Cameras to use on their own for night sky imaging.

[Mr_Si]

Hi All,

I've been wanting to do this for ages now, due to frustration with my compact camera etc, but I want to upgrade from a compact camera to a DSLR so I can start getting photos of the night sky, but also getting a camera to take a photo when I tell it to, not 3 seconds later (as per my Nickon Coolpix P5100).

I'm not sure whether to stick with Nikon or to move over to Canon or another brand. I heard somewhere that canon seem to be the most supported DSLR cameras when it comes to use with the night sky and software and users in general.

I will be going 2nd hand to hopefully get more for my money.

Basically, what would be a good DSLR to get to start taking photos of the stars and moon etc without necessarily using a telescope?

I currently only use 10x50 Bins to look up in the sky, mainly at the moon, as I am still new to star gazing and still learning the sky's layout.

I also want to just get a better camera for normal use, so to combine the 2 would be great.

Many thanks,

Simon

P.s. Sorry, you've probably had question SO MANY TIMES before!

[pne_rob]

i am thinking of getting the Canon 1000d or the 1100d. there are lots of compatible lens that can be used for various types of pictures. for moon shots you would need a 300mm lens i would say, because im looking for the same thing to do. also with them cameras, i am wanting to do long exposure shots of constellations and them two cameras will do the job. also they would be great for normal shooting like macro and just basic photography. hope this helps.

[Chris]

Canon 1100D is a great choice, easy to use, great signal to noise, cheap. Also Canons have Astronomy software which is free to download such as backyard EOS, this enable you to control the camera from your laptop, I haven't used backyard EOS myself yet but I think you can control the number, length, and gaps between exposure as well as tools for better focus, I'm sure someone will put me right if I'm wrong about any of these points.

[ronaldo999]

i have canon 450d and find it easy to use and as said the addition of the software makes control of the camera easy for longer exposure. Yes the software lets you set exposure times with pauses in between for as long as you like. I personally would never buy a camera other than a canon for astro work or any photography. Top quality kit and reasonable prices

[The Sailor]

450D For me as well, great bit of kit and as said using it from PC is a doddle

Jim

[Gina]

I have 2 1100Ds both full spectrum modified (by me) and one with cooling added (by me) and they work very well. The spec is slightly higher than the 1000D - lower noise and wider brightness range. Highly recommended I use AstroPhotography Tool (APT) software for capturing images - again highly recommended

[Biggz]

If you are going second hand, ebay had some 450Ds for just under £300 and some 500Ds for just over £300. Both cracking value for a dslr.

[sgazer]

hi, imaging without a telescope is pretty much all I do now, after a few years with a mod'd 1000d and guided scope setup, mainly for speed and convenience. I now use an unmod'd 450d, (arguably) slightly lower noise than the 1000d, 14 bit, larger screen and only about 150GBP second hand. More modern (and expensive) DSLRs have high ISO, possibly lower noise (or same noise with higher Megapixel). http://www.dpreview.com/ has very good noise comparisons between cameras, but make sure you look at the RAW comparisons without noise reduction to get a proper idea of sensor performance. I've also done quite a bit of research into (Canon) lenses and actually found the kit lenses work pretty well, with suprisingly sharp and round stars (a good test for any lens), even compared to a 28mm prime and 100-300mm L series lens (albeit from the 80's). I recently got a 85mm f1.4 lens and the nifty 50mm f1.8 lens, both very fast requiring very short exposures, short enough for a simple alt/az tracking mount or even a tripod. The advantage of higher MP cameras (assuming the noise is still controlled) is that you can significantly crop the image before you get to a 100% display (ie. because they are so big, you are usually 'zoomed out' to about 10-15% to show them on your monitor. If you zoom in to 100% then it's a bit like fitting a lens with 10x longer focal length). I've only used Canon DSLRs (300d, 350d, 1000d, 450d) so can't comment on others. 300d has amp glow, 350d removes this and has low noise, but no live view. Live view is extremely useful for focusing, so definately recommended.

[astrofox]

My first choice is my Canon 100d plus a f2.0 50mm Pentax Takumar on a 42mm/EOS adapter. No problems with settin infinity as the focus scale is bob on,

[sgazer]

I meant to also mention; I mod'd the 300d and the 1000d was already mod'd. Although they respond much better in Ha, I actually find the unmod'd 450d allows more balanced colours instead of primarily the red coming through. This is particularly evident on M42, where it shows much richer blues and purples, compared with shades of red. Also, unmod'd means you can use it for normal photography, without having to me with the white balance.

[sgazer]

I meant to also mention; I mod'd the 300d and the 1000d was already mod'd. Although they respond much better in Ha, I actually find the unmod'd 450d allows more balanced colours instead of primarily the red coming through. This is particularly evident on M42, where it shows much richer blues and purples, compared with shades of red. Also, unmod'd means you can use it for normal photography, without having to me* with the white balance.

*mess

[tingting44]

hey mate, you will love the switch to DSLR i tell you, such a nice jump in performance from my experience, i 1st got my 1000D about 7 months ago, its a great camera and i picked it up for £220 with 15-55mm lens/hood etc, i still use it to this day and love it, but the only thing i wish it had were video mode, which the 1100D has, so if i were to choose again i would go with the 1100D. it all depends how much you are willing to spend really, i also got the canon 7D about a month ago, and i TOTALLY love everything about the 7D! the build quality is not plastic like my 1000D,,,,it really is built like a bomb! feels like you could drop it from a sky scraper and it would bounce back to life lmao, the 7D grip is so nice to hold, i feel safe enough with the grip to not even use the neck strap. 8 frames per second, now i have the 7D im looking at the 5D full frame, but at a £2000+ price tag i think i will stick to my cropped 1000D and 7D for a while lol, hope this helps from my own experience mate, let us know what you choose in the end

ps. also i got the 55-250mm lens for my 7D which is not near enough for shooting up close and personal with the moon, if you got the ££££ id go for a 500mm lens but your talking BIG BUCKS

[Mr_Si]

It seems that the 1100D and 450D are getting many votes and they're probably my price range.

The 1100D is obviously more modern than the 450D but I'd also like to know how they perform in non-astro world too.

How fast is the performance of the shutter when pressing the button etc.

Now I've sold my skis (sad day but a must) I have at least 280 to spend on a S/H device with accessories too.