Is the ZWO ASI533MM Pro good for narrowband imaging?

Yes. Through small refractors it gave me the Horsehead, the Soul and the Heart in one and a half hours each of Ha, SII and OIII, from my garden.

Which telescopes suit the ASI533MM?

I have used it on the ToupTek Hope D60, the RedCat 51 at f/3.5, the Askar 60F and the Askar 80ED. On the 80ED at 561 mm the field is 1.16 degrees square; on the Hope D60 it is about 2.3 degrees.

What mount does the ASI533MM need?

With a RedCat 51, a 7-position filter wheel, a 50 mm guide scope and an ASI120MM guide camera my rig weighed 4.11 kg, and the TeSeek 11 carried it without a counterweight.

What else do I need to image in colour with a mono camera?

A filter wheel or drawer and a filter per channel: Ha, SII and OIII for narrowband, or L, R, G and B. ZWO also sell the camera in kits with a 5 or 8 position 1.25 inch wheel and filters.

ASI533MM or ASI533MC?

The same square IMX533 sensor. The MM is mono and needs filters but gives the cleanest narrowband; the MC takes colour in one exposure and costs less, £859 against £999.

Does the ASI533MM have amp glow?

ZWO's specification lists zero amp glow for the ASI533MM Pro.

What have I not tested on the ASI533MM?

I have not measured the ASI533MM Pro's read noise, full well, dark current or cooling myself: those figures are ZWO's.

ZWO ASI533MM Pro review: a square, cooled mono camera

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
8	ZWO ASI2600MC Duo	83 out of 100	£1,849
13	Player One Apollo 428M MAX Pro	76 out of 100	£1,045
15	Player One Uranus-C	76 out of 100	£395
22	Altair Hypercam 585MM	71 out of 100	£445
24	ZWO ASI533MM	66 out of 100	£999
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 The rig on the mount
05 How good is it? Here is what it captured
06 Raw against finished
07 What is it for
08 Watch the review
09 Tested numbers and the download
10 Should you buy it?
11 Questions and more about this review

In 30 seconds

Stars for Your Buck 66/100

Reviewed 2 Dec 2025 Updated 24 Sep 2026

Rank: #24 of 29 cameras
Verdict: Worth a look

Written by Damon Scotting 6 min read

Buy it if

You want your first cooled mono camera for narrowband from a light-polluted garden.
You image with a 50 to 80 mm refractor and want a field that frames big nebulae whole.
You want a mono rig light enough for a small harmonic mount.

Skip it if

You do not want to buy a filter wheel and filters on top of the camera.
You want a wider APS-C field and 26 MP from the same pixels.
You want colour images from a single exposure.

The ZWO ASI533MM Pro is a cooled 9 MP mono camera with a square sensor. On small refractors it gave me narrowband images of the Horsehead, the Heart and the North America Nebula in one and a half to five hours.

Specifications and features

Against the cameras I have reviewed

Compare with

ZWO ASI533MM reviewed #24 of 29	ZWO ASI533MC #12 of 29	ToupTek ATR533C #16 of 29	ZWO ASI585MM Air #9 of 29	Altair Hypercam 585MM #22 of 29
Recorded UK price	£999	£859	£799	£1,099	£445
Stars for Your Buck	66/100	77/100	76/100	83/100	71/100
Sensor	Sony IMX533, back illuminated	Sony IMX533	Sony IMX533	Sony IMX585, plus an SC2210 guide sensor	Sony IMX585 Starvis 2 BSI CMOS
Format	1 inch, 11.31 x 11.31 mm, 15.97 mm diagonal	1 inch, 11.31 x 11.31 mm	1 inch, 11.31 x 11.28 mm	1/1.2 inch, 11.2 x 6.3 mm	1/1.2 inch, 11.14 x 6.26 mm, 12.85 mm diagonal
Colour or mono	Mono	Colour	Colour	Mono	Mono
Resolution	3008 x 3008, 9.05 MP	3008 x 3008, 9.05 MP	3008 x 3008, 9.05 MP	3840 x 2160, 8.3 MP	3840 x 2160, 8.3 MP
Pixel size	3.76 µm	3.76 µm	3.76 µm	2.9 µm	2.9 µm
Cooling	Two-stage TEC, 35 C below ambient	Two-stage TEC, 35 C below ambient	Two-stage TEC, up to 42 C below ambient	Two-stage TEC, 30 to 35 C below ambient	Two-stage TEC, to 35 C below ambient
Read noise	1.0 to 3.8 e-	1.0 to 3.8 e-	as low as 1.1 e-	0.7 to 6.4 e-	0.42 to 2.43 e-
Full well	50 ke-	50 ke-	52 ke-	38.7 ke-	40 ke-
ADC	14-bit	14-bit	14-bit	12-bit	12-bit
Weight	470 g	470 g	577 g	620 g	500 g
Back focus	17.5 mm	17.5 mm	17.5 mm	12.5 mm or 17.5 mm	17.5 mm
Interface	USB 3.0, M42 x 0.75 thread	USB 3.0	USB 3.0, 512 MB DDR3 buffer, two-port USB 2.0 hub	Wi-Fi, 4 x USB 2.0, USB Type-C	USB 3.0, a two-port USB hub, 12 V DC for the cooler
In the box	Camera, lens cover, T2-M48 16.5 mm extender, T2 21 mm extender, M42-M48 adapter ring, T2-1.25 inch adapter, four spacer rings, 1.25 inch nosepiece, two USB 2.0 cables, USB 3.0 cable, padded bag, quick start guide	Camera, padded case, T2 nosepieces and adapters, 1.25 inch cap, USB cables, T2 and M48 extenders, M42 to M48 adapter, spacers	Camera, M42 adapter (12.5 mm), 16.5 mm and 21 mm extenders, M48 to M42 extender, 12 V power adapter and cable, 1.5 m USB 3.0 cable	Camera, camera bag, external antenna, 1 m DC cable and 1.5 m DC extension, two 0.5 m USB 2.0 cables, 21 mm T2 extender, 16.5 mm T2 to M48 extender, M42 to M48 tilter, 1 m hook-and-loop strap, 2 mm hex wrench, quick guide	The camera, a 1.5 m USB cable, a 12 V DC power adaptor, an armoured case with foam inserts, a silicone dust cap and a software CD

In the hand

On the TeSeek 11 behind a 7-position filter wheel

With the filter wheel, the RedCat 51 and the guide scope

Under a full moon

Ready for narrowband

From above, on the lawn

The whole rig in the garden

The rig on the mount

On the TeSeek 11, then on six other mounts

How good is it? Here is what it captured

Six targets

IC 434, ASI533MM Pro, Ha, SII, OIII

Integration: 1 h 30 min (30 x 180 s)
Field: 1.56 x 1.56 degrees
Telescope: Askar 60F
Camera: ZWO ASI533MM Pro
Mount: JUWEI-14
Target: IC 434 Horsehead Nebula
Type: Dark nebula
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

NGC 7000, ASI533MM Pro, SII, Ha, OIII

Integration: 5 h (180 s subs)
Field: 3.1 x 3.1 degrees
Telescope: William Optics RedCat 51 at f/3.5
Camera: ZWO ASI533MM Pro
Mount: Unknown
Target: NGC 7000 North America Nebula
Type: Emission nebula
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

IC 1805, ASI533MM Pro, Ha, SII, OIII

Integration: 1 h 30 min (30 x 180 s)
Field: 2.3 x 2.3 degrees
Telescope: ToupTek Hope D60
Camera: ZWO ASI533MM Pro
Mount: Unknown
Target: IC 1805 Heart Nebula
Type: Emission nebula
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

IC 1396, ASI533MM Pro, Ha, SII, OIII

Integration: 1 h 30 min (30 x 180 s)
Field: 1.16 x 1.16 degrees
Telescope: Askar 80ED
Camera: ZWO ASI533MM Pro
Mount: Unknown
Target: IC 1396 Elephant's Trunk Nebula
Type: Emission nebula
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

IC 1848, ASI533MM Pro, Ha, SII, OIII

Integration: 1 h 30 min (30 x 180 s)
Field: 1.56 x 1.56 degrees
Telescope: Askar 60F
Camera: ZWO ASI533MM Pro
Mount: JUWEI-14
Target: IC 1848 Soul Nebula
Type: Emission nebula
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

M 31, ASI533MM Pro, LRGB

Integration: 40 subs (10 each of L, R, G and B)
Field: 2.3 x 2.3 degrees
Telescope: ToupTek Hope D60
Camera: ZWO ASI533MM Pro
Mount: Unknown
Target: M 31 Andromeda Galaxy
Type: Spiral galaxy
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

Raw against finished

What is it for

The 6 targets, the raw combined stack against my finished image, each with its integration, the camera and the palette:

IC 434 Horsehead Nebula: 1 h 30 min (30 x 180 s) of light, ASI533MM Pro, Ha, SII, OIII, the raw combined stack with one automatic stretch
IC 1805 Heart Nebula: 1 h 30 min (30 x 180 s) of light, ASI533MM Pro, Ha, SII, OIII, the raw combined stack with one automatic stretch
NGC 7000 North America Nebula: 5 h (180 s subs) of light, ASI533MM Pro, SII, Ha, OIII, the raw combined stack with one automatic stretch
IC 1396 Elephant's Trunk Nebula: 1 h 30 min (30 x 180 s) of light, ASI533MM Pro, Ha, SII, OIII, the raw combined stack with one automatic stretch
IC 1848 Soul Nebula: 1 h 30 min (30 x 180 s) of light, ASI533MM Pro, Ha, SII, OIII, the raw combined stack with one automatic stretch
M 31 Andromeda Galaxy: 40 subs (10 each of L, R, G and B) of light, ASI533MM Pro, L, R, G, B, the raw combined stack with one automatic stretch

Two things it is for

Narrowband in mono, not colour

With the Askar 60F I imaged in monochrome with a range of filters rather than in colour. The telescope already brings out colour, but with the help of these specialised filters it takes it to the next level.

A cooled mono rig at 4.11 kg

My narrowband rig was an ASI533MM Pro with a ZWO 7 x 2 inch filter wheel on a RedCat 51 at f/3.5, with a 50 mm guide scope and an ASI120MM guide camera. Overall it weighs 4.11 kg, which is not too far off the 5 kg the TeSeek 11 carries.

Watch the review

This $499 TELESCOPE is AMAZING!? (Askar 60F Review + RAW images) · published 2 December 2025 · 4:53 · Watch on YouTube · 12,758 views, 602 likes on 2 Oct 2026

Jump to

0:25 Thor's Helmet and the Horsehead on the ASI533MM
0:59 Imaging in mono with narrowband filters
1:52 Raw stacks, then my finished images
3:12 Soul Nebula, ASI533MM
3:26 Dumbbell Nebula, ASI533MM
3:38 Thor's Helmet, ASI533MM
3:52 Horsehead Nebula, ASI533MM
4:04 Closing thoughts on the Askar 60F

Check out more videos on the ZWO ASI533MM

I tried a £299 Telescope mount?! Surprisingly GOOD! (TeSeek 11 mount)

30 Aug 2025

I tried out this BRAND NEW $849 telescope from ToupTek astro!

23 Oct 2025

Tested numbers and the download

Finished image

Licence: for personal use, credit Damon Scotting. Both JPEGs 2,944 x 2,944 px.

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

561 mm focal length, plate solved through the Askar 80ED (Askar states 560 mm)

1.16 x 1.16° field of view 3,008 x 3,008 px on ASI533MM Pro

9.05 MP ASI533MM Pro 3,008 x 3,008 px, 11.31 x 11.31 mm

Should you buy it?

66/100 Stars for Your Buck

Pros

The square 1 inch IMX533 sensor, 3008 x 3008 pixels of 3.76 microns, frames the Horsehead, the Heart and the Soul whole through a 60 to 80 mm refractor.
Narrowband works from a light-polluted garden: my Heart Nebula and my Horsehead are each one and a half hours of Ha, SII and OIII.
It is cooled (ZWO quote 35 C below ambient), with 14-bit output, 1.0 to 3.8 e- read noise and zero amp glow on the maker's sheet.
At 470 g it keeps a mono rig light: with a RedCat 51, a 7-position filter wheel, a 50 mm guide scope and an ASI120MM the whole rig weighed 4.11 kg.
It has paired well with four small refractors: the ToupTek Hope D60, the RedCat 51, the Askar 60F and the Askar 80ED.

Cons

Mono means a filter wheel and a set of filters on top of the £999 camera before the first colour image.
9 MP on a 16 mm diagonal: the same money again buys an APS-C mono camera with 26 MP from the same 3.76 micron pixels.
Cooled and with a 2 inch wheel it is heavy for a small mount: a non-cooled IMX533 camera and a filter drawer would cut the payload a lot.
Star shapes are harder to judge on a mono preview than in colour.

I tried the Hope D60 telescope with a monochrome camera and some filters instead, and took these much narrower shots of our night sky, which have turned out very nice.

Who the ASI533MM is for

First mono camera

Buy

A square 9 MP cooled sensor with no amp glow is a forgiving start in narrowband, and it frames big nebulae through a small refractor.

Light travel rig

Buy

With a RedCat-sized refractor and a filter wheel the rig stays near 4 kg, inside a 5 kg harmonic mount's rating.

Garden under the Moon

Buy

Narrowband filters on a mono sensor keep imaging going through light pollution and moonlight.

One-shot colour imager

Skip

My recommendation is the ZWO ASI533MC Pro: the same square sensor in colour, no filter wheel, £859.

Wide mosaics and more pixels

Skip

My recommendation is the ZWO ASI2600MM Pro: an APS-C mono sensor with 26 MP of the same pixel size.

Guiding built in

Skip

My recommendation is the ZWO ASI585MM Air: a cooled mono camera with its own guide sensor and ASIAIR inside.

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 ASI533MM

Reviewed 2 December 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 ASI533MM Pro good for narrowband imaging? Yes. Through small refractors it gave me the Horsehead, the Soul and the Heart in one and a half hours each of Ha, SII and OIII, from my garden. What I captured ↓
Which telescopes suit the ASI533MM? I have used it on the ToupTek Hope D60, the RedCat 51 at f/3.5, the Askar 60F and the Askar 80ED. On the 80ED at 561 mm the field is 1.16 degrees square; on the Hope D60 it is about 2.3 degrees. What I captured ↓
What mount does the ASI533MM need? With a RedCat 51, a 7-position filter wheel, a 50 mm guide scope and an ASI120MM guide camera my rig weighed 4.11 kg, and the TeSeek 11 carried it without a counterweight. The rig on the mount ↓
What else do I need to image in colour with a mono camera? A filter wheel or drawer and a filter per channel: Ha, SII and OIII for narrowband, or L, R, G and B. ZWO also sell the camera in kits with a 5 or 8 position 1.25 inch wheel and filters. The specifications and the comparison table ↓
ASI533MM or ASI533MC? The same square IMX533 sensor. The MM is mono and needs filters but gives the cleanest narrowband; the MC takes colour in one exposure and costs less, £859 against £999.
Does the ASI533MM have amp glow? ZWO's specification lists zero amp glow for the ASI533MM Pro. The specifications and the comparison table ↓
What have I not tested on the ASI533MM? I have not measured the ASI533MM Pro's read noise, full well, dark current or cooling myself: those figures are ZWO's.