M42 Before and after DSLR filter removal

[matt_man21]

Hey all,

I was just having a half hearted attempt at a bit of imaging on the 16th of January with my newly modified Canon 350D (Pure filter removal, no replacement) All i've done is put a clip in CLS CCD filter. The contrast between now and last years attempt with the IR block filter still in place is quite simply breathtaking.

I live in an exceptionally heavily light polluted area just outside of Brighton on the south coast of England The CLS filter seems to cut through the LP like a knife. All images were taken using a cheap 4 inch f/5 short tube sky-watcher refractor mounted on my 8 inch Meade LX10 that i've modified for autoguiding on a shoestring budget through the hand controller (lots of relays and transistors )

I use the LX10 as the guide scope because of it's long focal length and the Skywatcher as a relatively wide (2.5 degree) imaging scope.

Anyway that's a bit of background...

I was honestly blown away by the difference modifying an old DSLR can make. (15 x 2 min and 15 x 15 seconds at Iso 800)

Here it is again before the modification, The difference is pretty obvious! (20 x 2min at iso 800)

Having Ha open to me now i've turned in to a bit of an addict and made a brief attempt at the horsehead/flame nebula tonight with only 7 subs of 2 mins at iso 1600, the wind was blowing the guiding all over the place and then the clouds rolled in but i was still pretty happy with this noisy image...

Bring on the clear sky for more experimentation!!!!

[Daniel-K]

Good job I'm thinking about doing the mod myself just need a spare day without the wife and kids running around the house all day

[matt_man21]

It's well worth doing on a cheaper camera IMHO. It wasnt quite as challenging as i though it was going to be i just follow the instructions that Gary Honis provides on his website and to be honest you cont really go far wrong... the only difficulty i had was clipping some of the more fiddly ribbon cables back in to the main board. Just be patient.

I don't think i'd have attempted it on a more expensive camera but 350D's can be picked up for less than £100, so even if it is broken it's not really the end of the world.

[Chris]

It's well worth doing on a cheaper camera IMHO. It wasnt quite as challenging as i though it was going to be i just follow the instructions that Gary Honis provides on his website and to be honest you cont really go far wrong... the only difficulty i had was clipping some of the more fiddly ribbon cables back in to the main board. Just be patient.

I don't think i'd have attempted it on a more expensive camera but 350D's can be picked up for less than £100, so even if it is broken it's not really the end of the world.

This was exactly my thinking with the cheaper cameras, and as for the ribbon cables I found that the last one was very tricky the one for the screen, well worth a bit of fiddling though:) Well done and good thread:)

[K3ny0n]

Brilliant shots, I have modded my 1000D and have no comparison images so it is nice to see your comparison. Thanks for that.

Rob.

[Jessun]

Nice! Always nice to come across success stories like this! Looks like it was worth the effort !

/Jesper

[SJJ]

Looks like the mod has worked nicely. Guess you just need some decent weather to try it out even more...