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old Canon 5D mk1 (first model) any good for astro??


Rihard

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Hi,

does anyone still use a classic Canon 5D (first version) ???

I own a few nice and sharp 35mm-format prime lenses that I would love to use in daylight (portraits, buildings, landscape etc) so I thought to get a second hand full frame camera that I might also use for astronomy once or twice a year when the weather man approves it (mainly for wide-fields and some large DSO's) and I found some inexpensive 5D's and I was wondering if anyone is still using them and how do they compare with more modern crop / APS-C cameras.

My main camera is a Nikon D7000 (a fantastic camera!), but my old 35mm lenses won't focus to infinity on Nikon unless I use some cr@ppy glass adapter that degrades the image. I also don't like at all that the pictures are cropped and much more narrow and I cannot afford proper wide and fast Nikon lenses for my D7000.

So considering that I don't need any AF, Backyard EOS or any fancy digital-era things, that my budget is restricted plus I really need to go on holidays soon (making the budget even smaller) I thought the 5D could be good enough as a first digital full frame camera to play with but I haven't found any convincing information on using it for astronomy and being a pretty old model I'm still not sure if it would be a disappointment, although I see that, for daylight, some experienced photographers obtained great results.

Any input will be appreciated! :-)

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I used to shoot a lot if 35mm so returning  to full frame was like a breath of fresh air....

From an astro  performance point of view You will be comparing older technology but larger pixels in the original 5D to smaller newer technology ones in the Crop sensor cameras... So it's not cut and dried...

Peter...

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I used to shoot a lot if 35mm so returning  to full frame was like a breath of fresh air....

I know what you mean :) When I take photos on 35mm film (you know, nostalgy...) not only they look much more "alive" to my eyes, but also, what a difference being able to fit my favourite buildings in town even on a 50mm lens without having to stand far away from the subject!

I ended up getting the old 5D at a bargain price so I can make some experiments with it also with the night sky.

Clear Skies!

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  • 3 months later...

I also have been looking at the 5d mk1 for modifying (hence finding this thread).

What was the outcome of your tests?

I'm particularly after a full frame canon that I can mod as they're better for noise at higher isos, but I don't know if this is true for older full frames like the 5d mk1.

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  • 1 month later...

I also have been looking at the 5d mk1 for modifying (hence finding this thread).

What was the outcome of your tests?

I'm particularly after a full frame canon that I can mod as they're better for noise at higher isos, but I don't know if this is true for older full frames like the 5d mk1.

Hey Jonk,

sorry I just saw your reply here. Did you eventually get a FF camera?

This camera does the job, it's usable for astronomy but it's fairly noisy compared to more modern cameras,  and it goes only up to ISO 1600.

I only took 2 single exposures with ancient M42 lenses (post-processed wtih PS):

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tziuriky/15109015652/in/photostream/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tziuriky/15117235541/in/photostream/

Not the best I reckon but I'm happy it could easily show the milky way without extra effort from my side.

Best Regards

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No I haven't - I'm using a fairly modern 70D at the moment but haven't had many opportunities to get out and do some imaging.

if I had the money and was going to buy a FF DSLR for both astro and daytime work, I'd probably go for th 6D as opposed to the 5d mk3, as it's better at low light.

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