Is the Player One Uranus-C cooled?

No. It has a passive cooling body and no fan or thermoelectric cooler; Player One sells an active cooling accessory separately. My M 13 stack recorded a sensor temperature of 23 C.

What can the Uranus-C image?

Planets, the Moon and bright deep-sky targets: the six captures on this page are M 13, M 27, M 51, M 81 and M 82, M 101 and the Western Veil through the Celestron 8 inch RASA; M 13, M 27 and M 51 were stacked from five-second subs.

How is the Uranus-C different from the ZWO ASI585MC Air?

They share the Sony IMX585. The ASI585MC Air adds a two-stage cooler, a separate guide sensor and a built-in ASIAIR, and weighs 620 g against the Uranus-C's 160 g.

Does the Uranus-C work at the front of a RASA?

Yes. It sat in the camera holder at the front of the 8 inch RASA for every capture on this page; at 66 mm across it is smaller than the RASA's own 93 mm central obstruction.

What back focus does the Uranus-C need?

12.5 mm from the front of the body to the sensor, Player One's figure.

Where can I buy the Player One Uranus-C?

The prices I recorded: £395 at Rother Valley Optics (UK), in stock; $369 at Player One Astronomy (US), in stock; $354 at AliExpress (Laida Optics Store), Global, listed.

What have I not tested on the Uranus-C?

I have not measured the Uranus-C's read noise, dark current or amp glow myself, and I have not tried Player One's optional active cooling accessory.

Player One Uranus-C review: an uncooled IMX585 all-rounder

Where does it rank on our leaderboard

Nine of the 29 cameras on my board, against price
Rank	Camera	Stars for Your Buck	Recorded UK price
1	SVBONY SV705C	93 out of 100	£229
2	SVBONY SC571CC	90 out of 100	£1,029
3	ZWO ASI585MC Air	89 out of 100	£799
9	ZWO ASI585MM Air	83 out of 100	£1,099
15	Player One Uranus-C	76 out of 100	£395
16	ToupTek ATR533C	76 out of 100	£799
23	ZWO ASI220MM	67 out of 100	£299
28	ZWO ASI183MC	38 out of 100	£549
29	Nikon COOLPIX P1000	32 out of 100	£787

Contents

01 Where does it rank on our leaderboard
02 Specifications and features
03 In the hand
04 From the review video
05 The rig on the mount
06 How good is it? Here is what it captured
07 Raw against finished
08 What is it for
09 Watch the review
10 Tested numbers and the download
11 Should you buy it?
12 Questions and more about this review

In 30 seconds

Stars for Your Buck 76/100

Reviewed 29 May 2024 Updated 26 Sep 2026

Rank: #15 of 29 cameras
Verdict: Damon recommends

Written by Damon Scotting 6 min read

Buy it if

you want one uncooled camera for planets, the Moon and live views of bright deep-sky targets
you image with a fast telescope such as a RASA, where short exposures and a light camera matter
you want the IMX585 sensor for much less than a cooled camera

Skip it if

you plan long, calibrated deep-sky integrations: a cooled camera holds a set temperature
you already own an IMX585 camera: the sensor is the same
you want wide fields from a longer refractor: the 1/1.2 inch sensor is small

“The Uranus camera is fantastic. I've been very impressed by what it's able to achieve.”

