DSLR

[Steve1976]

Not sure if this would be the best forum for this but I am thinking of buying a good DLSR camera. This would mainly be for everyday use but I would like to use it for wide field astrophotography and perhaps to be able to use it one day on DSO's if I ever manage to get enough money to buy the right scope and mount for this. With this in mind which DSLR would you recommend? Budget wise up to a grand but preferably less, maybe between 500 - 800 if possible.

[angusb1]

The Canon 1000D is a favourite at the moment for DSO photography. You might want to consider getting a separate camera for daytime use though as a modified DSLR with the IR filter removed will give you much better results for DSOs but is much less useful for daytime work. So get a nice DSLR for daytime work first and a modified 1000D or 350D for your astro work if you decide your unmodified camera isn't doing what you want.

[Bizibilder]

Canon 1000D seems to be the camera of choise these days. It will take perfectly good astro photo's, without modification, of most objects - it's ony objects with high levels of infra-red eg emission nebulae that will suffer, but they can still be photographed! It also makes a good general purpose "ordinary" camera.

[Sparrow]

I've not regretted getting the Canon EOS1000D (Check the imaging Deep Sky forum for some of my recent images) and you can get it sub £400 with the 18-50 lense. If you do want to spend more then there are better Canons in the EOS range but they are heavier.

[Steve1976]

Thanks guys. I was actually thinking Canon. For normal photography would the 500D be much better than the 1000D or is it not worth the extra price?

[starstalker]

dunno if this is of any interest to you CANON EOS REBEL XS/ EOS 1000D DIGITAL SLR CAMERA BODY on eBay (end time 29-Aug-10 17:28:58 BST)

[Steve 1962]

Hi Steve

I used my stock un modded 400d for a couple of years to start with and that gave me plenty to think about and learn. I've just upgraded to a modded 1000d which I'm delighted with.

If I had my time again I'd probably buy my camera of choice for daytime use and also use it for astro work too (which seems to be very occassionally these days!) , then having seen how I got on with it, decide later whether to mod it, buy a dedicated DSLR or even a CCD.

Bottom line - I don't think you can go wrong with a Canon

Hope this helps

Steve