Which DSLR?

[keef_uk]

Hello - heres a question I bet non of you have been asked before!!!

The Pentax K100D that I recently bought is not really my cup of tea and dont think is suited to the world of astrophotography - its a excellent camera dont get me wrong and at £299 an utter bargin just not for me and what I want to do.

So..........camera shopping again - I know that Canon 400D seems to be the must have piece of kit but are there any alternatives, such as:

Canon 300D (in my price range!!!)

Canon 350D

Canon 400D

Nikon 40D (Takes SD and got a spare 4GB one)

Cheers

Keith

[geppetto]

Keith

You emailed me about this and I sent back an email with my thoughts on it.

Hope you don't mind but I'll post my reply here as well

Hi Keith

Yes, I'm very happy with the D40, it's just that up to now most folk chose

the various Canon cameras and they became the norm for astro work.

There is quite a bit of astro software that takes into account that you have a Canon

and also, the long exposure connector and lead is simple to replicate...

Having said that, I chose the Nikon because it was cheaper, was less noisy, had a big

bright display on the back and it's 6 megapixel file size means easier post tweaking than

the massive files that some cameras produce and faster writing to the card.

Also, it's a light camera body.

Having used both, I also think the Nikon is the better daytime camera for ordinary photography.

A downside to the Nikon is that it's auto focus motor is not in the camera but in the lens, so

if you want to add more lenses, you need to buy from the newer range (bit dearer) with self

contained focus motors...

So , it's a purely personal thing which probably doesn't help you much but might give you

some more food for thought...

If you do happen to choose the Nikon, for a short while, there is a £60 cashback offer from Nikon

(not to be missed)

Shout if you need more info...

Good luck in your choice and enjoy whichever camera you end up with

[peonic]

I've got a pair of 300d's (and I'm just about to take the plunge and modify the filter in one of them).

Nice little camera - and does really well for astro work. That said, my ONLY gripe with it would be the fact that it's only USB1.1 - so downloading a single RAW image can take around 2 minutes. It's something that can be worked around, but it's definitely something that niggles away at me. On the plus side, a second hand 300d can be had for peanuts!

Cheers,

Chris

[russ]

If i was going to go that route again (i can't though) I would be tempted with the D40, Phil's images with the D40 have given me confidence that there is an alternative to the Canon. Plus I really don't like the design of the 350D/400D body for daytime use and would go out of my way to avoid them. But the 20D/30D would do very nicely.

Russ

[ElijahB]

I have an unmodded 350D and love it... the pics I get aren't bad either considering I don't have a wedge yet, so only manage exposures of around 20 secs before trails.

[blinky]

Whats the diff between the 300d and the 350d

[geppetto]

50

Sorry, I'll get me coat :oops:

[blinky]

50

Sorry, I'll get me coat :oops:

[centroid]

Phil's right you know, it is 50 , but there's also a 2 megapixel difference too.

Dave

[ElijahB]

Not sure if this is gonna be of help or not... but got my 350 of off eBay, Canon Refurb - factory sealed, for only £275.

It kind of takes the camera down a proce bracket or 2 when it's that price.

[Ant]

I love my 300D, can't afford to buy anything else to compare it to. So my opinion probably doesn't count for much!

Ant

[ElijahB]

If you want to check out the comparisons... this site is good:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos350d/

Apparently the 350D has a next generation sensor compared to the 300. I find this site very useful when looking for new cameras.... US biased but loads of input from people all over the place.

[Kenny_10_Bellys]

I have the Nikon and it's an excellent daytime camera, but I'm starting to wish I'd bought the Canon for the astrophotography side purely because of the remote control software you can buy for it. That said I'm probably going to invest in an Atik16 CCD instead of another DSLR and stick to stacking images taken with the Nikon.

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Have you seen this Kenny? Basically its a gizmo that will do bulb exposures automagically using the IR remote control feature on the camera. It works great, but you don't get the image preview that Canon stuff can do.

http://www.opticstar.com/Run/Astronomy/Astro-Accessories-Imagers-Shoestring.asp?s=c643a7a9-41a1-4a94-a96a-f9e6b3a4e3e&p=0_10_5_0_5_21

Kaptain Klevtsov

[Kenny_10_Bellys]

I didn't even know it existed, Kaptain, but frankly I think it's probably a huge waste of money for me. The actual Nikon remote is only about £15, all I'd be doing is tying up a much-needed USB port for an extra £50.

[centroid]

The actual Nikon remote is only about £15

A bargain at £15, I just paid £40 for a remote for the 30D. The one with extra 'bell & whistles' is around £100

Dave

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

So you like the idea of standing next to your 'scope for an hour chanting "twenty two elephants.. twenty three elephants etc" Kenny?

Kaptain Klevtsov

[Kenny_10_Bellys]

I used to do it in the darkroom all the time, why not while standing doing nothing? Actually I recently invested in a shockproof, waterproof, solar-powered digital watch which synchs every few hours with the time signal broadcast from Rugby. I just let that take the strain. Until I get a wedge for the new CPC 800 I cant really go over 30 seconds anyway.