The QHY5III568M/C is a back-illuminated planetary and guiding camera built on the Series 5III v2 framework It utilizes a global shutter and supports true hardware 2×2 binning. Its high-speed design can output up to 500 FPS at select ROI.

• Mono or Color
• 5.1 Megapixels
• Back Illuminated
• On-chip 2×2 binning
• Global Shutter
• High Frame Rates
• 512MB DDR3 Image Buffer
• New 5III v2 Series Platform

Sensor

The QHY5III568M/C uses a 5.1-megapixel Sony IMX568 Pregius S CMOS sensor with 2472 x 2064 pixels at 2.74um. Pregius is Sony’s trademark name for its global shutter pixel technology for active pixel CMOS image sensors that combine the low-noise performance of CCD with the high-speed and high-precision performance of global shutters.

The newly developed Pregius S technology adopts a back-illuminated structure to simultaneously realize a smaller image sensor and a faster frame rate, while still maintaining the high imaging performance of Pregius.

Back-Illumination

One benefit of the back-illuminated CMOS structure isimproved sensitivity. On Pregius S, Sony newly developed an original photodiode structure and light-shielding structure that were optimized for the back-illuminated structure. These greatly improved the sensitivity and saturation properties while also suppressing the noise generation. By utilizing these properties, it is also possible to maintain the image quality while achieving the miniaturization of pixels, which makes a more compact image sensor possible.

True Hardware Binning

Unlike Most CMOS cameras, the QHY5III568M/C camera supports charge-domain binning (FD Binning), which is true hardware pixel binning similar to CCD cameras. In the past, most CMOS cameras used digital binning, which relied on algorithms for binning after the readout process. The disadvantage of this binning method (using 2*2 binning as an example) is that while the signal is amplified by 4 times, it also introduces twice the amount of noise, resulting in only a doubling of the signal-to-noise ratio, and the frame rate is not improved. In contrast, hardware binning does not increase the noise, resulting in a direct 4-fold improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio. Moreover, the frame rate is significantly increased without reducing the field of view by selecting a smaller region of interest (ROI) on the sensor.

[NOTE: When the colour camera is binned 2×2 it produces a monochrome image]

Global Shutter

Both the mono and colour versions of the QHY5iII568M/C have a global shutter. Unlike the rolling shutter technology used in most CMOS cameras, a global shutter begins and ends the exposure for all pixels in the array at the same time, guaranteeing uniform exposure over the entire image. In the Pregius global shutter design, the pixel comprises a photodiode with the excellent low-noise property of CCD and a memory section. The light simultaneously sensed by each photodiode of all pixels is converted to digital signal and transferred to their respective memory sections before being processed. By processing the simultaneous digital signals all at once, the resulting image has no distortion. This type of shutter is ideal for high precision applications and is superior to the rolling shutter when imaging moving objects.

High Frame Rates

High-speed signal processing and high image quality are additional advantages of the sensor design in the QHY5III568M/C. The key to the high speed of CMOS image sensors with Pregius technology is the parallel processing. CMOS image sensors are equipped with A/D conversion circuits, which transform the analogue signal from the pixel to a digital signal. An array of several thousands of these circuits arranged horizontally realizes the high-speed processing by operating simultaneously. In the A/D conversion circuit, the analogue circuit that causes noise has been changed to a different configuration so that it automatically suppresses noise. In this way, the technology both realizes the high speed and low noise in one image sensor.

Features common to the new QHY5III v2 Series cameras

QHYCCD’s latest planetary cameras and guiders are built around a new framework supporting a variety of sensors in the same small camera mechanical configuration. These features common to the new cameras, including the QHY5III568M/C are highlighted below:

512MB DDR3

DDR3 buffer

The latest 5III (v.2) series of planetary and guiding cameras are all equipped with a 512MB DDR3 image buffer that can effectively reduce the pressure on computer transmission, a great help for planetary photography that often requires writing a large amount of data in a short period of time. Some deep-sky astrophotography cameras on the market today only have 256MB, for example. In comparison, the 512MB DDR3 memory of the new 5III (V. 2) series of cameras represents a significant upgrade.

