Quote:
Originally Posted by iceman
Most people who own a DSI do it because it's a low-cost imager, yes. But it's nowhere near as good as a Canon 40D or 450D will be.
Most people who own a DSI end up upgrading to a DSLR.
Get the best the first time, if you can.
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I have a DSLR, EOS 400D and it's a great camera. I also have a DSI I, but I only use it for guiding.
Originally I had an EOS 300D second hand for 300 bucks and a filter trade, but I sold it and upgraded to the EOS400 D twin lens kit for about 1250 AUD.
In hindsight for me it was a mistake. This is because while it is a great camera and I have taken some images that I am happy with, at the end of the day it has a poor Ha response and is uncooled. This will be the same for all DSLR's. This means you really cant go for more than 7 minutes as usually any longer and there is too much noise.
It is possible to upgrade by getting the Canon filter removed (USD 500) and getting the camera cooled (USD 1000) but then you are talking serious bucks, over US2500 for a new cooled, modded EOS 400D.
Currently I am looking at getting a real astro camera and i wish i got one initially after the 300 D purchase.
Anyway, in my opinion if you are just starting out then I would buy a second hand EOS 350D and see how you go. Practice your guiding, polar aligning and processing skills and you will get some nice photo's. After a while you will know what you want to achieve and will have a better idea if you really want to fork out say 1800 bucks for a meade DSI III or upto 10,000 USD for a brand new SBIG 11K. I would also say for beginning imagers its easier to take and process photos with a colour camera than with a mono camera with filters.
A used 350D can probably be got for around 300 dollars on ebay and later on you could sell it for a few hundred.
You can use a DSLR straight out of the box, but will need a T ring to connect to the scope ($40) and a bulb release ($70) to go over 30 seconds and avoid camera shake.
Paul