Celestron – NexImage 10 Solar System Imager – Astronomy Camera for Moon, Sun, and Planets – 10.7 MP Color Camera for Astroimaging for Beginners – High Resolution – ON Semiconductor Technology

I just received my NexImage 10 Cam and found this is super easy to use if you follow these steps. First and foremost don't use the disk with software on it, it needs to go in the trash. The software is just way to old. Go to the ICap site and download the newest Drivers and Software for this camera. Once that's done install the new drivers and a new copy of ICap, in that order. If you don't update your drivers first you may have issues having the camera recognized when you open ICap. You can also use other software like FireCap. So far my new Cam is up and running within minutes. Don't shy away from this camera, it's a good camera for newbies and experienced alike. And one other bit of information, make sure to use the USB3 port on your computer. My USB3 port(s) are marked with SS and the USB symbol. Its all very easy, just make sure that you don't use the disk in the box and DO use the NEW drivers and Software on the ICap site. My computer is an older laptop running Windows 10, I am guessing that Windows 11 would be just as easy. Sorry I don't know how to set this up on a Mac but I bet that the steps are the same or very close. My only issue with this camera is the old software included in the box. Clear skies....

The NexImage 5MP is your ticket to the heavenly theater if you want to share with others the magnificent Solar System. Now, it seems, for the first time, novice and pro backyard astronomers can afford this package. The NexImage 5MP is 5 mega pixels strong, and comes with a disc to set up your laptop or computer with iCap imaging software and RegiStax 6 stacking software. Hook the NexImage 5MP directly to your eyepiece adapter on your telescope, attach the USB to your device, and automatically or manually start capturing celestial images. Stack them later with RegiStax 6 by choosing the best out of thousands of frames from the many featured FPS capturing capabilities of iCap 2.3. The software chooses for you, then have fun contouring the images to your liking. This was my first introduction to astrophotography after 36 years of astronomy and observing with multiple telescopes. The NexImage 5MP works with all of my refractors and reflectors. I belong to the AAVSO (American Association of Variable Star Observers) and have submitted several observations for data collection. This is a great deal and finally a chance for high quality images of the Solar System to be captured and recorded for a low price. (Pictures submitted are of the Moon and Saturn)

Summary: Avoid until Celestron improves the software. While I read the few Amazon reviews, most didn’t have a lot of detail, so I went to the Celestron website. The description sounded pretty good, and assumptions were made that the product would meet the quality that we expect from Celestron products. That was clearly an incorrect assumption. This product is not ‘ready for primetime'. While the specs look pretty impressive, the software for the Mac is at best subpar, even though the product description specifically indicates "Now Mac OS X compatible!” While technically true, (at last the software didn’t ‘beam up’ while on the Mac) this third party, un-integrated software is clearly an inferior product, Was not designed for the NexImage 10 camera, and comes no where near what is expected from Celestron. As such, I believe the advertising / claims imply something that is not true. It may work better with a PC, but for a Mac, this was a very disappointing purchase. First, the software, which is 3rd party freeware, is not well integrated with the imager. While I have no problem with freeware software (and have written a fair amount), this application suffers common maladies of freeware: Poor documentation a generic interface not optimized for the NexImage 10 imager far from plug and play - requires significant ‘tweaking’ to optimize the image does not seem to be well tested setup requires significant technical acumen to optimize the picture the ‘preview’ picture ‘is there’ but is not centered, and most of it may not show up on the screen depending upon the screen and resolution chosen. While third party freeware was one way for Celestron to get ‘something’ out there for Mac users, it was a very disappointing choice that dimenishes the value of the Celstron brand. I’ve developed a lot of software products in the past for well know companies. This type of software is not difficult to develop and integrate to the level Celestron users would hope for. Overall, I’m very disappointed, and am returning the product.

The Celestron NexImage 5 camera is a modified webcam, designed specifically for taking pictures of solar system objects. That means Sun, Moon, and the larger/closer planets. It really isn't made for taking pictures of very faint deep sky objects. So, as far as the hardware being able to meet that requirement, it does meet it quite nicely. Whatever efforts Celestron put into creating this product though, it was all at the hardware end. The software that comes with the camera on CD does work, but it quite dated. It hasn't been updated in years. Fortunately, the only software that has to be installed from the disk are the camera drivers on the CD. However, the drivers also have an update available from Celestron's website, and I would definitely recommend getting the update for the driver. I've heard that the camera drivers only work reliably with Intel processors though, and may have issues with an AMD based system. I didn't risk testing this, as I had an i5 Intel based laptop available. The included ICAP and Registax 6 sofware on the CD, while usable, can be ignored. I ended up using FireCapture for taking my pictures from the camera, and AutoStakkert! 2 for the digital image processing requirement. Both of these software packages are available for free off the Internet, and are currently supported by their creators. There is a learning curve to use both programs, but I found it well worth the effort needed to master them, despite the lack of written documentation available. Both have Yahoo groups to discuss using each program, and I've used the discussion groups to ask questions, and get relevant answers from an active user community. My other issue with the NexImage 5 camera though is not with the camera sensor itself, or with the electronics attached to it to make it work. The electronics are fine. The only other real issue I had was with the optical window that is placed in front of the sensor. This window has an anti-reflective coating on it. I suspect it also cuts out some of the infrared sensitivity that the camera may have. (I can't prove that though.) The coating works as designed. My problem came though when I was testing the system - telescope, camera, and laptop computer - with a glass solar filter to take pictures of the Sun. After the camera had heated up significantly, being used outside in 100+ degree weather, that coating on the window developed fringes that were clearly visible to the eye. This affected the images I recorded for the Sun and Moon in particular. Now while I admit that having the camera heat up some was not a good idea, I don't think it should have affected the window coating. The sensor recovered just fine. And because I'm stubborn, instead of sending the camera back to Celestron to get repaired, I just decided to resolve the issue myself. (I do have some professional experience with cleaning optics.) That adventure took a lot more time than it should have. I ended up having to use alcohol to clean off the fringes, and some of that window coating. Of course, getting rid of all the dust specs I introduced wasn't easy either. This is why most users should not attempt to open up a camera to clean the optics themselves. When the camera pixels are in the micron range, your eye just can't see the dust specs that can settle in there and affect the image. It took me two weeks to finish cleaning up that mess. So, just keep in mind that you have to be careful of the environmental factors the camera is subjected to, particularly heat. Moisture would also not be a good idea. If you remember that, and take advantage of the currently available programs on the Internet to run the camera, you will do just fine with it. However, don't feel bad if you decide to use something else either.

