Primaluce Lab makes a special Nikon D5500a cooled camera for astrophotography

The Italian company PrimaLuceLab is specializing in astronomy and astrophotography. They just launched a cooled version of the D5500 DSLR camera and they call it simply “D5500a Cooled“. Here are the improvements for astrophotography over the base D5500 model:

• cooling system that cools down the sensor temperature up to -27°C in respect of ambient temperature and stabilize the working temperature to the desired value
• modified front filter that improve sensitivity especially in red part of the spectrum (similar to the one of Nikon D810a)
• anti dewing system that allows to avoid dewing problems when the cooling system starts
• integrated shutter control to perform sequence of long expositions without the need of an external controller
• power without the Nikon battery (in long exposure astrophotography usually DSLR camera runs out of battery, also because of cold conditions)

The price of the D5500a Cooled is €2,190 (around $2,400). For comparison, a D5500 body costs $896.95 in the US. Here is the product description (product code PLLD5500AC):

The power of a cooled CCD camera combined with the ease of use of a DSLR one, all in a single product that allows you to record stunning images of deep sky (but also of the planets and the Moon!). Perfectly usable even without an external computer! Our D5500a Cooled, based on the Nikon D5500, is the perfect solution for those fan people who want to record great pictures without too many complications!

Cooling system with Peltier cell that dramatically reduces the camera noise during long exposure sessions; front sensor filter modified for astronomy for higher sensitivity especially in the wavelengths of the red and then the very important H-alpha line front filter; anti-dewing system and use without battery (power supplied with cable plugged to the cooling system). The large touchscreen display together with the cooling system control electronics that is directly operated by the touch keys located on the camera, make it easy to use and 100% functional even without using an external computer.