New Front-end Design with Better Compatibility

QHY5IIIV2 mechanical drawing

QHY5III (v. 2) series cameras adopt a new front-end design with better compatibility and flexibility. The back focal length of the camera is only 8mm, which means you can easily use a v2 series camera with your OAG. The standard front end adapter has 1.25-inch threads so you can add a common 1.25-inch filter.

The front adapter window can also easily be switched. One of the advantages of changeable front window glass is you can add a filter even you’re using a lens. You can also add a 1.25-inch CS adapter to connect a CS lens, or a second CS-to-C adapter ring for a C-mount lens. The CS and C adapters are standard accessories.

QHY also offers an optional 1.25-inch filter wheel adapter available for connecting your mono planetary camera to a QHYCFW3-S filter wheel.

New rear design

Universal ST4 Guiding Interface

Unversal ST4 Guiding interface
Indicator LED

The custom guiding cable port of previous generations of planetary cameras and guiders has been replaced in the QHY5III (Ver.2)series with a more universal ST-4 compatible guiding port and commonly available cable with RJ11 style connectors. Now, even if the guiding cable is lost or damaged, you will be able to easily get a replacement locally at a low cost.

Indicator LED

QHY5III v2 rear connections

The new QHY5III (Ver.2) series of cameras are equipped with a status indicator at the back of the camera. If the camera experiences an abnormal status, the multi-colored indicator light will help to determine the situation with different colors signifying different conditions. During normal operation this indicator light is off, so there is no worry about light contaminating the image.

Model QHY5III568M/C
CMOS Sensor Sony IMX568
Pixel Size 2.74µm x 2.74µm
Effective Pixel Area 2472 x 2064
Effective Pixels 5.1 Megapixel
Full well Full Resolution:8.8ke- / 2X2 FD Binning:9.7ke-
Readout Noise Full Resolution:1.5-2.3e- / 2X2FD Binning:1.6-2.7e-
AD Sample Depth 12-bit (output as 16-bit and 8-bit)
Built-in Image Buffer 512MB DDR3 Memory
Full Resolution Frame Rate 2472 x 2064 64.9 FPS@ 8-bits; 34.5FPS @ 16-bits
ROI Frame Rate 1920×1080: 115.6FPS @ 8-bits; 62.1FPS @16-bits
800×600: 187.2FPS @ 8-bits; 100.5FPS @ 16-bits
480×480: 221.2FPS @ 8-bits; 118.5FPS @ 16-bits
2X2 FD Binning
1236×1032: 304FPS @ 8-bits; 152FPS @ 16-bits
800×600: 439.6FPS @ 8-bits; 221.9FPS @ 16-bits
480×480: 519.6FPS @ 8-bits; 262.8FPS @ 16-bits
Exposure Time Range 11µs-900sec
Shutter Type Global Shutter
Computer Interface USB3.2 Gen1 Type-C
Guide Port ST-4
Telescope Interface 1.25-inch threaded plus CS-mount and C-mount adapters
Front end 5III568M AR Coated; 5III568C AR w/IR-Cut Filter
Back Focal Length 17mm(with adapter); 8±0.5mm without adapter
Chip package size 6.7mm x 5.6mm (1/1.8″)
Debayer RGGB
Weight 80g

Preview

QHY5III568 Dynamic Range

QHY5III568 System Gain

QHY5III568 Well depth

QHY5III568 Readout noiseQHY5III200M Mechanical drawing

Contents

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QHY5III568 Planetary and Guide Camera

SKU: N/A

$699.00$709.00

Colour/mono: Colour, Monochrome
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✅ Stocked in Melbourne, Australia
✅ Expert Advice
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    Need Expert Advice?

    Visual Astronomy, Astrophotography, Microscopy and Macro Photography can be a little complicated sometimes as there are a lot of options. If you'd like to check something before you purchase just let us know and we'd be happy to help!

