Here I have my QHY QHY268 Photographic CMOS Color Camera - built in camera rotator version

The QHY268C Photographic color camera utilizes the Sony IMX571 back-illuminated sensor with native 16-bit A/D with 65536 levels and 3.76 pixels. Included with the CMOS camera is an electronic shutter that has increased reliability and stability when compared to taking a large amount of images with a mechanical shutter. The CMOS structure of the QHYCCD camera coupled with the back-illuminated sensor means that this camera has an improved full well capacity. Even if the QHY268 CMOS camera is unbinned, the 3.76 pixels have a full well capacity of 51ke-. Not only does this camera already have an impressive 51ke- full well capacity, but QHYCCD has implemented a way to achieve a higher full well capacity with user controlled read modes. There is extended full well readout mode, meaning the QHY268 can achieve a greater full well of approximately 75ke-. This gives a better dynamic range and large variations in magnitude of brightness are less likely to saturate. There are three readout modes, each with their own characteristics.

At on 0.7 electrons of read noise at the highest gain and 6.8 FPS at full resolution readout speed, this QHYCCD CMOS camera module can achieve an SNR > 3 at only four to six photons. This is great for short exposures, narrow band imaging, and other scenarios that are photon limited. QHY has added an innovative suppression technology that can reduce the level of random noise such as the the type of thermal noise that is generated by back-illuminated CMOS sensors and has a value not related to the exposure time.

The QHY 268c color camera is a high resolution, APS-C format camera and is a great match for the Starizona HyperStar systems (not included). It uses a USB3.0 interface that lets you transfer data at 6 frames per second. It also is equipped with a 2-stage TEC cooling system, which helps lower the dark current to only 0.0005e/pixel/sec @ -20C.

The incorporated USB re-connection feature means that this camera's computer connection can be connected and disconnected by turning the 12V power supply on and off. This means you do not have to worry about plugging and unplugging the USB cable, enhancing user control when working from a remote station. All you have to do is control the 12V power supply to control the remote USB connection.

The high pixel count of this CMOS camera means that the memory requirements for temporary and permanent storage is greater. The QHY268c sensor produces about 120MB of data per frame. Additionally, the data bandwidth is increases from 16-bits to 32-bits. To sufficiently meet the memory needs, the QHY268 comes with large-capacity memory of up to 2GB.