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Anticipated Release: The Mars-M II is a highly anticipated monochrome camera and the newest planetary camera developed by Player One Astronomy. It was eagerly awaited for two years.
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Sensor: The camera features the Sony IMX462 1/2.8” monochrome sensor with a pixel size of 2.9um. It offers a well depth of 12ke and a resolution of 1944x1096 pixels, resulting in a total of 2.1MP. The diagonal size of the sensor is 6.46 mm.
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Super AR Plus Window: The Mars-M II camera uses a super AR Plus window, providing exceptional transmittance from 310nm to 1100nm. This enhancement improves performance in both Ultraviolet (UV) and Near-Infrared (NIR) imaging.
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Unique Naming: Player One Astronomy uniquely names their planetary cameras after planets, with each name corresponding to the sensor size. For instance, Mars is associated with a ½.8 inch sensor camera. These names are engraved on the camera housing.
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Cutting-edge Design: The camera's body is constructed using a regular hexagon shape with round chamfers, combining rigidity and flexibility. The design features a striking combination of positive red and low-key black, with a fine frosting finish for a luxurious and high-end look.
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D2nd Gen – Sensor Tilt Plate: The camera includes a high-density sponge shading pad to block side light and prevent Newton rings when capturing solar photographs with prominence telescopes. It also helps reduce field curvature.
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256M DDR3 Cache: This camera is the first planetary camera to adopt DDR3 cache, ensuring stable data transmission, reducing frame dropping, and minimizing read noise. It performs well even when connected to a USB 2.0 port.
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DPS Technology: Player One Astronomy's planetary cameras feature Dead Pixel Suppression (DPS) technology, which analyzes dark frames to correct for fixed abnormal pixels, resulting in cleaner images.
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Overvoltage and Overcurrent Protection: The camera incorporates overvoltage and overcurrent protection mechanisms to ensure the safety of the camera and connected equipment.
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Data Port: When connected via USB3.0 and using full-resolution preview, the camera can achieve up to 136 FPS in RAW8 mode (10bit ADC) and 64 FPS in RAW16 mode (12bit ADC). The actual recording speed may vary depending on the writing speed of the hard disk.
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Readout Noise: The Mars-M II camera boasts low readout noise, measuring approximately 0.73e at a gain of 350 and around 0.7e at a gain of 400. Users can test readout noise using Sharpcap 4, and a tutorial is provided on the Player One Astronomy website.
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HCG Mode: The camera features a High Conversion Gain (HCG) mode that automatically activates when the gain setting is ≥80. This mode significantly reduces readout noise while maintaining a high dynamic range.
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QE Curve: The Quantum Efficiency (QE) curve of the Mars-M II camera differs from the Mars-C model. It peaks at 650-700nm and maintains high QE in the infrared range, reaching about 91%.
The Player One Mars-M II (IMX462) USB3.0 Monochrome Camera offers advanced features and exceptional performance for planetary and astrophotography enthusiasts.