    Enquire now or call us (03) 9042 2293

    QHY5III568 Planetary and Guide Camera

    SKU: N/A

    $699.00$709.00

    Colour/mono: Colour, Monochrome

    The QHY5III568M/C is a back-illuminated planetary and guiding camera built on the Series 5III v2 framework It utilizes a global shutter and supports true hardware 2×2 binning. Its high-speed design can output up to 500 FPS at select ROI.

    • Mono or Color
    • 5.1 Megapixels
    • Back Illuminated
    • On-chip 2×2 binning
    • Global Shutter
    • High Frame Rates
    • 512MB DDR3 Image Buffer
    • New 5III v2 Series Platform

    Sensor

    The QHY5III568M/C uses a 5.1-megapixel Sony IMX568 Pregius S CMOS sensor with 2472 x 2064 pixels at 2.74um. Pregius is Sony’s trademark name for its global shutter pixel technology for active pixel CMOS image sensors that combine the low-noise performance of CCD with the high-speed and high-precision performance of global shutters.

    The newly developed Pregius S technology adopts a back-illuminated structure to simultaneously realize a smaller image sensor and a faster frame rate, while still maintaining the high imaging performance of Pregius.

    Back-Illumination

    One benefit of the back-illuminated CMOS structure isimproved sensitivity. On Pregius S, Sony newly developed an original photodiode structure and light-shielding structure that were optimized for the back-illuminated structure. These greatly improved the sensitivity and saturation properties while also suppressing the noise generation. By utilizing these properties, it is also possible to maintain the image quality while achieving the miniaturization of pixels, which makes a more compact image sensor possible.

    True Hardware Binning

    Unlike Most CMOS cameras, the QHY5III568M/C camera supports charge-domain binning (FD Binning), which is true hardware pixel binning similar to CCD cameras. In the past, most CMOS cameras used digital binning, which relied on algorithms for binning after the readout process. The disadvantage of this binning method (using 2*2 binning as an example) is that while the signal is amplified by 4 times, it also introduces twice the amount of noise, resulting in only a doubling of the signal-to-noise ratio, and the frame rate is not improved. In contrast, hardware binning does not increase the noise, resulting in a direct 4-fold improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio. Moreover, the frame rate is significantly increased without reducing the field of view by selecting a smaller region of interest (ROI) on the sensor.

    [NOTE: When the colour camera is binned 2×2 it produces a monochrome image]

    Global Shutter

    Both the mono and colour versions of the QHY5iII568M/C have a global shutter. Unlike the rolling shutter technology used in most CMOS cameras, a global shutter begins and ends the exposure for all pixels in the array at the same time, guaranteeing uniform exposure over the entire image. In the Pregius global shutter design, the pixel comprises a photodiode with the excellent low-noise property of CCD and a memory section. The light simultaneously sensed by each photodiode of all pixels is converted to digital signal and transferred to their respective memory sections before being processed. By processing the simultaneous digital signals all at once, the resulting image has no distortion. This type of shutter is ideal for high precision applications and is superior to the rolling shutter when imaging moving objects.

    High Frame Rates

    High-speed signal processing and high image quality are additional advantages of the sensor design in the QHY5III568M/C. The key to the high speed of CMOS image sensors with Pregius technology is the parallel processing. CMOS image sensors are equipped with A/D conversion circuits, which transform the analogue signal from the pixel to a digital signal. An array of several thousands of these circuits arranged horizontally realizes the high-speed processing by operating simultaneously. In the A/D conversion circuit, the analogue circuit that causes noise has been changed to a different configuration so that it automatically suppresses noise. In this way, the technology both realizes the high speed and low noise in one image sensor.

    Features common to the new QHY5III v2 Series cameras

    QHYCCD’s latest planetary cameras and guiders are built around a new framework supporting a variety of sensors in the same small camera mechanical configuration. These features common to the new cameras, including the QHY5III568M/C are highlighted below:

    512MB DDR3

    DDR3 buffer

    The latest 5III (v.2) series of planetary and guiding cameras are all equipped with a 512MB DDR3 image buffer that can effectively reduce the pressure on computer transmission, a great help for planetary photography that often requires writing a large amount of data in a short period of time. Some deep-sky astrophotography cameras on the market today only have 256MB, for example. In comparison, the 512MB DDR3 memory of the new 5III (V. 2) series of cameras represents a significant upgrade.

