I'm pulling my hair out trying to find the right DSLR

[pne_rob]

I am looking for my first ever purchase of a DSLR for pure DSLR astrophotography. I am the type of person who researches every detail and features of every purchase i do and it makes me go crazy. So I'm looking for a DSLR, brand doesn't concern me as i understand many go for Canon for software (thats no concern me as i wont be tracking), problem is i want the best bang for the buck type DSLR and not to just shell out 800 quid. My choices at the moment are Canon 100d, Canon 600d and the Nikon D3300. So i would like opinion from people as to the reasons to get and not to get these and to recommend a different model if possible but the budget is around the same as the 3 chosen (350 ish). any help would lower my stress levels haha.

p.s i am looking to adopt the Tony Hallas method and dither many frames together and do a slight post-process in Camera Raw. Im not looking for a camera that tries to produce amazing single frames if that makes any sense at all

 

Cheers, Rob

[Davey-T]

Are you planning on modding it ?

Dave

[pne_rob]

Just now, Davey-T said:

Are you planning on modding it ?

Dave

i would only say yes if it was bought modified. if i got a normal DSLR i woudnt go out of my way to get it modified but as i said if there was one on the market already modified i would do

[Davey-T]

If it's only for astro use you might as well get a ready modded one although there are plenty of targets with little HA in them that produce just as good images using unmodded cameras.

If you're using it on it's own without a laptop connected a swivel screen is a really useful option.

Dave

[GTom]

Of course question of your budget, but I'd recommend looking at the ZWO CMOS cameras.

[pne_rob]

1 minute ago, GTom said:

Of course question of your budget, but I'd recommend looking at the ZWO CMOS cameras.

are those webcams... because if they are then im not really interested in those type of cameras as im looking for a DSLR for nightsky photography because as of now im not interested in getting a telescope as of yet

[Davey-T]

Are you going to use it on a tripod ?

Dave

[GTom]

Not webcams, but anyway correct, they are for the telescope user :D.

I'd suggest a nikon d5100 with the nikonhacker firmware.

[pne_rob]

1 minute ago, Davey-T said:

Are you going to use it on a tripod ?

Dave

i will be yes but i havent even got to getting the tripod yet haha. 

[pne_rob]

3 minutes ago, GTom said:

Not webcams, but anyway correct, they are for the telescope user :D.

I'd suggest a nikon d5100 with the nikonhacker firmware.

hmm, il have a look into the d5100

[Davey-T]

If it's purely for astro there is no point really in getting the latest megapixel camera, if it was me I'd get a secondhand Canon 450d and a secondhand Skywatcher Star Adventurer which can achieve ten minute exposures with a wide angle lens and 90 secs using a 300mm lens.

Sorry if that upsets all your plans 

Dave

[pne_rob]

5 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

If it's purely for astro there is no point really in getting the latest megapixel camera, if it was me I'd get a secondhand Canon 450d and a secondhand Skywatcher Star Adventurer which can achieve ten minute exposures with a wide angle lens and 90 secs using a 300mm lens.

Sorry if that upsets all your plans 

Dave

upsets the plans....it completely destroys them haha. I understand the DSLR side of it and just going for a 450d as i see you have one but regarding the mount just puts me off because you have to set it all up, find polaris and then you might have star drift, it wont do dithering aswell. i just want to be able to point and shoot...for now at least anyway

[Davey-T]

You can just point and shoot but only for a matter of seconds depending where in the sky you point.

The Star Adventurer only takes a few minutes to set up and polar align, well worth it for the exponential gain in imaging length.

Dave

[pne_rob]

16 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

You can just point and shoot but only for a matter of seconds depending where in the sky you point.

The Star Adventurer only takes a few minutes to set up and polar align, well worth it for the exponential gain in imaging length.

Dave

thats a fair point. cheers

[Thalestris24]

Hi

Without tracking I think your limited to about 400/(lens focal length) secs irrespective of make/model/camera type.

Louise

[pne_rob]

45 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

Hi

Without tracking I think your limited to about 400/(lens focal length) secs irrespective of make/model/camera type.

