QHY

QHY5III485C

Name: QHY5III485C
Brand: QHY
Price: 319 USD
Availability: InStock

A fast, uncooled colour camera for planets, the Moon and all-sky work, high frame rates on a large 1/1.2-inch sensor that doubles as an EAA and guiding camera.

85/ 100

Polaris Score

#1 of 4 planetary & all-sky cameras

See the breakdown ↓

Camera Type

PlanetaryLunar / EAA

A high-frame-rate planetary and lunar camera whose large sensor also suits all-sky, EAA and guiding, a versatile do-a-bit-of-everything imager.

Type

Planetary / all-sky colour

Cooling

Uncooled

Pixel Size

2.9µm

Read noise

0.7 e⁻

Resolution

8.3 MP · 3840×2160

Sensor

Sony IMX485 · 1/1.2"

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The frame it captures

Same camera. Different telescope. A completely different photograph.

A camera has no field of view of its own, the telescope in front of it decides everything. Pick a target and watch the same 8.3-megapixel frame become three different images.

RedCat 51

250 mm · f/4.9

FOV 2.6° × 1.4°

Fills the frame edge to edge, the classic full-galaxy portrait.

Esprit 100ED

550 mm · f/5.5

FOV 1.2° × 0.66°

Overflows frame

Only the bright core fits; the spiral arms spill off the sensor.

EdgeHD 8

2032 mm · f/10

FOV 0.32° × 0.18°

Overflows frame

Only the bright core fits; the spiral arms spill off the sensor.

Explore any telescope in the Simulator →

01What it's good at

What it's best at — and the trade-offs.

High frame rates capture thousands of frames for lucky imaging, freezing atmospheric seeing

Best at

✓High frame rates capture thousands of frames for lucky imaging, freezing atmospheric seeing

✓The large 1/1.2-inch sensor covers the whole lunar disc and suits all-sky and EAA use

✓Very low read noise helps pull faint planetary and lunar detail from short exposures

✓Small, light and USB 3.0, an easy add-on that also works as a guide camera

Trade-offs

!It is uncooled, so it is not built for long deep-sky exposures

!The shallow full well limits dynamic range on bright, high-contrast targets

!Planetary imaging depends heavily on steady atmospheric seeing

02In plain English

The numbers, in plain English.

Sony IMX485 · 8.3MP · 2.9µm · Uncooled

Frame rateFast

High over USB 3.0

Planetary imaging keeps the sharpest of thousands of frames, so a fast camera captures more usable moments before the seeing shifts. More frames in the same minute means a cleaner stack.

Read noiseExcellent

About 0.7 e⁻

Read noise is added every time a frame is read out, and planetary work reads out thousands of times. Very low read noise is what lets extremely short exposures still carry usable lunar and planetary detail.

SensorLarge for planetary

1/1.2 inch, 11.2 × 6.3 mm

Bigger than a typical planetary chip, so it also covers a good part of the Moon in one frame and works well for electronically assisted observing rather than only for planets.

Pixel sizeBalanced

2.9 µm

Larger pixels than a dedicated planetary chip, which means it needs less focal length to sample correctly and stays sensitive enough for lunar and bright deep-sky use.

CoolingShort exposures

None

Designed around exposures of milliseconds to a few seconds, where thermal noise never accumulates. Long-exposure deep-sky imaging needs a cooled camera instead.

03Typical targets

What it shines on.

Jupiter, The Moon, Saturn

Excellent

Jupiter

High frame rates freeze the seeing to reveal belts and the Great Red Spot.

Comes alive

The Moon

The large sensor captures wide swathes of craters at high resolution.

Strong

Saturn

Fast capture resolves the rings and the Cassini division in good seeing.

04Build your imaging rig

Everything you'd actually buy.

Capture · Steady · Sharpen

Capture

The scope that forms the image

Sky-Watcher Skymax 180 Maksutov-Cassegrain

A long-focal-length planetary tube that delivers high image scale.

Steady

What holds it steady

A tracking mount

Keeps the planet centred while you capture thousands of frames.

Sharpen

Reach and detail

A Barlow or Powermate

Increases image scale to match the pixels to the seeing.

05The Polaris Score

How it scores, and why.

85/100 · #1 of 4 planetary & all-sky cameras

85/ 100

QHY5III485C

#1 of 4 planetary & all-sky cameras

Fast, versatile and inexpensive. Uncooled and small-welled, so it is a planetary and live-view tool rather than a long-exposure deep-sky camera.

Image quality

Low-light sensitivity

Ease of use

Value

Polaris weighs how well the camera does the job it was designed for — image quality, sensitivity, versatility and value — never list price or brand.

06Who it's for

An honest fit check.

Imagers focused on the planets, the Moon and the Sun in white light

Buy it if you

✓Imagers focused on the planets, the Moon and the Sun in white light

✓People wanting one camera that also does EAA, all-sky and guiding

✓Beginners who want to start high-resolution imaging affordably

Look elsewhere if you

!Deep-sky imagers, who need a cooled sensor for long exposures

!Anyone chasing faint nebulae, where a cooled colour camera wins

!Imagers who want the largest possible field on a big sensor

07The numbers

Full specifications.

18 measured and stated values

Sensor

ModelSony IMX485

TypeCMOS · 1/1.2"

Megapixels8.3

Pixel Size2.9µm

Bit depth12-bit ADC

Noise & sensitivity

Read noise0.7 e⁻

Full well12,000 e⁻

Peak QE~

Dynamic range12 stops

Cooling

CoolingUncooled

Connectivity & fit

InterfaceUSB 3.0

Weight0.12 kg

More

cooledfalse

Sensor Height6.3mm

Sensor Width11.2mm

Editor’s Take

Lucky imaging on the planets is a numbers game: shoot thousands of frames, keep the sharpest. This camera's high frame rate and low read noise make it a strong, affordable planetary tool, and the large 1/1.2-inch sensor makes it useful for the Moon, EAA and all-sky too.