Blackfly-S BFS-U3-16S2M

Use this section to discuss "standard" Baader/Coronado/ Lunt SolarView/ Daystar, etc… filters, cameras and scopes. No mods, just questions/ answers and reviews.
Post Reply
User avatar
GreatAttractor
Almost There...
Almost There...
Posts: 964
Joined: Sat Jun 01, 2013 1:04 pm
Location: Switzerland
Has thanked: 747 times
Been thanked: 753 times

Blackfly-S BFS-U3-16S2M

Post by GreatAttractor »

After 6 years with Chameleon 3 (ICX445) I decided to get a new camera. I was thinking about a larger sensor (2/3" instead of 1/3"), but since my current Hα setup has a limited sweet spot size, I went with faster acquisition instead (which should also help with results out of the 200 mm aperture). I chose Blackfly-S BFS-U3-16S2M with IMX273 sensor, with somewhat smaller pixels than ICX445 (3.45 µm, 1440x1080).

The camera reaches 226 fps at full frame size, and more with smaller ROI, up to 886 fps@320x240. With such amount of data certain limitations crop up; e.g., in my acquisition laptop I have a cheap 1 TB SSD based on a (rather slow) QLC flash memory, and writing to it at this speed (ca. 330 MiB/s) is possible only until the fast buffer is filled (ca. 40 GiB). Afterwards, if the drive doesn't get a break to distribute this data, subsequent writes go straight to the QLC flash at mediocre 80 MiB/s. Which means that for time lapses longer than a few minutes I'll need to compromise with regards to ROI size and framerate.

No acquisition issues on any on my computers, full speed is always reached under Linux and Windows (tried on the AMD Ryzen workstation, on the new laptop with 11th gen. Intel Core, and on the 5-year old acquisition laptop with 5th gen. Intel Core).

Size comparison with the Chameleon 3; the BF-S's chassis is 3x3x3 cm (not counting the C-mount flange and GPIO socket at the back):
kamery.jpg
kamery.jpg (454.59 KiB) Viewed 1483 times
Since there are 3 conveniently flat sides available (I've put a tripod adapter at the bottom), I've attached radiators to drop the temperature by a few degrees:
radiatory.jpg
radiatory.jpg (170.08 KiB) Viewed 1483 times
As expected, there are Newton's rings in Hα. At f/7 they're barely visible:
frame1.png
frame1.png (488.53 KiB) Viewed 1483 times
and vanish after stacking (with a slight drift during capture):
fulld.png
fulld.png (486.89 KiB) Viewed 1483 times
They are more prominent at f/11.2, but disappear after tilting the camera a little bit; I'll be probably using a tilter (or maybe just flats):
frame_0003.png
frame_0003.png (704.74 KiB) Viewed 1483 times
The camera does not support the legacy APIs (IIDC and FlyCapture2), only the newer Spinnaker API. That was a bit surprising, then I remembered it's been already discussed in this thread.
Last edited by GreatAttractor on Thu Aug 19, 2021 7:08 pm, edited 2 times in total.


My software:
Stackistry — an open-source cross-platform image stacker
ImPPG — stack post-processing and animation alignment
My images

SW Mak-Cass 127, ATM Hα scopes (90 mm, 200 mm), Lunt LS50THa, ATM SSM, ATM Newt 300/1500 mm, PGR Chameleon 3 mono (ICX445)
User avatar
Bob Yoesle
Almost There...
Almost There...
Posts: 994
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 7:24 pm
Has thanked: 540 times
Been thanked: 807 times

Re: Blackfly-S BFS-U3-16S2M

Post by Bob Yoesle »

Great results!


Diagonally parked in a parallel universe.

Curiosity is the father of knowledge; uncertainty is the mother of wisdom.

Dark-Sky Defenders
Goldendale Observatory
User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42270
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20424 times
Been thanked: 10243 times
Contact:

Re: Blackfly-S BFS-U3-16S2M

Post by marktownley »

Rather nice results! How did you fix the heat sinks on?


Image
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
User avatar
GreatAttractor
Almost There...
Almost There...
Posts: 964
Joined: Sat Jun 01, 2013 1:04 pm
Location: Switzerland
Has thanked: 747 times
Been thanked: 753 times

Re: Blackfly-S BFS-U3-16S2M

Post by GreatAttractor »

With adhesive thermal pads. Available in most electronics/computer parts stores (the radiators/heatsinks too).


My software:
Stackistry — an open-source cross-platform image stacker
ImPPG — stack post-processing and animation alignment
My images

SW Mak-Cass 127, ATM Hα scopes (90 mm, 200 mm), Lunt LS50THa, ATM SSM, ATM Newt 300/1500 mm, PGR Chameleon 3 mono (ICX445)
User avatar
Montana
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 34560
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:25 pm
Location: Cheshire, UK
Has thanked: 17667 times
Been thanked: 8787 times

Re: Blackfly-S BFS-U3-16S2M

Post by Montana »

I like the heat sinks too! very nice results :bow your rings look just like my Chameleon rings, very annoying!

Alexandra


User avatar
GreatAttractor
Almost There...
Almost There...
Posts: 964
Joined: Sat Jun 01, 2013 1:04 pm
Location: Switzerland
Has thanked: 747 times
Been thanked: 753 times

Re: Blackfly-S BFS-U3-16S2M

Post by GreatAttractor »

I'll be using this miniature tilter with C-mount threads:
PA022092.JPG
PA022092.JPG (78.82 KiB) Viewed 1336 times
The reason I wanted it is the big T2 ones (+ necessary adapters) would add quite a bit of optical path, and I wanted to tilt after the Barlow (i.e. in a low-F-number beam, to reduce the chance of visible focus unevenness), without a significant increase of image scale. Here it's only ca. 5 mm added.
PA022091.JPG
PA022091.JPG (110.62 KiB) Viewed 1336 times
I only had the time for a quick test today through an open balcony door; made just 1 iteration of tilt adjustment, but it already helped a lot (defocused telescope for better illustration):
snapshot_0002.jpg
snapshot_0002.jpg (95.92 KiB) Viewed 1336 times
A close inspection of the corners and the middle of a raw video indicated that uneven focus due to tilt, if there is any, is anyway masked by the usual defocus error of turbulence.

A drifted stack (etalon was a bit out of tune):
test2.jpg
test2.jpg (274.9 KiB) Viewed 1336 times
The strips near the edge may be still visible when using a tracking mount, I'll play some more with tilting then.


My software:
Stackistry — an open-source cross-platform image stacker
ImPPG — stack post-processing and animation alignment
My images

SW Mak-Cass 127, ATM Hα scopes (90 mm, 200 mm), Lunt LS50THa, ATM SSM, ATM Newt 300/1500 mm, PGR Chameleon 3 mono (ICX445)
User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42270
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20424 times
Been thanked: 10243 times
Contact:

Re: Blackfly-S BFS-U3-16S2M

Post by marktownley »

Thanks for the update! :)


Image
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
User avatar
Montana
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 34560
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:25 pm
Location: Cheshire, UK
Has thanked: 17667 times
Been thanked: 8787 times

Re: Blackfly-S BFS-U3-16S2M

Post by Montana »

That's really good, where did you get it from? I can't use a tilter (I have the ZWO one) with my Chameleon on the PST as I can't reach focus with it.

Alexandra


User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42270
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20424 times
Been thanked: 10243 times
Contact:

Re: Blackfly-S BFS-U3-16S2M

Post by marktownley »

Montana wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 12:44 pm where did you get it from?
Yes, I thought that too.


Image
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
User avatar
GreatAttractor
Almost There...
Almost There...
Posts: 964
Joined: Sat Jun 01, 2013 1:04 pm
Location: Switzerland
Has thanked: 747 times
Been thanked: 753 times

Re: Blackfly-S BFS-U3-16S2M

Post by GreatAttractor »

Made-to-order by an astromachinist in Poland (link). Unfortunately due to some new complex customs procedures he's not shipping abroad at the moment.


My software:
Stackistry — an open-source cross-platform image stacker
ImPPG — stack post-processing and animation alignment
My images

SW Mak-Cass 127, ATM Hα scopes (90 mm, 200 mm), Lunt LS50THa, ATM SSM, ATM Newt 300/1500 mm, PGR Chameleon 3 mono (ICX445)
User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42270
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20424 times
Been thanked: 10243 times
Contact:

Re: Blackfly-S BFS-U3-16S2M

Post by marktownley »

GreatAttractor wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 3:35 pm Unfortunately due to some new complex customs procedures he's not shipping abroad at the moment.
Customs is a PITA, shipping abroad from wherever you are is made harder recently.


Image
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
Post Reply