Nikon vs Canon DSLR for astrophotography

[souls33k3r]

Hi guys, I'm sure this question must've been asked a million times already but I wanted a few things to be cleared up

What are the advantages or either dslr? I currently own a Nikon D3100 but from what I've seen the astro softwares to control the DSLR are limited (No live view, no bulb control)

Canon can be astromodified but I don't want to do the same to my current Nikon D3100.

Intervalometer option is there to control the shutter open timings to be more than 30 sec but how does it differ from the PC control software?

Ideally I wouldn't want to use my laptop to do all of these functions so what are my options here?

Also what about the clip-filter system? What is this for? And how much would I want to use it if I use it at all? Does Nikon have these filters and if yes then are they of the same price?

Sorry too many questions here. I just want to make up my mind whether to stick with Nikon D3100 and be limited and splash out more money on the extra bits that I need to go with it or go with a new DSLR like Canon 550d and have it astromodified?

[Alien 13]

I am one of the few who dont like using a laptop tethered to my Camera I allways use an intervalometer although its a wireless one (giga t pro 2) so the main requirements for me are a flip out screen and liveview.

The choice between various brands was easy for me because Canon has the best support for AP but not necessarily the best sensors but the plus points are:

Use of older M42 type lenses with a cheap adapter.

Magic Lantern software.

Clip in filters.

Plenty of cheap 3rd party accesories like battery grips.

The one thing I would never do to my camera is have it astro modded its a personal thing and lots of people do it but mine like a lot of the later Canons seem to have reasonable response at the red end.

Alan

[happy-kat]

You do not have to use a clip in filter, if you have decided you do want filter it can go elsewhere like in front of the lens etc. Clip in filter just means people can fit a filter in the recess above the sensor and forget about it but if you are not going to go hugely far with your imaging I would forget about that for now it is what I did, don't invest in a filter until you know what you need and whether then to 3hink about changing camera make.

An intervalometre is around £10 it is not a big spend and means you do not need a laptop to trigger exposures. It differs because it is highly portable then either a laptop let alone a pc.

You do benefit from live view for making focusing a bit easier.

The 3100 does have live view and it does have bulb mode.

Why not just start using it, the more experience you gain the better able to make a future decision if you want to change kit or even go CCD.

Are you mainly a visual person or imaging?

[souls33k3r]

Cheers guys, that's the exact sensible response I was looking for. I know people have been using their D3100's for astrophotography so I k ow it does work buy I do not want to end up being frustrated of not being able to do whatever else.

Laptop indeed will be coming out at some point for the PHD but I didn't want my DSLR to be a major set back in the astrophotography terms.

So say if you guys were in my position and had the choice of spending £150 here and there for a second hand DSLR, would you bother with that by buying a canon or still stick to the D3100 for the reasons you both guys have mentioned?

[souls33k3r]

I'll surely be doing visuals but more astrophotography. Plantery to begin with and the later get in to DSO's

[happy-kat]

I can't answer as I do not have enough experience to know, why not seek out a Nikon owner on here and ask them, though I gather from recent posts that they are very happy and committed to Nikon so it can't be bad.

What are you thinking you are missing out on with your Nikon?

[souls33k3r]

That's the precise reason for this post to grab the attention of Canon and Nikonites. I don't know why I'm thinking that I might be missing out and that I guess is the reason why I'm asking all these silly questions that I hope I'm not spending money on the frustration cover-ups

[happy-kat]

asking questions is good, helps buying right

[D4N]

Be aware that Nikon are notorious for their star eating noise control techniques that can't always be turned off.

It may require a firmware patch to turn off the automatic noise reduction.

Doesn't Nikon have a tethered shooting program that would allow you to use live view?

/Dan

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[souls33k3r]

Well I took the plunge and bought a Canon 550d. Guess I'll use my Nikon for daily use and Canon for purely astronomy

[happy-kat]

that will be great for planet use with the video crop mode that model has

[souls33k3r]

What about the DSO imaging?

[happy-kat]

goes with out saying but the other function is only on some cameras

[souls33k3r]

Sorry mate no sure I understand what you mean

[Mick J]

I think happy-kat means the canon will be good for dso's,  the 550d video crop mode will allow using the camera like a webcam on the moon & planets.  Remember that dso's need a certain amount of tracking for longer shutter openings.

As you can see Canon's have been the pick over the years, Nikon's only been talked about the last couple of years at most.  Guess you can now check out APT software, the eos utilities that come with the camera are very capable as well. 

Intervalometer option is still there with the canon. I would not worry regarding filters just now.

Have fun.

[cuivenion]

It means that only the pixels in the centre of the sensor are used to produce a 640x480 VGA mode for planetary imaging. You can record at 60fps in 640x480 Movie Crop Mode and you will get better images than using say, 480p mode as 480p mode will use the higher resolutions and then down sample them to 480p. Only a couple of Canon camera's have this mode. Here's a link that probably explains it better than me:

http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/EQ_TESTS/Canon_One_To_One_Pixel_Resolution.HTM

[happy-kat]

If you video the camera in normal video mode you will have a big black image with a very small planet in the image. If you use video crop mode you get a bigger planet image in the captured frame.

[souls33k3r]

Ah... That's got to be a plus for a Canon... Nice little trick.

Chivenor, i'll give that a read... Cheers mate