6D Any Good for AP?

[nebulosity.]

G'day

I am wondering what the 6D is like for astrophotography, the noise levels look pretty good. If I got one it would be used mainly on an 8 inch F6 newt and for doing wide fields with telephoto lenses.

I have been looking into CCD's but have decided dslr will be more versatile, I've done a fair bit of imaging with older Canon APS-C dslr's and found that they weren't really much use without cooling, but as the 6D has such low noise would I be able to get away with just a simple filter mod?

The things that are attracting me to the 6D are:

1. Light weight, 700 something grams.

2. Really low noise.

3. Good size pixels (6.5 um), and still good resolution (20 MP) for wide fields.

Wifi control with your iphone, can zoom up on images to check focus etc.

5. Clip in filters for it came out the other day :thumbsup:

6. Have read a lot of good stuff about it.


What do you reckon?

Thanks a lot,

Jo

[lazjen]

Jo, I've been using a 6D and you can see some of the images I've posted in the beginner's section.

While it's low noise, I'm finding that as the nights are getting warmer the noise level is increasing. I think this is fundamental (extra heat, extra noise), but I'm thinking an actively cooled camera is going to be needed for Qld summer nights. I'm not sure how hot it gets for you, but it might be something to consider.

The WiFi stuff is pretty cool. I wish BackyardEOS/APT could use it (so I could drop a cable), but as of about 6mths ago, Canon had not released the WiFi additions to the sdk for developers. I'm not sure if that has changed.

And thanks for the news about clip in filters, that's something I'll have to look up. :)

For a DSLR it's pretty good and I'm quite happy with it. If you do get one, you'll want to get an external power pack for it - it chews the juice and if you use WiFi it's just going to chew more.

[Logieberra]

Jo, I'm enjoying it - but truth be told - I miss my old dedicated CCD astro camera, the QHY8 Pro...

[nebulosity.]

Thanks for the detailed reply Chris, really helpful :thumbsup:

Jo

[nebulosity.]

Interesting to hear Logan, do you think the QHY8 Pro would be better?

Jo

[Logieberra]

Jo

See if you can borrow a mate's dedicated CCD as well as have a play with an SLR, and I think you'll find what suits your style best. I really enjoyed the cooling and software integration side of the QHY. Programs like TheSkyX can control SLRs well, but hearing that shutter click all night long reminds me that it's not the best tool for the job.

See what other imagers have to say... as I don't take award winning images, and they speak from more experience e.g. P. Hart, M. Salway and G. Bradley - all of whom really know their way around an SLR for astro.

[nebulosity.]

Unfortunately I don't know of any astronomy minded people out here where I live, (Cecil Plains) and there aren't any any star parties out here (besides what I host for the neighbors :lol:) so the only equipment I've seen or used is what I've built myself. Have heard that sometimes people come out to Leyburn which is only about an hour away from me so it would cool to see if I could meet up with them sometime.



Thanks for the names, Greg has been very helpful to me in the past with great advice on image processing and good lenses for wide fields. Would love to hear what they have to say.

Cheers
Jo