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CMOS inquiry for camera gurus

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jcv2@uw.edu

CMOS inquiry for camera gurus

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Dear camera gurus,

our Andor Zyla 5.5 sCMOS camera shows condensation on the chip when we cool it. Andor told us this might be caused by a backfill issue and it costs ~$1,000 to take a look, possible 4-6weeks turnaround and probably more money to fix the problem. I have a couple questions and I am also looking for a little advice.

1. I remember hearing a little bit about cameras holding vacuum, but not about this backfill problem. Anyway, what is backfill and how does it go wrong? Is it some kind of an inert, dry gas around the sensor that may now have some moist air in it? How is it possible to get a backfill problem without the seal on the vacuum also breaking? Interestingly, I believe I saw online that the (pre-2016) Andor warranty is 5years on the vacuum and 3years on the backfill.

2. If we have to spend ~$1k to have Andor take a look and then, assuming it is repairable pay more money (not sure how much, but I'd guess at least $1-2k), I wonder whether we might be better off just getting something new. Most recently, we had been using the Zyla on a spinning disc, though it might have been overkill there. Does anybody have suggestions for an alternative, such as a good and affordable CMOS camera? We're looking for something with >1MP, >50Hz, QE>65%, some cooling to help keep the read noise low, a fire signal for synchronization, and compatibility with Micromanager.

Related to 2, here is a little info on the sort of thing we are interested in. We recently purchased a ZWO CMOS camera for ~ $900 and it has been very nice on our benchtop LED/epi scope (ZWO ASI 174 Cooled). It gives surprisingly good performance for the price. The specs state 2.4MP, 5.9um pixels, cooled to 40C below ambient, peak QE of 79%, up to 128FPS, works fine with Micromanager, but *lacks* a fire signal and we think only has a buffer of one frame. So it is very close to what we want, but we need really need a fire signal for synchronization on our spinning disc and we think a bigger buffer would probably also be important.

https://optcorp.com/products/zwo-asi-174-cooled-monochrome-cmos-telescope-camera

Thanks!

Best regards,
Josh

--
Joshua C. Vaughan
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry
Box 351700
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195
206-543-4644

Sripad Ram-2

Re: CMOS inquiry for camera gurus

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Hi Josh,
The $1000 service charge is more or less like a flat fee. In my past life
as a postdoc, we had a similar problem in our group where we had 2 Andor
EMCCD cameras that lost its vacuum just past the 5 year warranty period and
we ended up paying about $2k to fix each camera. We were also charged a
$1000 initial assessment fee which was credited towards the cost of fixing
the vacuum seal when we decided to repair the camera (it was cheaper to fix
an EMCCD camera than to buy two new ones).

On a related note, I recently (early 2018) had a similar condensation
problem with an ORCA Flash 4 LTE . In my case, the camera was 3 years old
and I did not have any extended warranty. Moreover it was not a direct
purchase from Hamamatsu (it was bought through Zeiss as part of a
microscope purchase). Hamamatsu said that they have lifetime warranty on
their seal and I got a brand new replacement free of charge. I only had to
pay shipping for the old camera, There was no mention about backfill (not
sure if it applies to the ORCA Flash).

Hope this helps.

Sripad

On Tue, Jan 15, 2019 at 11:36 PM Joshua Vaughan <[hidden email]> wrote:

> *****
> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting.
> *****
>
> Dear camera gurus,
>
> our Andor Zyla 5.5 sCMOS camera shows condensation on the chip when we
> cool it. Andor told us this might be caused by a backfill issue and it
> costs ~$1,000 to take a look, possible 4-6weeks turnaround and probably
> more money to fix the problem. I have a couple questions and I am also
> looking for a little advice.
>
> 1. I remember hearing a little bit about cameras holding vacuum, but not
> about this backfill problem. Anyway, what is backfill and how does it go
> wrong? Is it some kind of an inert, dry gas around the sensor that may now
> have some moist air in it? How is it possible to get a backfill problem
> without the seal on the vacuum also breaking? Interestingly, I believe I
> saw online that the (pre-2016) Andor warranty is 5years on the vacuum and
> 3years on the backfill.
>
> 2. If we have to spend ~$1k to have Andor take a look and then, assuming
> it is repairable pay more money (not sure how much, but I'd guess at least
> $1-2k), I wonder whether we might be better off just getting something new.
> Most recently, we had been using the Zyla on a spinning disc, though it
> might have been overkill there. Does anybody have suggestions for an
> alternative, such as a good and affordable CMOS camera? We're looking for
> something with >1MP, >50Hz, QE>65%, some cooling to help keep the read
> noise low, a fire signal for synchronization, and compatibility with
> Micromanager.
>
> Related to 2, here is a little info on the sort of thing we are interested
> in. We recently purchased a ZWO CMOS camera for ~ $900 and it has been very
> nice on our benchtop LED/epi scope (ZWO ASI 174 Cooled). It gives
> surprisingly good performance for the price. The specs state 2.4MP, 5.9um
> pixels, cooled to 40C below ambient, peak QE of 79%, up to 128FPS, works
> fine with Micromanager, but *lacks* a fire signal and we think only has a
> buffer of one frame. So it is very close to what we want, but we need
> really need a fire signal for synchronization on our spinning disc and we
> think a bigger buffer would probably also be important.
>
>
> https://optcorp.com/products/zwo-asi-174-cooled-monochrome-cmos-telescope-camera
>
> Thanks!
>
>
> Best regards,
> Josh
>
> --
> Joshua C. Vaughan
> Assistant Professor
> Department of Chemistry
> Box 351700
> University of Washington
> Seattle, WA 98195
> 206-543-4644
>

Gerhard Holst

AW: CMOS inquiry for camera gurus

In reply to this post by jcv2@uw.edu

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Dear Josh,

I try to answer your questions:

You wrote:
1. I remember hearing a little bit about cameras holding vacuum, but not about this backfill problem. Anyway, what is backfill and how does it go wrong? Is it some kind of an inert, dry gas around the sensor that may now have some moist air in it? How is it possible to get a backfill problem without the seal on the vacuum also breaking? Interestingly, I believe I saw online that the (pre-2016) Andor warranty is 5years on the vacuum and 3years on the backfill.

As far as I know (keep in mind that I am from a competitor of Andor) the Zyla is TE cooled but not to an extent that it requires vacuum. Like for the emCCD cameras or the Neo camera. Therefore I guess that one of the seals might have been not as tight as you would prefer it and then it might happen that humidity might enter, which even at an absoluete cooling to 0°C or 5°C can cause condensation. Usually, if you cool but run the camera at normal pressure in the camera head, the head is filled with nitrogen, xenon or argon to keep the humidity out, sometime scavengers are added too.

You wrote:
2. If we have to spend ~$1k to have Andor take a look and then, assuming it is repairable pay more money (not sure how much, but I'd guess at least $1-2k), I wonder whether we might be better off just getting something new. Most recently, we had been using the Zyla on a spinning disc, though it might have been overkill there. Does anybody have suggestions for an alternative, such as a good and affordable CMOS camera? We're looking for something with >1MP, >50Hz, QE>65%, some cooling to help keep the read noise low, a fire signal for synchronization, and compatibility with Micromanager.

Let's say that's the everlasting problem or issue you have to face when you apply cameras in scientific environment. You application or the questions you try to answer define the required performance data, that you need to look for. To a certain extent it can get philosophical. The Zyla, like all the other sCMOS cameras is a good fit for a spinning disk system. If your stains or samples are very bright, you might do with a less sensitive, and less dynamic range camera, which is cheaper. There is a whole bunch of machine vision cameras which use the Sony IMX174 CMOS image sensor (that's the one in the camera which you mentioned), mostly non-cooled which means even cheaper than the ZWO. If this is what you need go ahead.
But don't expect offset stability, don't expect a good linearity and don't expect a high dynamic range, and don't expect a very low readout noise, which can be extremely convenient, if the signals you are looking at are low, and don't expect a high variability of triggering options. I know that the standard CMOS image sensors become better and better, which can mean that more and more the cheaper cameras can repülace the expensive scientific cameras, but there is also a reason, that scientifc cameras are a bit more expensive, beside the fact that the manufacturers live from it :-). There is nothing wrong to buy a cheaper camera, if it does what you need.
About you idea for what cooling is good for, I wanted to say, at first, it serves for stabilization of offset and image sensor, even if you record for longer times this should be stable (and this is independent from the absolute value of the temperature), then, in case of long exposure times, it reduces the amount of dark current and dark current noise contribution to the signal, but it also reduces the sensitivity towards the red part of the visible spectrum. There are plenty machine vision manufacturers, but I guess none of them really cools the image sensor.

