Buying a dSLR??

[jeremyboycool]

I was thinking of getting a dSLR, seeing how this seems to be a hobby that I am really starting to enjoy. Is there anything I should keep in mind when shoping for a dSLR camera?

It would prob. mostly be used for landscape shots.

 

[Bayko]

Nikon D50's are an awesome beginner/intermediate DSLR.

 

[jeremyboycool]

Cool, I'll check into them! BayKo

I just thought of a something, I heard there was a problem with dSLRs and leaving the shutter open for a long time. Is that true?

 

[Bayko]

Whats the problem you heard?

No problems for me.

 

[jeremyboycool]

It was just a rumour and I was curious if there was any validity to it.

I also want to give astrophotography a try, and I might need to leave the shutter open for say up 30 mins.. not sure still reading about it.

 

[Mike_E]

There are limitations on battery life. The shutter being open will drain the battery after a while.

mike

 

[sabbath999]

It was just a rumour and I was curious if there was any validity to it.

I also want to give astrophotography a try, and I might need to leave the shutter open for say up 30 mins.. not sure still reading about it.

Astrophotography is an entirely different animal... although you CAN use DLSR's, they are not the best tool for the job... and if you do use them, you don't generally leave the shutters open for 30 minutes... you stack images. This has the added advantage of being able to use cameras and scopes in alt-az mode without having to go equatorial or get a field de-rotator. I mean, if you already have an LX200 and a wedge (or any other precision tracking equatorial mounted scope), then long exposures are doable... but if you don't, then you are looking at buying a lot of hardware more expensive than a good astro CCD is going to cost you... (unless you are REALLY good at hand guiding).

If you really want to do astrophotography, and want to be digital, then BY FAR the better way to go is to get a dedicated CCD camera designed for telescope work.

IMHO if you don't do that, then film is a much better option for astro work than digital.

 

[Mr_Bester]

Bayko,
It looks like nikon has fixed a problem they had with the D-70. I had problems with long exposures showing magenta hotspots. Your images don't have that awful problem.

But, that may be where JBC had heard of problems. It seems to be limited to the sensors used on the D-70 I had.
Dug

 

[jeremyboycool]

Astrophotography is an entirely different animal... although you CAN use DLSR's, they are not the best tool for the job... and if you do use them, you don't generally leave the shutters open for 30 minutes... you stack images. This has the added advantage of being able to use cameras and scopes in alt-az mode without having to go equatorial or get a field de-rotator. I mean, if you already have an LX200 and a wedge (or any other precision tracking equatorial mounted scope), then long exposures are doable... but if you don't, then you are looking at buying a lot of hardware more expensive than a good astro CCD is going to cost you... (unless you are REALLY good at hand guiding).

If you really want to do astrophotography, and want to be digital, then BY FAR the better way to go is to get a dedicated CCD camera designed for telescope work.

IMHO if you don't do that, then film is a much better option for astro work than digital.

Thanks for the info sabbath999!

I will prob. get both a dslr and a ccd camera. I wanted to start with the dslr though becasue I want to use it for day time photos also. But I did want to try some star trail shots, I thought that they required really long exposure time.

 

[jeremyboycool]

There are limitations on battery life. The shutter being open will drain the battery after a while.

mike

Thanks Mike I totally spaced that one. Maybe a power adapter with a power converter and a car battery? I'll work it all out, still have a lot of reading to do.

 

[Garbz]

To dispel the myth, yes exposures THAT long will cause problems. Mr_Bester Nikon didn't fix the "problem" just made it less apparent. The camera which does it the least of all is the D200, the D2X is far worse at this surprisingly. It is caused by the sensor warming up. The solution you see on some astophotography is big heatsinks, and I've even seen a camera at an observatory once which had active cooling.

That's not your only problem. Pixels die when they are on. Not permanently but you start noting the problem very quickly. High ISO causes this faster, and on the D200 there's a sweet spot at around ISO1250 at just a bit over 2 seconds which is not long enough for Long exposure NR to come on, but too long for the pixels and a few spots appear on the image.

Let me make this clear. A 52minute exposure on my D200 resulted in a bright pink frame. I took a second 52min exposure with the lens cap on and used that reference image to eliminate the purple haze, but I still had about 10-20 dead pixels per sq cm when enlarged. I gave up trying to do NR since it eliminated the stars.

For this type of astro photography I highly suggest you get some film. I've done a 4-6 hour photo of the night sky once and hadn't the remotest problem with it.

 

[jeremyboycool]

Thanks for the input Garbz!

I was looking at the Canon Digital Rebel XT / Canon 350D (or the rebel XTi) any thoughts on it??


btw thanks for the advice guys!

 

[Nein-reis]

Canon XT, XTI and Nikon D40 D40x are comparible... you will get the same images with any of those. Buy whatever one you find cheapest (body only) and put the saved money into a nice peice of glass.

 

[jeremyboycool]

Thanks for the tip! Nein-reis!

Your post reminded me that I know el zilcho about lenses. Any suggestions?

 

[WDodd]

Thanks for the input Garbz!

I was looking at the Canon Digital Rebel XT / Canon 350D (or the rebel XTi) any thoughts on it??


btw thanks for the advice guys!

Thats what I use and I'm pretty new and I like it a lot.


But Nein-reis has some good advice. :thumbup: