Buying advice: camera for nightscapes & DSOs

[Brushman]

Can you get a solid camera which is good for capturing Nightscapes and DSOs? (And would this dual purpose mean an astromodded camera is out of the question? 

I'm looking for something under £600 and don't mind second hand. (I currently have a lowly Nikon D5100) 

(I'm starting with nightscapes and graduating to DSOs once I've upgraded my scope set-up, so I'd like to get this right first time and kill 2 birds with one stone if possible) 

Any advice would be great! 

[happy-kat]

You already own a camera, I would start with that get to practice and decide from having used it if you want to make changes. I processed a set of data that the d5100 had taken a load of short exposures with the kit lens and it was fine.

For using with your telescope in the future you would take the kit lens off and fit a t-ring and t-mount and then place into the telescope.

[dannybgoode]

Imaging DSO’s is a very different discipline to capturing night scapes and the way you use the camera will be quite different accordingly. 
 

Your 5100 will be as good as anything to begin with but ultimately for DSO’s it will always be a compromise - any non- astro camera will be. That said you will still get pleasing results with practice. 
 

Much more important is the mount - do you already have an motorised EQ mount and if so which one? That’s where the money needs to go and not a new camera. 

[Brushman]

I've used the D5100 with my scope plenty, but the goto on my dob is broken so short exposures and manual tracking makes it an uphill struggle (I was aware Dobs were not imaging scopes).

I will be using the D5100 for learning nightscapes but I'm aware there is better out there and I wasn't sure if there was a camera that could do both (when I update my scope set-up) 

Edited January 11, 2020 by Brushman

[dannybgoode]

3 hours ago, Brushman said:

I've used the D5100 with my scope plenty, but the goto on my dob is broken so short exposures and manual tracking makes it an uphill struggle (I was aware Dobs were not imaging scopes).

I will be using the D5100 for learning nightscapes but I'm aware there is better out there and I wasn't sure if there was a camera that could do both (when I update my scope set-up) 

Not really because you need a ‘normal’ camera for the night scape’s and the 5100 is as good as any for that. 
 

 

[happy-kat]

You don't have to use a modified camera for DSO imaging and not all DSO are ha rich. You could look out for a second hand modified camera though this is much more likely to be a canon but the good news is you can generally with an eos to nikon adaptor use a nikon lens on a canon camera (though not the over way around). You can image DSO with a camera lens a popular length is 135mm. You can also take wide field images using the kit lens wide open on a static mount say 18 seconds or so and take 20-30 images and stack, the Cygnus region is nice to do.

[Brushman]

11 hours ago, dannybgoode said:

Much more important is the mount - do you already have an motorised EQ mount and if so which one? That’s where the money needs to go and not a new camera. 

I don't, I'm currently working with a Go-to mount but unfortunately I've never been able to get it to work (that's a whole new unresolved thread) I'd have liked to have practiced with that before graduating, but the issues I've faced make we wary of jumping to a more complex EQ mount - I probably should take the plunge eventually. Thanks for the advice though, perhaps I'll stick with the D5100 and start getting serious about a mount. 

 

4 hours ago, happy-kat said:

You don't have to use a modified camera for DSO imaging and not all DSO are ha rich. You could look out for a second hand modified camera though this is much more likely to be a canon but the good news is you can generally with an eos to nikon adaptor use a nikon lens on a canon camera (though not the over way around). You can image DSO with a camera lens a popular length is 135mm. You can also take wide field images using the kit lens wide open on a static mount say 18 seconds or so and take 20-30 images and stack, the Cygnus region is nice to do.

This is interesting - I hadn't considered going for a lense over a scope (I was always intending on going for a refractor set up because I currently only have a dob). Perhaps this would be a nice way to ease into DSO imaging without a big jump in extra equipment. 

Wouldn't a 135mm lens shorten the exposure time on a static mount well below 18 seconds though?  

[Brushman]

14 hours ago, happy-kat said:

You already own a camera, I would start with that get to practice and decide from having used it if you want to make changes. I processed a set of data that the d5100 had taken a load of short exposures with the kit lens and it was fine.

For using with your telescope in the future you would take the kit lens off and fit a t-ring and t-mount and then place into the telescope.

Another reason I'm keen to replace the 5100 is that the remote shutter port appears to be broken and with only a 2sec timer available, that's not ideal. 

[happy-kat]

When using a static mount stick to the kit lens wide open.

I suggest you start a new thread on your altaz dob mount to help you get that working.

There's a long running thread where several contributes have an altaz dob and are imaging to the capabilities available.

Link here

That's a shame if the remote shutter port is possibly broken, is it the port or the remote release that is dodgy?

[happy-kat]

With imaging being careful to spend wisely so you don't respend because the previous spend didn't have legs. For example a star adventurer mount is very portable and would work with a camera lens but not take the weight of a larger refractor (it takes smaller ones and there's a thread rolling on that mount) so you would need a bigger mount etc. If you like reading, I can't recall if already mentioned, is the book making every photon count.

[Brushman]

1 hour ago, happy-kat said:

When using a static mount stick to the kit lens wide open.

I suggest you start a new thread on your altaz dob mount to help you get that working.

There's a long running thread where several contributes have an altaz dob and are imaging to the capabilities available.

Link here

That's a shame if the remote shutter port is possibly broken, is it the port or the remote release that is dodgy?

I do have a thread on the malfunctioning altaz dob but unfortunately no fix - https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/345508-goto-alignment-woes/

Port on the camera, not sure. I purchased a remote and it doesn't work and the port looks slightly damaged. My plan is to go to a camera shop to see if I can test it without buying more kit (potentially wastefully) 

Thanks for the link, I've seen that thread a fair bit. Really good inspiration - hence why I get carried away wanting to upgrade my setup!