New member, looking for advice on purchasing DSLR

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BPHolter
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Apr 01, 2021 8:55 pm
Real Name: Brandon Holter

New member, looking for advice on purchasing DSLR

Post by BPHolter »

Hi y'all... new nember here! My 13 year old son and I just joined at the beginning of April, and after two star parties and a trip to Afton last weekend we're loving every minute of it. We're so happy to be members!

The reason for my post today is that I've recently started venturing (slowly) into astrophotography and am now in the market for a DSLR. However, I know almost nothing about them. I am currently using a Celestron Nexstar Evolution 6 as my primary scope, and for photos at this point I've only used my cell phone's camera and a webcam (Celestron NexImage 5). Per that, I've so far been focusing on targets within our solar system.

However, I want to start photographing targets much further away and am curious if anyone can recommend a good starting point for me. I want to image galaxies and nebulae if possible... but may need to scale back my expectations based on price. Can anyone recommend a DSLR that will work well with my Evo 6 and costs around $300 or so? I know that may be hard to achieve at that price, but that's every extra dollar I have LOL so I'm kinda stuck there. But I am pretty good at finding deals if I know what I'm looking for, so any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so very much!

Brandon Holter
ddn
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Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2016 7:38 pm
Real Name: Doug Neverman

Re: New member, looking for advice on purchasing DSLR

Post by ddn »

Here is my recommendation. Don't by a camera yet. Instead do the following. The society has an imaging rig with excellent equipment on it. It has everything you need to take images. Instead spend your money on a program called PixInsight to process those images. Cost for PixInsight is $300 last I looked. Now you have everything you need to learn and take some great images. Put off the equipment buy until later. If you would like to talk some more about this we can schedule a google-meet call. Just PM me if you are interested.
Doug Neverman
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clayton
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Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 9:51 pm
Real Name: Clayton Lindsey
Location: Woodbury, MN

Re: New member, looking for advice on purchasing DSLR

Post by clayton »

Brandon welcome to the MAS.

I'm not an experienced astrophotographer so take my comments with a grain of salt. My snarky suggestion is spend the 300.00 on gas and go to Cherry Grove and learn to use our imaging rig there. You will have access to a super quality scope, camera and mount. You will produce much more satisfying images there 10x over. That said I am investing in my own cheap gear to image from my backyard to avoid the road trip.

See this first for some intro to see where you are headed: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=8737

Your Alt-Az Telescope with 1500mm focal length and F/10 is a difficult telescope to start using for Deep Sky Object ( DSO) imaging. Not impossible but difficult. Alt-Az mounts have field rotation except for the shortest exposures , long focal lengths mean your tracking needs to be much more accurate and f/10 means longer exposures than say a faster optical system like a fast refractor.

Regarding purchasing a DSLR unless you go used 300.00 may get you only minimally started in DSO imaging with your current scope. Beside the camera body you'll need to add a T-ring and focus adapter to connect the dslr to the scope, then you will soon be wanting a focal reducer, a Wedge , vibration pads etc..... astrophotography is a money pit. See https://www.astrobin.com/search/?q=cele ... volution+6 to see what is possible with your scope and accessory equipment.

That said you can get some OK older dslr equipment second hand in the 300.00 range. I am a Canon user so I think something in Canon "i" series would work well, a T4i, T5i, etc.. or the more expensive 60D, 70D, etc. Nikons are just as good or better. Astro Modified cameras might be a little better as stock cameras rarely have good red response in the wavelength of H-alpha. Although You'll have too splunk around the used astro gear sites to locate one for cheap. https://www.spencerscamera.com/ has spendy ones. Generally newer models are better as sensitivity and noise of the sensors have improved rapidly. Just know buying really old camera can get you started frugally and you can learn what it takes for AP but you'll probably outgrow the camera fairly quickly. I usually look at https://www.cpricewatch.com/used/ to get a feel for current prices.


If you want to explore using your scope to its maximum you might check if your scope will take a hyperstar https://starizona.com/products/hyperstar-6 ( See https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/7139 ... aphy-help/ )

You'll need a camera too with hyperstar but maybe a mirrorless or a dedicated Astro CMOS camera like an ZWO ASI183MC would give you great results. This path however is way over your budget.

So I think I will double down on suggesting you exploring Cherry Grove before making a camera purchase.
Clayton Lindsey
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Sureshks
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Real Name: Suresh Sreenivasan
Location: Hopkins, MN

Re: New member, looking for advice on purchasing DSLR

Post by Sureshks »

Hi Brandon,

I agree with Doug. Using the excellent imaging rig at CGO is a great way for you to learn about imaging...

But if you really want to get a DSLR in the $300 price range, here are a few that imagers have been using:

- Canon 60D
- Canon 50D
- Nikon D5100
- Nikon D5300

The Nikon D5100 might be a good option that you can get in your $300 price range. I've only have Nikon DSLRs, so I'm not too knowledgeable about Canons.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R ... 0&_sacat=0

Since you mentioned nebulae... no stock DSLR will be great for nebulae. Most come with an IR cut filter that prevents too much red from entering. Without this filter, daytime shots would be too red. Unfortunately, this also cuts off most of the (red) light from nebulae. You can have the cut filter removed (modified), but then the camera will be mostly useless during the daytime. I've read that this impacts Canons and Nikons the most, but Canons more than Nikon.

