Next stage, The camera

[simmo39]

Well I got my mount and think I got that sussed so its onto the camera side of things. At first I thought I was going down the CDD route but after my second reading of Making every Photon Count Im being torn between CDD and DSLR. To much info LOL. Anyway, down to the question ( I bet its been asked a 1000 times already, so sorry for that). Whats the opinion on a Modded Canon EOS 600D?

The main reason Im looking at DSLR is more bang for the buck.

[simmo39]

Nobody got one of these then? any pointers about DSLR or should I go Cdd. So far the Canon 600D seems to offer best way to go for the money but am willing to go CDD if I can get something for same price as the Canon.(£500)

[Alien 13]

At the £500 pound mark i would personally stick with a DSLR like the 600D i did briefly look at a CCD  but anything with a decent sized sensor is very expensive and if i had that kind of money i would still opt for a canon camera perhaps the 5d or 6d.

Alan

[pete_l]

 So far the Canon 600D seems to offer best way to go for the money but am willing to go CDD if I can get something for same price as the Canon.(£500)

First up, any camera beats no camera. So if the choice is between a DSLR now and a CCD in 6 months, I'd go for the instant gratification. In 6 months you may well have the extra money to trade up. (Hint: talk to the modders, see if they'd be willing to buy back your DSLR. If you can arrange that before you buy, that's the time you have leverage. Just make sure you don't drop the camera before you sell it and that you get the buy-back option written into the sale ). You'd take a hit on the price (unless you can sell it privately for more) but that's the cost of getting some imaging done.

However, there's  plan B. Which would be to buy a CCD and make the monthly payments on your credit card. The CCD will be better - but is it worth the wait? Only you can say what your financial situation will be like over the coming year. Ot may be that you could convert some christmas presents into cash payments (pressies to you, not instead of buying them for others ) to pay off some of the balance. Again, there's obviously a cost - but that's the cost of getting some imaging done. And it may be a lower cost than the buy-sell margin on selling your DSLR.

Whichever route you choose, you'll be imaging rather than hankering after a camera and looking at all the other gear you've got but can't image with.

[Tinker1947]

Get a modded 600D from here, there brand new and Juan offers a very good service....

http://cheapastrophotography.vpweb.co.uk/Available-Cameras.html

[ollypenrice]

CCD cameras are way, way better for DS imaging than DSLRs but they are way more expensive as well. Nowt we can do about that! 

You might pick up an Atik 16HR for £500 and personally I would rather have that than a DSLR because it allows you to learn the real stuff of DS imaging. Mixing luminance and colour, capturing narrowband and blending that in (which opens up all the moolit nights lost to one shot colour cameras, remember...) You can take world class images with such a camera and beat LP in narrowband. (Now at this point folks will often jump in and post a link to a fantastic DSLR image but when you look at the optics you'll usually find a seriously expensive and ultra-fast astrograph and these do allow DSLRs to perform to a high level.)

Tough decision and no right answer. But, as I say, I personally would look for a used 16HR mono.

Olly

[simmo39]

CCD cameras are way, way better for DS imaging than DSLRs but they are way more expensive as well. Nowt we can do about that! 

You might pick up an Atik 16HR for £500 and personally I would rather have that than a DSLR because it allows you to learn the real stuff of DS imaging. Mixing luminance and colour, capturing narrowband and blending that in (which opens up all the moolit nights lost to one shot colour cameras, remember...) You can take world class images with such a camera and beat LP in narrowband. (Now at this point folks will often jump in and post a link to a fantastic DSLR image but when you look at the optics you'll usually find a seriously expensive and ultra-fast astrograph and these do allow DSLRs to perform to a high level.)

Tough decision and no right answer. But, as I say, I personally would look for a used 16HR mono.

Olly

Thanks for the advise. You have given me something else to add to the pot ! lol Im going to have to sit and think hard what to do, why is it never easy? 

[DaveS]

As Olly says, mono CCD is so much better than DSLR it's unbelievable.

Very nearly a full moon and I'm seeing subs of M27 in NB coming in clean, I couldn't even *think* of imaging under these conditions before I got my CCD kit.

[Baffa]

Set point cooling is a Huge time saver, that is massive selling point for me.

No more spending half the night taking darks.

[wxsatuser]

Start with a dslr and if you really want to carry on with AP then upgrade later.

Plus if AP turnsout not to be your cup of tea, you can still use the dslr for normal photos.

AP gear sits around doing nothing for most of its life, a dslr can be used every hour of the day and night.

BTW

I'm not knocking CCD gear.......eventually I will go that route but not just yet.

[simmo39]

Well, Im still dithering, I have to say at the moment Im still leaning to a modded DSLR. I know its going to cause a sharp intake of breath from a lot of you out there but after thinking about it hard, for me as a relative newbie its the way to go. Im still open to thoughts as it will be a month or so before I part with my cash. At the moment Im using a Neximage C5 for lunar and planet shots (Also tried to take some double stars with it but got some odd results but thats for another forum ). Anyway. thanks for advise.

[Tinker1947]

A modded 600D can still be used for normal daytime photography, Cheapastro done mine and sent a e-mail with the alterations via the camera menu (couple of sliders)  this is a picture taken with mine, i had the cheap astromod......

[sloz1664]

CCD cameras are way, way better for DS imaging than DSLRs but they are way more expensive as well. Nowt we can do about that! 

You might pick up an Atik 16HR for £500 and personally I would rather have that than a DSLR because it allows you to learn the real stuff of DS imaging. Mixing luminance and colour, capturing narrowband and blending that in (which opens up all the moolit nights lost to one shot colour cameras, remember...) You can take world class images with such a camera and beat LP in narrowband. (Now at this point folks will often jump in and post a link to a fantastic DSLR image but when you look at the optics you'll usually find a seriously expensive and ultra-fast astrograph and these do allow DSLRs to perform to a high level.)

Tough decision and no right answer. But, as I say, I personally would look for a used 16HR mono.

Olly

I'd go with Olly's idea. I started with a second hand 350D, got my first images which was great but had to fight to remove a lot of noise and  LP. Upgraded to a QHY8 Pro OSC: also second hand. lost the noise but again restricted to dark nights to fight moonglow or LP.

Finally grabbed an Atik 460ex mono, also second hand. First go at Ha. Mind blowing, the quality of the image is there, not hidden in a LP haze. A really nice clean image. Don't get me wrong I still use the the QHY but for colour infill for Ha. If I were to start again with around 500 pounds for a camera I would buy a 285 chip mono CCD camera. As Olly states you can take really top quality images with it.

cheers

Steve