Modded vs un Modded DSLR

[Olli]

Hi,  

I just wanted to know how much of a difference does a modded dslr make and is it worth the price? I will be only using my camera for Ap. Also does it effect the camera in anyway for example shorter life span? 

Would like to see some examples if possible.

Thanks in advanced

[Davey-T]

Modding increases the response at red end of the spectrum, useful for some DSOs but not all so there are plenty of targets that are doable unmodded.

Doesn't shorten it's life, invalidates and remaining warranty, also needs another filter to maintain daytime use.

Dave

[Alien 13]

It depends on what sort of mod, a complete filter removal will render the auto sensor clean inoperative and often the ability to focus with camera lenses and of course lots of star bloat with all but the best refactors and reflectors. The usual sensible mod is to relplace one filter with another allowing more Ha to get through but to be honest a lot of modern Canon cameras have adequate Ha out of the box.

Alan

[Olli]

29 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

Modding increases the response at red end of the spectrum, useful for some DSOs but not all so there are plenty of targets that are doable unmodded.

Doesn't shorten it's life, invalidates and remaining warranty, also needs another filter to maintain daytime use.

Dave

Thanks dave i think i would like to image widefield stuff and galaxies,nebulae and also the moon. Would the modd have a bad affect taking pictures of the moon in anyway?

[almcl]

I have one of Juan Fierros's Astro modded Canons (https://cheapastrophotography.vpweb.co.uk/) and so far the shutter count has reached 22415.  The extra Hα response is definitely worth it for targets like Sh2-240, but doesn't make a deal of difference on Globulars, for example.

[Olli]

9 minutes ago, Alien 13 said:

It depends on what sort of mod, a complete filter removal will render the auto sensor clean inoperative and often the ability to focus with camera lenses and of course lots of star bloat with all but the best refactors and reflectors. The usual sensible mod is to relplace one filter with another allowing more Ha to get through but to be honest a lot of modern Canon cameras have adequate Ha out of the box.

Alan

Thanks Alan,i was looking at the site that gets mentioned around here alot ( the name has slipped my mind) i think they do the full thing.

[Davey-T]

Moon would be better unmodded, stuff with lots of HA like Heart and Soul nebulas, California nebula etc benefit, most galaxies don't need it.

Dave

[Alien 13]

I would second what Dave said, if you are thinking of real widefield i.e. with a camera lens of 50 mm or less then in my opinion an unmodded camera should work best.

Alan

[smr]

With modern Cameras apparantly it isn't necessary to have them modded at all...

http://www.clarkvision.com/articles/do_you_need_a_modified_camera_for_astrophotography/

"Modifying digital cameras is not necessary to obtain great astrophotos. Many stock cameras have good hydrogen-alpha response, e.g. recent Canon DSLRs. More important than a modified cameras is proper post processing methods that will bring out and not suppress hydrogen alpha emission, and cameras with good sensitivity and very low thermal dark current. The best digital camera for deep sky astrophotography that I have evaluated has good sensitivity, including hydrogen-alpha, and amazingly low dark current is the Canon 7D Mark II 20-megapixel digital camera. A great full frame digital camera for astrophotography is the Canon 6D 20-megapixel digital camera.

The advantage of a stock digital camera in astrophotography is that the color balance is close to that of the human eye, and shows compositional differences better. Modified digital cameras are too sensitive to hydrogen alpha emission, making scenes containing hydrogen too red, swamping colors from other compositions. Often this shows in amateur astrophotos as dominantly red. The choice of course is personal. I prefer images with more colors to show more processes and chemistry. I believe such images are more interesting, so I only use stack digitalcameras for my astrophotography."

 

 

[Gerry Casa Christiana]

Couple of examples of differences between my modified Canon 550d which I did myself. 

Same camera same telescope. There is no way I wouldn't have my camera modded. For me there was a huge difference. It definitely picks up a lot more H Alpha.  

YOU WONT REGRET IT. 

Which camera do you have? 

Gerry

[Adam J]

On 16/08/2018 at 19:52, Alien 13 said:

It depends on what sort of mod, a complete filter removal will render the auto sensor clean inoperative and often the ability to focus with camera lenses and of course lots of star bloat with all but the best refactors and reflectors. The usual sensible mod is to relplace one filter with another allowing more Ha to get through but to be honest a lot of modern Canon cameras have adequate Ha out of the box.

Alan

Its cheaper and easier to remove all the filters from the DSLR and use a 2 inch UV/IR cut on the field flatter to prevent star bloat. 

Adam.  

[StuartJPP]

On 11/09/2018 at 10:11, Gerry Casa Christiana said:

Couple of examples of differences between my modified Canon 550d which I did myself. 

Same camera same telescope. There is no way I wouldn't have my camera modded. For me there was a huge difference. It definitely picks up a lot more H Alpha.  

YOU WONT REGRET IT. 

Which camera do you have? 

Gerry

A good comparison and matches my findings.

Modified certainly works best in my opinion for galaxies M31 & M33 and possibly others to pick out all those star forming regions rich in Ha and of course all the other Ha nebulae and objects as shown above.

Who images globular clusters anyway?

If you are going to have a camera dedicated to astro you might as well modify it to get the best out of it...

Regarding Roger Clark's claims....well I disagree (I am allowed to)...if his claims are so valid why do dedicated astro cameras cut much further into the infrared spectrum than any DSLR out there?

Do you have to modify your camera? Nope not at all....

Choice is yours in the end....