Astro modified DSLR - Recommendations for buying second hand

[Sarek]

I'm looking to buy an already astro modified second hand DSLR . I'm just looking at a body only.  Could anyone recommend a seller? I've seen a few dedicated sites but hard to gauge how reliable/trustworthy they are. Cheap Astrophotography has been mentioned to me.

Edited June 9, 2022 by Sarek

[Alien 13]

it depends on what modifications you are after, the genuine factory astro modded Canon 60Da might come up on sites like MPB photographic or WEX. 

Alan

[rl]

http://www.astronomiser.co.uk/booking.htm

https://cheapastrophotography.com/

I've not heard a bad word about either but it's along time since I looked. You might find a supplier review on this site if you're lucky.

RL

[Carbon Brush]

Agree with @Alien 13 adding a question.
Where are you on the astrophotography money trail?

If this is your first foray into the astrophotography money pit, then look out for a used 'anything' that is on sale from someone trustworthy.
That will set you back perhaps £150 on a private sale and you will get to learn a lot.
At some point you can sell it on without great loss.

Spend some time on this site looking at what others have done. There lots of images and discussions.
With time and posts you will have access to the classified section.
Astro modified cameras of all sorts come up for sale frequently.

Canon seems to be the most popular. I don't claim to know the reasons.
Many years ago I bought a modded Canon 1000D (I said it was years ago) and I still have it.
By keeping to the same family for 'ordinary' and astro, I became familiar with accessories, operation, etc.
Most important, I didn't have to fund different lens fittings for day and night.

Enjoy the journey.

David.

Edited June 9, 2022 by Carbon Brush

[Sarek]

16 minutes ago, Carbon Brush said:

Agree with @Alien 13 adding a question.
Where are you on the astrophotography money trail?

If this is your first foray into the astrophotography money pit, then look out for a used 'anything' that is on sale from someone trustworthy.
That will set you back perhaps £150 on a private sale and you will get to learn a lot.
At some point you can sell it on without great loss.

Spend some time on this site looking at what others have done. There lots of images and discussions.
With time and posts you will have access to the classified section.
Astro modified cameras of all sorts come up for sale frequently.

Canon seems to be the most popular. I don't claim to know the reasons.
Many years ago I bought a modded Canon 1000D (I said it was years ago) and I still have it.
By keeping to the same family for 'ordinary' and astro, I became familiar with accessories, operation, etc.
Most important, I didn't have to fund different lens fittings for day and night.

Enjoy the journey.

David.

Thanks David. I'm right at the beginning of my journey. Everything I've read and been advised tells me to  try and prioritise a good mount over everything else but looking for a camera that I can get decent results from and not be discouraged. I've seen some terrific captures from reasonably priced DSLRs so going to try that before getting any further into the camera money pit. I was thinking £150 to £250

Canon does seem to be a popular choice.

Do you know what the criteria are for accessing the classifieds?

[Sarek]

Am I right in thinking an Ha mod will be sufficient and a full spectrum would require more filters? As I'm not intending to use the camera for daylight photography full spectrum is not neccessary?

[wulfrun]

1 hour ago, Sarek said:

Do you know what the criteria are for accessing the classifieds?

50 posts to access the classifieds and  250 to place a for-sale ad. You also have to be a member for 30 days/a month ish (I think). Posts in the non-astro sections don't count. Details in the Code of Conduct section, at the top of the page.

Edited June 9, 2022 by wulfrun

[Carbon Brush]

I am no expert in the modifcations available to different cameras. I can only comment on my experience.
There are plenty on the forum who know more detail than me and I'm sure they will be along.

You can get nice results from a standard camera. Removing the long red/IR cut filter will be a big help showing nebulae.
A good example (for next winter) is the Orion nebula. It really jumps out with more red.
Being big, bright and easily found, it is a good target.

I can't take the credit for this one of Orion. I had spoken with someone about astrophotography and he wanted to give it a try.
It was taken using a standard DSLR with basic lens. Undriven mount and a few short images stacked.
For the person who took it, it was amazing to turn a faint smudge into something with detail.
He proudly showed it around friends and used it as his phone wallpaper. I say well done for a basic package.
I am showing it as an example of what can be done without spending.
 

 

 

[Alien 13]

What scope are you intending to use as this will determine what level of mod you can use, for example a basic refractor would show star bloat with a full spectrum mod unless you add external filters which might cost more than the camera itself, a reflector however would be fine. The basic Ha mod should still work with refractors and camera lenses provided the sensor was re shimmed or the mod included a filter swap rather than removal.

Alan

[Sarek]

14 minutes ago, Carbon Brush said:

I am no expert in the modifcations available to different cameras. I can only comment on my experience.
There are plenty on the forum who know more detail than me and I'm sure they will be along.

You can get nice results from a standard camera. Removing the long red/IR cut filter will be a big help showing nebulae.
A good example (for next winter) is the Orion nebula. It really jumps out with more red.
Being big, bright and easily found, it is a good target.

I can't take the credit for this one of Orion. I had spoken with someone about astrophotography and he wanted to give it a try.
It was taken using a standard DSLR with basic lens. Undriven mount and a few short images stacked.
For the person who took it, it was amazing to turn a faint smudge into something with detail.
He proudly showed it around friends and used it as his phone wallpaper. I say well done for a basic package.
I am showing it as an example of what can be done without spending.
 

 

 

That's very encouraging. I was having a look at a You Tube video of a presentation that Steve Richards (author of "Make Every Photon Count" ) gave to an astronomical society meeting. Apart from being a really informative talk about AP he also talks (1:34:30) about reasonably priced DSLRs being as good for dedicated AP as more expensive models because the extra features are not needed - makes sense when you think about it. The link to the presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VByzYdG7hI4&ab_channel=HerefordshireAstronomicalSociety

 

[Sarek]

14 minutes ago, Alien 13 said:

What scope are you intending to use as this will determine what level of mod you can use, for example a basic refractor would show star bloat with a full spectrum mod unless you add external filters which might cost more than the camera itself, a reflector however would be fine. The basic Ha mod should still work with refractors and camera lenses provided the sensor was re shimmed or the mod included a filter swap rather than removal.

Alan

Thanks Alan. I'm probably going to link it to a refractor. Yes I think I would be looking for the basic Ha mod with a filter swap although I've also seem re-shimmed ones depending on the model.

Vaughan

[Alien 13]

1 minute ago, Sarek said:

Thanks Alan. I'm probably going to link it to a refractor. Yes I think I would be looking for the basic Ha mod with a filter swap although I've also seem re-shimmed ones depending on the model.

Vaughan

Couple of points regarding camera choice (with canon) are that newer models are more likely to have lower noise levels and the less digits in the model number the better the camera in functions and noise performance. Make sure that as a minimum that the camera has live view and still supported by third party software.

Alan

[Astro Noodles]

Hi. It may be worth watching this. I found it useful.

If you have a large budget, plenty of time and don't get frustrated when things don't work, then spend away. 

If you're like me and have a modest budget, limited time and want to build up an imaging kit to match your skills over time, then I think this video makes a lot of sense. Especially when you take into account that you are unlikely to get more than 30 nights a year when astrophotography is practical,  and good quality astrophotography kit can be re-sold for a good percentage of what you paid for it.

 

Edited June 9, 2022 by Astro Noodles

[Elp]

I've got an IR removed Canon 600D, the camera has a custom white balance profile so images appear more red, this is apparent more when taking daytime photos. If you do decide to use it during the day you can make another white balance profile, I tend to keep it as default astro as I can always edit photos after for colour balance. Canon are popular I believe because of the choice of compatible lenses are more broad, the bodies tend to be slightly cheaper. I primarily bought this model as it has a fully articulating rear screen. If I were to buy one now, I've always wanted a Nikon D750 as it's full frame but this would make my current collection of lenses redundant, so I think mirror less would be the way to go going forward.

[Sarek]

12 minutes ago, Elp said:

I've got an IR removed Canon 600D, the camera has a custom white balance profile so images appear more red, this is apparent more when taking daytime photos. If you do decide to use it during the day you can make another white balance profile, I tend to keep it as default astro as I can always edit photos after for colour balance. Canon are popular I believe because of the choice of compatible lenses are more broad, the bodies tend to be slightly cheaper. I primarily bought this model as it has a fully articulating rear screen. If I were to buy one now, I've always wanted a Nikon D750 as it's full frame but this would make my current collection of lenses redundant, so I think mirror less would be the way to go going forward.

I think, like you, I will probably tend to keep it dedicated to astro as I have  a decent bridge camera which I'm very happy with.  Was the custom white balance something you did for a reason?

If buying second hand is it worth worrying about the shutter count? I think I read somewhere that DSLRs at the budget end should be good for at least 50,000? 

[Elp]

Custom white balance came with it, without an IR filter your images colour shift hence why planetary images tend to be taken with IR filters in the image train. Shutter count is something to consider but I'm not on a pro level so maybe someone with more experience can comment on this, but also hence the recommendation for mirror less cameras although they do tend to cost more. If you're solely going to use it for astro a dedicated cooled astro camera will deliver better results from the outset with less noise and will save you the time of buying it after the dslr (it's very likely you will) but comes with the additional setup/cost.