On the Bench: Meade Deep Sky Imager III

Figure 1 - Chip size comparison
of the DSI Family

The DSI III cameras represent the top of Meade’s line of cameras and the latest in the evolving DSI series. The original DSI sported a 6 mm (diagonal) chip and 510x492 resolution and the DSI II that followed stepped up to an 8 mm (diagonal) chip and 748 x 577 resolution. The new DSI III cameras stet up to an 11 mm (diagonal) chip and enter the megapixel arena with 1360 x 1024 pixels. Here, we see the relative physical sizes of the three sensors. All of the cameras use Sony HAD CCDs, with the DSI II sensors (Sony ICX 429 series) and DSI III sensors (ICX 285 series) finding their way into numerous other cameras on the market. At time of this writing, the DSI III cost $1299 (color and monochrome without filters), while the DSI II cost $599.