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Old 18-08-2013, 11:24 AM
jakerich154 (Jake)
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Upgrade DSLR or purchase a CCD

Hi All,

Im currently in the process of considering upgrading my imaging set-up and would like some advice. At the moment I have a Nikon D3100 and I think I have learnt all I can from it. I was wondering if its worth upgrading my DSLR, most likely a D7100, or should I purchase a CCD. On that note, can anyone offer suggestions of good CCD's for under a $1000.

Thanks for any advice,
Jake
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Old 18-08-2013, 11:49 AM
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rogerco (Roger)
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Based on my very, very limited experience (of CCD) I would go for a cooled CCD, however your budget is a bit limiting, check out the QHY-9 kit on offer elsewhere here it has a very similar sensor size to what you have with the Nikon. Alternatively in the non cooled variety you could consider the QHY-5-L-II.
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Old 18-08-2013, 11:55 AM
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The well trodden upgrade path for many, including myself is DSLR, CCD one shot colour, CCD mono learning as you go.
For $1k you should be able to get a QHY- 8 or an SBIG 8300c like mine for example. There are many others as well. Do a bit of searching on this forum and you'll find the answers you seek!
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Old 18-08-2013, 12:26 PM
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alocky (Andrew lockwood)
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I don't believe the osc CCD will teach you anything the DSLR hasn't already. Unfortunately, going to mono and filterwheel is going to be tough to do for under 1k. But as others have pointed out you don't need to buy new.
One thing you might consider if you're into non-astro photography as well: instead of a cooled osc CCD is to buy a new DSLR, and get your old one modified for better h-alpha transmission.
Cheers,
Andrew.
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Old 19-08-2013, 01:01 PM
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Going from a D3100 to a D7100 would be a step backwards in terms of astro imaging:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/stud...64.acr&x=0&y=0

As you can see noise performance at high ISO is quite a bit worse on the D7100. D7200 would be cleaner. To get a decent gain you'd be better off getting an older but cheapish Canon 5D or get a 350D that had been modified.

In the APSc camera world the cleanest camera I am aware of is the Fuji X series. XM1 (cheapest at $793 body only), XE1 (has an electronic viewfinder and about $815 body only). Sony Nex cameras like 5N and 6 are fairly clean as well but noisier than the Fuji. Basically a Fuji X or a Sony Nex generally speaking tend to outperform their APSc cousins from Canon or Nikon but any are capable of good images with the right exposure strategy.

Canon, Nikon latest offerings would be next best. Nikon used to be bad for astrophotography because the hot pixel suppression algorithim used on RAWs was too crude and confused faint stars with hot pixels and would damage them. This has been corrected in later models although I don't know at what point it was improved. This gave Canon a lead plus the very early Canon 10D and Nikon D70 the Canon was worlds ahead of the Nikon. The Nikon gave bad amp glow on long exposures, had the difficulty with the hot pixels suppression damaging stars so Canon took the lead. In a way Nikon last the race at the start and so the industry seemed to form around the Canon models.

A lot has changed since then and I think the differences are minor with Nikon having an advantage in the fact they choose the best sensors from several sensor makers as opposed to having only what Canon makes themselves even if they are good at it (now getting dated and needing some updated fabrication plants that run at the smaller sizes Sony etc do. But the top cameras like Canon 6D 5D3 Nikon D600 and D800E all take similar images with minor differences.

QHY has a range of affordable intro CCD cameras. One with a smallish but nice Sony chip makes sense. Sony generally speaking is the new Sensor powerhouse with many camera makers using their sensors and a lot of smartphones using their sensors. They seem to be several generations ahead of their competitors. Pentax, Ricoch, Olympus, Nikon of course Sony, all use Sony sensors. Probably more use them.

MX25C sometimes come up I would think for less than $1000 by now. Look on Astromart.com as well.

Greg.
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