Specifications and features

Against the cameras I have reviewed

Compare with

Player One Uranus-C reviewed #15 of 29	SVBONY SV705C #1 of 29	ZWO ASI585MC Air #3 of 29	Player One Saturn-C #11 of 29	Altair Hypercam 585C #6 of 29	QHY 585C #26 of 29
Recorded UK price	£395	£229	£799	£514	£359	£359
Stars for Your Buck	76/100	93/100	89/100	78/100	84/100	59/100
Sensor	Sony IMX585, colour CMOS	Sony IMX585, colour CMOS	Sony IMX585 colour, plus an SC2210 mono guide sensor	Sony IMX533, colour CMOS	Sony IMX585 Starvis 2, colour CMOS	Sony IMX585, back-illuminated STARVIS 2
Format	1/1.2 inch, 11.2 x 6.3 mm, 12.85 mm diagonal	1/1.2 inch, 11.2 x 6.3 mm, 12.85 mm diagonal	1/1.2 inch, 11.2 x 6.3 mm, 13.2 mm diagonal	1 inch square, 16 mm diagonal	11.2 x 6.26 mm, 12.85 mm diagonal	1/1.2 inch, 11.2 x 6.3 mm
Colour or mono	Colour	Colour	Colour	Colour	Colour	Colour
Resolution	3856 x 2180, 8.3 MP	3856 x 2180, 8.3 MP	3840 x 2160, 8.3 MP	3008 x 3008, 9 MP	3840 x 2160, 8.3 MP	3856 x 2180, 8.4 MP
Pixel size	2.9 um	2.9 um	2.9 um	3.76 um	2.9 um	2.9 um
Cooling	Uncooled, passive cooling body; active cooling accessory sold separately	Uncooled	Two-stage TEC, 30 to 35 C below ambient	Uncooled, passive cooling body; active cooling accessory sold separately	USB-powered fan with heatsink, switchable	Uncooled
Read noise	0.7 to 7.2 e-	0.7 to 6.5 e-	0.7 to 6.67 e-	1 to 4.46 e-	0.42 to 2.43 e-	0.77 to 8 e-
Full well	47 ke-	38 ke-	40 ke-	73 ke-	40 ke-	52 ke-
ADC	12-bit	12-bit	12-bit	14-bit	12-bit	12-bit
Weight	160 g	160 g	620 g	160 g	300 g	90 g
Back focus	12.5 mm	6.5 mm or 12.5 mm	12.5 mm or 17.5 mm	12.5 mm	17.5 mm with the C adapter, 12.5 mm with the CS adapter	8 mm, 17 mm with the adapter
Interface	USB 3.0 (USB 2.0 compatible), 256 MB DDR3 buffer	USB 3.0, ST-4 guide port	Wi-Fi 5, four-port USB 2.0 hub, 256 GB eMMC	USB 3.0	USB 3.0, ST-4 guide port	USB 3.0 Type-C, ST-4 guide port, 512 MB DDR3
In the box	Camera; T-mount; USB 3.0 cable; ST4 cable; M2 hex key; 1.25 inch cap; air blower	Camera, USB 3.0 cable, ST-4 cable, M42 to CS adapter, T2 adapter, 1.25 inch T adapter, 2 inch dust cover, manual, cleaning cloth	The camera, a camera bag, the external antenna, a 1 m DC cable, a 1.5 m DC extension, two 0.5 m USB 2.0 cables, a 21 mm T2 extender, a 16.5 mm T2 to M48 extender, an M42 to M48 tilter, a 1 m hook-and-loop strap, a 2 mm hex wrench and a quick guide	Camera; T-mount; USB 3.0 cable; ST4 cable; M2 hex key; 1.25 inch cap; air blower	Camera, 1.5 m USB cable, 2 inch nosepiece, silicone dust cap, software CD	IR-cut and IR850 filters; a 1.25 inch nosepiece with CS and C-mount adapters

In the hand

At the front of the 8 inch RASA

On the RASA, ready for the night

Mine, on camera

From the review video

Three frames from my videos

Jupiter in the live view

Saturn in the live view

M 57 after live stacking five-second frames

The rig on the mount

On the JUWEI-17, then on six other mounts

How good is it? Here is what it captured

Six targets

M 13 Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, Player One Uranus-C

Integration: 30 min 55 s (371 x 5 s)
Field: 1.29 x 0.78 degrees
Telescope: Celestron 8 inch RASA
Camera: Player One Uranus-C
Mount: ZWO AM5
Target: M 13 Great Globular Cluster in Hercules
Type: Globular cluster
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

700,000 stars, some of which are packed so close and tightly together that they're only a light year apart.

M 27 Dumbbell Nebula, Player One Uranus-C

Integration: 10 min 50 s (130 x 5 s)
Field: 1.34 x 0.85 degrees
Telescope: Celestron 8 inch RASA
Camera: Player One Uranus-C
Mount: ZWO AM5
Target: M 27 Dumbbell Nebula
Type: Planetary nebula
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

M 51 Whirlpool Galaxy, Player One Uranus-C

Integration: 12 min 30 s (150 x 5 s)
Field: 1.59 x 0.90 degrees
Telescope: Celestron 8 inch RASA
Camera: Player One Uranus-C
Mount: ZWO AM5
Target: M 51 Whirlpool Galaxy
Type: Interacting spiral galaxies
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

