Astrophotography

SD-[Inc]

SD-[Inc]

Well-known member
Rage3D Subscriber
Do you guys have any recommendations on a good mid-range DSLR for astrophotography? I am still a noob so probably don’t need top of the line to start with. And, it would be nice to also just have a decent camera for normal photography as well. I know there are some full-frame high end units built for astrophotography specifically. But, I was looking for something in the $1000 -$1500 range. Any recommendations?
 
pretty sure the canon 6d is probably the best/budget related one you can get. Unless you want mirrorless, you can probably find a used a7 through a7III, if you're interested, I might sell my a7iii since I picked up the a7iv. the a7III is currently the backup cam.

Also the a7II and III supposedly have star eater issue because of some weird noise reduction thing, but I don't think most people would notice unless they do comparison shot. Your best bet is probably still the Canon 6D and there are company that will mod it so that it becomes specific for astro.




[yt]dYmpjlniJe8[/yt]

we don't have enough dark sky around here so I have to drive about 3 hours to get to a spot. Also no tracker so I haven't done any deep sky tracking.


here's a few landscape I did last July with tamron 17-28 2.8

8tgmzTR.jpg

YFB2pdq.jpg

LxMiRHo.jpg
 
Last edited:
Maybe you can find a second hand Nikon D810A for a reasonable price.
I've read good things about using the Canon 6D for AP.

Those iOptron SkyGuider Pro look ideal for a astro camera setup.

I'd like to use my Nikon DF for some astro with that big beautiful
light gathering 16mb fullframe sensor lol
 
SD-[Inc] said:
No tracker? How did you get those shots??
Click to expand...




https://www.lonelyspeck.com/milky-way-exposure-calculator/

I use this, put in the lens size, then the smallest aperture number your lens and iso you want to use. It's not exact but it gives you an over all for how long you should expose/keep lens open for.
Also those pictures do not look like that in raw format, if you want I can upload some of the raw files and you can see what they really look like before all the tweaks like bringing up exposure etc and color fixes etc...
this is what I used for those shots I believe. That lonelyspeck site has a ton of information I would suggest you go through the site, it also has a recommended lens/camera etc...


Bsically it'll let you know how long you can generally expose for before the Stars start showing up with light trails


ZwuKoR0.jpg
 
Last edited:
CyanBlues said:
https://www.lonelyspeck.com/milky-way-exposure-calculator/

I use this, put in the lens size, then the smallest aperture number your lens and iso you want to use. It's not exact but it gives you an over all for how long you should expose/keep lens open for.
Also those pictures do not look like that in raw format, if you want I can upload some of the raw files and you can see what they really look like before all the tweaks like bringing up exposure etc and color fixes etc...
this is what I used for those shots I believe. That lonelyspeck site has a ton of information I would suggest you go through the site, it also has a recommended lens/camera etc...


Bsically it'll let you know how long you can generally expose for before the Stars start showing up with light trails


ZwuKoR0.jpg
Click to expand...

Cool, a 29 second exposure? I thought for sure you would see star trails with that long of an exposure. I am used to shooting through a telescope with more focal length. Tracking happens in seconds there.
 
I also gotta imagine if you get a tripod mount for a phone, you can probably snap some nice shots as well. My S9 Plus can do a 10 second exposure and I bet with a 3rd party app that can be extended.
 
SD-[Inc] said:
Cool, a 29 second exposure? I thought for sure you would see star trails with that long of an exposure. I am used to shooting through a telescope with more focal length. Tracking happens in seconds there.
Click to expand...


yeah being a wide angle lens lets you take longer exposures so that helps with star trails. and its just an estimate, you can change it depending on what it looks like.


telescope would definitely need a tracker, anything above 100mm would need a tracker imo.


If I lived close enough to dark skys i'd have invested in a tracker, being that I'm in a light polluted area, I'd have to drag it out pretty far away so I haven't bother to try deep sky astrophotography.
 
CyanBlues said:
yeah being a wide angle lens lets you take longer exposures so that helps with star trails. and its just an estimate, you can change it depending on what it looks like.


telescope would definitely need a tracker, anything above 100mm would need a tracker imo.


If I lived close enough to dark skys i'd have invested in a tracker, being that I'm in a light polluted area, I'd have to drag it out pretty far away so I haven't bother to try deep sky astrophotography.
Click to expand...

I have a decent scope today without tracker. I am thinking of getting a real tracking setup and start shooting deep sky photos. Looking for a new DSLR to use as my standard shooting camera and also to attach to new scope for deep sky imaging. The 6D looks good. I also saw the EOS R which is mirrorless and around the same price too. I don’t want a modded camera even though they are better for deep sky because I want it for regular photography as well. So, trying to find one that can do both well.
 
