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Canon 60Da: Can we still buy them?

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I know these cams are as scarce as hen's teeth, but does anyone know where I can buy a new one?

Thanks,

Jim
 
I assume Canon still has a stock of these (that *have* to be sold at higher prices, since as you say it's a niche product), because otherwise there surely would have been a 70Da already, no? (or could the dual-pixel tech of its sensor prevent this?)

I have an old 350D that I never use anymore so could easily convert. However, I'm not sure it's worth it since the sensor (/lcd, liveview) technology has improved so much that my unmodified 70D would probably still deliver better quality...
 
Greg VdB said:
I assume Canon still has a stock of these (that *have* to be sold at higher prices, since as you say it's a niche product), because otherwise there surely would have been a 70Da already, no? (or could the dual-pixel tech of its sensor prevent this?)

I have an old 350D that I never use anymore so could easily convert. However, I'm not sure it's worth it since the sensor (/lcd, liveview) technology has improved so much that my unmodified 70D would probably still deliver better quality...
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I had a Canon 60D non-modded model. I wouldn't suggest it at all. The 60D camera is an old design now and has crappy high ISO, low light performance. My new Sony a6000 has way better performance for AP. It also way outperforms the 70D. Since the 60Da is only different from the 60D in the filters, it will perform poorly too as far as AP goes. Canon has twice released AP cameras with the 20Da and later the 60Da, but I doubt they sold well. Better to get a truly good camera and have it modified I think. Not my cup of tea though, I prefer my cameras without modifications.
 
W5JCK said:
I had a Canon 60D non-modded model. I wouldn't suggest it at all. The 60D camera is an old design now and has crappy high ISO, low light performance. My new Sony a6000 has way better performance for AP. It also way outperforms the 70D. Since the 60Da is only different from the 60D in the filters, it will perform poorly too as far as AP goes. Canon has twice released AP cameras with the 20Da and later the 60Da, but I doubt they sold well. Better to get a truly good camera and have it modified I think. Not my cup of tea though, I prefer my cameras without modifications.

--
An astrophotography hobbyist and amateur radio instructor and examiner. Sony a7, Sony a6000, and Canon Powershot G1 X. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jackswinden/
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Looking at the a6000 as a dedicated AP camera. Price looks too good to be true. Any thing you can add as shooting RAW or JPG? NR on or off? Don't know why I hadn't considered the mirror-less before. Seems to solve a few problems. Tilting screen ( no more kricks in the back trying to view). Mirror vibration is eliminated. Do you prime focus yours on a scope? Maybe I need a reality check?

I have the 2" T-adapter for prime focus for my telescopes. Do they have a T-Ring for the a6000 available?
 
