Camera Mod.

[Peter Piper]

Hello all,

I've read in the imaging forums about various cameras. The Canon 350/450s seem to be mentioned a lot. Some are referred to as 'modded'.

Could somebody explain what the modification is and what are the benefits of it.

Regards and thanks

Peter

[barkis]

Here is a link to the modification step by step.

Small differences regarding the 1000D camera, are highlighted

Ron.

http://ghonis2.ho8.com/rebelmod450d1.html

[Peter Piper]

Thanks for the link Ron, quite a bit of info there. I'll study it later - I'm at work at the moment - constant interruptions etc.

regards

Peter

[Petervde]

Peter,

The basic idea behind the modification of a digital camera is to remove the blocking filter which is in front of the chip. This blocks most of the light apart from the visual part of the spectrum. Since h-alpha (hydrogen) light is very important for astrophotographers, this filter means that your camera becomes less adapted to astrophotography.

When modifying the camera, this filter is removed or replaced by a clear filter. As a result the camera becomes much more suited for astrophotography of many deep-sky objects (North America Nebula, Orion Nebula and so on).

Peter

[Peter Piper]

Thanks Peter

Another question - is this mod available for other makes of camera eg. Nikon and Olympus? I haven't seen any reference to these.

Regards Peter

[Tim]

The canons are generally preferred for astro imaging.

Not all canons have so harsh a filter as the 350D, but a modified one makes a big difference to the emission nebula photographs.

[Beyond_Vision]

It is possbile to modify some of the Nikon models but as Tim has said the Canon range is more popular.

Regards

Kevin

[Peter Piper]

Once again thanks TJ and BV.

I will look further into this when I finally get home (Working away at the moment.)

Regards Peter

[Peter Piper]

Sorry, I forgot to add - I assume any camera modded in this way becomes unsuitable for day to day photography.

Peter

[barkis]

Sorry, I forgot to add - I assume any camera modded in this way becomes unsuitable for day to day photography.

Peter

Depends how it's done. The offending filter that is removed, can be replaced with one that will allow both.

I'm talking about the Canon here though.

The filter cost £56, at least that's what I paid for mine.Not sure if they have gone up in price.

Everything else seems to have.

Ron.

[Beyond_Vision]

Sorry, I forgot to add - I assume any camera modded in this way becomes unsuitable for day to day photography.

Peter

Not entirely, you can use the custom white balance function to compensate or take images in RAW mode and post process them. You can also buy a original white balance filter as below.

Astronomik -OWB Filter Original white balance for modified Canon EOS cameras-

the clip version fits in between the lens and camera body but is not suitable for EF-s lenses.

Regards

Kevin