DSLR question

DSLR's

Hello Group

I am looking to buy a DSLR and have pretty much decided on a Nikon D50 over
the Canon 350D (its £100 cheaper and feels more comfortable in my hand).

Although my main use of the camera would be conventional photography I would
like to try some astrophotography, I have read that the D50 has a couple of
issues with long exposures.

1.. no mirror lock up feature
2.. hardware processing of the RAW data before capture
Do these problems suggest the D50 is not suitable for astrophotography or
are these problems that would only concern a more experienced user (not me)?



Many thanks for any replies.

Darren

Spr_astro wrote:

DSLR's

Hello Group

I am looking to buy a DSLR and have pretty much decided on a Nikon D50
over the Canon 350D (its £100 cheaper and feels more comfortable in my
hand).

Although my main use of the camera would be conventional photography I
would like to try some astrophotography, I have read that the D50 has a
couple of issues with long exposures.

1.. no mirror lock up feature

I use a Nikon D70

As a DSLR isn't very suitable for taking photos of the planets you will be
using it for deep sky. In this case the mirror isn't an issue. Just
cover, not touching, the lens/scope with something (black) when you
release the shutter. Most convenient is to use a remote release.

You can also use it for the moon, as at shorter shutter speeds the mirror
is said not to cause problems. (though I have , but this is propably
due to some problem with my particular camera)

2.. hardware processing of the RAW data before capture
Do these problems suggest the D50 is not suitable for astrophotography or
are these problems that would only concern a more experienced user (not
me)?

I don't know about the D50, but at least the D70 preprocesses the RAW data.
The effect is very noticeable (even for an amateur like myself). It
removes a lot of stars and finer details. For the D70 there is a work
around described here (my guess is the D50 works the same way).

http://astrosurf.com/buil/d70v10d/eval.htm

My opinion is that the method described is tolerable for occasional use.
Any more then that, it's not. Shutting off and on the camera a thousand
times and resetting the remote release function each time, ah well...

Originally Posted by Spr_astro

DSLR's

Hello Group

I am looking to buy a DSLR and have pretty much decided on a Nikon D50 over
the Canon 350D (its £100 cheaper and feels more comfortable in my hand).

Although my main use of the camera would be conventional photography I would
like to try some astrophotography, I have read that the D50 has a couple of
issues with long exposures.

1.. no mirror lock up feature
2.. hardware processing of the RAW data before capture
Do these problems suggest the D50 is not suitable for astrophotography or
are these problems that would only concern a more experienced user (not me)?



Many thanks for any replies.

Darren

The Canon CMOS sensor seem to be more thoroughly investigated for astro work - see Christian Buil's website etc. Theres a Yahoo Group for Canon DSLRs. I'm pleased with my Canon 300D/Rebel - here's a tiny snippet from wideangle lens shot ;-)
Nytecam

I went through this choice myself recently, though not for astrophotography.

The Canon 350D has a useful feature that allows you to lock the mirror
up BEFORE you take the shot, reducing vibration even more.

You can also choose which format to record in (I think this is also true
of the Nikon): RAW or processed JPG.

The Canon is 8MP, the Nikon 6MP.

Canon uses Compact Flash (more choice and perhaps cheaper.
Nikon uses SD.

I know little about astrophotography, however...



Spr_astro wrote:
DSLR's

Hello Group

I am looking to buy a DSLR and have pretty much decided on a Nikon D50 over
the Canon 350D (its £100 cheaper and feels more comfortable in my hand).

Although my main use of the camera would be conventional photography I would
like to try some astrophotography, I have read that the D50 has a couple of
issues with long exposures.

1.. no mirror lock up feature
2.. hardware processing of the RAW data before capture
Do these problems suggest the D50 is not suitable for astrophotography or
are these problems that would only concern a more experienced user (not me)?



Many thanks for any replies.

Darren