The iCam 178M Monochrome Imaging Camera fromiOptron is an ideal camera for planetary imaging, with very high sensitivity and very low readout noise. The imaging area is 1/1.8", with 2.4µ pixel size, 6.4MP resolution (3096 x 2078), and diagonal of 9mm. The ST-4 guiding port allows connection to a mount for autoguiding.

Testing results indicated that the readout noise is as low as 1.34e at a gain of 350. The camera has a unique DPS (Dead Pixel Suppression) technology to eliminate any abnormal/dead pixels by analyzing dark frames. HCG mode automatically turns on when the camera gain setting is >30. The HCG mode can greatly reduce readout noise and retain the same high dynamic range as when at low gain. When the camera is connected to the USB interface and full-resolution preview is used, it can reach 60 fps in RAW8 mode (10-bit ADC). During recording, the actual recording speed is affected by the hard drive's writing speed. It is recommended to use a high-quality solid-state drive to record data to realize the full benefit of USB 3.1 Gen 1 data speeds.