Canon 1Ds Mk III mods?

[petercoxphoto]

Hi folks -

I have a Canon 1Ds Mk III which is modified to shoot in the near infrared. I'm not doing much of that sort of work any more, and rather than sell the camera I thought I might convert it for astrophotography.

It seems most places that do mods don't handle the 1Ds series. I know Lifepixel in the US does, but does anyone know of a UK or European service that will handle them?

Cheers,

Peter

[Explorer 190 MN]

Pulling your 1D apart.............

[bus_ter]

That's a big heavy camera to put on a mount, and probably a waste of a camera for astro use. I wouldn't want to mess around with it too much and keep it for regular photography. I would get something like a 60Da that doesn't need modding and use that as a dedicated astro camera. If you don't need it then sell it and buy a 60Da?

Sorry can't help with your original question. :-(

[davew]

In what way has the camera been modified for NIR and what would need doing to it for astro use ?

Does it still work well with your lenses ?

Don't worry about the weight. I'm sure an EQ6 can stand more than a camera and lens before it collapses. On the back of a small scope it could all change if it tries to bend the focus tube !

If you really need some work doing then try Andy at Astronomiser,

Dave.

[petercoxphoto]

Hi Dave -

It has a 710nm cut filter, so it's only sensitive to wavelengths longer than that. So no use for Ha or visible light. It would need that filter replaced with a Baader filter.

Thanks for the tip, although I may just see if I can sell it and replace it with an Atik 383L+ outright.

Cheers,

Peter

[Gina]

Hi Dave -

It has a 710nm cut filter, so it's only sensitive to wavelengths longer than that. So no use for Ha or visible light. It would need that filter replaced with a Baader filter.

Thanks for the tip, although I may just see if I can sell it and replace it with an Atik 383L+ outright.

Cheers,

Peter

Sounds like a plan to me

[davew]

Hi Peter,

Now I understand what you've had done. Fair enough. Just hold on a fraction though, unless you're in a hurry to spend money quickly. Have you tried using the 1D yet ? One suggestion I would make, as you've already got it, is put a 2 / 300mm lens on and try shooting a few of the brighter objects like M42. If you look around there are one or two areas that respond a bit to NIR. If it doesn't work you've lost nothing and gained knowledge.

Have you tried landscape imaging at pre dawn / dusk with it, including the sky ? A single light at around 5 minutes or so may reveal an interesting shot. I actually don't know. Nothing lost again.

I note from a previous post you made that you have a medium format set up. You didn't mention the make as far as I remember but could you get hold of a Phase One P45+ and try that with pre dawn, dusk and night shots. Have a look at what Stewart ( Saturn5 ) is doing later at night. There aren't many doing this stuff and unless you want to do the same images as everyone else on the forums, and not sell your work, then give it a go. You do after all already know your way around a landscape. The P45+ just may be a killer back for the longest subs you're likely to do.

And finally. Feel free to totally ignore everything I've said. It's your money, time and interest

Dave.

[petercoxphoto]

Thanks Dave - I haven't done anything with the 1D yet as far as astro goes. I'll give it a whack both ways you suggest and see. If I ever get another clear night here - been about three weeks of solid cloud!

As for the P45+ - I used to own one of those but upgraded it to the IQ180. The IQ only handles long exposures of up to 2 minutes before everything falls apart, so isn't suitable for night photography of any sort. Which is a shame, but I found the P45+ inferior to the 5D Mk II for long exposure night photography when I owned it. I have considered that it might be useful as an astrophotography camera, but alas, have no ability to test it. At any rate, it does a mandatory dark frame after each long exposure that can't be disabled. So from a practicality standpoint, it would be pretty poor. You'd be wasting precious clear sky time waiting for the darks to be made. It also doesn't handle ISOs higher than 200 very well at all.

I do like doing night landscapes, and need to do more of them - particularly now that I have the Canon 24mm f/1.4 II which will allow nice bright milky way images with short enough exposure times to limit star trailing. You can see some of my existing ones here:

http://www.petercox.ie/tags/Nocturnes/

Appreciate the ideas! If the 1Ds doesn't sell before the next clear night, I'll give those ideas a go.

Cheers,

Peter