Is the ZWO ASI2600MC Air worth it?

Yes, if you want the camera, guiding and control in one body. I think you can do a lot worse than this camera, which is why I've given it such a high rating.

Do I need a separate guide camera or an ASIAIR with it?

No. The ASI2600MC Air has an SC2210 guide sensor and an ASIAIR inside, so it needs no separate guide camera or controller.

ASI2600MC Air or ASI2600MC Duo?

Both have the IMX571 sensor and a built-in guide sensor. The Duo runs over USB from an ASIAIR or a computer and costs £1,849 at First Light Optics; the Air adds the ASIAIR, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 256 GB of storage for £2,149.

ASI2600MC Air or SVBONY SC571CC?

The sensor is the same Sony IMX571. The SC571CC costs £1,029 and needs its own guide camera and controller; the Air builds both in.

What field of view does it give?

On the Askar 50P my stack plate-solves at 190 mm, a field of 7.08 x 4.73 degrees.

What mount does it need?

The camera weighs 775 g. With my 1.4 kg Askar 50P and 1 kg of accessories the rig is 3.2 kg, inside the 5 kg a TeSeek 11 carries without a counterweight.

What have I not tested on the ASI2600MC Air?

I have not measured its read noise, dark current or cooling time, used it on the planets or run it from third-party software.

ZWO ASI2600MC Air review: APS-C colour with ASIAIR built in

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
4	ZWO ASI2600MC Air	88 out of 100	£2,149
12	ZWO ASI533MC	77 out of 100	£859
21	ZWO ASI2600MC	72 out of 100	£1,599
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 The rig on the mount
04 How good is it? Here is what it captured
05 Raw against finished
06 Tested numbers and the download
07 Should you buy it?
08 Questions and more about this review

In 30 seconds

Stars for Your Buck 88/100

Reviewed 5 Feb 2025 Updated 24 Sep 2026

Rank: #4 of 29 cameras
Verdict: Damon's pick

Written by Damon Scotting 5 min read

Buy it if

You want the camera, the guide camera and the ASIAIR controller in one body, with no separate box to mount and cable.
You run a ZWO AM mount and want power to be the only cable into the camera.
You want a 26 MP APS-C colour sensor that covers the field of most small refractors.

Skip it if

You want the IMX571 sensor for the least money: the SVBONY SC571CC costs under half as much.
You already own an ASIAIR or a laptop: the ASI2600MC Duo has the same sensor and a guide sensor for less.
You image mostly in narrowband and want mono: the ASI2600MM Air is the same camera in mono.

“I love this camera. It has made astrophotography far more streamlined for me, and I cannot speak highly enough of it.”

Specifications and features

Against the cameras I have reviewed

Compare with

ZWO ASI2600MC Air reviewed #4 of 29	ZWO ASI2600MC Duo #8 of 29	SVBONY SC571CC #2 of 29	ToupTek ATR2600C #10 of 29	ZWO ASI2600MC #21 of 29	ZWO ASI2600MM Air #7 of 29
Recorded UK price	£2,149	£1,849	£1,029	£1,127	£1,599	£2,499
Stars for Your Buck	88/100	83/100	90/100	80/100	72/100	84/100
Sensor	Sony IMX571	Sony IMX571 with an SC2210 guide sensor	Sony IMX571	Sony IMX571	Sony IMX571	Sony IMX571
Format	APS-C, 23.5 x 15.7 mm	APS-C, 23.5 x 15.7 mm	APS-C, 23.5 x 15.7 mm	APS-C, 28.3 mm diagonal	APS-C, 23.5 x 15.7 mm	APS-C, 23.5 x 15.7 mm
Colour or mono	Colour	Colour	Colour	Colour	Colour	Mono
Resolution	6248 x 4176, 26 MP	6248 x 4176, 26 MP	6224 x 4168, 26 MP	6224 x 4168, 26 MP	6248 x 4176, 26 MP	6248 x 4176, 26 MP
Pixel size	3.76 um	3.76 um	3.76 um	3.76 um	3.76 um	3.76 um
Cooling	30 to 35 C below ambient	Two-stage TEC, 30 to 35 C below ambient	Dual-stage TEC, about 35 C below ambient	Up to 42 C below ambient	Two-stage TEC, 30 to 35 C below ambient	30 to 35 C below ambient
Read noise	0.9 to 4.2 e-	0.9 to 4.2 e-	1.14 to 2.6 e-	as low as 0.883 e-	1.0 to 3.3 e-	0.9 to 4.2 e-
Full well	50 ke- (73 ke- in extended mode)	50 ke-	Approximately 16,000 electrons at the lowest plotted HCG gain (0 dB); graph-derived, not an all-mode maximum	51 ke-	73 ke-	50 ke-
ADC	16-bit	16-bit	16-bit	16-bit	16-bit	16-bit
Weight	775 g	700 g	557 g	577 g	700 g	775 g
Back focus	12.5 or 17.5 mm	17.5 mm	17.5 mm	17.5 mm	17.5 mm	12.5 or 17.5 mm
Interface	Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth; USB-C output, four USB 2.0 ports, three 12 V DC ports, any one of them the power input	USB 3.0 for imaging, USB 2.0 for guiding	USB-C	USB 3.0, two-port USB 2.0 hub, 512 MB DDR3 buffer	USB 3.0	Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth; USB-C output, four USB 2.0 ports, three 12 V DC ports, any one of them the power input
In the box	Camera, external antenna, two 1 m DC power cords, 1.5 m DC extension, two 0.5 m USB 2.0 cables, 16.5 mm and 21 mm M54 spacers, M48 to M54 ring, cable strap, hex wrench, quick start guide, soft bag	Camera, soft padded case, 2 m USB 3.0 cable, two 0.5 m USB 2.0 cables, 16.5 mm and 21 mm M54 extenders, M54 to M48 ring, hex key, quick start guide	The camera, three adapter rings (M42 to M42, M48 to M42, M42 to M48), a dust cap, a USB cable, a 12 V 3 A power supply, desiccant, a manual and a cleaning cloth	Camera with its 2 inch adapter, 12 V 3.3 A power adapter and cable, 1.5 m USB 3.0 cable, M48 to M42 adapter, 16.5 mm and 21 mm extenders, 12.5 mm M42 adapter, cover	The camera, a cover, M42-M48 16.5 mm and M42 21 mm extenders, an M42M-M48F adapter, a hex key, two 0.5 m USB 2.0 cables, a 2 m USB 3.0 cable, a quick guide and a camera bag	Camera, two 1 m DC power cords, 1.5 m DC extension, two 0.5 m USB 2.0 cables, 16.5 mm and 21 mm M54 spacers, M48 to M54 ring, cable strap, hex wrench, quick start guide

The rig on the mount

On the TeSeek 11, then on six other mounts

How good is it? Here is what it captured

One target

North America and Pelican Nebulae (NGC 7000 and IC 5070), ASI2600MC Air

Integration: 2 h (40 x 180 s)
Field: 7.08 x 4.73 degrees
Telescope: Askar 50P
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Air
Mount: Unknown
Target: North America and Pelican Nebulae (NGC 7000 and IC 5070)
Type: Emission nebula
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

Raw against finished

Tested numbers and the download

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

North America and Pelican Nebulae (NGC 7000 and IC 5070): 2 h (40 x 180 s) of light, ASI2600MC Air, the raw combined stack with one automatic stretch

Finished image

Licence: for personal use, credit Damon Scotting. Both JPEGs 4,096 x 2,620 px.

-10 C sensor set point the set point I run every cooled camera at

190 mm focal length, plate solved stated 190 mm, on the Askar 50P

7.08 x 4.73° field of view 6,248 x 4,176 px on ASI2600MC Air

26 MP ASI2600MC Air 6,248 x 4,176 px, 23.5 x 15.7 mm

Should you buy it?

88/100 Stars for Your Buck

Pros

It is cheaper than buying the components separately and putting them together, and far less messy.
Paired with one of my ZWO AM mounts it connects over Bluetooth, so the only cable into the camera is the power cable.
The IMX571 is the most popular big sensor on the market: it works with the vast majority of telescopes and takes some really special images.
The ASIAIR inside has 256 GB of storage and live stacking, controlled from a phone over Wi-Fi.

Cons

At £2,149 it costs £300 more than the ASI2600MC Duo and more than twice the £1,029 of the SVBONY SC571CC, with the same IMX571 sensor in all three.
At 775 g it is heavier than the 700 g ASI2600MC Pro and ASI2600MC Duo.
Its control runs through ZWO's ASIAIR app; other software reaches it through ASCOM Alpaca.

You can do a lot worse than this camera, which is why I have given it such a high rating.

Who the ASI2600MC Air is for

ASIAIR imager building a colour rig

Buy

It puts the imaging sensor, the guide sensor and the ASIAIR in one body, so there is no separate controller or guide camera to mount, power and cable.

ZWO AM mount owner

Buy

It pairs with the AM mounts over Bluetooth, so power is the only cable into the camera.

Small refractor owner

Buy

On a 190 mm astrograph the APS-C sensor frames the whole North America and Pelican region in one shot.

Budget-first buyer

Skip

My recommendation is the SVBONY SC571CC: the same IMX571 colour sensor for under half the price, with a separate guide camera and controller.

Laptop or ASIAIR owner

Skip

My recommendation is the ASI2600MC Duo: the same sensor with a built-in guide sensor over USB, for £300 less.

Narrowband imager

Skip

My recommendation is the ASI2600MM Air: the same body and ASIAIR in mono, for a filter wheel and narrowband filters.

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 ZWO ASI2600MC Air

Reviewed 5 February 2025 ·Updated 24 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 ZWO ASI2600MC Air worth it? Yes, if you want the camera, guiding and control in one body. I think you can do a lot worse than this camera, which is why I've given it such a high rating. What I captured ↓
Do I need a separate guide camera or an ASIAIR with it? No. The ASI2600MC Air has an SC2210 guide sensor and an ASIAIR inside, so it needs no separate guide camera or controller. The specifications and the comparison table ↓
ASI2600MC Air or ASI2600MC Duo? Both have the IMX571 sensor and a built-in guide sensor. The Duo runs over USB from an ASIAIR or a computer and costs £1,849 at First Light Optics; the Air adds the ASIAIR, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 256 GB of storage for £2,149. The specifications and the comparison table ↓
ASI2600MC Air or SVBONY SC571CC? The sensor is the same Sony IMX571. The SC571CC costs £1,029 and needs its own guide camera and controller; the Air builds both in. The specifications and the comparison table ↓
What field of view does it give? On the Askar 50P my stack plate-solves at 190 mm, a field of 7.08 x 4.73 degrees. Tested numbers and the download ↓
What mount does it need? The camera weighs 775 g. With my 1.4 kg Askar 50P and 1 kg of accessories the rig is 3.2 kg, inside the 5 kg a TeSeek 11 carries without a counterweight. The rig on the mount ↓
What have I not tested on the ASI2600MC Air? I have not measured its read noise, dark current or cooling time, used it on the planets or run it from third-party software.