You wrote:
Related to 2, here is a little info on the sort of thing we are interested in. We recently purchased a ZWO CMOS camera for ~ $900 and it has been very nice on our benchtop LED/epi scope (ZWO ASI 174 Cooled). It gives surprisingly good performance for the price. The specs state 2.4MP, 5.9um pixels, cooled to 40C below ambient, peak QE of 79%, up to 128FPS, works fine with Micromanager, but *lacks* a fire signal and we think only has a buffer of one frame. So it is very close to what we want, but we need really need a fire signal for synchronization on our spinning disc and we think a bigger buffer would probably also be important.

As said, the camera uses the IMX174 Sony CMOS image sensor which is a little older right now, since Sony has reduced their standard pixel size. For sure it is a good image sensor, it has roughly 13 bit dynamic, but you only get 12 bit out, 3-4 e- readout noise (if I remember correctly). In case all data are transmitted, what is your worry about the buffer size?

mit freundlichen Grüßen,

Gerhard

Dr. Gerhard Holst
Head of Science & Research
+49 (0) 9441 2005 0

PCO AG, Donaupark 11, 93309 Kelheim, Germany, www.pco.de
Vorstand / Managing Board: Dr. Emil Ott (Chairman), Alexander Grünig, Luitpold Kaspar
Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats / Chairman of the Supervisory Board: Johann Plöb
USt. ID-Nr. / VAT: DE128590843, Registergericht / Register Court: Amtsgericht Regensburg HRB 9157
Sitz der Gesellschaft / Registered Office: Kelheim

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:[hidden email]] Im Auftrag von Joshua Vaughan
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 16. Januar 2019 08:32
An: [hidden email]
Betreff: CMOS inquiry for camera gurus

*****
To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting.
*****

Dear camera gurus,

our Andor Zyla 5.5 sCMOS camera shows condensation on the chip when we cool it. Andor told us this might be caused by a backfill issue and it costs ~$1,000 to take a look, possible 4-6weeks turnaround and probably more money to fix the problem. I have a couple questions and I am also looking for a little advice.

1. I remember hearing a little bit about cameras holding vacuum, but not about this backfill problem. Anyway, what is backfill and how does it go wrong? Is it some kind of an inert, dry gas around the sensor that may now have some moist air in it? How is it possible to get a backfill problem without the seal on the vacuum also breaking? Interestingly, I believe I saw online that the (pre-2016) Andor warranty is 5years on the vacuum and 3years on the backfill.

2. If we have to spend ~$1k to have Andor take a look and then, assuming it is repairable pay more money (not sure how much, but I'd guess at least $1-2k), I wonder whether we might be better off just getting something new. Most recently, we had been using the Zyla on a spinning disc, though it might have been overkill there. Does anybody have suggestions for an alternative, such as a good and affordable CMOS camera? We're looking for something with >1MP, >50Hz, QE>65%, some cooling to help keep the read noise low, a fire signal for synchronization, and compatibility with Micromanager.

Related to 2, here is a little info on the sort of thing we are interested in. We recently purchased a ZWO CMOS camera for ~ $900 and it has been very nice on our benchtop LED/epi scope (ZWO ASI 174 Cooled). It gives surprisingly good performance for the price. The specs state 2.4MP, 5.9um pixels, cooled to 40C below ambient, peak QE of 79%, up to 128FPS, works fine with Micromanager, but *lacks* a fire signal and we think only has a buffer of one frame. So it is very close to what we want, but we need really need a fire signal for synchronization on our spinning disc and we think a bigger buffer would probably also be important.

https://optcorp.com/products/zwo-asi-174-cooled-monochrome-cmos-telescope-camera

Thanks!

Best regards,
Josh

--
Joshua C. Vaughan
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry
Box 351700
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195
206-543-4644

Alan Mullan

Re: AW: CMOS inquiry for camera gurus

In reply to this post by jcv2@uw.edu

*****
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Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting.
*****

1. I remember hearing a little bit about cameras holding vacuum, but not about this backfill problem. Anyway, what is backfill and how does it go wrong? Is it some kind of an inert, dry gas around the sensor that may now have some moist air in it? How is it possible to get a backfill problem without the seal on the vacuum also breaking? Interestingly, I believe I saw online that the (pre-2016) Andor warranty is 5years on the vacuum and 3years on the backfill.