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StillLearning said:
W5JCK said:
I had a Canon 60D non-modded model. I wouldn't suggest it at all. The 60D camera is an old design now and has crappy high ISO, low light performance. My new Sony a6000 has way better performance for AP. It also way outperforms the 70D. Since the 60Da is only different from the 60D in the filters, it will perform poorly too as far as AP goes. Canon has twice released AP cameras with the 20Da and later the 60Da, but I doubt they sold well. Better to get a truly good camera and have it modified I think. Not my cup of tea though, I prefer my cameras without modifications.
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W5JCK said:
StillLearning said:
W5JCK said:
I had a Canon 60D non-modded model. I wouldn't suggest it at all. The 60D camera is an old design now and has crappy high ISO, low light performance. My new Sony a6000 has way better performance for AP. It also way outperforms the 70D. Since the 60Da is only different from the 60D in the filters, it will perform poorly too as far as AP goes. Canon has twice released AP cameras with the 20Da and later the 60Da, but I doubt they sold well. Better to get a truly good camera and have it modified I think. Not my cup of tea though, I prefer my cameras without modifications.
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StillLearning said:
W5JCK said:
StillLearning said:
W5JCK said:
I had a Canon 60D non-modded model. I wouldn't suggest it at all. The 60D camera is an old design now and has crappy high ISO, low light performance. My new Sony a6000 has way better performance for AP. It also way outperforms the 70D. Since the 60Da is only different from the 60D in the filters, it will perform poorly too as far as AP goes. Canon has twice released AP cameras with the 20Da and later the 60Da, but I doubt they sold well. Better to get a truly good camera and have it modified I think. Not my cup of tea though, I prefer my cameras without modifications.
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RustierOne said:
StillLearning said:
W5JCK said:
StillLearning said:
W5JCK said:
I had a Canon 60D non-modded model. I wouldn't suggest it at all. The 60D camera is an old design now and has crappy high ISO, low light performance. My new Sony a6000 has way better performance for AP. It also way outperforms the 70D. Since the 60Da is only different from the 60D in the filters, it will perform poorly too as far as AP goes. Canon has twice released AP cameras with the 20Da and later the 60Da, but I doubt they sold well. Better to get a truly good camera and have it modified I think. Not my cup of tea though, I prefer my cameras without modifications.
Click to expand...
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StillLearning said:
RustierOne said:
StillLearning said:
W5JCK said:
StillLearning said:
W5JCK said:
I had a Canon 60D non-modded model. I wouldn't suggest it at all. The 60D camera is an old design now and has crappy high ISO, low light performance. My new Sony a6000 has way better performance for AP. It also way outperforms the 70D. Since the 60Da is only different from the 60D in the filters, it will perform poorly too as far as AP goes. Canon has twice released AP cameras with the 20Da and later the 60Da, but I doubt they sold well. Better to get a truly good camera and have it modified I think. Not my cup of tea though, I prefer my cameras without modifications.
Click to expand...
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RustierOne said:
StillLearning said:
RustierOne said:
StillLearning said:
W5JCK said:
StillLearning said:
W5JCK said:
I had a Canon 60D non-modded model. I wouldn't suggest it at all. The 60D camera is an old design now and has crappy high ISO, low light performance. My new Sony a6000 has way better performance for AP. It also way outperforms the 70D. Since the 60Da is only different from the 60D in the filters, it will perform poorly too as far as AP goes. Canon has twice released AP cameras with the 20Da and later the 60Da, but I doubt they sold well. Better to get a truly good camera and have it modified I think. Not my cup of tea though, I prefer my cameras without modifications.

--
An astrophotography hobbyist and amateur radio instructor and examiner. Sony a7, Sony a6000, and Canon Powershot G1 X. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jackswinden/
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Looking at the a6000 as a dedicated AP camera. Price looks too good to be true. Any thing you can add as shooting RAW or JPG? NR on or off? Don't know why I hadn't considered the mirror-less before. Seems to solve a few problems. Tilting screen ( no more kricks in the back trying to view). Mirror vibration is eliminated. Do you prime focus yours on a scope? Maybe I need a reality check?
Click to expand...
I use my Sony a6000 as a backup and/or secondary AP camera. My primary AP is my Sony a7 full frame. I'm an old Canon guy, but recently converted over to Sony and mirrorless. The two reasons I did that was (1) the mirrorless can adapt almost any lens made for full frame and APS-C cameras of nearly any brand, and (2) I was tired of waiting for Canon to once again become innovative. Judging from Photokina, my fears were correct as Canon hasn't released much of interest to me whereas other manufacturers seem to be on the innovation wagon. Nikon fell behind too, but at least they use Sony sensors.

The a6000 is very capable of AP and has much better high ISO and low light performance than any Canon APS-C camera, probably even including the new 7D Mark II. You have to jump to FF in Canon to outperform the Sony APS-C sensors as far as AP is concerned. And since the a6000 is way less expensive, win win!

I always shoot RAW + JPEG, but rarely use the JPEGs for anything other than a quick preview. I always post process the RAW as it allows much more PP. RAW is uncompressed whereas JPEG is compressed and lossy. Always shoot RAW for AP or anything professional.

I turn OFF in-camera High ISO NR and Long Exposure NR. Two reasons. One, I can clean it up much better in Lightroom than any camera can, and two I don't like the double time involved and having to wait for the camera to take a dark frame of the same exposure length. If I want dark frames I will take a few, but I really don't want one with every shot. I rarely make dark frames BTW. Again, LR can clean up what a DF can in way less time.

