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OK, I have sat on this thread for a wee while, waiting, mulling.
I am and always have been a Nikon aficionado. I have had all manner of Nikons over the years, and loved them all. I am also “Old School” and only just recently moved to cameras without a shutter speed dial, aperture ring, and/or rewind knob. I guess some of you young whippersnappers will have no idea what I am talking about. No mind.
I have also (just prior to going completely digital) owned Canons. To me they are clinical, but very functional.
I wanted a Canon digital, but couldn’t find one used, so instead ended up with a Nikon, the D100. (the D70 was not available when I bought).
The best thing about the Nikon line is the ability to use any old Nikkor. OK any old Nikkor will not give you all the auto features, but for astro work it simply needs to attach, and attach they do. I use an old (pre AI) Nikkor 300mm f4.5, and for constellation shots, or comet shots it is superb. I intend getting a shorter focal length or two, maybe a 180mm, and about an 85mm. Again these can be older lenses, and this means cheaper, without the quality suffering.
Canon throughout their cameras have changed their lens mounts, and the latest series, the EOS, have a completely different mount (the EF) to the previous (FD/FL) series. While this isn’t all bad, it means you must buy EF lenses, and these, especially the “L” series, rather expensive. Price them and you will see what I mean.
In as much as the respective qualities, Nikon/Canon, I doubt there is much difference. I personally like a “metal” camera, but add that the “plastic” models are as strong, possibly stronger. It is the aesthetics that suffer with plastic, they just don’t “feel” nice to me. Image quality will be nigh on impossible to tell apart I venture. The Nikon has a “Raw” setting, whereas I don’t think the Canon has, but I use this very infrequently.
The Nikon system has a cunning Noise Reduction (N/R) built in, and I use this all the time. It doubles the exposure time, but I live with this. The images therefore don’t need a dark frame, although I am going to try this anyway. Amp glow which is easily seen in a 2 minute (for example) exposure, is not seen when the N/R is used. I understand that the system takes the exposure, then takes a dark (automatically), and subtracts this dark (automatically as well). Cunning huh? It works.
With the D100 (not sure about the D70) there is mirror up, and the ability to use ISO3200 without hacking the firmware. To be honest I don’t use mirror up, and seldom get above ISO1250. The D100 allows a cable release, remember them?, to be used directly, and this means I don’t have to spring money for an electric remote. Bulb setting gives me about 5 minutes max.
The statement that the Canons are more sensitive to Ha is a bit wide sweeping, and perhaps comes from reviews, hopefully where both were compared. It am keen to try this test, and may get together with Robby, who has a Canon 300D and try it. So far I have been happy with the nebulosity images, those with Ha, like the Lagoon/Trifid, M42. Watch this space. Certainly the “inability” to render Ha is not sufficient reason to discount a Nikon, in favour of a Canon.
Bottom line is this. Buy one, and use it. I had an SBIG ST-7 about the time I got the D100. The ST-7 had a miniscule (comparatively) sized chip, and finding objects was challenging. It was monochrome and the D100 colour. The D100 proved so easy to use I had no qualms about selling the ST-7 although I have kept the Ha filter that I used with it, and may return to a mono cooled CCD camera one day, simply for Ha.
DSLR’s are simple (albeit a but pricey) but such easy and fun cameras to use. Most will not need anything else, and the choice between Canon and Nikon irrelevant. If anything the choice could be made on the overwhelming availability of astro related software designed for the Canon line, with Nikon not really being mentioned, examples are DSLR Focus and Maxim DL (although Nikon models are being incorporated slowly). Of course as Houghy correctly points out, there are others as well.
Get one, any one, and try it, you won’t regret it.
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