As far as I know (keep in mind that I am from a competitor of Andor) the Zyla is TE cooled but not to an extent that it requires vacuum. Like for the emCCD cameras or the Neo camera. Therefore I guess that one of the seals might have been not as tight as you would prefer it and then it might happen that humidity might enter, which even at an absoluete cooling to 0°C or 5°C can cause condensation. Usually, if you cool but run the camera at normal pressure in the camera head, the head is filled with nitrogen, xenon or argon to keep the humidity out, sometime scavengers are added too.

Hi Josh - just to help clarify what Gerhard has mentioned here regarding backfilling and vacuum and warranties. I agree with the other points he has addressed for you.

The Zyla is like most scientific cameras a "back-filled" camera. The sensor enclosure is filled with an inert gas and then sealed. Over time, all cameras that use this approach will lose the gas over time and when this happens you need to get the camera refilled. Using a camera with condensation will damage the sensor witch would mean a higher cost than just refilling. Andor has a 3 year warranty on the back-fill. Back-filling is a cost-effective way to protect the sensor from condensation however it degrades over time as usually this is done using o-ring seals so this is sometimes not made clear- warranty in some cameras for the back fill can be as low as 12 months. These "back-filled" cameras do not therefore have a vacuum seal.

For this reason Andor have cameras which have permanent vacuum technology (UltraVac). In these models - which are going to be higher performance options at higher price points, the sensor is enclosed and protected in a vacuum with a proprietary vacuum seal. Andor cameras with the vacuum have a warranty for 5 years and for iXon models it is 7 years. The new Sona back-illuminated sCMOS camera has the UltraVac to ensure there is no need for refilling gas, it maintains the high QE performance over time and allows for deeper cooling if desired.

Cammer, Michael

Re: CMOS inquiry for camera gurus

In reply to this post by Sripad Ram-2

*****
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*****

Thank you for this discussion. A colleague is in the market for a new camera. The contenders are Hamamatsu, Photometrics, and Andor. Info such as this, how a company covers what are most likely manufacturing defects or passes the cost on to the buyer, are very useful in making a purchasing decision. Anyone have any similar experiences with Photometrics?
Thank you.

Michael Cammer, Sr Research Scientist, DART Microscopy Laboratory
NYU Langone Health, 540 First Avenue, SK2 Microscopy Suite, New York, NY 10016
C: 914-309-3270 [hidden email] http://nyulmc.org/micros http://microscopynotes.com/

-----Original Message-----
From: Confocal Microscopy List <[hidden email]> On Behalf Of S Ram
Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2019 1:45 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: CMOS inquiry for camera gurus

*****
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Post images on https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.imgur.com&d=DwIBaQ&c=j5oPpO0eBH1iio48DtsedeElZfc04rx3ExJHeIIZuCs&r=hUBj2D5n6oKThx2L01qn8IORZb5f-ruLVXPmQ1zQNnM&m=OmIj-rxBNlGyOuXHGJbzXVkgKu2hgeuHw9xdD-_TXhg&s=F2s0kfmYWi_5XLRLx6ARBNq7Rea794vywPkJ-Pp2o7c&e= and include the link in your posting.
*****

Hi Josh,
The $1000 service charge is more or less like a flat fee. In my past life as a postdoc, we had a similar problem in our group where we had 2 Andor EMCCD cameras that lost its vacuum just past the 5 year warranty period and we ended up paying about $2k to fix each camera. We were also charged a
$1000 initial assessment fee which was credited towards the cost of fixing the vacuum seal when we decided to repair the camera (it was cheaper to fix an EMCCD camera than to buy two new ones).

On a related note, I recently (early 2018) had a similar condensation problem with an ORCA Flash 4 LTE . In my case, the camera was 3 years old and I did not have any extended warranty. Moreover it was not a direct purchase from Hamamatsu (it was bought through Zeiss as part of a microscope purchase). Hamamatsu said that they have lifetime warranty on their seal and I got a brand new replacement free of charge. I only had to pay shipping for the old camera, There was no mention about backfill (not sure if it applies to the ORCA Flash).

Hope this helps.

