Hello again Chris and all,

Chris L Peterson wrote:


...In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if DSLRs are helping astrocamera
manufacturers, since they represent a cheap way into the hobby, but
don't provide much room for growth (so some users graduate to more
serious cameras).

I see...


...One of the biggest mistakes beginning imagers make is thinking
they need lots of pixels...

Oh...

The actual number of pixels you need is determined by how large a
field you want to image. If you are interested in imaging typical
DSOs through a moderate focal length instrument (like an SCT)
there is little need for megapixels.

OK -- I will be imaging with an f/5 300mm Newtonian. I was just
looking at DSLR images such as the following:

http://aisig.sdaa.org/astroblog/astr....asp?imgID=342

and thinking that I would be quite happy to produce such an image,
spending less than $2000 on the camera equipment.

Also, you shouldn't underrate the value of cooling...more than
anything else it is noise that determines image quality.

I see, I didn't know that...

Finally, color sensors do not generally produce good results
compared with individual B&W exposures made through
color filters. In short, if "adequate" is what you are shooting
for, a DSLR may serve you well.

If the image referenced above is "adequate", I guess that would
be OK with me for now...

If your goal is to keep pushing your skills and
produce high quality astroimages, however, you will
rapidly outgrow the DSLR.

Well, that *is* a goal, within my limited budget :-)

Thanks, Chris!

Gregory