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Old 18-12-2015, 10:05 PM
glend (Glen)
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Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Lake Macquarie
Posts: 7,054
I would agree with Ken that there is some confusion regarding 'naming conventions' applied to DSLR mods. Those doing mods on a commercial basis, like Gary Honis, and Yun Lee at CentralDS, and Luis Campo, and others, can describe them as they like. However, some standard conventions do shine through:
1. The removal of the Low Pass 2 filter is generally accepted as the standard spectrum mod as it will open up the camera to Ha (which was effectively blocked by that filter). For special 'astro' models like the 6Da I believe that Canon just created a special LP2 with greater Ha reach, whether it is the equivalent to a LP2 removal I can't say.
2. The Full Spectrum title can be applied to #1 above, but it is perhaps more appropriate for the combined removal of the LP1 and LP2. Some people choose to leave LP1 in place as the spectrum passed (as Ken has shown) is very close to that of a Baader UV/IR Cut filter which would likely be added back in front anyway. The anti-alysing function of LP1 may have some value in relation to smearing across the bayer matrix to prevent Miore pattern effect in sensors .
3. A complicating factor emerging now through the mono conversions (debayering) that CentralDS is offering is that the stock Canon sensor coverglass has high reflectivity and is not multicoated - something viewed as essential for serious astro work. There is a good utube video that shows the differences in reflectivity of the stock sensor coverglass and after-market Muticoated Clear replacements from companies such as Astronomik, Edmunds, and others. You can see the utube video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwYmmNtGTqg

There is currently no name for that mod ( I guess we can call it the Coverglass Mod) and only CentralDS seem to be offering to replace it as part of the mono mod. I should mention that it is fairly complicated as a DIY mod due to the bonding over the sensor which requires heat to be carefully applied to the sensor glass surface to enable the glass to be removed.
4. Mono mods, or debayered sensors, bring new language into the Mod conversation. CentralDS is now offering a debayering service for most Canon sensors, using a chemical stripping process to remove the microlense layer and the Bayer Matrix. The result is a sensor that is using the entire pixel population for luminance at all times, greatly increasing the apparent resolution as it is no longer constrainted by the Bayer Matrix into producing only one colour. The price you pay for increased resolution is that the microlenses are lost and thus some photons that previously would have been focused into the pixels may not be picked up now, and this may mean that sub times might have to be increased to compensate for this loss of photon focusing. A secondary effect is some slight reflectivity off the surface which may result in increased bloom effect. CentralDS is very honest about this but their test shots on the website are pretty impressive. I might add that I have had a 450D sensor debayered by CentralDS recently and am in the process of testing it now, with early results showing promise.

Re Cooling mods, I won't get into the cold finger modification process here but it can significantly reduce noise to the point where Darks may no longer be required. Testing done by Rcheshire and myself (separately) confirmed that in the case of the 450D noise ceases to be an issue when the sensor is cooled to close to 0C. At that temperature you can just use Bias/offset frames as your darks as they become near identical to sub time darks. So suffice to say there is terminology around that mod as well but it is a rather rare one at this point due to the complexities involved.

Clear as mud right?

Last edited by glend; 18-12-2015 at 11:22 PM.
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