Player One Ares-C Pro USB3.0 (IMX533) color Camera

DSO cooled camera line is the most advanced product line in Player One history. We start the project from 2021, through a lot of modify and rebuild we made this final version. It brings our newest technology and design to everyone, we are very proud to introduce this camera line.

Power supply is not include in camera package, high quality 12V 5A power supply link:

Ares-C Pro (IMX533) camera is developed by Player One Astronomy, this camera is not only great for DSO imaging, and also can do solar and lunar imaging too. Ares-C Pro camera, which adopts Sony IMX533 1” square format color sensor. The 3.76um pixel size accommodates a well depth of 73Ke with a total of 9MP (the resolution is 3008*3008), and the diagonal is 16mm.

STARVIS Technology

Ares-C Pro (IMX533) camera based on Sony STARVIS technology, it is back-illuminated pixel technology used in CMOS image sensors.

Format

Ares-C Pro camera has 1″ format, this size is quite big for imaging.

Cutting-edge Design

The Ares cooled series is starting with a new design! This time with a round body, a classic red and black color scheme, and using carbon fiber to keep weight down and cutting-edge outlook. We also integrated the sensor tilter plate and anti-dew PCB board. This series of designs makes the camera not only light and cool, but also functional!

Front 3P and Rear 4P tilter plate

When shooting deep sky objects, the sensor tilt plate can be used to adjust the sensor tilt angle to make the stars at the corners more rounded. Ares camera provide both front and Rear tilter plate fulfill all usage scenarios.

Front 3P tilter plate is the default part on camera, we believe most users has experience with this before. it works well in a lot of basic scenarios.

Rear 4P tilter plate is an alternate part for camera, when use filter wheel/filter drawer and OAG with fixed angel, it is necessary. And it is also convenient for RASA users to adjust the sensor tilt angel.

The built-in high-density sponge shading pad can block the light from the side slits without any side leakage.

Carbon fiber and light weight

The Ares series uses a carbon fiber in camera hausing and has been optimized for weight reduction in its structural design. The camera weighs only 420 grams, making it one of the lightest models on the market.

Deep Cooling

Player One cooled camera series use 2 Stage TEC Cooling unit, after improved the structure design to reject the heat back to camera chamber, Camera Delta-T can reach 35-40℃.

Anti-Dew heater

In the design of lightweight cooled cameras, Player One still pursuing the perfection, any necessary features must have, especially anti-dew system, is the problem that a lot of small cooled cameras ignored.

Frame rate

Ares-C Pro camera can run 43FPS under RAW8 mode, that’s much faster than existing models on market.

Dual Sampling Mode

Ares series has dual sampling mode. Normal mode and LRN mode, they has different advantages in imaging.

Normal mode has faster FPS, it is more suitable for planetary imaging.
LRN (low readout noise) mode has lower readout noise and higher dynamic range. it is more suitable for DSO imaging.

512MB DDR3 Cache

As an improvement, DDR3 cache in cooled cameras are increased to 512MB. It helps stabilize and secure data transmission, it effectively avoids frame dropping and greatly reduces readout noise.

With the DDR3 cache, the camera does not have high demands on computing needs any longer, it will still has excellent performance even if it is connected to a USB 2.0 port.

Type-C Data port and Power port

Back piece of cooled camera has 2 Type-C data port and 12V DC 5.5×2.1mm power port.

Main data port support USB3.0 protocol, the camera can run 43fps under RAW8 mode. Type-C port is easier to plug in when assemble the imaging equipment in night.

When recording images, since the actual writing speed will be affected by the writing speed of the hard disk itself, when the hard disk writing speed is slow, the recording may not reach the theoretical speed. It is recommended that you use a high-quality solid state drive to record data to give full play to the performance of the camera.

The camera has 12V DC5.5*2.1mm port to provide enough power to TEC cooling system. If you don’t need to power up cooling, only need to connect the main Type-C port, the camera will works as a uncooled camera.

Technical Specifications

Sensor	New SONY IMX533 1" CMOS (color)
Diagonal	16mm
Total Pixels	9 Mega Pixels
Max Resolution	3008×3008
Pixel Size	3.76μm
Bayer Pattern	RGGB
Chip Size	11.31mm×11.31mm
Frame Rate	43FPS（10bit）
Shutter	Rolling shutter
Exposure Range	32μs-2000s
Readout Noise	4.46-1e
Full Well	73k e
QE Peak	≈80%
ADC	14 bit
Cooling Syetem	High quality 2 stage TEC cooling Componet
Cooler Power Consumption	12V – 3A Max
Delta T	35°C-40°C (below ambient)
Working Temperature and Humidity	Working Temperature: -10°C—60°C Working Relative Humidity: 0%—80%
Protective Window	D32*2MM High Quality AR Plus (Anti Reflection) Multi-Layer Coating
Data Port	USB3.0/USB2.0
Adapter	1.25″ / M42X0.75
Back Focal Length	17.5mm
Diameter	78mm
Weight	420g
Resolution and FPS	Under USB3.0 mode Resolution 10bit ADC 14bit ADC 3008×3008 43FPS 19.5FPS 2560×1440 95FPS 40FPS 1920×1080 125FPS 53FPS 1280×720 185FPS 79FPS 800×600 220FPS 93FPS 640×480 272FPS 115FPS More resolution options could be setup in capture softewares!
Lightweight Color Option	Camera, Camera Filter Drawer MINI FHD-OAG MINI