●
The G2 revision 4 shell underwent a slight facelift. Camera is less
“boxy” and more similar to bigger G3 and G4 models. Air intake vents
are better protected against unwanted interference of rotating fans with
either fingers of various wires (hitting a rotating fan with finger is not
dangerous, only somewhat unpleasant).
Basic mechanical dimensions (width, height, depth) of the camera
heads did not change. Only the distance of the optical axis relative to
camera body center axis is slightly shifted by 2 mm.
●
Desiccant container of the G2 cameras was enlarged, it is now
identical to the container used on G3 and G4 models.
●
CCD cold chambers of all models were significantly redesigned. New
chambers bring better CCD insulation from the environment and thus
require less frequent desiccant exchanges. They also allow usage of
CCDs without cover glass, which are much more demanding to
insulation, absence of moisture etc.
●
New digital electronics uses 480 Mbps USB 2.0 interface (Gx cameras
use only a small fraction the transfer capacity of this interface, so
moving to 4.8 Gbps USB 3.0 brings no advantages, only problems
with bigger connector, shorter and less flexible cables etc.), still it
brings numerous important improvements, like faster image download
(especially in the Preview mode), much bigger internal memory
buffers or more precise temperature regulation.
●
New drivers were unified and named “gXccdF” and “gXccdI” (for FF
and IT detectors). G2 cameras employing Back-Illuminated E2V
detectors use new driver “gXccdBI”.
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