Which Camera for Deep Sky Imaging?

[CelestialHaz]

Hi All,

A quick question....

Which is better for deep sky imaging?

A Canon EOS 1000d modded with a Baader BCF Filter to increase Ha sensitivity

OR

A Starlight Xpress MX716 Mono CCD?

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Thanks

[Tinker1947]

These 2 item are totally different imagine setups, you may be better off with a Cannon 1100D for the DSLR , the CCD is a whole different ball game, there's filters, guiding and no doubt somebody with a shed load of knowledge will be along to explain properly.

[swag72]

There are some cracking images being produced by DSLR's these days - Just look in the DSO imaging section. Considerations for me would be the following,

1) What scope it's going to be used with - I'd be looking at CCDCalc and looking at the fov that I would get with the specific field of view.

2) If interested in narrowband imaging (Ha, OIII and SII) then a mono CCD is a no brainer. It really will be far more sensitive than the modded DSLR.

3) All round sensitivity with the CCD's are better than the DSLR - You can get shorter exposures as it's more sensitive - That may be a consideration for you for guiding for example.

On a personal note, I wanted cooling as the DSLR images were giving me too much noise in the hotter temeratures over in Spain.

The DSLR was good and had it's place, and as I said there's some utterly fantastic DSLR images out there. But I think that the mono CCD definately performs better for me. ££'s may also be a consideration, mono CCD's, filter wheels and filters can all work out rather expensive in comparison. With regards to ease of use, I actually prefer the CCD to the DSLR - Again though there may be others who disagree.