Quantum Scientific Imaging QSI 583cs Cooled Full Frame Single Shot Color CCD Camera with 8.3MP KAF-8300 Image Sensor, Microlens Technology, Mechanical Shutter, RGB Bayer Filter

The QSI 583cs sets a new benchmark for price performance in a scientific camera utilizing the 8.3mp Kodak full-frame KAF-8300 CCD image sensor with microlens technology. An Integral Bayer RGB color filter array allows Single-Shot color imaging. The high quantum efficiency, wide dynamic range and low noise performance make the 583cs ideally suited to a broad range of demanding astronomical, scientific and industrial imaging applications.

The QSI 583cs model camera employs a Kodak KAF-8300 8.3 megapixel full-frame CCD image sensor with microlens technology. The integral RGB Bayer color filter mask allows Single-Shot color imaging. The KAF-8300 sensor has a photoactive array of 3326W x 2504H pixels. It has excellent quantum efficiency between 350nm and 1000nm with peak QE of 40% through the integral color filter array. Low noise results in a dynamic range exceeding 70db.

The sensor employs a vertical overflow drain that provides both antiblooming protection and a fast electronic shutter. Micro lenses cover the surface of the CCD to focus the light into each pixel to increase optical response. Single-Shot color imaging is made possible by overlaying the pixels on the CCD with an alternating red, green and blue color filter matrix at the time of manufacture. This is also how the vast majority of color video and still cameras create color images. The raw image from the camera requires further processing to extract the color and luminance information and create a final image. Most CCD image acquisition software, including MaxIm LE and MaxIm DL, has special processing for just this purpose. The Model 583cs camera incorporates the internal mechanical shutter in the 'mid-size' camera body configuration . The shutter is not only used for timing exposures, but can be left closed to produce 'dark frames' for subsequent image processing. Exposures can be as short as 0.03 seconds or as long as 240 minutes.