Louise

ah yes i am aware of that. At wide focal lengths i would be looking at 20-25 second exposures but i would be looking at stacking multiple exposures instead of one long exposure on a single frame

[Thalestris24]

1 hour ago, pne_rob said:

ah yes i am aware of that. At wide focal lengths i would be looking at 20-25 second exposures but i would be looking at stacking multiple exposures instead of one long exposure on a single frame

Yes, you can do that - there are examples of what you can expect to get in the widefield imaging section  Search for, say, 18mm in that forum

[hjw]

I might be bias but I love my Pentax. When I bought the K-30 a couple of years ago I spend 500 A$ (300Pound) on the camera with kit zoom lens (18-55mm). The camera has two advantages which are useful for night sky photography. It is weather sealed and, in combination with a little device called O-GPS, has the ability to track stars for a minute or so by moving the sensor.

Cheers

HJ

[wxsatuser]

6 hours ago, pne_rob said:

I am looking for my first ever purchase of a DSLR for pure DSLR astrophotography. I am the type of person who researches every detail and features of every purchase i do and it makes me go crazy. So I'm looking for a DSLR, brand doesn't concern me as i understand many go for Canon for software (thats no concern me as i wont be tracking), problem is i want the best bang for the buck type DSLR and not to just shell out 800 quid. My choices at the moment are Canon 100d, Canon 600d and the Nikon D3300. So i would like opinion from people as to the reasons to get and not to get these and to recommend a different model if possible but the budget is around the same as the 3 chosen (350 ish). any help would lower my stress levels haha.

p.s i am looking to adopt the Tony Hallas method and dither many frames together and do a slight post-process in Camera Raw. Im not looking for a camera that tries to produce amazing single frames if that makes any sense at all

 

Cheers, Rob

If your just going to use a tripod effective dithering will not work.
Although each frame will be slightly shifted they will all be in the same direction.
Dithering should be totally random, normally shifted by at least 12 pixels.

If you intend to stick too static shots then it may be better to save or spend a bit more on a better camera
like a 6D or Nikon equivilent. A 6D does'nt need modifying and can pull out amazing 30 sec shots if you also
have a fast lens. Yes, don't forget, a good fast lens will make all the difference.

Here is a test image done with 30sec shots, Canon 6D and a nifty fifty at f/2.8.
Seven stacked 30secs shots, btw this was done on a tracking mount.

[alacant]

Hi. How about a new but astro-modified camera? I wish someone had recommended something like this when I started: A Canon 1300d (365 sterling),a proper 200mm lens (20 to 70 sterling) and an adaptor (about a fiver). HTH.

[PeterCPC]

+1 for astro-modified Canon.

Peter

[wxsatuser]

19 minutes ago, alacant said:

Hi. How about a new but astro-modified camera? I wish someone had recommended something like this when I started: A Canon 1300d (365 sterling),a proper 200mm lens (20 to 70 sterling) and an adaptor (about a fiver). HTH.

But you don't really want to use a 200mm lens on a static tripod.

What is really needed is a wider fast large aperture for maximum light.

[alacant]

2 minutes ago, wxsatuser said:

you don't really want to use a 200mm lens

Ah, OK. This one maybe? Is that better? I had in mind trying to infinity focus modern Canon lenses being almost impossible. Bitter experience:( HTH.

[ronin]

I would not lose sweat on it, go buy a reasonable good used DSLR and get going with that. Thought there was a branch of LCE at Blackpool but apparently not. Once you have mastered the imaging aspects and processing  aspects then do as above and look at the ZWO range of cameras. The new ZWO 1600 are reported as good, cooled or uncooled and there are the lesser cost ones like the 178's.

If you get into the AP aspect then eventually you will want something like the ZWO cameras, they are designed and produced for astrophotography after all. Astrophotography is not the intended purpose of a DSLR. Canon, Nikon, Sony did not design their DSLR's as an astrophotograhy camera that could be used for landscapes and nature photography, it is the other way round.

[wxsatuser]

1 minute ago, alacant said:

Ah, OK. This one maybe? Is that better? I had in mind trying to infinity focus modern Canon lenses being almost impossible. Bitter experience:( HTH.

Thats more like it, f2 nice.
It may have to be stopped down a tad for good stars but for the price it's good.

Focusing modern Canon's is not to hard, it can easily be done with Liveview at x10, on a bright star.