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Old 30-01-2011, 09:06 PM
Leeroy (Lee)
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Canon EOS 500D or 550D?

Hi folks..
Well i'm in the marklet for a DSLR camera for astro and a little terrestrial.
I've been reading online for the last 3 days trying to decide what to buy but i'm still not sure. I was initialy leaning towards the 550D because of the HD video ability with full manual control over the video settings like shutter speed, ISO etc. I figure this would be great for planetary immaging (in any case a lot better than my neximage), plus an 18mp sensor and liveview etc for long exposure DSO..
That was until i seen a dark frame comparason between the 550D and the 500D, with the 500D having slightly less noise. Not realy surprising since it's only 15.1MP. The 500D still does full HD video but with slightly less FPS (only 20 FPS, 550D is 30 FPS) however there is no manual control over the video settings. All automatic shutter speed ISO etc.
How good are the auto video settings?. Can this be circumvented by using the Liveview to my laptop and adjusting the settings there?

If the 550D has a slightly worse dark frame noise, would it be improved if you selected a lower resolution? Say shoot at 15.1 instead of the full 18Mp?
I've spoken to several camera shop "experts" and none seem to know much about astro stuff..
My budget is limited and i realy can't afford to buy the wrong thing..

Cheers
lee

Last edited by Leeroy; 31-01-2011 at 05:48 AM.
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Old 31-01-2011, 09:32 AM
adman (Adam)
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depends on how much non-astro work you are going to be doing with it. If it is mostly going to be for astro - then spend your money on a 2nd hand QHY8 - or even a new one if you get it from Peter Tan (www.tan14.com). These are cooled, and have several orders of magnitude less noise than a DSLR.

Buuut...if like me you are doing a reasonably even mix of terrestrial / astro, then there really is no choice, until you can afford both...

When I bought my 550D, the salesperson told me that the 550 had less high iso / long exposure noise than the 500, and that the 550 was basically 7D innards in a cheaper (non-titanium/non-weather-sealed) case. How true this is I haven't really tried to find out....

Adam
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Old 31-01-2011, 10:10 AM
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koputai (Jason)
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and that the 550 was basically 7D innards in a cheaper (non-titanium/non-weather-sealed) case. How true this is I haven't really tried to find out....
Never listen to a salesman, they are paid to lie to make a sale. No they
don't just 'get it wrong' or 'stretch the truth', they LIE to make a sale.

The 550D and 7D have similar features, but are very different beasts. For a start the 7D has dual Digic4 processors, whereas the 550D has
one.

That said, the 550D seems like a really nice bit of kit, I'd definitely go for it over the 500D.

Cheers,
Jason.
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Old 31-01-2011, 10:59 AM
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Consider the pixel size... 18Mpixels means smaller pixel, and in general that means lower SNR (more noise).

Last edited by bojan; 31-01-2011 at 02:18 PM.
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Old 31-01-2011, 03:12 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Leeroy View Post
Hi folks..
Well i'm in the marklet for a DSLR camera for astro and a little terrestrial.
I've been reading online for the last 3 days trying to decide what to buy but i'm still not sure. I was initialy leaning towards the 550D because of the HD video ability with full manual control over the video settings like shutter speed, ISO etc. I figure this would be great for planetary immaging (in any case a lot better than my neximage), plus an 18mp sensor and liveview etc for long exposure DSO..
That was until i seen a dark frame comparason between the 550D and the 500D, with the 500D having slightly less noise. Not realy surprising since it's only 15.1MP. The 500D still does full HD video but with slightly less FPS (only 20 FPS, 550D is 30 FPS) however there is no manual control over the video settings. All automatic shutter speed ISO etc.
How good are the auto video settings?. Can this be circumvented by using the Liveview to my laptop and adjusting the settings there?

If the 550D has a slightly worse dark frame noise, would it be improved if you selected a lower resolution? Say shoot at 15.1 instead of the full 18Mp?
I've spoken to several camera shop "experts" and none seem to know much about astro stuff..
My budget is limited and i realy can't afford to buy the wrong thing..

Cheers
lee
Don't know what your budget is, but i recently bought a 550D ( and love it) for $730 from Ebay. Delivered in 3 days absolutely superb

Stu
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Old 01-02-2011, 05:02 PM
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trek1701 (Mark)
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For astro work these links may help you decide


http://ghonis2.ho8.com/RebelMod550D/...0dcompare.html

http://ghonis2.ho8.com/rebelmod500d/...0dcompare.html
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Old 02-02-2011, 08:03 PM
Leeroy (Lee)
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Thanks everyone who responded.. I put a deposit on the 500D today..


Cheers
Lee
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Old 04-02-2011, 12:13 AM
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Cosmic (Daniel)
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Originally Posted by Leeroy View Post
Thanks everyone who responded.. I put a deposit on the 500D today..


Cheers
Lee
Congrats mate!

I'm picking one up soon as well. Everything considered, with all the comparisons online cant see there been much difference to the 550.

Honestly for a beginner this is a great step up from the ever so popular 1000.

Clear skys,

Cos
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