Canon vs Nikon DSLR

[enigma]

Just to clarify things a little, what I am interested in astrophotography is piggy back shooting with a zoom or telephoto lens (maybe up to 300mm) and unguided short prime focus.

[Digz]

Just to clarify things a little, what I am interested in astrophotography is piggy back shooting with a zoom or telephoto lens (maybe up to 300mm) and unguided short prime focus.

IMHO this doesn't affect the out come of the advice given. Canon is going to be your best bet I think.

[Dave]

I use a Nikon D300 for all my images. Forget the arguments about the dreaded "Star Eater". If you look at my web site you will see it can produce good results. However from a software point of view the Canon's are better serviced for astronomy and remote tethering by third party programs.

[Beyond_Vision]

I would look at the Canon 600D this has a rotating display which will make it much easier to view when the scope is at a high angle. I have a 550D which performs very well even though it is not modded.

Regards

Kevin

[BameRy]

First off- I used my Nikon D3100 for astrophotography originally. Meade ETX 125 AT.... Used mostly in Prime Focus Astrophotography and Now I have the D5100 on it. Excellent results using the D3100 and I would expect the same, if not better from the d5100. Honestly the limiting factor is my telescope, I believe.... I want the new Meade Lx200.... but I think the wife(soon to be) would file for divorce (shortly after the purchase of the Lx200).

Eagleseye... I completely agree..... most of the dreaded "star eater" arguments are based off of 6 year old technology, and the research associated with those d70's and d90's. Nikon Raw images are truly raw.... that's why they pop up almost instantaneously on my nikon d5100 view screen. If they were not raw they would have a buffering period of equal to the exposure length. Or at least that is what I was told by the nikon customer service representitive when I was comparing cameras. Also, Michael Covington's Book- Digital SLR Astrophotography was published in 2007....technology has come quite a ways since then..... I think he needs a revised copy of his book, where the "star eating" sections are edited out.

As far as the main component of the camera- The sensor- look at this web site.... Even with the best lenses, the sensor is the component that renders the image to the sd card. Don't you want the best sensor? Isn't that like getting the best film in an old SLR Camera for astrophotography? To get the best images would you fork out more money for the best film? I think that rule can apply to the imaging sensor as well, especially in a field where sensitivity to high apparent magnitude points of light is a must.

DxOMark - Camera Sensor Ratings

And tell me what you think of canons then.... the best sensor is #11 on the EOS 1Ds Mark III @ $6000 with no lenses I would say for an entry to intermediate level astrophotographer who uses the camera for daytime shooting even the Canon T3i @ $739 doesn't really cut the mustard, its imaging sensor is the 62nd best. I would say get the Nikons- there are 6 nikon models with ccd sensors in the top 14, the d5100 being 14th and for 749$ I would say is a much better deal than cannon. From a daytime use perspective Nikon lenses are second to only a few... like zeiss.... and in all the years nikon has never changed their lense mount (the f bayonet mount has been in use since 1959)..... Canon on the other hand has changed from several different bayonet mounts (starting with the FD, then the EF, and now the EFS-digital only lense mount). If you want to buy one set of lenses for forever- go with nikon ( I have 2 lenses from 1967 from my grandpa's old 35mm, and they both work on the d5100, they are only MF lenses so there is no autofocus, but who cares, these hand me downs easily saved me 500$). If you like replacing lenses that cost hundreds of dollars just because canon decides you should- Go with canon.

I could go on and on about the hardware.

Software- NX2 is included with all nikon dslr cameras as the stock software. I have had no issues running shutter control through a pc either. I use Max DSLR , and nebulosity, and registax. All work great. I cannot say anything about the software for canons, but based on the previous posts there is plenty.

The choice is yours, but I would recommend a Nikon.

I'll post some images as soon as the new computer arrives. Happy Hunting.

[skybadger]

Sorry to steal the thread but this is important !!! (to me at least)

I have had no issues running shutter control through a pc either. I use Max DSLR ,

BameRy

I'm very interested in this. I have MaximDL full edition and can't see a way to make it expose for longer than the 30 seconds max of 'B' through a connected cable. The help says the same thing too. What are you doing or am I mis-understanding ?

I want to take 5 minute long images controlled by Maxim through the camera usb cable, donwload, pause, re-centre and take the next. Is this what you are achieving ?

Maybe a separate PM ?

Cheers

Mike

[jgs001]

BameRy, you say that about the canon mounts, but I can mount both EF and EFS on my 450d, and whilst it's something like a lowly 70th place in the charts on DxO mark, having upgraded the glass from the basic stuff, the results are much more pleasing to me, even when pushing the system to the utter limits... (I was shooting AmDram the other night with a 50mm f/1.4 and using ISO1600 to get 1/60s at f/1.4). So whilst the sensor tests are important, they don't tell the whole story. Would I love a 7d, yes.. I'm used to Canon, I got Canon because of the support for Astro, and I'm not going to change as I have an investment in some decent glass. I've got mount adapters for old Olympus OM mount lenses, and they also work great, although, the older lenses do suffer from internal reflections, as they are not coated to work with digital sensors.

to the OP, the important thing is to make the decision that's right for you... There is no wrong or right answer to this question... (I've dropped my canon kit onto concrete from 1m and it didn't notice either, and I had consumer lenses at the time)... work out how much you want to spend, go to a shop and try the models out for how they feel to you. Go with whichever is the most comfortable in your hand and your likely to use the most... no point having one if you're not going to use it because it's uncomfortable to hold, it's a tool to be used after all.

The Nikon/Canon debate is one that has raged for years, and probably will for a

[Digz]

How about Ha response, I don't this has been discussed here? AFAIK Canons have a better response to Ha? I know cameras can be modded (i.e. both Nikon and canon having the filter removed) but I was always under the impression Canons would still be better?

[Psychobilly]

Its only really the ready availability of information and the components needed to mod the Canon cameras and the availiablity of superb and cheap fully featured astro image capture software...

I have feet in both camps...

[sologuitarist61]

I have used Canons since the film days when I started with an AE1. When digital came out and became more affordable I read up all the reports and decided that on average Nikons scored higher than Canons. So I bought one - what a mistake - I could not get on with it all. I don't care in they still work when you drop them as I have no intentions of doing so. With regard to the lenses being sharper - I'm not so sure. Nikon images come off the camera looking sharper than Canons but it is a known fact the camera software in Canons tends to give a slightly unsharp appearance, but a bit of work with Photoshop unsharp mask makes the world of difference and certainly matches Nikon. Anyway I am back with Canon again as you can see from the equipment listed below and more than happy with the results.

Like most things it is horses for courses - go into one of the few remaining high street camera shops and try both before parting with your hard earned cash.

[Digz]

Yeah, that goes a long way to making it easier with Canon. The hours ive spent trying to find the magic bit of camera control software for Nikon just didn't pay off?