UPDATE 3/31: I removed a couple stars because after one year of careful use, the glass popped out of place. This let dust and dirt fall inside, and ruined future captures, even after gluing the glass back in place. I didn't drop or smack the camera in any way, and it was always carried in a padded case. I took it apart a 2nd time to clean the glass and sensor, and I saw that the sensor now had a scratch from the loose glass. When I cleaned the dust off of the sensor with dedicated sensor cleaning supplies, it scratched terribly. This all happened at the worst possible time, as I was working hard to capture Jupiter near the time of 2017 opposition. Since this happened after a year, and some of the damage was caused by my own actions, I had no choice but to replace the camera. Very disappointed. Original Review: Before I bought this camera, I was learning how to do Astrophotography one step at a time. First, I was snapping single frames with my Alpha A57 on a 130mm reflector. I could scarcely see a gap between Saturn and its rings, or see any type of detail on Jupiter's surface. Next, I learned how to take many pictures and stack them together. Now, I was getting little closer, but I was still very discouraged. Next came some video on a 8" SCT with my A57, followed with stacking in Registax, which produced some decent beginner images. After seeing some examples online of others' images, I knew I had to make the leap to a dedicated astro camera, if I were to make any progress. I've been very happy with that decision! Although it takes a little more planning to carry a laptop outside with me, it's completely worth it. The camera is surprisingly small and lightweight. It functions like a 5mm eyepiece, so I generally center the object with a low magnification eyepiece, then add the barlow and recenter, then add a high power eyepiece and recenter, then insert the camera. On the computer, select a large video size and adjust the exposure and focus the telescope until it comes into view. Then, you can begin adjusting the video size and make you final videos. I always do a couple videos for each combination of settings. Here are a few other suggestions based upon what I've learned so far about planetary imaging: 1. The best quality to file size ratio I've seen has been with the Y800 format. 2. I have to leave myself a lot of space around the planet, so that I can keep the disk away from any visible specks in the telescope. 3. I've had the best detail with a 3X barlow, with no binning. This is with an 8" Celestron SCT. 4. Quality is 60% seeing conditions, 30% post processing, and 20% telescope. If the planet is high in the sky and it's standing still, you're going to get a fantastic video. You will not be able to get a good final image if the planet is too wobbly. You just can't. I tried many times before I had the sense to just try again on another night. 5. Visit ClearSkyAlarmClock.com to generate customized advance notifications of good seeing conditions. If I didn't have that, I would have missed my best pictures! 6. Framerate is your friend; make it as high as you can by reducing the dimensions and using a faster shutter speed. 7. Use the histogram feature in iCap to ensure you're not overexposing. 8. The best viewing occurs near opposition and/or perigee, when the planet is brightest and/or closest, and only when the planet is high in the sky.

Here are some images I took using the Neximage 10 with an Astromaster 130eq telescope. Every time I use it I get a little better and the images improve. I've only used it ~7 times and love it. All images were processed with pipp, astrostakket and RegiStax. Please watch a few youtube videos on the software as it is key to producing great images. My last Jupiter image was made by taking a 10,000 image video at 80 fps and stacking the best 10% of the images. One tip for new users to help find your target planet, use the largest image size, set the exposure level to auto and play with the focus once you think you are aligned on a plant. Once you find your target I manually reduce the exposure time to the correct level needed to see details and not over expose your image, from there you can change the image size to zoom which also increases the framerate you can record. Enjoy!

I really like the Neximage10. When combined with ICAP and Registax software, it creates terrific images. Recording the video with ICAP was not difficult after tweaking a few settings. I recommend viewing some YouTube videos on how to use both ICAP and Registax before going too far down the road, especially for ICAP since you need to revise certain settings during viewing. (Registax can be messed with later for photo processing.) I attach some photos that came from my second night of using the Neximage10. More to do here but not bad for just a few hours of playing with it (along with a 6" Newtonian reflector withOUT the clock drive on). In my limited experience the webcam works really well. This seems to be a really great product for beginning astrophotography.

My husband bought be this camera and we were not sure it would work on windows 11. After several hours of frustration, I finally got it to work. First, I did have to use the disk to install the drivers and software as windows 11 does not trust the iCap software. I got everything downloaded and the camera still was not recognized. This is what I did. Settings >privacy and security > camera > turn on camera access and turn on let apps access your camera, and make sure iCap is on. You can check to make sure it’s working my going to camera device settings and look under connected cameras and check to make sure it’s seen. I hope this helps!!