Which DSLR camera should I buy since I'm a beginner? - Forums

Topic starter

Jun 7, 2021 · Edited: Jun 7, 2021

After I watched the youtube video “KIT LENS Challenge” (Nebula Photos vs Astrobackyard) I am wondering if I could do something similar. At the moment, I am looking for some unguided photography of e.g. the milk way, andromeda galaxy, etc (mainly to learn). Later on, I may consider a tracker for longer exposers.

At the moment, I have in mind two entry level cameras: Canon 2000D (Rebel T7) & Canon EOS 250D (Rebel SL3) and one "last resource" camera (more expensive, at least to me): Canon EOS 850D (Rebel T8i).

From my short research, I found that the input-referred Read Noise Chart on the 2000D is lower that the 250D (reference: Photons to Photons). On the other hand, the 250D has a newer processor ( DIGIC 8 ) than the older 2000D DIGIC 4 processor (reference Wikipedia). To my surprise, there is a lot more 2000D photos uploaded on AstroBin than with the newer 250D (or even an 850D). Although, the 250D has a newer processor there are some forum threads reporting banding issues on the e.g. 200D/250D (reference e.g. cloudy nights). Conclusion: not sure which is better.

Is the 850D significantly better than the 2000D/250D to justify the price difference?
Also, I know that kit lens are not perfect but should I start with an 18-55mm on an 18-135mm? The option 18-135mm (of the 850D) would give me the versatility of using the same lens for both the milk way and the Andromeda galaxy (i.e. no need to change lens in dark). But like everything in life it has a price… I would have to leave the tracker and some better lens for next year (or the year after).

Which DSLR camera would you advise to me?

Alex.

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Trace

Jun 7, 2021

Hi Alex,
I'm no expert on these cameras, but I comment only to say that I am using a Canon M50 mirrorless for my terrestrial and Astrophotography and I love it. I think it does very well in both. All images on my bin including my latest are with this camera (aside from the very old images there I took on a film camera).

The camera is very small and light, and would thus also work very well with the RASA scopes. One issue in long focal length AP is flexure of the optics train due to the weight of the cameras and gear. The light weight of the M50 is helpful here.

Best of luck
Trace

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alexl

Topic starter

Jun 8, 2021

Hi Trace,

Thank you for your quick reply.
At the moment, I am on DSLR because I think that the lens are cheaper (OK, I will use the camera 90% on landscapes, etc).

What is confusing to me is that it looks like that the cheapest entry level (2000D) is more widely used. While the 850D (that I would expect to be better) is less used (or at least I could not find so many images tagged to that camera).

Alex.

alexl

Topic starter

Jun 8, 2021

Hello Allan,

Thank you for your quick reply.

It was very interesting to learn about the QE (specially to know that the EOS 2000D has a high QE ).
What other “parameters” / factors should it be considered on the selection?

Alex.

alexl

Topic starter

Jun 9, 2021

At the moment, I will start with nightscapes (example: milk way) with a tripod but without a star tracker or telescope.
Once I am comfortable with the camera (and night sky) I am planning long exposures using (for example) a skywatcher star sdventurer and (on a third step) using a small APO telescope. Note: most of the time I will use the camera during day time.

Would this affect the selection?

Sorry for all these questions, but since all this is new for me I would like to avid to "mistakes".

Olaf Fritsche

Jun 9, 2021

A stable tripod and a remote trigger are important. Kit lenses are not optimal, but sufficient for the first attempts. Later, used fixed focal lengths are an inexpensive alternative.

Take test shots at different apertures and check how long you can expose without the stars drawing lines (only a few seconds). When you have found out the longest time, take 10, 20, 100 or more exposures and stack them with programs like Deep Sky Stacker (Windows) or Starry Sky Stacker (Mac).

There are also useful videos for all this on youtube.

Good luck! And show us your first images, please.

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dkamen

Jun 10, 2021 · Edited: Jun 10, 2021

Hi,

The processor is more important for normal camera usage, since it is responsible for converting the raw image to JPEG, encoding the video to mp4, applying effects and whatnot. When the camera is used not only for capturing but for delivering a complete result, the processor is one of the first things to look at.

It doesn't matter so much for astrophotography where you want just the raw data. What matters is the raw "performance" of the sensor, mainly the QE as Alan said but also, noise characteristics, dimensions, pixel size and of course the physical aspects of the camera such as size, weight and battery life. This is not a one size fits all situation, but in general you see cheaper models being used more in astrophotography than their more expensive brothers. In the Nikon world (my world) you will see the outdated D5300 being used more than the flagship prosumer D7500 despite the latter being 4 years more recent with all kinds of extra features and despite the 3% smaller QE. The reason being the D7500 is heavier and has a banding problem that is relatively difficult to get rid of.

Cheers,
Dimitris

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alexl

Topic starter

Jun 12, 2021

Thank your all for your comments.

At the beginning of next month I will take a week end at country side and I make some tests with a Rebel T5i (that I will borrow from a relative). Meanwhile, I am leaning stacking imagens and to process them with gimp. I hope to get experience before selecting the camera.

Just in case and to have some peace of mind: do you think that it would be for me a mistake to buy a camera with nightscape photography in mind even if it will be used most of the time during day time? My concern is: if I forget for now nightscape and delay for a long time the star tracker (plus its tripod) plus better lens then I could get (for example) a Canon EOS RP + RF 24-105mm F4-7.1 IS STM (or a Canon EOS 90D + EF-S 18-55mm IS STM) for almost the same amount of money. The problem is that f/7.1 may be then too slow for occasional nightscape photography (at least with the Canon RP) with a standard tripod.

Clear Skies,
Alex.

andrea tasselli

Frequent contributor

Jun 12, 2021

Rule is buy the best, largest lens you can afford. Even a modest DSLR will do just fine for nightscapes. And a good tripod. No need of fancy carbon-thingies. Just stable (meaning it won't vibrate if you touch it with the camera+lens). There are some pretty good cheap fixed lens out there, just ask. 20-32mm would do. And an intervalometer (unless there is one bundled within the camera software, so have it some don't). Then you are all set. Take shots following the 300/f rule, meaning take shots as long as the value of 300 divided by the lens' focal length in seconds.

Note for the old timers/nit-pickers. The 500/f doesn't apply anymore. It was invented at the time of film photography and was OKish with large pixels (early generations of DSLR). With the current breed of consumer DSLR with pixels size less than 4 micron isn't working anymore. And of course there is a way to actually calculate the exact exposure time depending where you point the camera at but let's leave it for another thread.

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