Thoughts on Canon 600d?

[Tan Zhi Qi]

Hi everyone. Newbie here.

I'm planning to get a proper camera for astrophotography. I'm in a tight budget so I'm looking into getting a second hand Canon 600d. What are your thoughts about this camera? Good for a beginner? 

I would appreciate if anyone can show pictures taken with this camera (preferably unmodded since I've no idea how to modify one XD).

Thanks for helping!

[Dr_Ju_ju]

I have 2 600D's, one modded & one for general used, I find them great & easy to drive, especially with adding Magic Lantern, to expose additional control...

& below is a single image taken earlier this year....

  

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have the 550D (modded) which has the same sensor as the 600D. It has been quite a stalwart performer these last years, and only recently have I switched to a cooled mono CMOS camera. I still use the 550D for its larger sensor. Here is an example that an unmodded camera should probably (roughly) equal, as it is a galaxy.

The modification shows up best on emission nebulae like this one

[Tan Zhi Qi]

12 minutes ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

I have the 550D (modded) which has the same sensor as the 600D. It has been quite a stalwart performer these last years, and only recently have I switched to a cooled mono CMOS camera. I still use the 550D for its larger sensor. Here is an example that an unmodded camera should probably (roughly) equal, as it is a galaxy.

The modification shows up best on emission nebulae like this one

WOW!! This really looks great! Is there any difference between the 550d and 600d? Or they are roughly the same? 

[Tan Zhi Qi]

3 hours ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

I have 2 600D's, one modded & one for general used, I find them great & easy to drive, especially with adding Magic Lantern, to expose additional control...

& below is a single image taken earlier this year....

  

Thanks for sharing this! It looks beautiful!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

5 minutes ago, Tan Zhi Qi said:

WOW!! This really looks great! Is there any difference between the 550d and 600d? Or they are roughly the same? 

The 600D is an upgrade of the 550D, but for astrophotography the main thing is the sensor, which in this case is the same. In a modded version, the filter in front of the sensor is replaced or removed, gaining a factor of three in sensitivity in H-alpha. 

[Tan Zhi Qi]

Just now, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

The 600D is an upgrade of the 550D, but for astrophotography the main thing is the sensor, which in this case is the same. In a modded version, the filter in front of the sensor is replaced or removed, gaining a factor of three in sensitivity in H-alpha. 

I see! Thanks for enlightening me. In this case, the 550D seems quite good too.

[Alien 13]

The 550D and 600D are almost identical in performance but there are some differences, the 550D has a dedicated 1:1 video crop mode that is very handy for planetary imaging, the 600D looses that feature but gains the fully articulated live view screen which was something of a game changer if you are imaging un-tethered..

Alan

[Tan Zhi Qi]

2 minutes ago, Alien 13 said:

The 550D and 600D are almost identical in performance but there are some differences, the 550D has a dedicated 1:1 video crop mode that is very handy for planetary imaging, the 600D looses that feature but gains the fully articulated live view screen which was something of a game changer if you are imaging un-tethered..

Alan

Yeah, it's the live view screen that makes me lean towards the 600d. I'll be more into deep sky imaging.

[Chris]

The 600D was the first of that line to include an articulated screen, and you would be amazed at how useful this feature is for astrophotography. Otherwise you can end up trying to look at the screen at some very strange uncomfortable angles

Sensor wise it's miles beyond what I started out with so I think it would be an excellent camera. Also it has live view which we now take for granted but that was a game changer when it was introduced on the 450D and 1000D.  

[AstroNebulee]

2 hours ago, Lockie said:

The 600D was the first of that line to include an articulated screen, and you would be amazed at how useful this feature is for astrophotography. Otherwise you can end up trying to look at the screen at some very strange uncomfortable angles

I have just moved onto a 600d from a 450d which I started out on, like lockie and others say the articulated screen makes the world of difference when connected on the back of the scope and shooting high up. My 450d got me into astrophotography with a dslr. Clear skies 

[Tan Zhi Qi]

11 hours ago, LeeHore7 said:

I have just moved onto a 600d from a 450d which I started out on, like lockie and others say the articulated screen makes the world of difference when connected on the back of the scope and shooting high up. My 450d got me into astrophotography with a dslr. Clear skies 

Any difference in the sensor of 600d or 450d?

[AstroNebulee]

2 hours ago, Tan Zhi Qi said:

Any difference in the sensor of 600d or 450d?

Hi

Here is a link to comparing the sensor sizes, there's hardly any physical size difference but resolution is higher on 600d, the reason I bought it was for the articulated screen. 

https://www.digicamdb.com/compare/canon_eos-600d-vs-canon_eos-450d/

[Tan Zhi Qi]

25 minutes ago, LeeHore7 said:

Hi

Here is a link to comparing the sensor sizes, there's hardly any physical size difference but resolution is higher on 600d, the reason I bought it was for the articulated screen. 

https://www.digicamdb.com/compare/canon_eos-600d-vs-canon_eos-450d/

Ah I see. Thanks!

[smashing]

My modded 600d has been a great camera for me, I got it knowing I wanted to ease my way back into this before heading down the dedicated astro camera.

Any excuse to post a picture haha

 

[rob_r]

Hi, I have the 600D and I cannot really fault it. The articulated screen is indeed a very useful feature and saves your back. It does have a digital zoom too for planetary but as ever it will be sacrificing detail. My pics are not a patch on those above but it has been a great beginner model for me as I have a ASI224MC now. But, I'll continue to use it for DSOs.

[Tan Zhi Qi]

5 hours ago, smashing said:

My modded 600d has been a great camera for me, I got it knowing I wanted to ease my way back into this before heading down the dedicated astro camera.

Any excuse to post a picture haha

 

This is a great picture! Thanks for sharing! 

[Tan Zhi Qi]

4 hours ago, rob_r said:

Hi, I have the 600D and I cannot really fault it. The articulated screen is indeed a very useful feature and saves your back. It does have a digital zoom too for planetary but as ever it will be sacrificing detail. My pics are not a patch on those above but it has been a great beginner model for me as I have a ASI224MC now. But, I'll continue to use it for DSOs.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! It's a beautiful shot! 

[JP-S]

One more thing to add is that Gary Honis' testing found the noise levels of the 600d to be slightly lower than the 550d: http://dslrmodifications.com/T3iReview/T3iReview.html

 

It's a shame that they removed the movie crop mode - is it possible to get this mode back via magic lantern?

[Tan Zhi Qi]

26 minutes ago, JP-S said:

One more thing to add is that Gary Honis' testing found the noise levels of the 600d to be slightly lower than the 550d: http://dslrmodifications.com/T3iReview/T3iReview.html

 

It's a shame that they removed the movie crop mode - is it possible to get this mode back via magic lantern?

Thanks! That sounds good What's a magic pattern btw? 

[Tan Zhi Qi]

Oops I mean magic lantern 

[Corncrake]

13 minutes ago, Tan Zhi Qi said:

magic lantern 

A software add-in to the SDcard that sort of supercedes the installed camera firmware.

Mostly removed when the card is removed, but can modify some of the camera internal settings. However, it is long tested on the old 600d so should be safe by now ?

https://magiclantern.fm/

 

 

 

[Tan Zhi Qi]

On 02/04/2021 at 09:04, Corncrake said:

A software add-in to the SDcard that sort of supercedes the installed camera firmware.

Mostly removed when the card is removed, but can modify some of the camera internal settings. However, it is long tested on the old 600d so should be safe by now ?

https://magiclantern.fm/

 

 

 

Ah I see. I'll check it out. Thanks!