M 81 and M 82, Player One Uranus-C

Integration: Unknown
Field: 1.36 x 0.84 degrees
Telescope: Celestron 8 inch RASA
Camera: Player One Uranus-C
Mount: Unknown
Target: M 81 and M 82
Type: Galaxies
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

M 101 Pinwheel Galaxy, Player One Uranus-C

Integration: Unknown
Field: 1.57 x 0.82 degrees
Telescope: Celestron 8 inch RASA
Camera: Player One Uranus-C
Mount: Unknown
Target: M 101 Pinwheel Galaxy
Type: Spiral galaxy
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

NGC 6960 Western Veil Nebula, Player One Uranus-C

Integration: Unknown
Field: 1.35 x 0.82 degrees
Telescope: Celestron 8 inch RASA
Camera: Player One Uranus-C
Mount: ZWO AM5
Target: NGC 6960 Western Veil Nebula
Type: Supernova remnant
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

Raw against finished

What is it for

The 1 target, the raw combined stack against my finished image, each with its integration, the camera and the palette:

M 13 Great Globular Cluster in Hercules: 30 min 55 s (371 x 5 s) of light, Player One Uranus-C, the raw combined stack with one automatic stretch

Three things it is for

Live views I can share

I'm able to share these live views with you thanks to the help of my Player One Uranus camera.

Colour in a sixth of a second

That right now is a one-sixth of a second exposure, and we're seeing a lot of colour in it already.

Live stacking

Every single picture I take is going to increase the quality of the overall image by quite a bit.

Watch the review

What YOU can SEE with a $1000 Telescope?! · published 29 May 2024 · 9:07 · Watch on YouTube · 66,225 views, 1,827 likes on 2 Oct 2026

Jump to

0:32 The used 10 inch Newtonian and CG5 mount
2:31 The 8 to 24 mm zoom eyepiece
4:05 Jupiter and Saturn in the live view
4:37 The Moon
4:58 Live views through the Uranus-C
5:17 Long exposures with the Uranus-C
5:40 Buying new for under $1,000
7:23 The bottom line

Transcript of the review video 213 words · 3 chapters · searchable

Press a time stamp to play from there.

4:05 Jupiter and Saturn in the live view

4:07 Jupiter looks phenomenal as always and we can make out three of its largest moons, with one of them transiting the gas giant. 4:11 Jupiter is of course the largest planet in our solar system and this particular moon is Ganymede, which also happens to be the largest moon in our solar system. 4:19 In second place for the planet-measuring contest comes Saturn. 4:23 Its brightest moons are a little harder to make out so I've played around with the exposure a little so that you can see them. 4:31 You can clearly identify the Cassini division in Saturn's rings. 4:34 It's very distinct but still a testament to a telescope's capabilities if you can make it out.

4:37 The Moon

4:38 Next up, the Moon. 4:38 Never better to observe than when it's between 25 to 75% illuminated. 4:43 This allows you to explore many of its craters with terrific levels of contrast, but if you're in search of something a little beyond the reaches of our solar system, perhaps the birthplace of new solar systems, then this is what you can expect to see. 4:57 I'm able to share these live views with you thanks to the help of my Uranus camera, my Player One Uranus camera.

5:17 Long exposures with the Uranus-C

5:19 When taking long exposure images with this camera and telescope, this is what you can create.

Check out more videos on the Player One Uranus-C

STARGAZING / AURORA LIVE!! UK

12 May 2024

Tested numbers and the download

Finished image

Licence: for personal use, credit Damon Scotting. Both JPEGs 3,125 x 1,893 px.

+23 C sensor temperature during imaging uncooled camera

402 mm focal length, plate solved Celestron states 400 mm for the 8 inch RASA

1.59 x 0.90° field of view 3,856 x 2,180 px on Uranus-C, 1/1.2 inch

8.3 MP Uranus-C, 1/1.2 inch 3,856 x 2,180 px, 11.2 x 6.3 mm

Should you buy it?

76/100 Stars for Your Buck

Pros

In my side-by-side test against the ZWO ASI585MC, which shares its IMX585 sensor, the two cameras were impossible to separate
Five-second subs on the 8 inch RASA gave M 13, M 27 and M 51 in 11 to 31 minutes each
160 g and 66 mm across: light and slim enough to sit in the light path at the front of an f/2 RASA
USB 3.0 and 47 frames a second at full resolution in 10-bit for planetary and lunar video

Cons

No cooling: the sensor read 23 C during a May night's M 13 stack, so darks cannot be matched to a set temperature
A small 1/1.2 inch sensor, 11.2 x 6.3 mm: a narrow field on anything but a short, fast telescope
12-bit readout, against 14 or 16 bits on cooled deep-sky cameras
Neither First Light Optics nor Agena Astro sells it: Rother Valley Optics in the UK, Player One's own store in the US

I actually meant it for imaging planets, but its deep-sky work is phenomenal. I cannot speak highly enough of that Player One camera.