Sripad

On Tue, Jan 15, 2019 at 11:36 PM Joshua Vaughan <[hidden email]> wrote:

> *****
> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__lists.umn.edu_cgi-
> 2Dbin_wa-3FA0-3Dconfocalmicroscopy&d=DwIBaQ&c=j5oPpO0eBH1iio48DtsedeEl
> Zfc04rx3ExJHeIIZuCs&r=hUBj2D5n6oKThx2L01qn8IORZb5f-ruLVXPmQ1zQNnM&m=Om
> Ij-rxBNlGyOuXHGJbzXVkgKu2hgeuHw9xdD-_TXhg&s=r417eB5gA1NenPp9UQLMttbM6e
> hekPYc8-znJsj8KRI&e= Post images on
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.imgur.com&d=DwIBaQ&c=j5oPpO0eBH1iio48DtsedeElZfc04rx3ExJHeIIZuCs&r=hUBj2D5n6oKThx2L01qn8IORZb5f-ruLVXPmQ1zQNnM&m=OmIj-rxBNlGyOuXHGJbzXVkgKu2hgeuHw9xdD-_TXhg&s=F2s0kfmYWi_5XLRLx6ARBNq7Rea794vywPkJ-Pp2o7c&e= and include the link in your posting.
> *****
>
> Dear camera gurus,
>
> our Andor Zyla 5.5 sCMOS camera shows condensation on the chip when we
> cool it. Andor told us this might be caused by a backfill issue and it
> costs ~$1,000 to take a look, possible 4-6weeks turnaround and
> probably more money to fix the problem. I have a couple questions and
> I am also looking for a little advice.
>
> 1. I remember hearing a little bit about cameras holding vacuum, but
> not about this backfill problem. Anyway, what is backfill and how does
> it go wrong? Is it some kind of an inert, dry gas around the sensor
> that may now have some moist air in it? How is it possible to get a
> backfill problem without the seal on the vacuum also breaking?
> Interestingly, I believe I saw online that the (pre-2016) Andor
> warranty is 5years on the vacuum and 3years on the backfill.
>
> 2. If we have to spend ~$1k to have Andor take a look and then,
> assuming it is repairable pay more money (not sure how much, but I'd
> guess at least $1-2k), I wonder whether we might be better off just getting something new.
> Most recently, we had been using the Zyla on a spinning disc, though
> it might have been overkill there. Does anybody have suggestions for
> an alternative, such as a good and affordable CMOS camera? We're
> looking for something with >1MP, >50Hz, QE>65%, some cooling to help
> keep the read noise low, a fire signal for synchronization, and
> compatibility with Micromanager.
>
> Related to 2, here is a little info on the sort of thing we are
> interested in. We recently purchased a ZWO CMOS camera for ~ $900 and
> it has been very nice on our benchtop LED/epi scope (ZWO ASI 174
> Cooled). It gives surprisingly good performance for the price. The
> specs state 2.4MP, 5.9um pixels, cooled to 40C below ambient, peak QE
> of 79%, up to 128FPS, works fine with Micromanager, but *lacks* a fire
> signal and we think only has a buffer of one frame. So it is very
> close to what we want, but we need really need a fire signal for
> synchronization on our spinning disc and we think a bigger buffer would probably also be important.
>
>
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__optcorp.com_produ
> cts_zwo-2Dasi-2D174-2Dcooled-2Dmonochrome-2Dcmos-2Dtelescope-2Dcamera&
> d=DwIBaQ&c=j5oPpO0eBH1iio48DtsedeElZfc04rx3ExJHeIIZuCs&r=hUBj2D5n6oKTh
> x2L01qn8IORZb5f-ruLVXPmQ1zQNnM&m=OmIj-rxBNlGyOuXHGJbzXVkgKu2hgeuHw9xdD
> -_TXhg&s=BeLhzbcCPEEmO1zYg_e2Zngd6YgkUwd8Jl8nawGYcpc&e=
>
> Thanks!
>
>
> Best regards,
> Josh
>
> --
> Joshua C. Vaughan
> Assistant Professor
> Department of Chemistry
> Box 351700
> University of Washington
> Seattle, WA 98195
> 206-543-4644
>

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Gerhard Holst

AW: CMOS inquiry for camera gurus

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Dear Michael,

although not being mentioned (PCO is missing in your enumeration), my feeling is that you are not happy with the possibility that a camera after having passed the warranty time might fail. I think, and I can speak only for PCO cameras, but I assume it is true for the other manufacturers as well, that we all do our best in offering good technical systems. If you want to have absolute tight sealings, the solution might be vacuum seals, or with other words more technical efforts, which will increase the cost of the camera as well. But I am sure you know that.
Further, camera systems might be applied in a way, which has not been foreseen by the manufacturer, we had some experiecens with our cooled CCD cameras in the past, that brought us to change and improve the construction. So, I don't think that manufacturers in the scientific market tend to pass on the cost for minor quality to the customer.

