Nikon D1

[pixueto]

Dear all,

A friend of mine is lending me a Nikon D1. Can I use it to get started in DSO astrophotography? Is it any good?

Thank you for your help

[Naz]

I think you may struggle with this camera, it is an old model and by modern specs, basic.

I have linked a review which makes it sound good, but for 1999, it was.

Nikon D1 Review: 1. Intro: Digital Photography Review

What was a good product then, would be a very basic now. A beginners camera such as the now out of date D60 would be a massive improvement over the D1.

For DSOs, I think the in-camera noise and amp glow would make it nigh on impossible to do long exposures. I am not saying it will not work, just difficult and disappointing results.

[Dave]

Any camera is better than no camera.

Go on, give it a go, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Dave

[duncan.p]

You can't lose anything by trying it but do not be tempted to buy; for the cost of a secondhand D1 you can buy far more suitable cameras.

[pixueto]

Thank you for your help. I actually know nothing about astroimaging, I just started taking photos of Jupiter with a webcam and I'm pleasantly surprised with the results but I've just updated my 8" dobsonian for an equatorial mount and can't really afford to spend more money on this hobby for a while. I'm also doing a bit of spectroscopy which is my main interest.

[pixueto]

Another thing that worries me a bit is the weight of the camera. It must be close to 2Kg. Can the scope take that?

Thanks for your help.

[Sparrow]

I'm not an expert on spectroscopy buyt from what I can remember, you'd need to be using a camera that can be "modded" to remove the filters in order to get the full spectrum necessary for spectrosocpy. I recently modded my Canon EOS1000D but that was just a single filter mod to make it more suitable for deep sky imaging. I seem to remember in my thread, a chart showing the camera response with one, and both filters removed.

In the meantime, if you have the chance to borrow a camera, then I'd say have a go. There's nothing to lose. My early attempts some years ago were with a bridge camera with a maximum exposure time fo 4 seconds - didn't stop me trying to catch something though - my early attempts at getting an image of M42 were what got me really hooked on teh hobby.

Regards

John

[pixueto]

Impressive pictures in the link you sent Sparrow! If you are telling me that you have had humble origings in astroimaging, well that's really encouraging for someone who is starting as I can only dream achieving what you did!

What about the wheight of the camera? Can the scope take it?

For espectroscopy I use a modified webcam. By the way, there isn't a thread on spectrometry in the forum!

[Sparrow]

Impressive pictures in the link you sent Sparrow! If you are telling me that you have had humble origings in astroimaging, well that's really encouraging for someone who is starting as I can only dream achieving what you did!

What about the wheight of the camera? Can the scope take it?

For espectroscopy I use a modified webcam. By the way, there isn't a thread on spectrometry in the forum!

Thanks for that Pixueto. Yes I was a beginner about 3 years ago and have steadily made progress since then - it never ceases to be good fun and I've enjoyed the whole process right from the beginning - even when the images were pretty poor, there was a lot of satisfaction to capturing anything. It is a hobby requiring patience with frustration thrown in occasionally. Many is the occasion that I will set up only to find it completely cloud over. Or I'll have technical problems - but when it all comes together there is no greater thrill than the first few subs coming through with a deep sky target in the image.

As for the camera being too heavy, I can't really say - it depends on what scope and mount you're using, but weight is a factor and the scope needs re-balancing to take account of it.

Best thing to do is just have a go and see what you can do. Don't set your expectations too high to start with and be prepared for failed attempts - it's all part of the process.

Regards

John