    New Front-end Design with Better Compatibility

    QHY5IIIV2 mechanical drawing

    QHY5III (v. 2) series cameras adopt a new front-end design with better compatibility and flexibility. The back focal length of the camera is only 8mm, which means you can easily use a v2 series camera with your OAG. The standard front end adapter has 1.25-inch threads so you can add a common 1.25-inch filter.

    The front adapter window can also easily be switched. One of the advantages of changeable front window glass is you can add a filter even you’re using a lens. You can also add a 1.25-inch CS adapter to connect a CS lens, or a second CS-to-C adapter ring for a C-mount lens. The CS and C adapters are standard accessories.

    QHY also offers an optional 1.25-inch filter wheel adapter available for connecting your mono planetary camera to a QHYCFW3-S filter wheel.

    New rear design

    Universal ST4 Guiding Interface

    Unversal ST4 Guiding interface
    Indicator LED

    The custom guiding cable port of previous generations of planetary cameras and guiders has been replaced in the QHY5III (Ver.2)series with a more universal ST-4 compatible guiding port and commonly available cable with RJ11 style connectors. Now, even if the guiding cable is lost or damaged, you will be able to easily get a replacement locally at a low cost.

    Indicator LED

    QHY5III v2 rear connections

    The new QHY5III (Ver.2) series of cameras are equipped with a status indicator at the back of the camera. If the camera experiences an abnormal status, the multi-colored indicator light will help to determine the situation with different colors signifying different conditions. During normal operation this indicator light is off, so there is no worry about light contaminating the image.

    Model QHY5III568M/C
    CMOS Sensor Sony IMX568
    Pixel Size 2.74µm x 2.74µm
    Effective Pixel Area 2472 x 2064
    Effective Pixels 5.1 Megapixel
    Full well Full Resolution:8.8ke- / 2X2 FD Binning:9.7ke-
    Readout Noise Full Resolution:1.5-2.3e- / 2X2FD Binning:1.6-2.7e-
    AD Sample Depth 12-bit (output as 16-bit and 8-bit)
    Built-in Image Buffer 512MB DDR3 Memory
    Full Resolution Frame Rate 2472 x 2064 64.9 FPS@ 8-bits; 34.5FPS @ 16-bits
    ROI Frame Rate 1920×1080: 115.6FPS @ 8-bits; 62.1FPS @16-bits
    800×600: 187.2FPS @ 8-bits; 100.5FPS @ 16-bits
    480×480: 221.2FPS @ 8-bits; 118.5FPS @ 16-bits
    2X2 FD Binning
    1236×1032: 304FPS @ 8-bits; 152FPS @ 16-bits
    800×600: 439.6FPS @ 8-bits; 221.9FPS @ 16-bits
    480×480: 519.6FPS @ 8-bits; 262.8FPS @ 16-bits
    Exposure Time Range 11µs-900sec
    Shutter Type Global Shutter
    Computer Interface USB3.2 Gen1 Type-C
    Guide Port ST-4
    Telescope Interface 1.25-inch threaded plus CS-mount and C-mount adapters
    Front end 5III568M AR Coated; 5III568C AR w/IR-Cut Filter
    Back Focal Length 17mm(with adapter); 8±0.5mm without adapter
    Chip package size 6.7mm x 5.6mm (1/1.8″)
    Debayer RGGB
    Weight 80g

    Preview

    QHY5III568 Dynamic Range

    QHY5III568 System Gain

    QHY5III568 Well depth

    QHY5III568 Readout noiseQHY5III200M Mechanical drawing

    Contents

    Reviews

    There are no reviews yet.

    Be the first to review “QHY5III568 Planetary and Guide Camera”

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Need Expert Advice?

      Visual Astronomy, Astrophotography, Microscopy and Macro Photography can be a little complicated sometimes as there are a lot of options. If you'd like to check something before you purchase just let us know and we'd be happy to help!

      Enquire now or call us (03) 9042 2293