ZWO ASI174MM-Mini Guide Camera

Ideal for guiding and planetary imaging with large telescopes & long focal lengths due to its large sensor and large pixels, the ZWO ASI 174MM Mini is also the guiding camera of choice for use with off axis guiders.

ASI174MM Mini camera integrates Sony IMX174LLJ / IMX174LQJ 1/1.2″ sensor (11.3 mm x 7.1 mm). It is the first model in the “mini”-series of cameras from ZWO. This camera has 1936 x 1216 pixels with a pixel size of 5.86 μm x 5.86 μm.  It camera provides 12-bit ADC and its QE peak is 77%.

Astrophotography Performance

ASI174MM mini camera offers you very good performance for planetary imaging as well as for guiding. Low read noise, high dynamic range, AR protective window and much more are just some of the key characteristics that set it apart from the competition.

High QE

Regarding the absolute QE Curve, we estimate the Peak Value is about 77%.

174Mini vs. 174MM

Compared with the ASI174MM camera, the new 174-Mini has a sleeker design, less weight, and it can reach focus at the same position as an eyepiece.

USB2.0Port & ST4 Port

USB 2.0 Port: Mini camera has one USB2.0 type-C port. Type-C port is very popular in mobile phones, as it doesn’t matter which way you connect it (unlike for example type-A or type-B)

#USB-C to USB-A cable is required.

ST4 Port: The camera can be connected directly to the auto-guider port of the mount.

Connecting Drawing

1. M28.5-CS adapter
2. CS-C adapter
3. 1.25″ extender
4. 1.25″ filter

Mechanical Drawing

What is in the box?

ASI mini camera box includes all necessary cables, adapters, and manual.

Drivers and Softwares:

Our website has newest camera drivers and many DSO and Planetary capture softwares. Please make sure the newest driver and software has been installed before you start shooting:

https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/software/

ASI120, ASI174 and ASI290 mini camera have very beautiful outlooks, small size, light weight, this is not a big deal.

We should consider much more…

How to choose a good guide camera?

Many people may say : must be small, suitable for different equipments(guide scope, OAG), stable working.

Yes, I think thoes are basic demands for a good guide camera, and ASI mini camera can do them well.

So, what else we do care in the deep of our mind?

I think there will be three potential requests: high sensitivity, precisely guiding, big FOV.

High Sensitivity

Sensitivity is the first thing we considered. It is very important to look for a guide star. So, at beginning, we were considering to use mono sensor to design our guide camera only. Because mono sensors have much higher sensitivity than color ones. Luckily the ASI120MM Mini, ASI290MM Mini and ASI174MM Mini all have very high QE peak value – about 80%, which can detect more stars in view and shorten the exposure time in guiding.

Entry Level

ASI120MM Mini is designed for newcomers, which is more affordable than ASI290MM Mini and ASI174MM Mini. You can easily get the well-sampled stars with the help of ASI120MM Mini. It’s light, compact and robust. If you are still wondering which one you should choose as your first guide camera, the ASI120MM Mini can always be a good choice. 

Precisely Guiding

ASI290MM Mini is designed for precisely guiding. The 2.9um pixel size can give you a higher arcsec/pixel than 224 or 120 camera. Which means in same guide scope, 290mini can detective slighter movement of stars. ASI290 mini can improve about 30% guide precision than 120mm.

Big FOV

ASI174MM mini is designed for Big FOV guiding. This is very useful in OAG to looking for a guide star. When you use OAG guider working with Ritchey-Chretien or Schmit-Cassegrain telescope, the hardest part is to looking for a guide star. ASI174 mini have 1/1.2″ big sensor which means you can have a 4 times bigger Fov than 120mm.

Smiling Face

The back of ASI mini camera is like a smiling face, its mouth is Type C USB port, which is widely used in mobile phones. And its nose is the ST4 port, for guiding. Every time, you use mini camera, there always will be a smiley face stay with you in the dark nights.

Focus like a eyepiece

ASI mini camera can focus at same position as eyepiece. You can focus with a eyepiece, and put ASI mini camera into 1.25″ holder.

Work with OAG

Mini camera is very suitable for OAG, it has much biger focus range than normal ASI cameras. Never to worry about that guide camera can not focus with main camera at same time.

Work with CS adapter and CS lens

Work with 1.25″ extender

ASI 120mini camera is available now! You can buy it form us or our dealers! Wish you all have clear skies!

Review：

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/589232-zwo-290mm-mini-guidecam-beta-test-thread/

SKU: ZWO ASI174MINI