Modified DSLR for widefield?

[rnobleeddy]

Whilst I realize it may be slightly optimistic, I'm working out what gear I need to take with me when we get to go places again later this year.

Widefield with something like the samyang 14mm lens + a DSLR seems like a decent option for a minimal travel setup, with a windup tracker and an intervalometer making it laptop free.

Question is around the best DSLR for widefield? I've got a modded 550D that I used for DSOs but after getting a mono camera + a filterwheel it hasn't had much use. Does having a modded camera matter much for widefield shots of the milky way? Or would I better off selling it and putting the money towards a 2nd hand full frame camera like the 6D, which could also take over general DSLR duties?

[happy-kat]

Do you have lenses that cover a full frame or would something like an 80d suit

I'd have a go with the camera and lens you already have and see how it goes.

Edited March 14, 2021 by happy-kat

[rnobleeddy]

2 hours ago, happy-kat said:

Do you have lenses that cover a full frame or would something like an 80d suit

I'd have a go with the camera and lens you already have and see how it goes.

Thanks. Current lens are a couple of cheap primes (an older 28mm and a nifty 50) which are probably full frame as I'd guess they predate APS-C, and a couple of cheaper recent zoom lens that are probably APS-C only.  Trouble is from what I've managed so far, these are pretty bad for astro work, and definitely suffer badly from chromatic aberration and astigmatism. So I think in either case for astro imaging I'd need new lens.

I also have a 60mm APO refractor which is around 280mm with the reducer, but won't cover full frame either. So I'm not interested in longer primes for astro as I'd rather use this.

Outside of astro I'm an enthusiastic but very much amateur photographer so don't really have any need for anything fancy! 

I guess this quickly boils down to what I prefer, but I'd be interested if you have an opinion on either of

- does modding make much a difference to widefield? 

- if the 80D and 6D were roughly the same price, I'd guess the 80D is a reasonable step up in everything except sensor size?

 

 

 

 

 

[happy-kat]

If looking just at numbers, in theory xD is in a better range then xxD which are better than xxxD though i would check the nitty gritty of the cameras, DPReview site for example has a side by side for the differences.

There have been wide field taken with a modded camera and it then shows interesting red bits in the image and for daytime aren't there ways to workaround the colour cast from the modification.

[Icesheet]

If you're going to stick to as wide as 14mm and want something for general photography too then I don't think you need a modded one. If you only plan to use it for nightscape photography and potentially with longer focal length lenses then I think you would get more benefit of a modded camera. Full frame can for sure be an advantage if you have the lenses that cover the sensor.