Galaxies with modded dslr

[labtech1122]

Hi all, I'm thinking about getting my canon 650d modded.

I really like nebula photos and love what the mod does to the images, I'm planning of getting a full frame 6d soon but what I wonder is if I should get mine modded after galaxy season? I want to mod it but if I get it done now will i then have to miss out on the galaxy shots.

In a nut shell my question is can you take decent galaxy photos with a modded canon?

Thanks for your help in advance guys.

Any advice is welcome

[Elp]

Thinking about it, I don't think a mod will help with galaxies (or very little at least), as a first stage mod removes the IR filter making the sensor exposed to more IR wavelength light like the ha spectrum, a galaxy is broadband colour so doing a mod I think will make little difference other than maybe picking up a bit more of the red ha regions. For an emission nebula, that's different. A full mod also removes the UV filter but that isn't really useful for AP.

Edited March 26, 2023 by Elp

[labtech1122]

6 minutes ago, Elp said:

Thinking about it, I don't think a mod will help with galaxies (or very little at least), as a first stage mod removes the IR filter making the sensor exposed to more IR wavelength light like the ha spectrum, a galaxy is broadband colour so doing a mod I think will make little difference other than maybe picking up a bit more of the red ha regions. For an emission nebula, that's different. A full mod also removes the UV filter but that isn't really useful for AP.

OK thanks for the reply, I knew there wouldn't be any real bonuses to galaxy imaging but what I am worried about is negative effects it will have. Would modding it negatively impact galaxy shooting do you think?

[Elp]

Not really, the camera will have a custom white balance applied so the images will be slightly redder in tone, the lack of IR filtering will also bloat the received light a little (eg bloated stars). You can always change the white balance to whatever profile you want. I still use mine occasionally for daytime, doesn't really matter, if I like the photo I'll just edit the colour balance afterward.

[rickwayne]

White balance is an operation applied only to JPEGs. If you're shooting raw data (as you should), the only white balance applied is a notation in the metadata to provide a hint to processing software.

[michael8554]

1.  The Ha mod leaves the IR filter in place, so no need to add another IR filter.

2. A Full Spectrum mod removes both filters, useful if you always use additional light pollution or other narrow-band filters.

3. White Balance setting is in the Raw .CR2 metadata, and most image software gives you the choice to apply it or not when loading.

Michael

[Albir phil]

Hi. Modified DSLR are best suited for emmision objects as they bring out the red hydrogen in them . For galaxy I use an unmodified camera.

[WolfieGlos]

I use both modded and unmodded, and I haven’t noticed any difference. Only with the modified that you get some of the Ha in galaxies if it’s there. I think it depends on the camera and the mod, since my modded camera still retains most of the IR blocking from the description of where I bought it from: http://www.astronomiser.co.uk/filters.htm - assume this would be pretty universal mind. 

This one I posted recently was with a modded DSLR; https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/409905-m63-sunflower-galaxy/

 

As I said in that topic, the biggest difference seems to be stacking differences between Siril and Astap, something I intend to investigate. I’ve tried M51 with the same camera a few nights this week, with no astrodark and only a few hours of “darkness” per night, and the stack from Astap produces a lot of colour and blues in the galaxy (but also some satellite trials). I haven’t tried it in Siril yet for its colour, but I will be trying but I never get satellite trails with it.