by Tim Cowell
The SVBONY SV105 sits neatly at the business end of my 71mm refractor and from looking at the specifications I wondered initially where and how it would compliment a telescope set up.
It is sensitive, although its maximum stated exposure is just 500ms Supplied with a long USB2 'printer' type cable which is thoughtfully a 'double ender' type to ensure that there is enough power to run the camera from laptops and tablets, this camera is small and light. There is a paper instruction sheet included, a CD with a copy of SharpCap and it is packed in a neat box for safe storage. I think it is best practise to download drivers from the manufacturers website however this is a Plug N Play device and it loaded instantly for me.
Fitting and using the SVBONY 105 is simplicity itself. I inserted the camera with the supplied nosepiece and once focused it produced a clear and crisp image of a distant tree on my PC screen. By rotating the camera until the USB connector is pointing straight down a 'right side up' image was gained and I was very impressed by how neutral the colours were and I became fascinated exploring the magnified images as I moved my scope by hand across the landscape. This instant gratification had me warming to the SVBONY 105.
With its generous 1920 x 1080 resolution, the output shared to a 42” HD screen was very, very nice and this became a regular feature of my office, as the view was changed through the day. I was watching insects crawl on daisy leaves as the breeze pleasantly swayed the flower too and fro with little stuttering or frame drop at 7 frames per second. I found myself aiming the '105' at anything, simply to see those tiny 3um x 3um pixels do their daytime thing.
Trying the camera on a longer focal length telescope meant even more of the same lushly coloured images and now I had the long range wildlife spotter I wished I'd had on a holiday to the Island of Skye a few years ago.
Darkness fell and try as I might I could not get a reasonable star field at 500ms, so my hopes of using this camera as a guide-cam were dashed. Perhaps the small aperture of my refractor was at fault, combined with the limitation of the very short maximum exposure.
Turning my attention, then, to a fullish moon was very satisfying. Now the little camera performed beautifully, as it had done in the daylight. I expect its performance on Jupiter and Saturn would be good enough for a pleasant display and have seen some wonderful images posted by users. My little refractor doesn't have the reach for that, so I decided it would become my Moon and daytime friend and in those respects and at the price point, it serves me very nicely.
Within its limitations this camera makes a wonderful electronic eyepiece, but I was disappointed that the maximum exposure was limited to 500ms because I feel that it could be used for some live star field viewing and as a guide camera. In daylight it really excelled and for Moon imaging I found it to be a useful tool, especially for outreach or simply enjoying on a big screen. If the maximum exposure can be addressed in a firmware update I would rate it much more highly.
Overall, I like the SVBONY 105 because of the simplicity of operation, the natural colours it produced and the clarity of its live view of the moon. I will be considering upgrading to the longer exposure models in the future and also trying it on a longer focal length telescope where I can then enjoy Jupiter and Saturn too.
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