Filter or MOD?

[Philkib]

Hi

Could someone give me a bit of advice, please? 

I'm looking to get a new AP camera, I currently have a 1000d (modded by cheapastrophotography) and would like to know if I should go for a modded again or a stock camera and buy a filter to go along with that. If I go for the modded, should I buy any additional filters e.g. Light pollution? or if I purchase a stock Canon what filter(s) would be recommended to use, and as a supplement question, do the filters do a 'better' or 'worse' job than the modified?

Thanks in advance for reading this and any help will be appreciated!

 

Cheers

Phil

[Dr_Ju_ju]

What do you want to image and what lens\scope combination ? 

Modding removes the IR-cut filter so the camera is more sensitive to higher frequency light i.e. reds, but sometimes at the expense of reaching focus with standard lenses. (Juan @Cheap Astrophotography usually fixes this).

LP filters, on the other hand, will 'sometimes' help removing the local light pollution, if the filter can be 'matched' to the light pollution (usually streetlights) but this may well fail, as the newer streetlights (white LED as opposed to the older sodium orange) as they are wide-band emitters so single frequency filters won't remove the light...

 

[PeterCPC]

I have found that the IDAS D2 filters are quite good where there is LED streetlights. I use a modded 1200d with the D2.

Peter

[Philkib]

3 hours ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

What do you want to image and what lens\scope combination ? 

Modding removes the IR-cut filter so the camera is more sensitive to higher frequency light i.e. reds, but sometimes at the expense of reaching focus with standard lenses. (Juan @Cheap Astrophotography usually fixes this).

LP filters, on the other hand, will 'sometimes' help removing the local light pollution, if the filter can be 'matched' to the light pollution (usually streetlights) but this may well fail, as the newer streetlights (white LED as opposed to the older sodium orange) as they are wide-band emitters so single frequency filters won't remove the light...

 

Hi Julian

The combination would be the DSLR with an 8" Newtonian and DS stuff, with Nebula and Galaxy's being the main targets.

I'm aware of the difference and the challenges with getting the correct filter for street lighting, we've just changed to the LED's around here  (Scottish Borders) and can cause some issues, however, I'm fairly near some reasonably decent dark sky's so not overly fussed about that aspect of filters.

Logic tells me that the removed, modified camera will not need a filter but to be honest I'm not sure if that logic is correct. Which then flips me over to the 'stock' option, do the filters available such as this one from FLO would that do the job on an un-modified unit? and therefore getting the best from both worlds of Astro and daylight targets. If that filter doesn't work for AP or is not suitable for what I'm looking for, is there a solution out there? and if so what filter set-up would I need for an un-modified unit? any thoughts would be very much welcomed. 

 

 

[newbie alert]

A dedicated cooled astro camera is far superior to a DSLR..  

[pete_l]

You already have a modified DSLR. Getting another DSLR won't make that much difference to the images you are able to take. And using an unmodified one will block out the red end of the spectrum. No additional filters will restore that loss.

[Philkib]

Cheers Pete, I'm beginning to see the light (?) and have decided that I'm going to go for another modified DSLR from Cheapastrophotography. With some custom WB I will be able to use it in daylight/other situation rather than just a dedicated AP unit. My original unit decided that it has had enough and gone to the great camera graveyard that is the local skip, well...., what actually happened was that I fried it trying to adapt the power source to my powerpack ?. But heyho, one lives and learns...  

Edited April 29, 2019 by Philkib