Who the Uranus-C is for

Planetary and lunar imager

Buy

An IMX585 with 2.9 micron pixels and 47 frames a second over USB 3.0 suits planetary and lunar video.

Live-view and outreach observer

Buy

Exposures of a fraction of a second show colour in bright nebulae as it happens, which is what a live view needs.

Owner of a RASA or another fast astrograph

Buy

At 160 g and 66 mm across it hides behind the 93 mm central obstruction of an 8 inch RASA.

Deep-sky imager planning long integrations

Skip

My recommendation is a cooled camera such as the ZWO ASI585MC Air: it holds -10 C, so darks match every night.

Owner of an ASI585MC, SV705C or another IMX585 camera

Skip

It is the same sensor; spend the money on the telescope or a filter instead.

Wide-field imager with a short refractor

Skip

The 1/1.2 inch sensor crops the field; an APS-C camera makes better use of a small refractor's image circle.

Three alternatives I have reviewed

Questions and more about this review

Reviewed by

Damon Scotting

The Telescope Man Verified

BSc (Hons) Physics with Astrophysics and Cosmology, Loughborough University PGCE / QTS, University of Nottingham

About Damon About Damon Damon Scotting is The Telescope Man. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Physics with Astrophysics and Cosmology from Loughborough University and a PGCE with QTS from the University of Nottingham, and taught physics in secondary schools before becoming an astronomy creator. He is a contributing writer for BBC Sky at Night Magazine and the author of 42 Wonders of Our Night Sky, and his photograph of the galaxy M100 with the dwarf planet Ceres was Highly Commended in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2024 competition run by Royal Observatory Greenwich. He has appeared on the BBC's Blue Peter. More than 750,000 people follow his astronomy channels on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, and he has reviewed more than 140 telescopes, mounts, cameras, filters and accessories hands-on for this site. More about Damon · How I test · Damon's book

I review all kinds of gear: most of it I buy, some is gifted and some is loaned, and all of it is reviewed the same way. How this site is funded

Seven questions, answered

Questions about the Player One Uranus-C

Reviewed 29 May 2024 ·Updated 26 September 2026

I review all kinds of gear. Most of it I buy, some is gifted and some is loaned, and all of it is reviewed the same way: no company sees or approves a review before it is published. Shop links marked Ad are affiliate links: I earn a commission when you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. How this site is funded

Is the Player One Uranus-C cooled? No. It has a passive cooling body and no fan or thermoelectric cooler; Player One sells an active cooling accessory separately. My M 13 stack recorded a sensor temperature of 23 C. Tested numbers and the download ↓
What can the Uranus-C image? Planets, the Moon and bright deep-sky targets: the six captures on this page are M 13, M 27, M 51, M 81 and M 82, M 101 and the Western Veil through the Celestron 8 inch RASA; M 13, M 27 and M 51 were stacked from five-second subs. What I captured ↓
How is the Uranus-C different from the ZWO ASI585MC Air? They share the Sony IMX585. The ASI585MC Air adds a two-stage cooler, a separate guide sensor and a built-in ASIAIR, and weighs 620 g against the Uranus-C's 160 g. The specifications and the comparison table ↓
Does the Uranus-C work at the front of a RASA? Yes. It sat in the camera holder at the front of the 8 inch RASA for every capture on this page; at 66 mm across it is smaller than the RASA's own 93 mm central obstruction. In the hand ↓
What back focus does the Uranus-C need? 12.5 mm from the front of the body to the sensor, Player One's figure. The specifications and the comparison table ↓
Where can I buy the Player One Uranus-C? The prices I recorded: £395 at Rother Valley Optics (UK), in stock; $369 at Player One Astronomy (US), in stock; $354 at AliExpress (Laida Optics Store), Global, listed. A record, not a live price The verdict, the readers and the sellers ↓
What have I not tested on the Uranus-C? I have not measured the Uranus-C's read noise, dark current or amp glow myself, and I have not tried Player One's optional active cooling accessory.