And about goodwill and fair dealing, every customer has to make their own experiences with the companies they buy from.

with best regards,

Gerhard

Dr. Gerhard Holst
Head of Science & Research
+49 (0) 9441 2005 0

PCO AG, Donaupark 11, 93309 Kelheim, Germany, www.pco.de
Vorstand / Managing Board: Dr. Emil Ott (Chairman), Alexander Grünig, Luitpold Kaspar
Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats / Chairman of the Supervisory Board: Johann Plöb
USt. ID-Nr. / VAT: DE128590843, Registergericht / Register Court: Amtsgericht Regensburg HRB 9157
Sitz der Gesellschaft / Registered Office: Kelheim

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:[hidden email]] Im Auftrag von Cammer, Michael
Gesendet: Freitag, 18. Januar 2019 16:24
An: [hidden email]
Betreff: Re: CMOS inquiry for camera gurus

*****
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Thank you for this discussion. A colleague is in the market for a new camera. The contenders are Hamamatsu, Photometrics, and Andor. Info such as this, how a company covers what are most likely manufacturing defects or passes the cost on to the buyer, are very useful in making a purchasing decision. Anyone have any similar experiences with Photometrics?
Thank you.

Michael Cammer, Sr Research Scientist, DART Microscopy Laboratory
NYU Langone Health, 540 First Avenue, SK2 Microscopy Suite, New York, NY 10016
C: 914-309-3270 [hidden email] http://nyulmc.org/micros http://microscopynotes.com/

-----Original Message-----
From: Confocal Microscopy List <[hidden email]> On Behalf Of S Ram
Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2019 1:45 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: CMOS inquiry for camera gurus

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Hi Josh,
The $1000 service charge is more or less like a flat fee. In my past life as a postdoc, we had a similar problem in our group where we had 2 Andor EMCCD cameras that lost its vacuum just past the 5 year warranty period and we ended up paying about $2k to fix each camera. We were also charged a
$1000 initial assessment fee which was credited towards the cost of fixing the vacuum seal when we decided to repair the camera (it was cheaper to fix an EMCCD camera than to buy two new ones).

On a related note, I recently (early 2018) had a similar condensation problem with an ORCA Flash 4 LTE . In my case, the camera was 3 years old and I did not have any extended warranty. Moreover it was not a direct purchase from Hamamatsu (it was bought through Zeiss as part of a microscope purchase). Hamamatsu said that they have lifetime warranty on their seal and I got a brand new replacement free of charge. I only had to pay shipping for the old camera, There was no mention about backfill (not sure if it applies to the ORCA Flash).

Hope this helps.

Sripad

On Tue, Jan 15, 2019 at 11:36 PM Joshua Vaughan <[hidden email]> wrote:

Zdenek Svindrych-2

Re: CMOS inquiry for camera gurus

In reply to this post by jcv2@uw.edu

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Hi Joshua,

to your question 2: there seems to be a number of decent cooled cameras
(e.g. with the mentioned IMX174 sensor) for amateur astronomy, but they all
seem to lack any synchronization (trigger, fire, etc). On the other hand,
machine vision cameras do usually come with flexible synchronization
options (Pt Gray / FLIR, for example), but no cooling.
I just came across an old SPOT RT3 camera (formerly made by Diagnostic
Instruments), that appears to have both cooling and synchronization, but it
uses an old interline CCD with 16 e- read noise. But you may want to look
into their newer products (spotimaging) whether anything matches your
criteria (price, sensitivity, noise, cooling, software compatibility, etc).
No commercial interest.

Best, zdenek

On Wed, Jan 16, 2019 at 2:36 AM Joshua Vaughan <[hidden email]> wrote:

--
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Zdenek Svindrych, Ph.D.
Research Associate - Imaging Specialist
Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth