As a 294MM connoisseur, I am telling you right now not to do it. There are two reasons why you might want a 294MM:
  • "Bigger" pixels if you have a telescope with a longer focal length. Remember kids, choosing a camera is all about mating it with the proper telescopes to get a good image resolution.
  • It's cheaper!


Calibration is not as bad as people make it out to be, but I won't pretend to be ignorant that some people getting really bad models. The 294MC is not comparable because it is a different chip.

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd that is kind of it! The only circumstance that you would ever use Bin1 should be if you have a very, VERY fast telescope like F/2.

You already have the 2600MM and your telescope is not fast so I think that makes this an easy decision.

For anyone else thinking that the 294MM in bin1 mode is some kind of astro hack to high resolution images. Seriously, do not do it. Don't. Unless you are at F/2 or below you will be spending the rest of your natural lifetime trying to get a decent SNR at bin1.

Also, the 294MM gets unfairly maligned as an "older" camera despite the IMX492 being one year newer than the IMX571. Astro people think its older because the 2600MM came out after the 294MM. In terms of QE, the 2600MM has a slight edge in Oiii, while the 294MM has a slight edge in Ha and Sii. Otherwise, the QE curves are very much  the same. I just have to throw that out there.
Like