EOS Ra early results

[Peter Ward]

It's been a delight o finally see clear blue skies in Sydney's south...plus some welcome clearing rain.

High time to test the new toy! Canon's EOS Ra full-frame astro DSLR.

Standard candle image: M42

This is what I'd call lazy imaging at its finest.
Finding focus was a doddle using Canon's 30x magnification feature.
Set up a time-lapse to take 30 images. Go inside and watch the TV.

Being an urban imager, skyglow is a perennial PITA so I was not sure what I would get with an uncooled CMOS that was worth capturing above the background glow.

I was pleasantly surprised! I can see great potential from this camera under dark skies.

[LewisM]

What's the significant halo/bloat around the stars? An AP130 surely wouldn't do that.

I'd guess not so great seeing.

[Atmos (Colin)]

Looking pretty good Peter, how do you find the noise profile in the darker regions?

Lewis, that’s how MaskedStretch deals with brighter stars. It’s not a halo in as much as it’s the brightest parts of the larger brighter stars being burnt out while the larger light fall off isn’t stretched heavily.

[LewisM]

Originally Posted by Atmos

Looking pretty good Peter, how do you find the noise profile in the darker regions?

Lewis, that’s how MaskedStretch deals with brighter stars. It’s not a halo in as much as it’s the brightest parts of the larger brighter stars being burnt out while the larger light fall off isn’t stretched heavily.

Thanks Col - I knew it couldn't be the AP130, so was wondering what it was, putting it down to the MEH seeing we've all had.

Promising start indeed

[Peter Ward]

Originally Posted by Atmos

Looking pretty good Peter, how do you find the noise profile in the darker regions?

Lewis, that’s how MaskedStretch deals with brighter stars. It’s not a halo in as much as it’s the brightest parts of the larger brighter stars being burnt out while the larger light fall off isn’t stretched heavily.

The noise is not bad at all. That said, this was a lazy effort, I should have grabbed a few dark frames. Weather permitting, maybe I'll grab some follow up calibration data tonight.

DSLR's really don't like urban imaging hence I find this result not too shabby...you could read a newspaper in my backyard thanks to the light spill.

As for the "bloated" stars...bright stars will do that, but agreed PI masked stretch while a nice tool, it's not without side effects....even so, not a blue/violet halo to be seen

[gregbradley]

That's quite impressive. I have the EOS R and like it a lot. I could get mine modded at some stage but not for a while as its really for nightscapes duty and modded is less important for that (although I have been wanting to do try that for a while). 30X focusing sounds handy though not vital as I have no trouble with the standard 10X (or is it 12x?).

The time lapse feature obviously does 60 seconds. I did not know that, I'll have to check that out.

Greg.

[Peter Ward]

Originally Posted by gregbradley

That's quite impressive.....

The time lapse feature obviously does 60 seconds. I did not know that, I'll have to check that out.

Greg.

Ta. Hardy award winning stuff, but not too shabby given the urban sky. Just to clarify, the EOS Ra will not do a manual 60 second exposure plus time lapse (30 sec limit ) ...I used my CamRanger to set up a 60 sec exposure time in bulb mode. Worked a treat. Also in silent shutter mode there is zero vibration due mirror shake...a little disconcerting really, as there is absolutely no noise to confirm the exposure has started.

[skysurfer]

I've heard stories about a US$3000 (A$4200) price tag for an Ra body about $1000 more than a regular EOS R, So modding by an R by a commercial modding service is definitely cheaper.


I hope the frame rate of the viewfinder or back display can be set much lower than the regular R (or any regular DSLR), then stars are much easier visible in the viewfinder.



And within a few months the EOS RMk2 will arrive with probably a better sensor and DIGIC image processor.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Looks brilliant Peter.

I was out that night looking up after the storms in the arvo. Good to see some stars in Sydney for sure.

[Peter Ward]

Originally Posted by multiweb

Looks brilliant Peter.

I was out that night looking up after the storms in the arvo. Good to see some stars in Sydney for sure.

Thanks Marc. Ah...the storms (pic attached)...we just caught the edge of them..very nasty and caused some hail damage here, but Gymea/Caringbah got hammered. Massive 100 year old gums fallen taking out power lines....but don't mention climate change

Originally Posted by skysurfer

I've heard stories about a US$3000 (A$4200) price tag for an Ra body about $1000 more than a regular EOS R,

DigiDirect were selling them for $A 3400 just before Christmas...which motivated me to buy one. 5 year Aussie warranty too