Please Recommend DSLR for Astrophotography

[Gina]

I thought mlu was a "must have" feature but I believe I've been proved wrong - and I'm glad of that

The 1100D body looks a good bet as a cheap alternative to a large CCD dedicated imaging camera such as the Atik series.

[Tinkerbell]

Did a bit of digging and it seems that mirror lock is available using the 2 second timer, as I dont have an 1100D I cant test it. Anyone care to try?

[carastro]

You seem to have settled on the 1000D or the 1100D.

However if you are faced with a choice when trying to save money (as you indicated), the Canon 450D which I use, also has live view and I do find focus with live view (and zoom) much quicker and easier than "taking a few shots until you get it right" .

Live view doesn't show a lot - just the brightest magnitude stars, but it can be useful for centring some objects as well as for focus.

Also I do my alignment procedure with live view as again it only shows the brightest stars and these are the alignment stars. This means you can set up everything before you start, and also means (when you get your observatory finished), you could leave the camera attached for multi sessions.

I would now hate to be without live view.

Carole

[Trull]

I wouldn't get too hung up on live view, but would think about a 350d and get it Ha modded with the change.

[Bizibilder]

For the economically minded, a modded DSLR is quite a bit cheaper than any of the Astro-CCD cameras and as a starter set-up is probably the way to go. Don't forget that when going the CCD route "mono" is the norm which leads you into the extra cost of filters/filter wheels etc - the pounds certainly mount up very quickly. And that is before you start on fancy processing software!