Supported Cameras

QHY Cameras
QHY CMOS  and CCD Cameras

Altair Astro Cameras
GPCAM and HyperCam Cameras

https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/

ZWO Cameras
All ZWO Cameras

 
 

Starlight Xpress Cameras
Most Starlight Xpress Cameras
including Lodestar family

Celestron and Imaging Source Cameras
All Celestron/TIS Cameras

Point Grey (now FLIR) Cameras
FlyCapture based Cameras

iNova Cameras
All iNova Cameras

Webcams and Frame Grabbers
Most Devices


Cameras with ASCOM Drivers
Most Devices

Basler Cameras
GigE, USB and Firewire
Use Pylon 6.1.3 or earlier

Moravian Instruments CMOS Cameras

SVBony Cameras


Player One Cameras

Atik Cameras

AstcamPan Cameras

ToupTek Cameras

Astroasis Cameras


OGMA Cameras

 

 

Mallincam SkyRaider Cameras
(CMOS Models)

 

Basler Cameras

SharpCap supports Basler cameras for high speed capture and also provides a unique LX mode with certain models that allows exposures beyond the normal limits of the camera.

Altair Astro Cameras

All Altair Astro cameras are supported in SharpCap.

ZWO Cameras

All ZWO cameras are supported in SharpCap.

QHY Cameras

All QHY CMOS Cameras are supported by SharpCap. QHY CCD cameras are known to work in SharpCap 3.1. Older QHY CMOS cameras may require the use of an ASCOM driver.

Celestron / Imaging Source Cameras

Imaging Source DFK and DMK cameras are supported by SharpCap. Imaging Source cameras are now sold under the Celestron Brand as Skyris and NexImage cameras – these are also supported by SharpCap

Point Grey (FLIR) Cameras

SharpCap supports FlyCapture based Point Grey Cameras. USB, GigE and Firewire cameras are supported. SharpCap does not yet support Spinnaker cameras.

iNova Cameras

SharpCap supports iNova cameras.

SVBony Cameras

SharpCap supports the SV305 directly and the SV105 and SV205 via their webcam drivers.

Atik Cameras

SharpCap (from version 3.2) supports Atik cameras without needing to use an ASCOM driver.

Moravian Cameras

SharpCap (from version 3.2) supports Moravian Instruments CMOS cameras without needing to use an ASCOM driver. CCD models may also work.

Player One Cameras

SharpCap (from version 4.0) supports Player One CMOS cameras.

AstcamPan Cameras

SharpCap (from version 4.0) supports AstcamPan cameras.

Astroasis Cameras

SharpCap (from version 4.0.9063) supports Astroasis cameras.

ToupTek Cameras

SharpCap (from version 4.1.11388) supports ToupTek cameras. Note that ToupTek manufacture cameras that are sold under a variety of other brands – SharpCap’s ToupTek support may allow those re-branded cameras to be used, although they may be listed as ‘ToupTek Cameras’ in the SharpCap menu.

Note that ToupTek produce a very wide range of cameras – SharpCap has only been tested with models designed for the Astronomy market using USB connection. Other models may work, but special features not availbe on Astronomy cameras may not be supported.

OGMA Cameras

SharpCap (from version 4.1.11388) supports OGMA cameras.

Mallincam Cameras

SharpCap (from 4.1.11621) supports CMOS Mallincam SkyRaider cameras.

Webcams and Frame Grabbers

There are a vast number of webcams and frame grabbers on the market. In general, SharpCap should work with any of them, but some cameras/grabbers have buggy drivers which may prevent them from working correctly with SharpCap. In any case, the controls that are available in SharpCap are determined by the driver – SharpCap just shows the controls that the driver makes available. Sometimes more controls are available in the ‘Video Capture Pin’ and ‘Video Capture Filter’ dialogs which are also provided by the device driver.

SharpCap (up to version 3.0) still supports LX modified webcams that are controlled either by serial or parallel interfaces.

How is SharpCap Different for Webcams?

Most basic capture applications, such as AmCap and similar programs require the camera to be restarted completely when moving between preview and capture mode. This can be a problem for modern webcams as the restart may through away camera settings that you have just adjusted by re-initializing the camera back to an ‘auto’ state. SharpCap can move between preview and capture mode without needing to stop and restart the camera, which sidesteps this problem completely, as well as allowing captures to start more quickly.

Additionally, SharpCap allows the images being captured from a webcam to be processed by all of it’s sophisticated features available to dedicated Astro cam users – for instance Live Stacking and Polar Alignment are both usable with images coming from a webcam or frame grabber providing that a long enough exposure can be set to start seeing details and/or stars.

ASCOM Cameras

SharpCap supports cameras that have an ASCOM driver. Unfortunately not all ASCOM drivers are created equal – much like webcam drivers. While SharpCap works correctly with most ASCOM drivers, in some cases the driver may have bugs or may not follow the ASCOM standard in quite the way that SharpCap expects.

ASCOM tends to offer less detailed control of the camera than can be obtained for cameras that are supported directly by SharpCap. Frame rates may also be significantly lower, since ASCOM is designed for deep sky rather imaging rather than high speed imaging.