Entry level DSLR

[mattjanes100]

Hi all

Been doing my research on picking up a DSLR to start some imaging and have narrowed it down to either the Canon 4000d, 2000d, or 200d in increasing price order. My question is whether it is worth the extra cost to go for the 200d? This would be my first DSLR kit and I'm likely to be trying some all round capture - solar, lunar, planetary and deep sky as well as landscape.

Thanks in advance!

[PeterCPC]

First you should decide if you want to get it modded. For DSO work it is almost essential. If not, then decide what you would like to use for "ordinary" photography. For planetary work you would be better of getting a high frame rate camera like an ASI224MC.

Peter

[Nigella Bryant]

Personally I'd go for a modded one. They're easy to pick up and gives a better results, especially in Hydrogen Alpha. I wouldn't get bound up in choosing the latest model either. You can pick a modded canon from around £150. I use an old modded Canon 1000d and I'm not going to change that anytime soon. Here's the wensite. https://cheapastrophotography.vpweb.co.uk/

[mattjanes100]

Thanks both, will have a look at some modded options.

[Nigella Bryant]

There's a Canon modded 550d on Astro adds UK for £200 if that helps. 

[Alien 13]

I would advise you to think about what you want the camera for, modding will make it pretty much useless for normal daytime photography unless you spend lots on a proper filter replacement option. Some of today's modern DSLRs do have reasonable Ha response without modification anyway.

Alan

[smr]

I think if i was starting out again I'd probably go for a modded camera. 

But, and I may be wrong on this, there are pros to having an unmodded camera I think, which are;

Sometimes, in quite a lot of photos I've seen from modified DSLRs, there tends to be too much red. I don't know if this is a problem with the the way that they are modified or because they are modified / letting too much Ha dominate, or whether its a processing problem which presents itself in modified DSLRs and means toning back on the 'over-red' is just harder to process.

Star bloat seems to be a problem / more of a problem sometimes with modded images I've seen, and less so without modified DSLRs.

Star colours seem better with unmodified DSLRs.

Again, this could just be my perception and not exactly how things are.

But with a modified DSLR you can record more structure in the Ha and discern more of it visually in a quite a substantially shorter time.

And you can also use Ha filters with modded DSLRs.

I think I'd be happy to forego any of the pros of an unmodified DSLR if starting again.

But just one thing - there are plenty of targets which aren't dominated by Ha so a modded DSLR is definitely not essential.

Over the last two years I've been imaging with an unmodified DSLR, and here are some images to give you an idea of what you can achieve with one. Having said that I've been happy learning about astrophotography over the last two years and imaging with my unmodified Canon80D... soon I'll hope to be buying myself a dedicated astronomy camera so I'm excited for that.

The Great Orion (M42) and Running Man (M43) Nebula by Joel Spencer, on Flickr

Rosette Nebula by Joel Spencer, on Flickr

HH & Flame Nebula by Joel Spencer, on Flickr

 

The Pleiades by Joel Spencer, on Flickr

 

Andromeda Galaxy, Messier 31 by Joel Spencer, on Flickr

 

Eastern Veil Nebula by Joel Spencer, on Flickr

 

Cygnus by Joel Spencer, on Flickr

Edited October 10, 2019 by smr

[mattjanes100]

Joel - these images are amazing, thank you. Really helpful to see what is possible!

[Brutha]

One thing you might consider is a 550d 2nd hand from Ebay, I got one for £125 with an 18-55 kit lens earlier this year. I had quite a few failed bids before that one though!

[happy-kat]

The 550d also has advantage of a video crop mode which is useful on planets.

[Bobby1970]

There's a modded 550 on astrobuysell for £200 right now. FYI

[Carbon Brush]

Some years back I bought the (then current) Canon 1000D.

Out of the box it was good in daylight.

I tried it for astro. But the number of setup changes between day & night was a pain.
Especially navigating the buttons in the dark.
Screen off, shutter lock up, etc.

So I bought another that had been astro modded.

This allowed me to leave them in their best setup.

More money than sense? Perhaps not.
They were both used cameras and not too expensive. I still have them.

HTH, David.

[Jonesdee]

Canon 100D if they are still available.  Very light weight, 18Mpx and do everything that's needed for astro via Backyard EOS.  These days I mainly use cooled ZWO cameras, but keep the 100Ds for use with my Star Adventurer (I have 2 - one is fully modded, the other has just  the IR filter removed.)

Dave

[mattjanes100]

Thanks all, plenty to consider!