Nikon or Canon, for astrophotog

[beginner]

Liquidice,

Aiyo.

You bought the Nikon then ask whether Canon or Nikon is good.
Very brave.
Everyone seem to say Canon better, then how?

Canon make 20Da, then 60Da, Nikon make what? No astro inclined camera yet.
But I am thinking of buying the D600. Fullframe and 100%VF and reasonable price.

True, on limited budget we want a camera that can also be used for daytime photography in case we fail terribly taking the nightsky. At least not embarrass when people ask, just say it is for normal use mah.
You know, Nighsky just try try for fun only.

Your original collection of lenses is Nikon or Canon?

Choose correctly, a DSLR can also take reasonable photo of nightsky objects.
Noise sure have some. How can CMOS sensor compare to CCD sensor?

I tried my canon 60Da once on nightsky and it seem ok.
I will try to find the photo and post for you to see, tomorrow.

[liquidice]

Liquidice,

Aiyo.

You bought the Nikon then ask whether Canon or Nikon is good.
Very brave.
Everyone seem to say Canon better, then how?

Canon make 20Da, then 60Da, Nikon make what? No astro inclined camera yet.
But I am thinking of buying the D600. Fullframe and 100%VF and reasonable price.

True, on limited budget we want a camera that can also be used for daytime photography in case we fail terribly taking the nightsky. At least not embarrass when people ask, just say it is for normal use mah.
You know, Nighsky just try try for fun only.

Your original collection of lenses is Nikon or Canon?

Choose correctly, a DSLR can also take reasonable photo of nightsky objects.
Noise sure have some. How can CMOS sensor compare to CCD sensor?

I tried my canon 60Da once on nightsky and it seem ok.
I will try to find the photo and post for you to see, tomorrow.

my area is mostly cloudy. rain almost every afternoon. the clear sky only last like 1-2 hr max before some cloud appear in the picture frame again. i have try many night, go out there to the wild 30 mins drive, taking my shots, sky only clear 1-2 hour max. noise high is ok, hot pixel more and more. then i bought D600 thinking to use it for underwater photography, but giving it last try with F1.8 50mm lens.

i was gonna sell 7D, cos 1-2 hours, enough exposure for stacking? narrow band? this astrophotog in my weather seem hopeless.
then i read about modifying 60D. so now i am in the midst of either mod the 7D or sell it and get a lighter 60D to mod, or just sell all the canon and move to underwater with D600.

the cloudy is killing everything.
is there such thing as , shoot a few sets of exposure and continue same nebulae some other night?
can still stack?

[beginner]

Liquidice,

I think you should try with your Canon7D.
Nikon D600 has big sensor and you may get vignetting.

Do not mod the camera as it would not be easy to use for daytime shot after that.
See how the image looks like from your 7D.
See if you can easily image the sky object or not.
It is not as straight forward as daytime photography.

[liquidice]

Liquidice,

I think you should try with your Canon7D.
Nikon D600 has big sensor and you may get vignetting.

Do not mod the camera as it would not be easy to use for daytime shot after that.
See how the image looks like from your 7D.
See if you can easily image the sky object or not.
It is not as straight forward as daytime photography.

i saw theres a CLS clip on filter for mod camera, so that they can use the mod camera at daytime shooting again. is that true? the white balance is tuned back to normal with the clipon filter
or the other way round?

[orly_andico]

I took this photo, unguided, with a Vixen Polaris mount that cost $150, a Pentax K20D camera, and a Pentax 50mm f2 lens that cost $50.



You can see the Flame Nebula and even the Horsehead if you look very carefully.

The key is you need to have reasonable skies. I took the above photo in 2009 in the middle of Manila (which has more reasonable skies than Singapore).

You can do a lot with a basic mount, a camera, and a camera lens.

[liquidice]

I took this photo, unguided, with a Vixen Polaris mount that cost $150, a Pentax K20D camera, and a Pentax 50mm f2 lens that cost $50.



You can see the Flame Nebula and even the Horsehead if you look very carefully.

The key is you need to have reasonable skies. I took the above photo in 2009 in the middle of Manila (which has more reasonable skies than Singapore).

You can do a lot with a basic mount, a camera, and a camera lens.

wow
now i have some motivation to keep going

but thats called tracking with polarie.
exposure how long? iso?
thank u

all i need is clear sky i guess..
kept raining

[orly_andico]

Polaris, not Polarie.

The Polaris is an old, old Vixen mount. 1980s vintage.

It can carry more than the Polarie.

Anyway that was 4 x 30 seconds at ISO 800 I think. The old Pentax is noisy, and it shows.

[beginner]

i saw theres a CLS clip on filter for mod camera, so that they can use the mod camera at daytime shooting again. is that true? the white balance is tuned back to normal with the clipon filter
or the other way round?

You can get Ok photo even with unmod camera. Why you go remove the IR-cut filter of such a good camera like 7D. Nightsky shooting with DSLR can only achieve good result with very dark sky.
And this is like new moon period. So you won't use it frequently.

U keep take in-take out the clip on, many dust will get into the sensor chamber.

Try first with your 7D unmod.

Btw way do you have a tracking Equatorial mount?

[beginner]

Liquidice,

Your Vixen Polarie need the North star to polar align.
If you are in Spore or Malaysia, you most likely can't see the North star.
Unless you are on a hill top without obstruction of buildings or trees.

[liquidice]

Liquidice,

Your Vixen Polarie need the North star to polar align.
If you are in Spore or Malaysia, you most likely can't see the North star.
Unless you are on a hill top without obstruction of buildings or trees.

cant see. we are at 1 degree lattitude if not mistaken
i adjust my tilting angle and direction of the vixen polarie on the tripod , to point to polaris, with the info from ipad sky safari. info like degree from horizon, angle from north.
i have been practicing this a few times so that i wont waste the time during clear sky.
but mounting the camera on ball head while it spin or due to camera & ballhead weight, there are risk that i nearly drop my camera.