DSLR or mirrorless?

[Andrew W]

I posted this in the getting started with imaging forum then realised this was probably a better place for it!

 

I'm thinking about cameras.

 

looking to do a bit of everything but mainly stars/nebula maybe a bit of planets and dso.

not looking to win awards just take nice pictures to record my observations really.

 

Still very early days for me so I'm not looking to specialise yet either therefore it needs to be able to turn it's hand to a bit of everything at the moment.

 

I think when I pull the trigger I'll have about £150-200 maybe a touch more

I don't have anything but a basic point and shoot digital at the moment although I used to have a fuji finepix bridge style camera.

 

so starting from scratch I have no bias towards manufacturer as I have no other compatible kit to consider.

My budget would suggest eos 1100d/1000d or the nikon d90 if I go dslr. obviously the other option is something like the fuji x-a1, eos m or sony nex-5n mirror less bodies.

 

Everything I've read suggests not bothering with anything that doesn't have live view ruling out the older cheaper stuff.

 

the mirrorless seem to offer a much smaller and lighter package and presumeably less vibration due to no moving mirror for the same or not much more money. The fuji and sony also have articulating screens.

The weight is an obvious consideration on my eq3 mount also.

 

is there a reason to go for the big bodied mirrored eos range as opposed to mirrorless or should I be looking elsewhere with my budget.

 

cheers

 

Andrew

[stoffe]

If you got a EQ3 mount, I think a Nikon D90 could be a little to heavy to make astro imaging with, maybe with a 50 mm lens or similar could work. There is a mirror pre fire function in the D90 that can reduce the vibrations a lot before taking a picture. I got an old D80 that is very similar but lacks live view and have a very noisy CCD sensor instead of a much better CMOS sensor that the D90 has.

The mirrorless cameras usually have a smaller sensor compared to a DSLR.

[MyRomeo]

For weight on the eq3 mount I use a d5100 and 70-300 lens and have no issues weight wise. I can't imagine the likes of a d90 being to much of an issue.

I also have a Nikon v1 mirrorless but haven't tried that our for astro as I only have wide angle lenses for it

[Andrew W]

Thanks,  I've pulled the trigger and bought a lumix g1 mirrorless of evilbay on the cheap.

body only weighs 385g. Will see how it goes.

[knobby]

Are you planning on attaching to a scope or just using the camera lens ?

If so don't forget the adaptors

[Andrew W]

cheers Nobby,

I've just weighed my star diagonal and 32mm plossl and they come in at 490g!

I've got a skywatcher 2" T adapter and I've just ordered the t ring.

http://www.365astronomy.com/tring-micro-four-thirds-t2-lens-adapter-ring-for-micro-43-dslr-cameras-without-extension-p-3117.html

I'm assuming the t ring has an m42 thread to connect to the t adapter which would also therefore allow me to screw old M42 thread lenses onto the camera (accepting there will be a 2x crop factor due to the 4/3 size sensor)

[Psychobilly]

M42 lenses and t-mount lenses have different pitches ... The M42 lenses will be M42x1.0 the  T/T2 lens / adaptor  is M42x0.75...

[Andrew W]

cheers Psychobilly,

I would have preferred a different answer but the correct one is more helpful!

[Psychobilly]

With the mirror less bodies  the "register" (distance between the Focal plane and the front of the lens mount)  is so short that there is plenty of  distance for a mount adaptor  so with the right ones  to use just about any lens on them...

In my  digital camera "collection" I have an EOS-M  which I bought as a lightweight backup for my  DSLR's. It wont shoot tethered but by using  a suitable  app on my Samsung Galaxy S4 (which has IR output  I can do long exposure sequences... I haven't pointed it skyward yet ...

Battery life is pretty dire so I have a dummy battery and 6000mAH LiPO pack for it...

Peter...

[Andrew W]

Cheers Peter,

It's all new to me so a fairly steep learning curve!  I'm trying to avoid it being an expensive one as well.

I should have guessed there was no way two products using an M42 thread would be identical and save me some pennies 

I'm looking at a cost effective way of using the camera body for daytime photos also so I need to decide on an adapter for a range of lenses.

now I know I'll need a second adapter it opens up my choices again!

[Ruud]

....

I've just weighed my star diagonal and 32mm plossl and they come in at 490g!

You don't need the diagonal for photography. It's heavy and makes the setup awkward and precarious. For deep sky, the camera's adapter goes directly into the focuser. For planets you might want to use eyepiece projection or a strong barlow, but even then you don't want to use the diagonal. 

If you don't have enough outward travel in your focuser, an extension tube would help.

[Andrew W]

Hi Ruud,

yes I appreciate that.

I was making the point that the the weight of the diagonal and eye piece is more than the camera and adaptor that will replace them for photo's

Therefore the concerns about my eq3 mount being overwhelmed by the weight of the camera are unlikely.

I'm still learning though 

[Ruud]

Ah, I misunderstood. Sorry for my useless post.

[happy-kat]

You will need a remote shutter release.

As you can't (i don't think) connect to your tablet as not a canon dslr I also have a very cheap involometre (spelling!) I bought off amazon.

[Psychobilly]

Just running some dark  and  "internal" battery life tests with the EOS-M using the DSLR Shutter app  it will control most cameras that can use an IR remote... using it in Intervalometer mode - Shooting 1 min darks with 10s between them...

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.dslrremote&hl=en

It's surprising how much kit you can hang of an EQ3 (I had the Pro version) provide you take care of "balance"...

Peter...

[Alien 13]

+1 for the DSLR remote app i use it directly wired to my camera with a dongle (instructions for building one on the site) i have also made a IR dogle for use with the camera too.

The EQ3 manages with my kit (around 4kg) without any issues its more of a problem with long focal lengths rather than weight but unguided it is probably best to stick with sub 300mm FL.

Alan

[Andrew W]

Peter,

funny you should mention that one. I installed it a couple of days ago to see if it would work.

The camera should be here next week along with the T ring.

I'm sure the forecast next week must be for cloud by now!

[Psychobilly]

If anyone wants a look at EOS-M darks I have uploaded two raw files to my Dropbox account... they are around 20 MB each and you will need something to look at them...

This is the 10th 60s exposure at ISO800  - 10 seconds between each exposure to allow camera to write image to card etc...

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8191904/Canon%20EOS-M%20Darks%20Test/10th%2060s%20dark%20EOS-M%20ISO800.CR2

and this is the 5th 120s exposure at ISO800

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8191904/Canon%20EOS-M%20Darks%20Test/5th%20120s%20dark%20EOS-M%20ISO800.CR2

Just shooting 240s  set before moving onto 480s...

DOH... forgot I had done a reset on the camera so HIGH ISO and Long EXP Noise reduction were on .. just doing them again with them off...

Peter...

[happy-kat]

I han't realised dslr controller was not limited to only canons

[Psychobilly]

Inthe last couple of posts we're talking  DSLR Shutter not DSLR Controller.. Although I have that  as well for my 7D  and 5D Mk III's... and another few apps as well...  I also found DSLR Controller to be extremely touchy  so I avoid OS updates once it#s working  I tend to use it with  my Samsung  Galaxy Tab 8.9 ...

Peter...

[happy-kat]

Just made sure auto update is off good idea

[Psychobilly]

Just made sure auto update is off good idea

Yes it is now...