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Is the Canon 500D good for anything?


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I have recently purchased a tripod and remote trigger device. Me being really into astronomy, I would like to enquire about your opinions of the 500D. I would like to shoot some planets and deep sky stuff with just the camera. I know I sound like I am joking, but I would say I have a capable lens and good software to mess around with the images. All I need to know is if this camera can perform decently in astrophotography, if not I'll stick to landscape photography.

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I think all Canon DSLRs have some potential, certainly for deep sky stuff.. I would'nt recommend a 300D nowadays  but they were pretty much state-of-the art  25 years ago and people got good results. Of all the standard Japanese camera manufacturers, Canon are by far the best supported from the astrophotography point of view. Those later than the 400D all have the live view facility ( I believe) which really makes a difference as far as ease of use goes. Great on wide-field deep sky targets like star clusters and the bigger nebulae; just pick your targets to suit the APSC sensor dimensions and your focal length. . Not so good on planets if you want to go stacking; too many pixels and not enough frames! Still ok on the moon though. I've used an 1100D with APT  software for years as a widefield camera and been very happy with the results. Most people who stick with it through the steep and painful learning curve end up moving on to a "proper" astro camera, but the Canon option is still the way in to the subject for many. If you compare the results against the costs for a secondhand / already owned DSLR and a new cooled specialist astro camera with the same sensor size you can see why...

You will need spare batteries or better, a 12v power supply adapter. I always found it best to control the camera with a PC since you don't have to crouch behind the thing to focus but you can do it the hard way with just the camera/ lens and a mount. 

There are some good books:

Astrophotography for the amateur (Michael Covington); several editions available.

Making every photon count (Steve Richards); rite-of-passage reading. 

The long exposures needed (5 - 10 mins) will make a tracking (equatorial) mount essential because of the earth's rotation. The mount is generally considered more important than the lens which generally comes as a surprise for newbies. Cheapest useful option is possibly a Skywatcher Star Adventurer. 

To begin with don't overthink it.. you don't mention the focal length of your lens but I'd just have a go on M42 / Orion with a 10 or 20 second unguided exposure (50mm lens) and see what you get. Any lens much longer will need an equatorial driven mount. 

Edited by rl
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52 minutes ago, rl said:

I think all Canon DSLRs have some potential, certainly for deep sky stuff.. I would'nt recommend a 300D nowadays  but they were pretty much state-of-the art  25 years ago and people got good results. Of all the standard Japanese camera manufacturers, Canon are by far the best supported from the astrophotography point of view. Those later than the 400D all have the live view facility ( I believe) which really makes a difference as far as ease of use goes. Great on wide-field deep sky targets like star clusters and the bigger nebulae; just pick your targets to suit the APSC sensor dimensions and your focal length. . Not so good on planets if you want to go stacking; too many pixels and not enough frames! Still ok on the moon though. I've used an 1100D with APT  software for years as a widefield camera and been very happy with the results. Most people who stick with it through the steep and painful learning curve end up moving on to a "proper" astro camera, but the Canon option is still the way in to the subject for many. If you compare the results against the costs for a secondhand / already owned DSLR and a new cooled specialist astro camera with the same sensor size you can see why...

You will need spare batteries or better, a 12v power supply adapter. I always found it best to control the camera with a PC since you don't have to crouch behind the thing to focus but you can do it the hard way with just the camera/ lens and a mount. 

There are some good books:

Astrophotography for the amateur (Michael Covington); several editions available.

Making every photon count (Steve Richards); rite-of-passage reading. 

The long exposures needed (5 - 10 mins) will make a tracking (equatorial) mount essential because of the earth's rotation. The mount is generally considered more important than the lens which generally comes as a surprise for newbies. Cheapest useful option is possibly a Skywatcher Star Adventurer. 

To begin with don't overthink it.. you don't mention the focal length of your lens but I'd just have a go on M42 / Orion with a 10 or 20 second unguided exposure (50mm lens) and see what you get. Any lens much longer will need an equatorial driven mount. 

Well since I am on a budget I won't purchase a tracker, as those are pretty expensive where I live. My lens is  some sort of zoom lens that can go from 28 to 135mm. I'll go out and buy a spare battery or two.  I'll stick to larger and brighter objects as not to go above one minute of exposure. My mount is pretty stable so I'm hoping for the best on a clear sky! Thanks for the help!

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I started with a 450D and intervalometer.. and still use the camera (after a couple of years I had it astro-modded cheaply).  I also got a second-hand star adventurer (have moved on to a HEQ5).

Without tracking your exposures at longer focal lengths will be very short... However you should be able to get some nice wide-angle images with reasonable exposure lengths, and landscapes with good star trails.

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The "500" rule says, divide 500 by focal length of lens used and this is how many seconds of exposure you can use before star trailing will occur. So a 50mm lens can be used with a 10 second exposure for example. (full frame camera)

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1 hour ago, Franklin said:

The "500" rule says, divide 500 by focal length of lens used and this is how many seconds of exposure you can use before star trailing will occur. So a 50mm lens can be used with a 10 second exposure for example. (full frame camera)

 

1 hour ago, City9Town0 said:

I started with a 450D and intervalometer.. and still use the camera (after a couple of years I had it astro-modded cheaply).  I also got a second-hand star adventurer (have moved on to a HEQ5).

Without tracking your exposures at longer focal lengths will be very short... However you should be able to get some nice wide-angle images with reasonable exposure lengths, and landscapes with good star trails.

Thanks y'all! 

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2 hours ago, michael8554 said:

For Planetary a long focal length is required, with your 135mm lens the planets will be star-like dots.

The 500D and 208-135mm will be fine for wide-field shots, applying the 500 Rule.

Michael

This is Jupiter photographed with a 135 mm lens on my Nikon D800, which has a very similar pixel size to the 500D. Obviously, Jupiter is over-exposed, as the intention was to capture the moons, only two being visible at the time, but Jupiter is clearly showing a disc. Clearly, a much longer focal length is to be preferred and all the other planets will appear even smaller.

Jupiter_135mm_Lens.jpg

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This read might be interesting re planets

https://www.astropix.com/html/equipment/canon_one_to_one_pixel_resolution.html

With my android phone I control my canon camera with DSLR Controller app great for focusing when not using a laptop. Usb lead and OTG cable

Startrails are fun images to with a static tripod, starstax

Stacking many still images can pick the milky way out like around Deneb

If there's foreground sequator for stacking or in general for stills from deep sky stacker, planets process from video such as registax

Northern hemisphere East and West best for keeping star trails under control

Lots to experiment with

 

Edited by happy-kat
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Since you're budget is restricted, work with what you have. If you've already got the 500D, then use it by all means! I first used a point-and-shoot (with good focal ratio though), to try out if I could capture anything at all, and I was really surprised at what I could get. Now I'm using a 550D, astromodified, that I could get cheaply, with a good 135mm lens. It's great for the larger deep sky stuff, but indeed, planets won't be very good. I do use a star tracker though. You should also keep in mind that your shutter lifespan will deteriorate quickly if you need to take many shorter exposures vs fewer longer exposures with a star tracker.

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