The iKon deep-cooled CCDs are suited primarily to ‘slow’ low-light imaging applications that typically involve long exposures (from tens of seconds to minutes or even hours) combined with a relatively slow image readout, typified by usage in astronomy or weak luminescence detection. However, a special Fast Kinetics mode can be accessed to obtain bursts of data with microsecond dynamics, ideal for quantum gas absorption experiments. A combination of low noise floor, excellent photon response over a wide optical wavelength range and superb image uniformity guides the usage of iKon CCDs.