Cooled Canon 350D has arrived thankgod.

[Striker]

I have some pics of the camera and I have taken some darks for comparison.

First impression of this mod was "wow" the workmanship and quality of the mod is nothing less then professional quality.
1 downfall is the camera weight has increased dramaticaly probably 2.5 x the standard weight of a 350D.

Terry lovejoy has just left my place with a few darks to do some tests. will hear from terry soon with the results.

Below is some images of the mod and I have provided 2 x dark frames...both 15 minutes at ISO 800 1 with the cooler off sitting at 31 degrees and the other with the cooler on sitting at 8.1 degrees.
The darks have not been touched..just reduced and compressed the same way into JPEG.

[Lester]

Hi Tony,

the difference in the 2 dark frames is incredable. Can't wait to see more from this cool camera.

[Lee]

:eyepop:
What else is there to say?

[avandonk]

That looks really good Tony. Are the pictures of the white components just to show what is installed in the camera? What is the lowest temperature you can go to?
I managed to collect some data recently when ambient was 1 deg C nearly all night. It made a lot of difference to the noise levels even at an ISO of 200.

Look forward to some action pictures.

Bert

[Striker]

HI Bert,

It reduce's the chip temp 15-20 degrees below ambient and they have tested the canon CMOS chip at -40 and worked well.

What I noticed is that the chip temperture sits on a higher temperture then ambient with cooloing off so any temperture reduction would be benificial on those hot nights up here.

The temperture reduction can slightly be altered by the fan speed but otherwise the cooling is either on or off.

The parts shown are internal and external parts...more can bee seen here.
http://www.centralds.net/en/index.htm

[h0ughy]

so what are you doing with your other 350D?

[CometGuy]

Tony,

I took the dark frames before/after cooling at ISO800 15 minutes. On the lefthand side are the full frames reduced to 300 x 200 pixels and the right ones 300x200 crops near the frame centre. To make the noise more obvious I've boosted contrast 20x.

The upper frame was made at ambient 27C, sensor temperature 31 C and the lower frame with the cooling employed to lower the sensor to 6C (ambient 24 C).

In fact there is not much difference in noise between a 900 second exposure and a zero second exposure.

Terry

[Striker]

Houghy...what 350D...that was sold 6 weeks ago...lol

Thanks Terry...very much appreciate your knowledge and time coming over.

So the results looks promising.

I heard from Yun..he has tested this chip at -40 degrees and worked well so he told me not to be concerned at all if it goes below Zero.

[CometGuy]

Tony,

I think by the time you have got the chip to 0C there will be really little gain going any further.

I have seen Yun's website and he has put a lot more info there than last time I looked (also the reduced prices). Like you said the level of engineering is excellent. Just further to what we talking about leaving the detachable unit, perhaps he should just make it one unit - but its clever in any case.

Terry

[avandonk]

Looks like they have thought of everything. Very well made unit. Have I got this right, they also have replaced the filter to make it more Halpha sensitive.

It is amazing how much heat the camera generates itself. One morning after sunrise I covered the 5DH with a black tshirt to stop any stray light getting to the darks I was taking (paranoia?). After about 30 minutes total of 'darks ' the camera was HOT after I removed the tshirt and ambient was about 5 deg C. Needless to say the darks were useless as the camera was much hotter than when the lights were taken. Moral take darks when it is dark. I now exclusively use in camera noise reduction.

Anyway look forward to your first long exposures with the LX200R. Should be awesomely deep and low noise. The other good thing is you can obviously monitor the sensor temperature so getting corresponding darks should be reproduceable.

The other thing is Peltiers dont take kindly to repeated switching, it ruins their efficiency and can at worst delaminate the junction.
Tony I bet your even more excited than I am to see what this mod can do.

Bert

[Striker]

I suppose the advantage of having a seperate external cooler means it can be replaced without changing the internal parts.

[Striker]

I am excited Bert but saying this it's no SBIG.... but should be alot of fun to use...will try to get some images before the weekend.

[avandonk]

I bought one of those peltier fridges a while back with a view to cooling the 5DH (even 10deg C would make a difference) but the thought of condensation on the interior of the camera has stopped me until summer when it may be hot and dry enough to stop condensation.

The noise comparison pictures look very encouraging.

Bert

[iceman]

Wow that's a stunning difference. I'm really excited waiting for your first shots. You're going to be a master at this very soon Tony, with the right equipment, right advice and rapidly improving skills. Well done.

What are you going to do with your 17-40L lens?

Oh that's right, you SOLD it already! :bashcomp: ;)

[h0ughy]

Must have missed that one, was it a local sale, I don't remember it being on IIS:shrug:

[33South]

Bet that was a long 6 weeks. Looks like its going to be worth the wait.

but we need images.....

[Striker]

Will try to get an image tonight....but the cooling only helps in regards to dark noise..it does not make the chip more sensative.....it should be more noticebale whist imaging in HA so Terry tells me...lol

I dont think I will see a huge difference just doing 3-4 minute exposures...but it all helps.

Mike you had your chance...you only have yourself to blame..hahahaha

[RB]

Excellent Tony,

Looks like a really cool camera :rolleyes: :lol: , what's the longest exposure you can go with your mount/setup you think?

[Striker]

Depends on what fl and F ratio I am imaging..also filters make a difference....I would say somewhere inbetween 3 and 7minutes for HA imaging...will have to try to push it further.

[h0ughy]

how much was it shipped?

