At the moment I have my 1000D in bits all sealed in glad bags, ready to replace the IR filter with an Astrodon Inside, when it turns up. Eliminating IR improves focus in straight through optics such as camera lenses.
Dismantling the camera has provided an opportunity to get a perspective on the best approach for a cooling mod. Essentially, a cold finger, sealed around the sensor and attached electronics to prevent condensation in the wrong places.
As I see it, the finger should be insulated to prevent ambient warming as it protrudes from the sensor - so that cooling is localised to the finger as much as possible.
My thoughts on the cold side heat sink are, that it should be sufficiently rigid to support the hot side heat sink assembly, but not so large as to become the focus of cooling. The hot side is a different matter, as heat extraction is all important.
DSLR cooling is slightly different to CPU cooling in that the TEC is not located directly on the camera sensor and the copper finger must also be cooled - perhaps a heat pipe is a better alternative?
EDIT:
The main issue is cooling the hotside of the TEC.
This explains clearly the heatsink requirements.
It seems that the best option for a compact cooling system is
pin type heatsinks, enhanced by fan cooling. Some of these units will move 200+ watts comfortably, with a very small footprint and not too heavy.
