+ Top Resolution 20+ Mpix: Detailed Pics by stacking ~2/3 best subs out of ~45 Two Galaxies Meeting, 37 Million Light Years away...
+ 4 minutes Exposures at ~F/5 => NoiseLess ISO 400 ! + a Peak Green Quantum Efficiency of 84% + a Price of $100 €, or even less ! + IR-cut filter Easy Removal.
More Advantages to the Samsung NX-mini over other 1" BSI cameras – the NX-mini is the unique 1" BSI cam. to support Interchangeable Lenses. – MA4NXM optional Adapter opens the NX-mini to the whole NX Lens system. – NX-mini has Huge 2330 mAh battery : lasts a night long in worse conditions. (As nights become warmer, could be very easy to cool this camera from inside) – Bulb Mode holds 240(256)sec. long Exposure, the Top for AstroPhotography, ... so one can lower the ISO Setting down to a NoiseLess ISO 400 at F/5. – the NX-mini is a Costless camera : I bought mine for €183 in spring 2015. – the IR-cut Filter inside the NX-mini is very Easy to remove (read next). – IR-cut removed, the Auto-Focus is still Reliable with 9 + 9-27 mm lenses, the NX-mini could be the Best for Landscape-IR : nor High-ISO, neither Tripod, get ten times, 10x the Light, for twice, 2x the Price of 1 R72 IR-Filter : Search.for/?q=Landscape-IR-Photography&tbm=isch
Clic Image, Ctrl+ to Enlarge
I superimposed the curves of Relative QE from 3 Zwo BSI mono Astro-Cams : the Asi178mm is very sensitive toward the Blue, the Asi290mm which sensor is advertised as Near-IR by Sony, and the Asi183mm which seems the very best compromise between the 2 others ! At 656 nm, their Relative QE is : ~60% for the 178, ~80% for the 183 and ~93% for the 290 ! If I could achieve the same "easily readable graph" for their Color Version with a Bayer Filter, I'll do it. But, there is no reason things will change dramatically. What we can see here is their Silicon response to different wavelengths and the effect of deeper photodiodes : the deeper, the more IR sensitive. Asi183mC & Samsung NX-mini could reach an Absolute Peak QE of ~84% in both Green channels, an excellent sensitivity.
Asi533MC, Altair-HC183M-Qhy183M-Asi183MM/Cool, Samsung NX-mini : Clic Image, Ctrl+ to Enlarge
The Drawbacks of the Samsung NX-mini with its 1" imx183 BSI sensor – ISO 1600 shows Amp-Glow localised in the Bottom Corners of the frame, but the 240 sec. Bulb Exposure was enough. I just once had to set to ISO 800 : wind and Turbulence were so strong that Guiding over 30 sec was very difficult ! U do need ISO1600, it's not so sad to reduce the format ratio from 1.5 to 1.4 or even to 1.33. That means from 8.8 x 13.2 to x 12.44, even to x 11.74 mm wide.
DSS336: Levels pushed to Highlight bottom corners' ISO 800 Amp Glow Clic Image, Ctrl+ to Enlarge
I Never subtracted nor Bias-Maps (Offsets) neither Dark-Frames from my subs. Even during Last Summer 2019, when nights Temperatures climbed over 25°C. But you do need a Set of 3-4 ISO-100 Flat-Fields from your well-lit clear ceiling
Mounting the NX mini, Prime Focus on a Scope
Via Samsung MA4NXM NX-mini to NX Adapter, Good Luck to buy one... then you'll need a NX to M42 x 0.75 T2 Adapter, this one is easy to find.
How to Remove the IR-cut filter from the Inside of the Samsung NX-mini Please, don't begin doing it if you don't feel able to achieve it... It's Your Own Full Responsibility to do it... Or not to... – 0) remove the Battery and the Lens on a clean well lit clear surface... – 1) remove the 4 screws that hold the Mount on the Camera... – 2) remove the 6 screws that hold the Front Panel on the Metal Body... ...1 near the Lens, 1 in the Flash Port, 1 behind the Card Door, 3 at the Bottom. – 3) gently separate the Plastic Front Panel from the Metal Body...
More Pictures here : Stop Disassembling at Step10-3 Sensor – 4) unscrew 1 that holds the Ribbon-Cable on Eleven-Contacts-Plate... /!\ Care not to bend the Ribbon-Cable, see 'Q1u' at Top-Right of the photo... – 5) the IR-cut filter Plastic-Support : gently bring its hooks closer to Lift it a little. ~> watch carefully the photography of the inside of the NX-mini showing this ! – 6) the IR-cut filter & its gasket will slide down : to store in a clean paper wallet. ~> you can see the IR-cut filter on the Wi-Fi Antena at left side. The Density of the IR-cut filter is about ~1.33 Ev. Careful : No things on sensor ! . Clic Image, Ctrl+ to Enlarge
For those who want to replace the original IR-cut Filter with a Clear Glass or... another IR-cut Filter at 680 or 720 nm, here are its exact Dimensions : - Thickness : 0.6 mm - Height : 14.5 mm - Width : 18.3 mm
– 7) let's operate in reverse order to reassemble the camera. – 8) record a Custom-White-Balance setting from White Paper sheet. – 9) shooting a landscape will show Pinkish Foliage. IR-cut removed, the Auto-Focus is still Reliable with 9 + 9-27 mm lenses saving a Custom White-Balance setting from Foliages, will show them Whitish www.pinterest.com/explore/Infra-Red Photography/ Infra-Red Photography variarions are infinite. . Tired of the Yew trees in the garden, you'd rather see Tamarisk trees ! NX-mini-9mm-lens-AF, Bare-imx183, WhitePaper-CustomWB : Full-Spectrum NX-mini, 9mm f/3.5 @ f/8, 1/558 sec. ISO 100 Clic Image, Ctrl+ to Enlarge