[Striker]

They payed for shipping so it was no extra charge.

Prices.
$1850USD
$193 USD modified TC timer remote
Total selling price $2043USD = $2690AUD
+
GST and custom fees of $320AUD total

Pretty much $3000 all up with the moded timer release.
Now that their price has been reduced to $1850USD It's a bargain..an extra $500USD over the hutech moded camera's for all this cooling...Bargain.

[h0ughy]

mmmmm I already have that timer, is it modified only for that camera? I have an adapter that I bought so I can use it on the 350D and the 300D. Your a naughty boy showing me things like that!

[Striker]

Sorry Houghy...it has the correct fitting for the 350D but it also keeps the standard 20D/30D fitting so it works on lots of different models instead of only the 20D and 30D models...it has 2 cables protruding from the timer instead of the 1.

Blame Terry...he posted the link on the website..so blame him...I'm just the person that keeps the banks in business....lol

[h0ughy]

Do they modify a 350D if you sent it to them?

[Striker]

Yes but it costs $1200USD for them to mod your camera....too expensive just for the mod to be done.

go to prices.... http://www.centralds.net/en/index.htm

[h0ughy]

ta

[TidaLpHasE]

:thumbsup:That looks Awsome Tony, and you can see the fine workmanship in it.

Can't wait to see some test shots through it, and to see some comparisons between your old 350 on the same targets.

[Striker]

Dont get too excited....did 2 test images and their is a huge blotch in the center of each pic and I mean huge....I am contacting the Sender...not happy.

Will keep you posted.

[TidaLpHasE]

:scared:Oh no, what sort of blotch Tony, is it dust, or worse condensation?

Hopefully you had something round the wrong way, good luck.

[h0ughy]

post the image?:sadeyes:

[h0ughy]

how come it did show up on the dark frames taken earlier?

[Striker]

I dont want to bag them yet until they have the oportunity to fix and explain it...so I will wait to hear from them before I start posting images.

Dont know why Houghy....it looks like condensation to me..something that was not suppose to happen...it did get down to 2 degrees instead of the 6-8 it was when I did the darks yesterday.

I have sent them 2 images via email.

let me get a reply first....

[Harpspitfire]

i looked over the site and it seems an excellant upgrade!- for $1850 its not a bad deal considering the cost of the hutech borg IR upgrade alone-'but'- from my understanding form someone following canon very closely, a new 350XT will soon be announced- considering the XT is a consumer camera and canon realizes its astro demand- i gotta strong feeling it may have some cooling technique with it

[CometGuy]

Tony,

Give me a call on my mobile, and I can have a closer look at lunch time if thats OK.

Terry

[Suzy_A]

Hi Everyone,

last night I thought I would try a few experiments...

I first took 10 minute dark exposures on my 'new!' 30D. I set the camera at 100, 400, 800, 1600 and 3200 ISO. Then I stuck the camera in the freezer and repeated the exposures. See the attached images. I've cranked up the brightness by 110% and the contrast by 75% so you can see the effects better. The files names are along the lines of Img0415 100ISO 20C 603s.jpg which is: Image no - ISO no - Approx Temp in C - Expsoure time in seconds.

Maybe an easy (or cheaper way) is simply to stick the camera in the freezer. On a cold night, the camera would probably keep cool for a reasonably long time. The only issue is condensation.... I'm thinking of making up a sealed case - sort of like an underwater case with just the T-mount and 2" eyepiece adapter and a clear filter sticking out.

[Striker]

Thanks Suzy....some members have done the freezer trick before with similar results...I would pefer a more constent temperture then something that would start out cold and warm as the night went on.....making dark subtraction for the different temps a nightmare.

I have had Terry around just now and it looks like the condensation was the problem with humidity at virtualy 100% last night and a chip temperture of 1.5degrees.....it may be an easy fix to back of the cooling slightly to aroung 5-8degrees and some sealing may fix the problem.

The dew was sitting on the outerside of the IR/UV filter which has all gone now...but that does not fix the problem...hopefully test again tonight.

will keep you posted.

[Suzy_A]

Hi Striker,

when you say the UV/IR filter - do you mean the one inside the camera over the sensor or an external one?

[Striker]

The blocking internal one infront of the sensor.

[Striker]

Just got an email back from the manufacturer in Korea...still need to do some tests but if the problem cant be fixed with an emergency fix of some kind then the camera will be remodified and another new camera sent over to me.

You can't complain about that.

This is where you find true customer service when something of high value goes wrong...you quickly learn how the retailer treats you when it's going to cost them dollars.

So I am relievd to some degree.

[h0ughy]

question Tony, is the unit supposed to be completely sealed?

[Striker]

Yes Houghy, it's completely sealed.

[33South]

It was sort of, I contacted Tony in regards to the 4" Parallax rings he advertised for sale.
Somehow ended up buying the 350D :screwy:

[h0ughy]

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: sells sand to the arabs too I bet!;) :D

Ummm did you buy the rings?

[Striker]

And believe me their was many times over the last 4 weeks when I felt like I made a unwise choice selling that camera.

Anyway that was the month of June toy it's now August an entirely different month...lol

[33South]

Luckily they had already been sold, that would really have cleaned out the budget for this year.

[h0ughy]

http://www.centralds.net/en/index.htm just updating this thread - there is a new one on the market place that seems to have had the problems Tony Experienced rectified. awesome divorce material here gentlemen!!!!