First Nikon with Ha and long exposure

[perfrej]

Nikon has released information today regarding the new Nikon D810A 36 MPX DSLR with Ha capable filter.

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/5786202951/nikon-d810a-astrophotography-camera

A bit pricey (around €3500 in Sweden)...

/per

[oldpink]

yeah just read up on it
pity its up in the high end CCD territory

[perfrej]

I'd say it is only interesting for people who want to use it in daytime photography and have it double as an astro thingy. In that scenario it seems excellent.

/per

[lensman57]

I'd say it is only interesting for people who want to use it in daytime photography and have it double as an astro thingy. In that scenario it seems excellent.

/per

Nikon have already warned that this was meant for AP and not normal photography due to the extended response my concern is the processing power needed to deal with the 36 megapixel sensor and the resulting files.

A.G

[Steve Ward]

Rather have the EOS 5DS-R myself ... 

http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-canon-eos-5ds-r-digital-slr-camera-body/p1567361

[nmoushon]

I'd say it is only interesting for people who want to use it in daytime photography and have it double as an astro thingy. In that scenario it seems excellent.

/per

As A.G. already pointed out Nikon has said that daytimer photographers are going to be at a disadvatage with the camera.

I'm not sure who they are expecting to buy this. Daytime photographers have much better options at this price point, so it cant be them. And us in AP have WAY better options at the $3800 price point as some very very good CCD are in that price range. I know the main advantage of a DSLR over a CCD is  that you dont need a computer to run it all but again at that price I dont think that is worth it at all. Comptuters are that expensive anymore.

[lensman57]

Rather have the EOS 5DS-R myself ... 

http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-canon-eos-5ds-r-digital-slr-camera-body/p1567361

This silly  Mega Pixel race in the DSLR market has taken off again. Imagine running a Decon filter with 100 iterations on a file out of a 50 megapixel sensor or maybe an ACDNR for good measure. How much more resolution do we need so that in the end the wrinkles of that Hollywood star have to be brushed  out in PS.

A.G

[Alien 13]

This silly  Mega Pixel race in the DSLR market has taken off again. Imagine running a Decon filter with 100 iterations on a file out of a 50 megapixel sensor or maybe an ACDNR for good measure. How much more resolution do we need so that in the end the wrinkles of that Hollywood star have to be brushed  out in PS.

 

A.G

 

I had always believed it is only now that the DSLR has finaly eclipsed the equivalent number of pixels of a good ISO 100 film camera but agree the strain imposed on the prossessing chain is huge.

Alan

[laser_jock99]

You people need faster PC's.....

Most of my images are imediately downsized to 1024 x 768 for sensible web viewing - don't really see the everyday  need for a 50mp sensor! A lower pixel count, lower noise, higher sensitivity FX sized CCD would be more useful for astro IMO.

Fair play to Nikon for acknowledging there is a market for imagers (not just astro) beyond the visible spectrum. Bit late in the game though?

http://www.adorama.com/INKD810A1.html?emailprice=t&utm_source=rsys&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email021015NPA

$3700 though! Makes me realise what an incredible bargain my £350 Fuji Finepix IS Pro actually was !

[Steve Ward]

[Psychobilly]

It's nice to see both Canon and Nikon entering a niche market... Both companies have some interesting patents in the sensor technology area...

I think JonH hit the nail on the head with the reasoning behind the 50 MP sensored 5D S and 5D R...  Canon  are probably looking at taking on the Medium format Digital back manufacturers...

Canon themselves have said it's really  a Studio, Architecture and landscape camera...

Filling a full frame sensor takes some serious equipment scope wise... and even lenses designed for full frame can struggle when used for astro., Of course  flats can and do help with the vignetting...

Rumours are that Canon might base there next Astro Cam on the 7DII... 

I have been pleasantly surprised with the 7DII for astro - I haven't done anything too  "serious"  with it yet but even short stacks of unguided "short" subs show it's got some potential...

I have a reasonable spec PC for processing because of the volume  of daytime pics I take and most of the latest software I am using can leverage performance from the Multi-core CPU and GPU's...

Peter...

