Dslr

[SuperG]

I looking to upgrade my aging Canon 350D. It still does alright except it is getting a little noisy these days. The two second hand cams I'm looking at are the Canon 60D or Nikon D5100. I'm curious about Nikon cams. How do they seem to score so well in low light performance across the board. Is there some auto-dark image trickery going on that allows them to do better in low light performance or is it that they are good sensors. I just wan to know current users of these what they think in terms of ease of use and performance with astrophotography.

PLEASE I DONT WANT A CANON VS NIKON ARGUMENT.

[Atmos]

The Nikon D5100, 5300 and 5500 have really good low light sensors. Sony at the moment is arguably making the best sensors at the moment, Most if not all Nikons use Sony these days.
Another thing to consider is easy of modding if you want to. Canons are a LOT easier to add UHS filters and stuff to as they're out on the market.

[JA]

The Canon 600D (similar to 60D) has 1/2 to 2 stops lower dynamic range than the Nikon D5100, see attached screenshot>>>>

Screenshot taken from a comparison I made on this page:
http://www.photonstophotos.net/Charts/PDR.htm

Best
JA

[Camelopardalis]

Another option in that space would be the Fujifilm X-series, as they use the same Sony sensors as Nikon/Sony. They lack tethering support, so you're limited to an intervalometer/remote, but it depends on your needs.

The X-A1, X-E1, X-M1 all lack an anti-alias filter, so you get sharper results. The bundled Fujinon lenses were generally of better quality than your average kit lens too.

Having said all that, I'm a big fan of the ol' Canon 1100D...nice deep wells, low noise, bargain basement ;)

There's a risk you might be underwhelmed going from a 350D to a 60D, as I've always found the 18MP sensors to be noisy compared to the 12MP sensor in the 1100D (but just my opinion).

[casstony]

I began imaging recently with the family camera 600D and it's very noisy in Summer, so I'm not bothering to image until we get back to Winter again with near zero night time temperatures.

[Camelopardalis]

I've found that once the ambient temperatures get down to about 10-12C, the Canons become very usable. The 1100D tolerates a few extra degrees before the noise becomes objectionable, and the 6D a few degrees more.

[ZeroID]

Canon 1200D for me, the bottom end cheap entry level camera with 18 mp. I presume it's replacement, the 1300D is very similar.