178MM-Cool is 17.5mm, new 178mm-cool have a removable 11mm ring, can reduce to 6.5mm back focus.
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Bob Hess – :
Sam, thanks for the response. I think I may understand better now. Due to small pixel size, guiding must be more spot on. I’ve done lots of planetary stuff using the original ASI120MC, but want higher resolution, and faster frame rate, especially getting ready for Mars opposition this year. One day want to try DSO, but just don’t have the budget at the moment to go for the 1600 which would probably be best choice.
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Sean Wang – :
I’m glad to introduce our ASI290MM/MC camera for high resolution and high speed planetary imaging. You can use it to do some lucky imaging of DSO targets.
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