I only use camera lenses, and mostly WA and UWA. I don't own a telescope as I have to travel to dark skies and really don't care to have to lug a big telescope along then spend a lot of time and get a sore neck setting the darn thing up! So I travel light. So I cannot help out with telescope usage. Maybe when I move out into the country in #3 dark skies early next year I will get a telescope since I can leave it pretty much assembled all the time.

Tilting screen is nice. My Canon EOS 60D and my Canon Powershot G1 X both had fully articulating screens. That was ideal. Most of the new Canons are going with fixed screens, including the new 7D MkII, and that is a huge issue with AP. You can of course attach a separate LCD monitor, but the monitors perform extremely slowly in HDMI connections, and the VGA connection is really not that great. Canons DSLRs work well with a tethered cable connection to a laptop, but that means extra stuff to carry. So at least a tilting screen for me.

No mirror vibration in a mirrorless of course. However, with Canons, and I assume most DSLRs, you can lock up the mirror to prevent that. You can also shoot in Liveview mode which keeps the mirror locked up. The mirror is only down in viewfinder mode, otherwise you couldn't see anything through the viewfinder. But when using Liveview mode on the LCD, the mirror has to be locked up out of the way so that the sensor can see through the lens and give you a live preview on the LCD screen.

--
An astrophotography hobbyist and amateur radio instructor and examiner. Sony a7, Sony a6000, and Canon Powershot G1 X. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jackswinden/
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Thank you for your quick reponse. I have a C8 with focal expander giving me effectively a 1280mm F6.3 scope. Thought the a6000 would make a nice deep space camera. Still haven't found a good t-ring for e-mount to my 2" T adapter on the focuser of the C8. Still looking for anyone using an a6000 on a telescope with 2" focuser. Thank you for the info you have provided.
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A good source of camera to telescope hardware is

CNC Parts Supply.

I have used both Sony NEX-5N and NEX-7 cameras with a C-8 with decent results. I suspect the A6000 and later cameras (especially the A7 series) are even better due to Sony's continuation improvement and innovation.

By the way we're all "Still Learning".

--
Best Regards and 73s to Jack,
Russ
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Thank you for reply. I gather the a6000 has the same mount as the NEX line?
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Yes, these cameras are all equipped with the Sony E-mount, which is great for attaching to all sorts of camera lenses and telescopes. Due the short flange to sensor distance all you need is the appropriate, inexpensive adapter to connect lens to camera.
RustierOne said:
Did the T-ring work with the standard 2 " t-adapter for the focuser? I really believe the a6000 is the anwer for a low budget AP camera.
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I use TelescopeAdapter.com's "2-inch Ultrawide Prime Focus Telescope Adapter". According to the information on that website, it "goes directly from the bayonet mount to the to 2" barrel bypassing the restrictive T-ring". I expect that using this type of adapter instead of the T-ring will result in less vignetting. The 2-inch barrel mentioned above threads directly onto the C-8 telescope's rear port threads - a very secure connection. Also there is provision with that adapter for rotating the camera for best composition of your subject. For instance large, edge-on galaxies can be oriented from corner to corner of the frame. There is also provision for attaching 2-inch light pollution filter in the imaging train. In my opinion, this adapter if far away the best one to use for aastrophotography.
RustierOne said:
Decent results? Those would be spectacular if I could accomplish that. But I imagine I will need to invest more time a money.
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Thanks for the kind remarks, StillLearning. Yes, it has been a considerable investment in both money and time. And I'm "Still Learning" all the time. You'll find that the C-8 is a capable little rig. What will be needed to utilize that 'scope for astrophotography is a solid equatorial mount with auto-guiding capabilities. I wish you success in your endeavors.

--
Best Regards,
Russ
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Thank you again for help. Now to get the adapter. I went out and picked up the camera. Dang this thing is small and light. The C8 came with the CG5? with star drive built in. Just plug it in to a large battery once I've polar aligned. I'll probably need some polar alignment aids to get it more precise.

Edit: Just ordered the adapter. Should get it next week. Now for the weather to get cooler in the evenings. Getting tired of the 80's mornings and 90's evenings. I'll start with something simple like the moon then the planets.
 
