Quote:
Originally Posted by Kokatha man
Hi all and anyone - I've dreaded asking this question in some ways; not because of fear of asking, rather information overload and a plethora of (possible) conflicting opinions!
This thread on specifically the Canon 450D seemed a good place to start my quest; seeing that a Canon 450D is, from discreet enquiring, a (possibly) very good option for my intents.
I am a complete novice at astro-imaging (not technically completely true; but my last forays were 30 or so years ago with SLR's and emulsion film, so I'd discount that!)
My primary focus (excuse the pun) will be naked eye objects (not through the scopes) taken with a camera mounted on either my HEQ5 Pro mount or on my Round Table EQ platform. Wide lenses will be utilized to capture various sky sections, with many of my shots around and within the Milky Way regions - clear, sharp images with good tonal rendition and compositional interest/dynamics is my objective (I envisage incorporating terrestial landforms into some compositions - though obviously with "soft" night effects.)
The camera would be used down the track for imaging through the scopes; but that is not its' primary purpose.
My initial questions are these: How would the 450D handle these situations and what are the mods that are touted for DSO imaging, and their particular relevance to my prime purpose for this camera?
Whilst have a "basic" understanding of DSLR's my only other understanding is the need for specific filters and of course adaptors for DSO imaging - Id be interested to know how this applies to my intended initial prime useage: also, with regards to companies such as Hutech, just what is the extent of the "mods" they carry out to them to enhance their astro-imaging capabilities?
Thanking anyone for their input, regards, Darryl.
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Hi Darryl, answering your pm. here goes.. you might have noticed i don't really do widefield astrophotography so i'll try my best to answer some of your questions. If you intend to use a normal 450D for DSO or milky way etc for widefield stuff through a camera lense, a relative good fast focal ratio lense might be required which might set you back $$$$. I believe the HEQ5 has an autoguiding port. To do long exposures, you will need to utilise this with a guide cam and also a guidescope more $$$$. Before rushing into the autoguiding stuff, get yourself used to taking short expo shots with the 450d if you go ahead to purchase this.
In regards to Hutech mods, they simply replace the original internal IR filter with one of their own either a clear glass or a UV/IR filter which doesn't block the H-Alpha wavelength thus a modified DSLR will capture roughly 8 - 10 times more photons than a stock standard one. The difference between a clear glass version and a UV/IR filter version is that the clear glass version you can take infrared photos with an additional infrared filter. To take normal pics, you will additionally need a front mount UV/IR filter.
I don't know much about the actual procedure into replacing the filter as i havent done one myself yet, but it will be similiar to this:
http://astro.ai-software.com/article.../mod_350D.html
If you live in light polluted suburb, it might be best to purchase a light pollution filter such as the IDAS LPS2 (From Hutech). The only adapter you will need is the camera adapter which either can be screwed into a dovetail, guidescope rings etc.
Ask away if you like.
Cheers.