u/keijyu

Getting a ZWO ASI 183MM Pro as an entry point to mono astrophotography in 2026

Hello,

I have the opportunity to snag a ZWO ASI183MM Pro and a set of SVBONY SV227 SHO filters for the price of $700 AUD ($500 USD) and was wondering if coming up from imaging on a DSLR it would be a worthwhile camera to use.

I am sure that I'd eventually like to image in mono so I am not afraid of learning the workflow of narrowband imaging. I also live in a light polluted area so would prefer SHO imaging rather than LRGB/OSC to combat light pollution.

I know the specs of the 183 are out dated compared to the IMX533 sensors (amp glow, well depth, etc...), however would it still be a good camera capable of producing quality images in 2026?

Just looking to get some opinions before biting the bullet as the deal sounds pretty good considering I am on a budget.

Cheers

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u/keijyu — 1 day ago

Acquisition details:

1425x 20s (425 minutes) of light frames shot over 3 nights from my Bortle 4 balcony. For each session I also took 20x darks and 20x flats for calibration.

Equipment and settings:

Shot untracked on a stock Canon 70D camera at 1600 ISO, attached to a Samyang 135mm f2.0 lens shooting wide open at f2.0.

Processing:

Calibrated and stacked in Siril. Used GraXpert ML models for BGE and denoising. GHS stretching and saturation tweaks for the starless mask in Siril.

u/keijyu — 26 days ago