New Canon Astro Camera - 60Da

[reddoss]

I just phoned my local Jessops and they know nothing about the 60Da!

[Psychobilly]

I just phoned my local Jessops and they know nothing about the 60Da!

Sounds about right...

These days the local stores are little more than drop of points for collect from store orders... The Jessops World stores are the places to go but leave the CC at home..

Peter...

[Carl M]

Same price as an Atik 314L+, I know which I would go for if I had the money. Would have been better if they had done it on a cheaper model like the 1100D or 1000D so it wouldn't be as expensive and would be out of the CCD range. Time will tell though when they are released and some reviews have been produced.

[E621Keith]

Looks interesting, would love to know what they have done to "reduce noise".

Price wise, don't rely on quoted or pre-order prices. My 7D was quoted at £1900 when it announced, was down to £1700 on the day it came out and was down around £1400 when i bought it a few weeks later. Now available for £1100 new.

Cheers

Ian

but the Nikon D800 went up by £250 on the day it was released, so the price can rise as well as fall.

[laser_jock99]

So did I. It's a bit noisy and the live view doesn't work for astro though.

No probs with my live view- you only get 20 seconds though before you have to re-set. I think this is to stop the thing overheating?

Noise levels could be better (I wonder if they used second grade CCD's for these cameras?) you need to take a couple of dark frames to subtract the hot pixels I find. They are sensitive to IR though- I have had interesting results with 7nm narrowband filters.

This shot of the Sadir region of Cygnus was a 180s single sub @ ISO3200!!! Might take other cameras somewhat longer.

[E621Keith]

There must be something wrong with my camera, at ISO 800+ I get a lot of strange artefacts. I thought it would be interpolation artefacts from the sensor. My liveview has no automatic adjustments, so I need to manually raise the ISO to 3200 and then to turn in back down for imaging, it's really inconvenient. Apart form those it's a nice camera.

Nice photos btw.

[Gina]

For that money i can buy a second 1100d, get it modded by the canon repair service, buy the 100mm F2 lens I want and get an EQ3 Pro. I don't see the point of this product - I guess it is aimed at the luxury end of the market.

My thought too! With so called "used" 1100D bodies at about £230, no contest. The Amazon one I got was good as new - all the bits were new and the body had very few shutter uses (<100) I didn't think of checking before I used the camera. It might not have been used at all. It certainly looked like new.

[laser_jock99]

There must be something wrong with my camera, at ISO 800+ I get a lot of strange artefacts. I thought it would be interpolation artefacts from the sensor. My liveview has no automatic adjustments, so I need to manually raise the ISO to 3200 and then to turn in back down for imaging, it's really inconvenient. Apart form those it's a nice camera.

Nice photos btw.

Can you post an image or section of a noisy image so I can compare? My noise is mainly hot pixels at high ISO's.

Didn't know the sensitivty of the live view variied with the ISO setting, I'll have to check that out. I've been mainly using ISO 3200 so probably haven't noticed for that reason. Plus I usually pick on a bright star like Sirius to get focus then re-aim the camera after. Live view of a faint target through a deep red filter will never work!

[GlassWalker]

Random thoughts:

CCDs are superior, but the ones you can get in a similar budget have really tiny sensors at less than HD resolutions. The ones that start to get really interesting also start to get really expensive.

JohnC64, where did you find conversions so cheap? I've never seen filter exchanges for less than around £250 all in. The only cheaper ones are filter removals and I can do that myself. Sourcing and fitting a replacement is the only fiddly bit.

rfdesigner, I think it makes great sense to keep a filter to remove IR for a mainstream model, as mainstream any astro camera gets anyway. It is too easy to have shots ruined from IR contamination unless you add more filters elsewhere at more cost and complication. With the IR filter in place you can use any lens and get imaging. The only case I think no IR filter would be a good idea is if they removed the colour filter from the sensor, which makes narrowband imaging much more attractive. Not sure environmental sealing would be much use. The only place I'd really like to stop stuff getting in is the lens mount and onto the sensor, and you can't seal that!

All in, the price is a bit on the high side but what isn't these days? I think this will be perfect to retire my 450D full spectrum mod from astro use and I'll re-mod it for IR only... anyway, I wonder if a 600Da would be slightly better. I'm not sure the 60D body offers anything significant in this application over a 600D? The 600D would be slightly cheaper.

[JB80]

The 60D if it's anything like the 20D body would be so much more user friendly, the scrolling wheel on the back is wonderful to use when compared to the buttons. Plus the 60D is to a more profissional standard.

[GlassWalker]

For astro imaging, I have gone through 450D, 600D, 50D, 7D at various times. Once they're on the mount, even during setup, the build difference is insignificant. Of the above, I would like to use the 600D purely because it has the tilt screen which makes things a little easier during setup. The slightly different button setup doesn't make any difference to me there. Unless I'm missing something here, I still don't see what advantage a 60D would give over a 600D in this application.

[JB80]

I just prefer the user interface over the entry level ones is all.

The 60Da has an "The flip-out Vari-angle screen" which should cover that.

Other features include...

" the EOS 60Da’s Live View mode is equipped with a Silent Shooting feature that eliminates shutter-induced vibration for maximum camera stability when the camera is mounted to a telescope or super-telephoto EF lens".

and

"Enhanced noise reduction"

Canon Announces EOS 60Da for Astrophotography Canon Rumors

[JohnC64]

Random thoughts:

JohnC64, where did you find conversions so cheap? I've never seen filter exchanges for less than around £250 all in. The only cheaper ones are filter removals and I can do that myself. Sourcing and fitting a replacement is the only fiddly bit.

Hi GlassWalker, i got my 1100D from Andy Ellis at Astronomiser but he also mods existing camera bodies for £150 for filter removal and £200 for filter change. Its detailed on his website here Astronomiser - Automated Astronomy and AstroImaging Solutions (prices are at the bottom of the page)

Cheers John

[Quatermass]

Nice to see them taking an interest but I see no advantages in reality price wise or product wise compared to others for that price I would rather get a second hand Atik

[Gina]

Absolutely!

[E621Keith]

Can you post an image or section of a noisy image so I can compare? My noise is mainly hot pixels at high ISO's.

Didn't know the sensitivty of the live view variied with the ISO setting, I'll have to check that out. I've been mainly using ISO 3200 so probably haven't noticed for that reason. Plus I usually pick on a bright star like Sirius to get focus then re-aim the camera after. Live view of a faint target through a deep red filter will never work!

I don't think I have any images at ISO3200. I shot some day time images at ISO800 and got worried, so I've been using ISO 400 or less ever since.

back on topic

Canon Japan has some sample images and a comparison with a regular 60D.

Canon?EOS60 Da?Sample Images

[Ags]

I think at higher ISO you will lose all star color as well as get too much noise. With my 1100D I don't go over ISO 400 if I can avoid it.

[Gina]

I've been using ISO 1600 and sometimes 3200 with my 1100D.

[mikeyscope]

There's obviously some overlap between CCD & DSLR for astronomical photography but depends on your personal area of interest...for pure deep sky CCD is the way to go...but I certainly wouldn't want a CCD camera, filter wheel, laptop & car battery to take simple nightscapes, milkyway, aurora etc. out in the field.

Just can't compare on price...both quite different but similar if you know what I mean...

.....probably better buying one of each CCD & DSLR

[Auntystatic]

Got the email from Canon this morning describing the camera with example shots between the 60D and 60Da

Canon Professional Network - EOS 60Da: a creative camera for shooting skies at night

[Tim]

Having seen the advancements at SGL7 with Psychobillys awesome lenses and BackyardEOS or APT auto focus tools, then you would have with a 60da a formidable piece of kit.

The camera might be the same price as a 314, but that's not the end of it. You need filters, filter wheel, adapters, guidecam, guidescope or OAG to be able to use it to good effect, and even then it is a one trick pony. If you add in autofocusing, flatfield fast quadruplet telescope then it is some serious money.

But a 60Da with a couple of decent lenses.............hmmm..........

[veesix]

I might only be new to the hobby, but I do have expensive taste and that camera is causing my wallet to burn a hole in my jeans!

It looks like the ideal total package (lens aside), just a major shame about the cost. Looking at the predecessor, the 20Da, that is currently retailing for £1750. By comparison, this 60Da seems remarkably good value.

[Gina]

I still think a modified camera from Astronomiser is far better value (if you can't or don't want to DIY).

[Quatermass]

Agreed a modded camera will be much better value for money dont be lured in by the shiny shiny

Sent from my GT-S5670 using Tapatalk

[garethmob]

is there any reason why they didnt make the astro version with one of the lower cams. i know the first one was the 20DA but why not one of the 1100? as really its cheaper as pointed above to have it adapted by astromiser ect