Dslr for wide-field & normal photography?

[davedownsouth]

Other than an iPhone, I have never owned a 'normal' camera and I am seriously thinking about getting myself a dslr for wide field shots (already sorted for DSO & planetary imaging). Will probably get a sky tracker to go with it as they are reasonably priced, the problem is I would like to use the camera for none Astro shots as well. A very quick read and a Canon 60 Da would seem to be the obvious choice. Are there any others I should be considering, and please remember that I want to use it for taking normal pictures as well as wide field Astro shots.

Cheers,

DDS :-).

[hazegood]

more or less any DSLR would do, as long as it has a bulb mode, you will also need a remote shutter release,  its down to the lens use  and what camera settings you use

I have a 1100d, the kit lens, a tamron 70 - 300mm, and a canon 50mm F1.8  and use it fin various combinations for bith, the every day stuff I am not bad at according to friends, the astro stuff I am finding is a steep learning curve,

This was taken at a very dark site on Saturday night, (Keilder Forrest) using the 50mm lens,  16 10 sec exposures stacked in DSS

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

Canons fair better with noise in the dark... *puts on my bulletproof jacket*

The 1100d and 600d have the lowest noise for the crop sensor range. I wouldn't go for the 60da. I remember reading it wasnt really worth it since you'd do better with a modded 600d.

[davedownsouth]

Taking a step backwards, as I am only going to be using the camera for shots of the milky way & constellations, do I really need to worry about having a modded camera where the IR filters have been removed / messed about with?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jambouk]

For stars you don't need to have it modified, but if you want to capture hydrogen alpha emitting nebula like north america, a modified camera will improve your sensitivity to hydrogen alpha.

James

[jambouk]

North america nebula in widefield; no idea if it was taken with a modified camera but data acquisition for the hydrogen alpha will be three times quicker with a modified camera:

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8003/7632244602_495ccd3bd1_z.jpg

[Alien 13]

You can manage happily without a modded camera i often wonder if they are not allways benificial especially if being used for day time as your only one.

These are a few things that have put me off, i think i had better get my coat and run.

White balance

Inability to acheive infinity focus with some older lenses due to change in focal plane.

Increase in star bloat due to extra bandwidth.

Auto focus issues

Sensor cleaning not sure how tough the replacement element (or none) is compared with the canon glass.

Camera with auto ultrasonic cleaner dosnt work with some mods.

Alan

[wxsatuser]

Canon 60Da is now £699 from WEX, now thats quite a nice price.

60Da has crop video mode as well, makes an excellent planetary cam.