Logitech Fusion Webcam
Fusion and Toucam Compared - Part 2
Saturn, Mars and Moon Images Taken 1/16/06
by Gary Honis
Sky Condition During Tests: The sole purpose of this imaging session was to compare the Logitech Fusion webcam to the Philips Toucam during the same imaging session. The seeing conditions were poor and I would not normally image under those conditions; but the skies were clear, which has been a rarity for a long time this winter in Northeast PA. I moved my 20 inch Starmaster from a 60 degree Fahrenheit garage to my driveway and the ambient temperature dropped to 10 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the imaging session. I monitor the mirror temperature and it could not keep up with the temperature differential which added to image degradation.
Capture Software: The 30 day trial period ended for IC CAPTURE which I had been testing for astro use with the Fusion webcam. The quote I received to purchase the software was $160. So, instead I have been using the software OPEN VIDEO CAPTURE (OVC) by DigitByte Studio . You can download a demo on their web site. The software has been working very well, provides all the video resolutions for AVI files as IC CAPTURE. I purchased the OVC software for $30 online which provides a registration code by email that enables the trial version.
SATURN Test Images:
Below are images of Saturn taken with the Toucam and Fusion on the same night (1/17/06) between 1:07am and 1:50am.
For both images:
<Toucam
<Fusion
For an idea how seeing affects images with the Toucam, an image I took in 2003 with the same setup in Florida under good seeing conditions and published in the Sky & Telescope Gallery can be seen here.
MARS Test Images:
Below are images of Mars taken with the Toucam and Fusion on the same night (1/16/06) between 8:20pm and 8:45pm. Mars was small during imaging with a diameter of 10.18".
For an idea how seeing affects images with the Toucam, recent Mars images I took with the same setup and processing under better seeing conditions can be seen here.
MOON Test Images:
Below are images of the Mare Nectaris region of the nearly Full Moon at 93% phase taken with the Toucam and Fusion on the same night (1/17/06) between 2:20am and 2:30am.
Moon with Toucam - Full Resolution 640X480:
Moon with Fusion - Full Resolution 1280X960 reduced to 640X480: (Click image for 1280X960)
Conclusion:
For my imaging setup the Logitech Fusion is producing better images than the Philips Toucam. The higher video resolution and high speed USB 2.0 interface of the Fusion are advantages of the Fusion over the Toucam. I was able to capture wider images with the larger chip of the Fusion which was especially helpful when imaging Saturn, since it barely fits on the Toucam chip when I use my 20" scope with a 5X powermate (see below). The Toucam images above could have been improved by stacking more frames. Less frames for a quality image are needed for stacking when using the Fusion. The frames from the Fusion AVI file have less noise than the Toucam frames. Here are the extracted frame samples from the Fusion and Toucam for the Saturn images above:
Raw Fusion Frame:
Click on images below for full size raws:
Raw Toucam Frame:
Click on images above for full size raws
Links to some of my previous pages on the Fusion:
For Part 1 of Fusion and Toucam comparison CLICK HERE.
For test image results using IC Capture Software that provides higher resolution video imaging CLICK HERE.
For Solar H-Alpha and Lunar test image results using IC Capture Software CLICK HERE.
Conversion instructions for Fusion Webcam CLICK HERE.
Hi Resolution Capture to Hard Drive - Speed Performance CLICK HERE.
Animation & Images of Sun in H-Alpha CLICK HERE.
Jupiter & Saturn with Fusion settings and processing notes CLICK HERE.
3 hour Jupiter animation and images with Fusion settings and processing notes CLICK HERE.
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