Quote:
Originally Posted by glend
I recall looking at a Canon compact camera out at Coolah and was impressed with the star movie and trail mode it could capture off a simple tripod. Does anyone have one of these cameras and can you provide some feedback on its performance as a night sky camera? Not looking to spend alot, as I have a very nice Nikon too, but the simplicity has some attraction. Feedback?
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Hi Glen,
on the question of....
Quote:
Originally Posted by glend
Canon Star Mode Cameras - worth it?
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I'd have to say, even that I don't have one: no.
Of course it depends on what you want from one of these cameras and which model you were thinking of, but if you were for instance considering the Powershot G1x MkIII or similar it's selling for $1299 at JB as some sort of reference. If I were looking for a portable tripod-only/no-mount solution I'd rather pay similar or more for something like one of the Pentax Astrotracer models (APS-c: K3ii, FF: K1, k1ii, etc... I'll check more models later
***)
(I'd prefer the Pentax models that have Astrotracer BUILT-IN, rather than requiring the add-on GPS unit -check this before purchase) . These Pentax Cameras
will actually track the stars by moving the sensor inside the camera, with the camera situated on a fixed tripod. The Canon Star Mode cameras will not, they simply, as i understand it, provide convenient user setting for certain types of night photography: Portrait with stars, Star trails etc.... You could equally set your Nikon in similar ways to those offered by the Canon Star Mode Cameras.
I have seen some wonderful images from the Pentax Startracer and within their focal length and exposure time limits (don't hold my memory to it but something like 200mm and a couple of minutes???? I'll check later ) they are remarkable. I'm a Nikon guy and wish Nikon would implement it to stop me considering buying a Pentax, not that they're not a great camera, just that it would usher in more adapter, reducers etc...)
Looking back on some of the previous images I've looked at I would say that the Pentax Astrotracer would allow you to implement a 10,000ish
or more exposure rule, rather than the typical 400, 500 or 600 rule for FF, i.e: 10 to 20 times longer exposures. Apparently there are some caveats to its use for extreme wideangle lenses and I can imagine perhaps issues near the meridian.
Best
JA
***Quoting from an astrotracer article:
"Astrotracer is also built-in to the Pentax K-3 II and available in the Pentax KP, K-70, K-5, K-5 II, K-5 IIs, K-30, K-r, K-50, K-3, K-S1, and K-S2 when used with the Pentax O-GPS1 clip-on GPS unit." as well as the FullFrame K-1 and K-1MkII
