dslr cooling question

[spillage]

Hi All,

Just a quick question. Is it worth making a cooling box for my 500d without removing the back cover of the camera so the camera just sits in the box as is.

cheers

Mark.

[michaelmorris]

It certainly makes a difference, small but noticeable. I did some tests to assess how much of a difference it made.

Gary Honis in the US has done some more exhaustive testing.

http://dslrmodifications.com/rebelmod450d16c.html

So, if your question is "Does making an exterior cooler make a positive difference to the dark signal of a DSLR", the answer is yes.  However, if your question is "Is it worth the time and money making an exterior cooler for my DSLR",  I think the answer is dependent upon

• how is warm your ambient temperature,
• how long are the exposures you want to take,
• can your mount and focuser handle the extra weight,
• how much do you need/want to stretch your images and, 
• how inherently noisy your camera is?

For me, it was worth it, but it does put quite strain on the scope's stock focuser.

Best wishes

[Davey-T]

I have one and it does help, it doesn't cool to below zero like a CCD cooling but it will get down to single + figures and stabilise the temperature which appears to be enough to improve images.

Dave

[Adam J]

On 21/06/2017 at 20:08, spillage said:

Hi All,

Just a quick question. Is it worth making a cooling box for my 500d without removing the back cover of the camera so the camera just sits in the box as is.

cheers

Mark.

Yes it is worth while. You will get about 14c drop below ambient if you insulate it well. I removed the rear as it really does help, it is effectively insulating the camera after all. I also placed a small fan on mine to blow air over the rear of the sensor. All together that gave me a 24c drop below ambient. So I can easily get -10c recorded in BYEOS during the cooler months. However, even if you reduce your temps by 14c then that will reduce noise by a factor of 4 (halves noise every 7c dropped) so its worth it in my opinion. 

Here is a link to my build: 

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/289309-adam-js-dslr-water-cooling-thread/

 

[spillage]

Thanks @Adam J. Thats a great build and probably above my capacity but will certainly look at doing something similar. I guess if I do not remove the rear case then I need access to turn off the rear display screen. 

Can be 100% but though my 500d will not power up from leaving it in the on position either. Sure I need to turn it off and on again.

 

Cheers,

Spill.

[Adam J]

On 26/06/2017 at 16:39, spillage said:

Thanks @Adam J. Thats a great build and probably above my capacity but will certainly look at doing something similar. I guess if I do not remove the rear case then I need access to turn off the rear display screen. 

Can be 100% but though my 500d will not power up from leaving it in the on position either. Sure I need to turn it off and on again.

 

Cheers,

Spill.

To get it to power up you just us a AC power adapter and turn the power on and off the camera cant tell the difference between you doing that and flipping its own power switch.