Which DSLR for AP, but, I have a paculiar requirement. Sensor-shift.

[Inimbrium]

Hi all

 

I want to do astrophotography with a DSLR. And I'm a budget. Now I already have a Nikon D3100, but having a large collection of vintage lenses, with no VR in them, I want to switch to a image sensor shift optically stabilised camera, such as the Sony A65 to take full advantage of all my lenses. I deeply dissagree with the Nikon/Cannon approach of in-lens optical stabilisation and their "buy our lenses" policy and I want out. Now it would have been a simple decision to buy the A65, but apparently it has something called a translucent mirror, and that sounds like it makes it Rubbish for low light stuff such as AP.

Can anyone give me any advice? So my budget is around the price of a second hand Nikon D3300, Sony A65, Canon 650D with 18-55 lenses. Around £250.

Are there other better Sony cameras? I'm a biut out of touch but what about other brands such as Minolta, Pentax, Olympus, etc? There are so many to research it's a bit daunting and I need advice from someone that either has a sensor-shift AP camera or know everything about all decent AP DSLRs I'm not asking much am I? lol

[wxsatuser]

You will not need IS, VR or any other variant of that stuff for AP.
If a lens has IS and the camera is on a tripod or tracking mount IS ought to be turned off.

[Inimbrium]

1 hour ago, wxsatuser said:

You will not need IS, VR or any other variant of that stuff for AP.
If a lens has IS and the camera is on a tripod or tracking mount IS ought to be turned off.

I don't need the the sensor shift for AP. I need it for my old lenses, for other uses.

I have a 10" relfector for my AP.

[Inimbrium]

Hi again, I've done some basic research and it turns out Olympus don't do DSLRs any more, but Pentax K5 looks very promising.

So from what I can see it's between the Sony A65 and Pentax K5. Does anyone know anything about either or both of these cameras? Will the sensor shift system work with old lenses with no electrical contacts? What about astrophotography?

I'm quite excited about moving away from my old Nikon to something newer or superior!

[hazegood]

Yes sensor shift will work with old lenses, as the stabilisation system is based in the body, and nothing to do with the lens at all.

As said above for AP you wont be using image stabilisation of any kind

[Inimbrium]

Thank you for the advice.

[Stub Mandrel]

You may find other functions don't work though.

I got some M42 adaptors off ebay that include a chip that tells the camera (canon) the lens is manual focus so you get a LED light up when in focus.

[ronin]

I have the Sony A350 and to the best I can tell the thing always says the sensor shift aspect is not functioning or not doing whatever it does sufficently. On the Dynax forums I found that others found the same. I contacted Sony about this and their "answer" was to send the camera to them for a standard service at about £130. The camera was less then 10 months old, so not impressed. I never sent them it mainly because so many others said theirs didn't actually to operate.

Mine will say too much camera shake when on a solid tripod and taking a picture with a remote cable. The feature appears a bit of a joke. To be honest I suspect the one in the lens is a more honest system then the sensor based one.

Next aspec is that Sigma make lens with built in stabilisation as per Canon and for compatibility. Since my Sony is supposed to have this sensor stabiliasation Sigma do not put their stabilisation system in a Sony compatible lens but the cost is the same. So same cost but not the feature. Ultimately you may as well get the Canon DSLR and then either a Sigma or Tamron lens or the Canon item. You are not tied to Canon 100%.