General use DSLR also good for ap

[dreamlander]

Hi, I am new to star gazing and have decided to jump from binoculars to either a celestron c9.25" or 8" edge on a VX mount. I also enjoy outdoor photography and am in serious need of an upgrade from my trusty old 8 mp Canon rebel xt. I am not even going to start thinking about DSO imaging (for now), but I think I would like to try some planetary imaging. So what should I look for in a DSLR that would make it better for astro photography? First and foremost I want a good general use camera, but can this coincide with something that works for ap, or is that wishful thinking? Anyway I will take specific suggestions or just things to look for while shopping. I would prefer to stick with Canon since I have a decent Canon zoom lens, but switching brands is not out of the question. Budget is around $1500 for a body, used or new.

On a side note how useful is the removable mirror for f/2.8 imaging on the 8" edge? I am kind of leaning toward the c9.25" at the moment as they are near the same price.

So excited!

Thanks

[MartinB]

Canon's are a great choice for astro since they have long been a preferred brand and  accessories are easily available.  They can be used for planetary but can't compete with webcam video type cameras which have a much more rapid capture rate which then allows stacking of images to reduce noise.  Great for wider field lunar.  they come into their own on deep sky.  The requirements are high sensitivity, low noise, good red response and, obviously, ability to do long exposures.  Pixel size isn't generally an issue unless you are using very short focal lengths especially through camera lenses.  I think you should decide on what would be best for your outdoor photography since this will place much higher demands on your equipment, you can be confident it will perform well as an AP camera.

The big issue is around modding.  DSLR chips have an infrared filter which actually blocks out a lot of the deep red hydrogen alpha from emission nebulae.  If you take this filter off Ha sensitivity increases significantly at the expense of an overall red cast.  You can then get a clip filter to restore the original colour balance when doing day time photography.  Modding isn't essential though and a lot of the enhanced sensitivity is an illusion created by the red cast!

[dreamlander]

Thanks for the info, but I think you just raised more questions. Not sure how to translate your requirements into camera specs. High sensitivity- ISO speed?, Low noise- the better the quality camera the less noise, no?, good red respone- uhhh. Maybe I just need to read up more. When it comes to photography I have spent more time learning to use my specific camera and shooting techniques  than all the technical equipment stuff.

Your are probably right, I should just buy the camera I want. Maybe after I do more observing and dabble is some ap I will get a better idea of what I need. I just thought if there is something that would really work well for both I could kill two birds with one stone.

[Owmuchonomy]

Decide on what you want to image first.  If you are happy with just planetary then your suggested scopes are fine.  If you want to do DSOs then you need a much wider field of view and faster scope.  If you are referring to the Fastar or Hyperstar set up at F2.8 then I am led to believe it is virtually impossible to get it to work particularly if you are a beginner.  There are plenty of threads on here about that topic.

If you are sticking with planetary look no further than a Canon 550 D or 60 D as they are the only Canons to feature proper movie crop mode and in the case of the 60D, 60 fps video.  Thats more than fine for planetary.  Some examples of such can be seen in the gallery on my link below.

[Psychobilly]

Don't get hung up on the MP count... 

The XT (350D over this side of the pond)  was the first Canon Camera I bought (secondhand) for astro... It was for it's time a decent performer but things have moved on quite a bit... Cameras like the  Rebel T3 (1100D) would be a worthwhile upgrade... even unmodified they offer an improved HA response compare to the older cameras and are easy to modify to make a significant improvement ... The next step up is to something like the  T4i (650D)  with It's tiltable touchscreen...

Peter...

[MartinB]

You can certainly kill two birds with one stone.  If you get the Canon camera you need/want for daytime use it will be fine for astro.  When I say fine, it won't spare you the traumas of getting to grips with astrophotography!!

[dreamlander]

Owmuchonomy, I narrowed it down to these scopes mainly for quality obersving, portability, and ease of use. Astrophotography is something I would like to give a try and partially an afterthought. If I get into it I will decide what I want to do and get the appropriate equipment then. 

[happy-kat]

Astrophotography can be nice wide field images just using the camera and a static tripod. Can do this now with your XT.

[dreamlander]

happy-kat, I understand your point. The reason I started topic is that I am getting a new camera and was wondering if there is anything to look for to help it excel in future astrophotography.

[happy-kat]

A flip out screen is useful.

Ability to turn off in camera noise suppression.

Good support from other users.

Proven use for the intended photos to be taken.

Access to wide range of lenses.

I chose a Canon 1100d as got it new for a bargain price so I gave up on a flip screen instead I connect it to my Android tablet directly for night use. It also fits all the points mentioned above bar the flip screen.

Budget drives which models can look at.

There is also I good site that reviews from an astro perspective but I don't have a link to hand.

[jusasi]

A bit of a late reply but since I've been in the same situation here's my 2 cents.

I started out with a Canon 1100D that I already owned for general purpose photography. A few months back after a long consideration I bought a C9.25 SCT, my first telescope, mostly for eyeballing but with the idea of maybe getting into astrophotography later, so I also bought the T2 thread for Canon cameras and a T2 adapter (like this one http://www.astroshop.eu/projection-adapter/omegon-camera-adapter-1-25-/p,1250) that allowed me to place eyepieces inside the adapter and then connect it to the camera & OTA. Worked nicely. I've been pretty happy with the setup, it's good for lunar and planetary imaging. You can do DSOs with it but like it was already mentioned the infrared filter is blocking out emissions that you'd rather be capturing. I haven't bothered to mod my camera for this, instead I'm planning to buy myself a specialized mono camera for this purpose. So DSOs can be challenging especially in a light polluted environment and without modding. Not impossible but I've decided to get specialized equipment for that job. Also worth mentioning is that you may not be able to view & photograph the whole moon in a single shot without the f/6.3 focal reducer with the C9.25. Also capturing large DSOs can be problematic since your field of view is so small and DSOs are generally quite large.

Anyhow, here are a few images taken with my 1100D & C9.25 setup in high light pollution. You can expect to at least match this quality with any somewhat decent DSLR and I still consider myself very much a newbie.

Lunar and planetary

http://i.imgur.com/86jzxL3.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/eLnw4H4.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/0yKNz3D.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/4l8IyW4.png

DSOs (Andromeda & M31)

http://i.imgur.com/BF13RvN.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/WJoWqvP.jpg

[stevecoe]

Dreamlander;

I enjoy my refurbished T2i from CanonUSA, it was 300 dollars and works great.  I have three Sigma lenses that do all the AP and terrestrial imaging I want to do:  10-20, 17-70 and 70-200.  Lots of possibilities.

I have not tried any imaging with my 9.25" yet, on my list of things to do.

Clear skies;

Steve Coe

[dreamlander]

Thanks for the replies. I ended up buying Canon 70D (700D?), and I love it so far. Had it for a few days before the super moon lunar eclipse so I was scrambling to learn to use it properly but got a few decent pics between clouds off my tripod. Used 70-300mm 4-5.6f

Knowing what I know now I should have tried a higher iso and lower exposure time for the full eclipse as with 2.5 sec exposure the sky moves more than I thought.

errrrr,

would post pics but apparently have now idea how to post from imgur and cannot find any help from the forum search. 

[dreamlander]

[happy-kat]

Nice sequence of the eclipse.

70D and 700D are two different Canons.