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Canon eos 700d or Nikon d5300


craigb1970

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I'm looking into buying a dslr camera and I've narrowed it down to the Canon eos 700d or Nikon d5300 and I would be interested in any comments that might help me make a decision. I'm slightly leaning towards the Nikon as it seems to have slightly better abilities including an in built intervalometer although it doesn't have a touch screen. I understand that there is more support for canon in relation to astrophptography but I don't know how important that is. I can of course buy an external intervalometer if that was the only issue. I don't know much about dslr cameras so any help will be appreciated

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I dont know about the Nikon but to me the realy important and useful parameters for a DSLR for use in AP are:

Noise performance

Dedicated mirror lockup function

Flip out screen, i use mine with live view to achieve very good focus without conection to a laptop, focus tools or bat mask.

Crop video recording mode (i think the canon 60D had this but not available on most models)

Software availability (the canon bundled software package is excellent DPP and EOS utilities)

Availability of adaptors for using old 35mm film lenses some are realy good for AP

The canon camera does have a basic timer function that allows you to shoot up to 10 subs with a max of 30s shutter speed but often a dedicated intervaometer or phone app offers a much greater range of timing options.

Alan

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Now I'm about to show how much of a novice I am - what's true movie crop mode and why is it important as I would hope to be doing some planetary imaging?

Hi, no problem asking questions that's why we all muck in. In short when you photograph planets it's best to take short videos. If you are going to use a DSLR to do this, rather than a dedicated planetary high frame rate camera, there are some advantages to using 'movie crop mode', a restricted part of the sensor to achieve decent image scale for example.

I advise you strongly to read the following thread. It is long but an excellent and informative read.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/208610-planetary-imaging-with-dslr-video-mode/

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Chris - The 600D is very similar to the 700D and your images look great to me even though as I understand it they weren't taken in true movie crop mode.  Did you try the Live View x5 and if so what were the results.

Also, I'd welcome comments on the best way to control long exposures (over 30 ses) - bulb manual, magic lantern, external intervalometer or other.

n.b sorry but I may have incorrectly posted a similar comment in aonther thread.

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Obviously I am an expert, having owned the 700D for 10 days and so far read 1/3 of the manual. ;)

I ruled out the Nikon, not because it is an inferior camera in any way, but simply because of the wide support and use of the Canon on all Astro' forums, and the availability of Astro' targetted software.

Initially I will have to control bulb manual via the laptop and BYE, APT, or EOS Utilities until I obtain an intervalometer.

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Chris - The 600D is very similar to the 700D and your images look great to me even though as I understand it they weren't taken in true movie crop mode.  Did you try the Live View x5 and if so what were the results.

Also, I'd welcome comments on the best way to control long exposures (over 30 ses) - bulb manual, magic lantern, external intervalometer or other.

n.b sorry but I may have incorrectly posted a similar comment in aonther thread.

Well, some of the planetary shots are taken with the 600D and some with the 60D. Those with 600D I used 640x480 mode and got the image scale up by experimenting with the eyepiece projection parameters, the main flaw is the much slower frame rate in this mode on this camera. When I used the 60D it has true movie crop mode at 60 fps so the results are better, or at least more flexible to process. On the 60D, the movie crop mode is equivalent to 7x. I didn't use any external software for the camera for planetary. You asked about long exposures also which is relevant to DSO imaging I do. For this I just use the EOS utilities software on my Mac. Lots of folk use BYEOS but I manage quite well just with the EOS utilities from Canon UK.
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Magic lantern i's a very good firmware hack that enables a series of improvements like the 3x video crop mode, HDR video, intervalometer with custom number of shots and time between frames.

And the best of all, it is free, and it doesn't mess with the original firmware, it stays in the memory card and you access it's menu through the delete button.

I got it Installed it in mine 700d. Yesterday i was too lazy to take my laptop outside so i used it's intervalometer and it all went fine. 

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craigb1970........having read your OP I came across this.......    http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-shoot-the-night-sky-introduction-to-astrophotography/        It sounds so simple. I own a D5000 so I will be  trying this method out sometime soon ? 


The reason I own a D5000 is that many many Moons ago, I was all in favour of building myself an FM2 Nikon SLR system, so I sold the Olympus OM2 SP system and bought the Nik........no I didn't? I ended up buying  a Yamamoto and a Futaba Challenger Radio control system and started flying., a complete change of direction, hobby-wise, and In a very short period of time, ran a local club, and was helping others  learn to fly?


A bit old in the tooth now, the FM2, so the last time I looked at DSLR cameras, the D5000 was going cheapish from Jessops, and a £50 refund from Nikon. I've never regretted the purchase of the D5000. Its perfect for my needs, Video, Intervalometer, flip-out-screen, lots of memory on my SD cards...


That said, there is often more in favour of a Cannon system, or a modded sensor Cannon?

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I'm going to say, 'Don't buy either of these.' Look at this; http://stargazerslounge.com/classifieds/item/4402-atik-16hr-mono-ccd-camera/  OK, the sensor is small but look at ROb's images with it. This is a real astronomy camera. It is way faster and more versatile than any daytime camera.

Olly

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the best for

I'm looking into buying a dslr camera and I've narrowed it down to the Canon eos 700d or Nikon d5300 and I would be interested in any comments that might help me make a decision. I'm slightly leaning towards the Nikon as it seems to have slightly better abilities including an in built intervalometer although it doesn't have a touch screen. I understand that there is more support for canon in relation to astrophptography but I don't know how important that is. I can of course buy an external intervalometer if that was the only issue. I don't know much about dslr cameras so any help will be appreciated

If this DSLR is for daytime as well as trying AP for fun then get the one that is best for daytime photography. If you want to use it for AP only and I take it that you have not done this before , then I would buy neither and would try and find a used Astro Modded DSLR. It will be more sensitive to the RED spectrum than any normal DSLR ( important for Ha rich Nebulae) and if you find that AP is not for you then you can  pass it on with very little financial loss. If you are really serious about AP then I'd get a dedicated Cooled CCD. Used ones bought from a trustworthy seller are a good way to go.

A.G

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I have considered a ccd and it may be something for the future but I am also interested in none AP photography and therefore I'm going to go for a unmodified DSLR, at least to start with.   If the bug bites then I will have the option of going ccd and keeping the DSLR for none AP (wife and funds pernitting).   I have also seen some very good photographs of Nebula using an unmodified DSLR, obviously they need more work but are possible.

Based on the comments received and a lot of reading I think I'll be going for a Canon 60D now that I realise the advantages it has over the 700D for AP and Nikon generally for support and software (although I really did like the D5300). 

Thanks for all the helpful comments

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I have considered a ccd and it may be something for the future but I am also interested in none AP photography and therefore I'm going to go for a unmodified DSLR, at least to start with.   If the bug bites then I will have the option of going ccd and keeping the DSLR for none AP (wife and funds pernitting).   I have also seen some very good photographs of Nebula using an unmodified DSLR, obviously they need more work but are possible.

Based on the comments received and a lot of reading I think I'll be going for a Canon 60D now that I realise the advantages it has over the 700D for AP and Nikon generally for support and software (although I really did like the D5300). 

Thanks for all the helpful comments

You could get a Baader modified Canon which can do both AP and daytime but I have no idea what the used market value would be if you decided to sell the camera as most none AP imagers have very little idea what  the requirements for AP are. My Canon 1100d is both Baader modified and with the AA filter removed to increase sharpness but it is no mtach for my CCDs. Good luck with your decision.

A.G

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