SD-[Inc] said:
I have a decent scope today without tracker. I am thinking of getting a real tracking setup and start shooting deep sky photos. Looking for a new DSLR to use as my standard shooting camera and also to attach to new scope for deep sky imaging. The 6D looks good. I also saw the EOS R which is mirrorless and around the same price too. I don’t want a modded camera even though they are better for deep sky because I want it for regular photography as well. So, trying to find one that can do both well.
Click to expand...
I think you meant the RP? the R is like $1800. the Nikon Z5 is also closer to your range too, I think that one is like $1200


But yeah if you live closer to dark skys, a tracker is great.



this guy has a lot of good videos too, you should go through them, i think he has one where he gets deep sky without a tracker too, the one below is about budget range

[yt]Xc1v6BjHm8U[/yt]
 
Last edited:
CyanBlues said:
I think you meant the RP? the R is like $1800. the Nikon Z5 is also closer to your range too, I think that one is like $1200


But yeah if you live closer to dark skys, a tracker is great.



this guy has a lot of good videos too, you should go through them, i think he has one where he gets deep sky without a tracker too, the one below is about budget range

[yt]Xc1v6BjHm8U[/yt]
Click to expand...

I’ve seen his videos. I am thinking of making something in line with the getting serious rig. Depending on what you what to shoot, you can get filters to help with light pollution.
 
SD-[Inc] said:
I’ve seen his videos. I am thinking of making something in line with the getting serious rig. Depending on what you what to shoot, you can get filters to help with light pollution.
Click to expand...


same here, I so want to invest in a tracker etc.. I just can't justify it if I only get to use it 2-3 times a year :confused:
 
CyanBlues said:
same here, I so want to invest in a tracker etc.. I just can't justify it if I only get to use it 2-3 times a year :confused:
Click to expand...

That's not the most expensive part of my plan. We want to get a travel trailer too and start spending more time in the back country. Been saving up and looking forward to it. Love camping. But roughing it is killing my old body. Getting the camera is step 1. It's been a while since my last DSLR got stolen. So I was getting excited about buying a new one. But, used makes sense as I really never was that great of a photographer to begin with. lol.
 
SD-[Inc] said:
That's not the most expensive part of my plan. We want to get a travel trailer too and start spending more time in the back country. Been saving up and looking forward to it. Love camping. But roughing it is killing my old body. Getting the camera is step 1. It's been a while since my last DSLR got stolen. So I was getting excited about buying a new one. But, used makes sense as I really never was that great of a photographer to begin with. lol.
Click to expand...


that's perfect for astro then, being able to go to dark sky places etc, too bad RFtinkerer doesn't seem to be on here anymore he had a bunch of great deep sky astro and would be a great source of info.
 
This guy’s video’s are really good too. Here is a whole video he presents on how to deal with light pollution:

[yt]hFq-y8wTp9o[/yt]
 
CyanBlues said:
I think you meant the RP? the R is like $1800. the Nikon Z5 is also closer to your range too, I think that one is like $1200


But yeah if you live closer to dark skys, a tracker is great.



this guy has a lot of good videos too, you should go through them, i think he has one where he gets deep sky without a tracker too, the one below is about budget range
Click to expand...

I was going back and for between used 6D and RP and decided to splurg and get the RP. I get so nervous with used cameras and decided I needed to treat myself. Got it with a basic kit lens for $1300. If my astrophotography ever takes off, I'll eventually upgrade to a dedicated astro-camera. In the meantime, I have a nice full-frame camera for regular photos. The 6Ds out there are pretty old now. So, even though it's probably slightly better. I didn't want to take a chance.
 
SD-[Inc] said:
I was going back and for between used 6D and RP and decided to splurg and get the RP. I get so nervous with used cameras and decided I needed to treat myself. Got it with a basic kit lens for $1300. If my astrophotography ever takes off, I'll eventually upgrade to a dedicated astro-camera. In the meantime, I have a nice full-frame camera for regular photos. The 6Ds out there are pretty old now. So, even though it's probably slightly better. I didn't want to take a chance.
Click to expand...


Grats, hope you like it as a regular cam too, I think it should be good enough, good thing about it is there is no mirror and I'm pretty sure you can go full silent mode which means no shutter shock to make those long exposure possibly blurry. Do you plan to go deep sky right away or play around with it with astro landscape of the galaxy etc first?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top