Are Sony DSLR Cameras any good for imaging?

[WhiteRhino]

As a complete novice to the world of astronomy and astrophotography (and I'm still saving for my first scope and mount) Can anyone tell me if Sony DSLR's are any good for imaging??....seems a silly question i know...however i've noticed during my short time on here that most people seem to be using Cannon cameras for imaging! Is there a reason for this?

[Spikey]

I'll chip in with an obvious answer, Canon cameras have a much greater uptake in the astrophotography community and hence are much better supported with sotware and modifications. I'm not knocking Sony as they make really good kit but it's support and assistance you may need in the astro arena.

You could take some very nice pictures with a home made barn door tracker if you can set the shutter to stay open.

[JohnnyD333]

I agree with Spikey.

You could use a Sony DSLR as I have seen t-rings for them and Im sure they have ports for shutter release cables and other accessories. However, your question about Canon comes down to several factors. One being the very large community of astrophotographers who use Canon. If you ever have a question or issue, it is relatively easy to find another astrophotographer with a Canon. Nikon and Sony are a little harder to come by, although the community is growing. Another big reason is the superior software for Canon cameras "out of the box". Most Canon cameras can be directly plugged into a computer with the ability to use live view and program multiple exposures (which is important when you are stacking hours of data). To do this with a Nikon or a Sony you will be looking for 3rd party software and may possibly need to modify your camera to do so. In my opinion, I feel Nikon, Sony, and Canon are very similar. But in the astrophoto community, Canon is the most commonly used camera.

[Gina]

I currently use a Sony A200 for imaging but really feel it's deficiencies for AP. No live view, no way of magnifying the view for focussing, can only use the viewfinder for checking the view or focussing (other than taking multiple shots while varying the focus) and contorting my body to get an eye to the viewfinder. For all these reasons I have ordered a Canon EOS 1100D body to use for dedicated AP while I use the Sony for general photography.

The Sony DSLR is excellent for terrestrial photography and I am very pleased with it but the Canon has so many features which make it unique for AP. Being so much cheaper than a dedicated astro CCD wide frame camera I decided to buy a Canon body for wide image AP with webcams for planetary.

[E621Keith]

Early generations of Canon DSLRs were superior to Nikon in noise and raw handling, so more people chose them and developed software and hardware for them. Better support lead to more people using Canon for astrophotography, which in turn led to even better support. Even though Nikon has fixed some of those problems in their new cameras, Canon has dominated the market and there are little incentive for developer and manufacturer to make things for Nikon.

As a result Canon cameras is best supported for astrophotography, Nikon is a distant second. Sony and Pentax are pretty much un-supported.

If you plan to buy a camera for astrophotography, go for a Canon. I'm a Nikon user, so I am not telling you this because of brand loyalty.

[WhiteRhino]

Hi guys,

Firstly thank you for your replies..greatly appreciated.

It looks like that for the sole purpose of astrophotography i will end up purchasing a Cannon....another expense!!!

Though from a personal point of view i much prefer the Sony on a number of levels. Firstly is the lens choice... Because Sony bought out Minolta, Sony of course inherited the Minolta 'A Fit' lens housing. Thus users are not restricted to the Sony brand for choosing lenses, making it is possible to buy a range of lenses that suit every budget. Makers such as Minolta (goes without saying), Sigma and Carl Zeiss are to name but a few. One of the things that annoys me about Cannon and Nikon is the fact their own brand and lens fitting restricts the choice of lens available, forcing the user to pay higher prices for their own brand.

A feature that helped sway my decision to go the Sony route was the camera body mounted stability switch rather than lens mounted. This of course means you can use older lenses. I realise now that other camera makers may have this feature now, but at the time i bought my camera, i think Sony were one of the first manufacturers to do this.

Im not trying to take away the quality of Cannon or Nikon cameras, indeed not. Their quality is undisputed. However since Sony bought Minolta and after pumping huge investment into their cameras, they are producing some high end quality gear...but by comparison at a much lower price. I know that the camera model i purchased (and im trying to be as unbiased as i can be...honest!!) produces the equivalent quality images to mid - professional range Cannon and Nikon.

Finally, and a biggy for me is the user interface on the Sony is much easier and clearer to use and navigate around...especially when comparing to Nikon. But thats just my opinion!!

All that said i take your points as far as astro imaging is concerned and have to agree. All though my camera does have live view, it doesnt have the right software to utilize it for the purpose if astro imaging and i dont know of any software that will allow me to...but then as a novice i dont know...i'll have to look into it. I totally agree about support from other users, in terms of forums etc and Cannon being the most widely used. I think that alone is enough reason for a novice like me to go out and buy a Cannon body.

Thanks again guys.

[Spikey]

I'll just clarify that I'm talking about prime focus use of a DSLR for AP.

I don't know what sort of scope/mount combination you're considering Rhino but the Sony could piggy back off the top of a scope on an EQ mount for widefield shots - worth considering?

There are some truly stunning widefield images taken with that combination. You might also want to have a play with star trail photos, again use the Sony.

[E621Keith]

No, there are many third party lens for Nikon and Canon. If anything, they are better supported than other DSLR brands. Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, Samyang, Zeiss, all make lenses in Nikon and Canon mount. In fact the entire product line of the three big 3rd party lens manufacturer supports Canon and Nikon, where as some of their lenses are not made for Sony and Pentax mount.

If you have a Sony already, use it for now. A Canon may do better, but it's questionable whether it worth the additional expense. Remember just a decade ago, astrophotography was done with film SLR with no software whatsoever.

In body image stabilisation does have their advantage, but I don't think Sony was the first. Olympus and Pentax seems to have theirs relatively early on. Pentax 3 axis system can be coupled to their O-GPS module to provide object tracking for wide field astrophotography. With the exception of the Pentax system, all DSLR IS are irrelevant to astronomy.

[jgs001]

As you have the Sony, I'd suggest giving it a try. As I recall, when I was first investigating which SLR to go for, the Sony's produce more noise than the Canon in Astro use... I can't point you to a quote now I'm afraid it was way too long ago...

[WhiteRhino]

Hi Spikey,

Yes i did realise you were talking in terms of AP, however as a complete novice im not really in position to comment as far as AP goes and the Sony. I guess thats partly why i started this thread, was to find out the Sony's suitability and performance. I shall certainly bear in mind what you have said though. Its not something ive thought of.

Many thanks. Jamie

[jgs001]

Jamie, take a look at

http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-tips-tricks-techniques/73737-basic-widefield-camera-tripod.html

It'll get you started and you can get a feel for how well the Sony performs... Don't forgot you can also have a go at taking star trails... Satellites etc. They only need a tripod

[WhiteRhino]

Hi Keith, thanks for your reply

Sorry, yes your right you can buy other lens for Cannon and Nikon. However my point is this...casting my memory back to when i bought my camera, i also priced up a Tameron 300mm lens. Now at the time i bought mine for £99 from Jessops. The same Tameron lens for the Cannon was £149 and Nikon was £159...quite why this was, i dont know? But you see my point.

As far as image stabilisation goes..i stand corrected...i honestly thought Sony were certainly one of the first to produce in body stabilisation...everyday is an education :0)

As far as your advise goes concerning keeping the Sony, i do see your point. I was initially considering buying a second hand Cannon body for the purpose of AP. The reason being as jgs001 has kindly pointed out...the Sony suffers with a little more white noise than the Cannon (thanks John). I guess i'll have to find out for myself.

Kind regards Jamie

[WhiteRhino]

Thanks for that John, greatly appreciated. Added that to my favourites and shall try it out.

[Spikey]

Don't forget to post your images up.

[jgs001]

Your welcome Jamie, there's nothing like trying it out for yourself, and as you have the kit already it makes sense to make use of it, and don't forget, we want to see the results .

Probably the biggest and most key thing (it is in anything photographic) is the focus, spend as long as it takes to get it nailed (bet you know that already )

[Gina]

Here's an example of an image of the moon I took with my Sony A200 at prime focus using T-adapter and adapter ring on my Evostar 80 ED DS Pro scope.

[WhiteRhino]

Hi Gina, thats a great image, well done. As i dont own a scope yet im having to make do with just my camera and tripod....seems like a million miles away before i can get mine!!!

[WhiteRhino]

Hi John, Spikey

Thanks for your feedback. Was out last night taking some pics of Orion and Taurus. Downloaded Deepspacestacker and had a go at stacking...but with no success!!! Grrrr

I followed the intructions on the link you kindly provided me with John and also the instructions on DSS website. But as the program goes through its process of stacking the images...i get the message 'Out of Memory'. How annoying is that ???

Anyway, i closed the program, restarted it and opened the autosaved image. To the edit histogram page (with the grey image...which i believ is correct). Managed to produce the right curve in the histogram, but then click apply...and nothing happens!!

Can anyone help???? Arghhhh!!!

Was up all night until 7am trying to do this!!!

[brantuk]

I'm not familiar with the Sony cameras at all - but have a read of this link which will give you all the points you need to consider when using Canon cameras for astrophotography - hope it helps

Astronomiser - Automated Astronomy and AstroImaging Solutions

[Spikey]

Hi John, Spikey

Thanks for your feedback. Was out last night taking some pics of Orion and Taurus. Downloaded Deepspacestacker and had a go at stacking...but with no success!!! Grrrr

I followed the intructions on the link you kindly provided me with John and also the instructions on DSS website. But as the program goes through its process of stacking the images...i get the message 'Out of Memory'. How annoying is that ???

Anyway, i closed the program, restarted it and opened the autosaved image. To the edit histogram page (with the grey image...which i believ is correct). Managed to produce the right curve in the histogram, but then click apply...and nothing happens!!

Can anyone help???? Arghhhh!!!

Was up all night until 7am trying to do this!!!

Out of memory usually happens when you have x2 or x3 drizzle selected in the stacking settings, it should go away if you un-select it.

You may want to play with the luminance curve to try and bring the background down a bit darker which should help things to stand out a bit better.

Also worth checking in the stacking parameters that you have RGB align set.

Sounds like you're off to a flying start though...at least you have some data to stack

[WhiteRhino]

Hi Spikey,

Thanks so much for your advice, i really do appreciate it. Was up until 7am trying to figure out what i was doing wrong!! As it happens, i did have '2xdrizzle' enabled, so im going for round 2 tonight and will report back!!...hopefully with better news. I do have quite a bit of data to play with. Ive made the most of the good weather over the last week and spent my evenings outside freezing my socks of taking photos. Lets hope i can produce something half decent.

[WhiteRhino]

Thanks for that Brantuk, i shall look into that :0)

[Spikey]

Hi Spikey,

Thanks so much for your advice, i really do appreciate it. Was up until 7am trying to figure out what i was doing wrong!! As it happens, i did have '2xdrizzle' enabled, so im going for round 2 tonight and will report back!!...hopefully with better news. I do have quite a bit of data to play with. Ive made the most of the good weather over the last week and spent my evenings outside freezing my socks of taking photos. Lets hope i can produce something half decent.

You are very welcome and I'm looking forward to seeing the results.

[gdheib0430]

White shoot me a PM. I have been messing with my a300 for wide field and am still trying to work everything out on her. I can at least send you my DSS setting for when I process my 40+ subs...I have found that with widefield if you don't have a moving base or tracker of some sort your exposure time is severely limited...gettting about 20sec @ 35mm. Pretty much headed towards webcams so I don't have to invest in a large autoguiding setup right now, but eventually will be doing so...gonna stick with the sony though wouldn't mind tossing information back and forth on them.

[jgs001]

You may find with that many subs from a tripod that the corners start to smear from the effects of field rotation.