[Coco]

_{Canon needs to make a proper Mono CCD, preferably not full frame for reasons above.}

[malp]

I use Nikons professionally however my Canon 40D, purchased new originally, gives me no reason to purchase this new Nikon. In fact I purchased a second 40D body in absolutely mint condition recently for £150 on that on-line marketplace and had Astronomiser mod it for £80. To me it is the perfect dslr for astro imaging - total cost £230.00

[laser_jock99]

Nice video but 15 years too late into the market? What Nikon should have done is trumped Canon with a cooled, mono astro DSLR (or am I asking too much here!).

[stoffe]

This is the first stock DSLR made for Astronomy from factory in the history. I think it is a great camera and I look forward to see some results from it here on the forum.

Coco - Canon already have a mono camera, have you missed this one?

http://nikonrumors.com/2014/03/30/weekly-nikon-news-flash-257.aspx/

Btw, did I say it has Nikon F mount?

[Zakalwe]

If you gave me the choice between a £3k DSLR or something like an SBIG STF-8300 with filter wheel, LRGB, narrowband filters AND a £600 saving then I sure know which one I would be choosing.....

Or, a QSI660 with inbuilt filterwheel, LRGB filters and a hundred quid saving......

As far as I can see the Nikon has all the disadvantages of a DSLR and few of the advantages of a CCD.

I bet that there will be a lot of these sitting on shelves with "Discounted" stickers on them in a few months.

[Psychobilly]

These will be popular  for "nightscape" photography with some of those gorgeous Nikkors... 

I know I shoot Canon these days but have shot Nikon and  back then they were pretty diabolical for nightime use and one of the reasons I started to drift to Canon  starting with a lowly 350D... Now both manufactures produce "capable" camera's

Try shooting a widefield  nightscape timelapse movie  with a Mono CCD and filter wheel...  Then again I am biased

Peter...

[nmoushon]

These will be popular  for "nightscape" photography with some of those gorgeous Nikkors... 

I know I shoot Canon these days but have shot Nikon and  back then they were pretty diabolical for nightime use and one of the reasons I started to drift to Canon  starting with a lowly 350D... Now both manufactures produce "capable" camera's

Try shooting a widefield  nightscape timelapse movie  with a Mono CCD and filter wheel...  Then again I am biased

Peter...

I could see it being good for nightscape photography but at the same time I think it would hinder it some. With its "special features" they have already stated that it would create a color issue for daytime photography so  wouldnt that translate over to nightscape as well? Most nightscapes have some forground object illuminated with artifical light and I would think this would be effected as well and give an off coloring. Now I dont know how severe this off coloring is going to be so it could come out as not much and just a little PS will do the trick. Or it could be at the other end of that spectrum and be so bad that it not worth the fuss. That I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I also dont see how the sensor being more Ha sensitive will really improve nightscape imaging that much. Yes nebulas like NA or california nebulas will stand out a bit more but at most of the FoV that nightscape is working with will it really make that much of a difference that it makes up for the giant price point of the camera? Again we can only speculate as theres not many real examples out yet that arent from Nikon. IMO I dont see it being sensitive enough to really make a huge difference because if it was it would really screw with the coloring for daytime use so much so that its basically useless in the day. Just my speculations though, I could be proven wrong.

[Psychobilly]

The results in the Youtube video speak for themselves - some of the the more "traditional" astro shots in there are taken on some exotic kit...

Nikon in some of the info they have published seem to suggest color balance issues are more apparent under artificial lighting...  You can tweak till your hearts content in the PP...

Enhanced HA response helps with quite a few widefield shots even up here in the Northen Hemisphere... Cygnus comes alive as one  an example...

As someone who has  paid  as much for a tripod as you could  a reasonable "mount" , many times more for just a "camera lens" than you could pay for a half decent a scope and more for a DSLR than you could for a Mono CCD ... I am happy that the astro performance is a compromise as long as it does the business in it's  "day job"  

Peter...

[AnakChan]

The D810a was on display in the CP+ 2015 show this week in Yokohama. Sadly behind a glass cabinet tucked in a little corner of Nikon's booth. They know it's a niche market, the lack of promotion except for a tiny little section of it seems to indicate it, and it's not like they're launching anything else huge.

It's a pity they didn't allow visitors to touch & play with it.

I do agree with some of the other comments that my gut feeling is this is really more for the nightscape styled photographers rather than hard core narrow field astrophotographers.