I hope this helps!

Suresh
Suresh Sreenivasan
B-SIG/FB/Metcalf Comm

Refr: AP 130mm GTX/SW 120mm/Borg 4"/Unitron 150 4"/Jason 2.25”
Dobs: ATM 16"/Orion 12”
Newts: Cave 8" RFT/Criterion RV6/Astroscan 4"/Orion 3.6" TCT
SNs: Meade 6"/Celestron 5.5"
SCTs: Celestron 9.25"/8”/B&L Criterion 4”
Maks: SW 7"/Quantum 4"/Meade 3.5” ETX
Cass: Vixen 8” VISAC/Simmons 4.5"
RC: MallinCam 10"
Sol: Lunt 80mm DS/PST
Bino: Vixen 12x80/Nikon 10x50
Mounts: CGX/EQ6r-Pro/AVX/GDPX/Porta II
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matt_2018
Posts: 59
Joined: Tue May 15, 2018 11:56 am
Real Name: Matt Dunham

Re: New member, looking for advice on purchasing DSLR

Post by matt_2018 »

I agree about the Nikon D5300. Suresh recommended it to me a year ago or so. Mine was used/like-new and within your price range, and I have liked it very much. I bought mine on CloudyNights. Lots of accessories are also available on Amazon. It is correct that you will need various adapters, but it is a good general-purpose DSLR, and has some great features for use with a telescope. Clayton is correct in his concerns about a Alt-Az scope. I especially recommend, and would emphasize the flip-out LCD, you will really appreciate that feature of the D5300, along with LiveView.
On another day, I can post the equipment list I have added to go with the camera and my scope.
Welcome to the MAS!
Matt Dunham
Matt Dunham
MAS Treasurer & member since 2018

Meade LX200RC 12-inch (my portable observatory)
Celestron SC-8" w/fork wedge (my travel scope)
markjob
Posts: 608
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2010 3:52 pm
Real Name: Mark Job

Re: New member, looking for advice on purchasing DSLR

Post by markjob »

Hi Brandon,

Welcome to the Minnesota Astronomical Society.

Depending on your location within the metro area, I would not spend another dime, I would request (yes you can make a request) to be trained at CGO to be a key holder and to receive training on the imaging rig. The equipment is top of the line. The Imagining Team has done an exceptional job to make the process to acquire impressive images. Then when you choose to buy equipment you will have a very good idea of your own next steps. Take or leave this advice as someone who has made a few dumb purchases. I am willing to share with you my follies, just contact me offline and I will share.

Your membership is the best money you have spent to get into this hobby as there are a great number of people who are wanting you to succeed, even more so to get your son interested in this hobby. The Society is very excited have both of you.

Please reachout to anyone or make a post, you will always get advice to help you make a decision.

Clear skies,

Mark
MAS President
ddn
Posts: 672
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2016 7:38 pm
Real Name: Doug Neverman

Re: New member, looking for advice on purchasing DSLR

Post by ddn »

Given Suresh's list above avoid the D5100. It has the Exceed 3 software and the camera cannot be controlled through the USB port. A separate cable is needed. That may seem a bit odd for advice at the moment, but you will have found it useful several years from now.

Still, I recommend going the route of using the MAS imaging equipment. Even if you buy a camera now you will find the joy of taking these picture begin to pale quickly because of several reasons. We can talk about those reasons if you want. The explanation does not lend itself to a forum discussion.

Doug N.
Doug Neverman
BPHolter
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Apr 01, 2021 8:55 pm
Real Name: Brandon Holter

Re: New member, looking for advice on purchasing DSLR

Post by BPHolter »

Good Morning!

Thanks for the advice to all who replied, I am so grateful for the wisdom! I've been distracted by every day life for the last little while, but I wanted to login this morning and take a moment to reply and acknowledge those who took their time to help me with my question!

I think the clearest path on which to start this journey is to try the imaging rig as many of you mentioned; that's such a great idea! I have a tendency to "trial and error" my way through things (my inner Scientist is crying out LOL) but as I've been learning with just the telescope side alone, this hobby can get very expensive very fast LOL, and the photography side is clearly capable of racking up the decimal points as well!

Thanks again for the sage wisdom, I hope to chat with some of you on Astronomy Day and hear more about your experiences breaking into astrophotography!

Cheers!

Brandon Holter
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setnes
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Real Name: Kristopher Setnes
Location: Bloomington, MN
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Re: New member, looking for advice on purchasing DSLR

Post by setnes »

It's not the decimal points in the price that hurt, it's those pesky commas.
tugger
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Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2016 12:57 pm
Real Name: Robert Miller

Re: New member, looking for advice on purchasing DSLR

Post by tugger »

setnes wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 10:30 am It's not the decimal points in the price that hurt, it's those pesky commas.
And the number before the comma.
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