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 (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery485.html)

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. :cool:

[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]

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]

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]

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]

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 :doh: ) ...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]

Looks brilliant Peter. :thumbsup:

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

[Peter Ward]

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 ;)



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