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Well - the 60Da is not as bad as it may seem when reading this thread. I happen to have the Canon 60Da and the Sony A7. Have been using the 60Da for a while and know that it is actually quite sensitive (espesially to Ha) and the rather noisy files can be dealt with quite well.

The 60Da is quite sensitive to Ha, the files are a bit noisy, but mine still Works great for astronomy.

The A7 looks promising (espesially when using it at ISO 400 - 800 and extending the exposure times to record fainter stars and capturing also the finest detail). But the A7 is NOT as sensitive to Ha as the 60 Da.

Got me a timer Remote for the A7 so I will explore the A7 with looong exposure times as soon as finding time and getting a clear sky.

Proof of the pudding: Canon 60Da with the CZ 135mm lens, 7x4minute exposures stacked in AstroArt and run atop the Astrotrack. 1600 ISO and the lens was stopped Down to f/4.

3026333


60Da - CZ 135mm at f/4 - 1600 ISO - 7x4min stacked in AstroArt - Astrotrack tracker
 
Trollmann said:
Well - the 60Da is not as bad as it may seem when reading this thread. I happen to have the Canon 60Da and the Sony A7. Have been using the 60Da for a while and know that it is actually quite sensitive (espesially to Ha) and the rather noisy files can be dealt with quite well.

The 60Da is quite sensitive to Ha, the files are a bit noisy, but mine still Works great for astronomy.

The A7 looks promising (espesially when using it at ISO 400 - 800 and extending the exposure times to record fainter stars and capturing also the finest detail). But the A7 is NOT as sensitive to Ha as the 60 Da.

Got me a timer Remote for the A7 so I will explore the A7 with looong exposure times as soon as finding time and getting a clear sky.

Proof of the pudding: Canon 60Da with the CZ 135mm lens, 7x4minute exposures stacked in AstroArt and run atop the Astrotrack. 1600 ISO and the lens was stopped Down to f/4.


60Da - CZ 135mm at f/4 - 1600 ISO - 7x4min stacked in AstroArt - Astrotrack tracker
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The 60Da is a AP modified camera, the Sony a7 is not, so I'm not sure what your point about HA was...

--
An astrophotography hobbyist and amateur radio instructor and examiner. Sony a7 and Sony a6000. Jack Swinden
 
W5JCK wrote: The 60Da is a AP modified camera, the Sony a7 is not, so I'm not sure what your point about HA was...

My point is very simple: in astrophotography a lot is about recording Ha areas in the sky (red emission nebula) - and most ordinary camera have lousy sensitivity in the Ha band.

- If getting those wonderful Ha reds is the aim then the 60Da is still a wonderful tool.

- For ordinary astrophotography (not beeing a get-the-reds-freak) the A7 seems lik a wonderful tool.

My hidden agenda:

My dream is to make my Canon 60Da's redundant.

So - if the A7 performs well in the dark I may use this camera for all my astronomical work. The A7 is extremely easy to handle in the dark and it is a gorgeous camera!

The A7 looks promising and the Ha sensitivity does not seem that bad either - some more testing do be done before eventually giving up the 60Da's.

My initial A7 tests seems to indicate wonderful Hb (Hydrogen beta) sensitivity and - as said - not that bad Ha sensitivity. That is: making areas like the North America Nebula look bluish instead of wonderfully red.
 
After reading more on the T minus adapter it was discovered this doesn have threads on the end but slips into 2 inch eye piece adapters. So I needed to add one more piece to help the a6000 work with my SCT. I have the Focal expander in place of my 2 " visual back on my C8 and this adapter won't connect to it so I needed the additional piece. They didn't have a place to modify the order so I had to make a new one plus mailing expense. This morning I received a messgae from Robert at CNC Supply. He caught the second order and combined with my first order. He credited my Mailing charge on the second order. My opinion of them is really gone up just for that simple courtesy.

I am curious would it still be able to focus if I had just slipped the camera with adapter into the 2" 90 degreee star diagonal or would that degrade the image too much?
 
To expand a bit on this discussion, here's a nice comparison of the 6D, A7, A7r and Df in terms of nightscape possibilities:

http://www.davidkingham.com/blog/2014/4/the-ultimate-lightweight-camera-for-night-photography

(And an older comparison between the 6D and the D600: http://www.davidkingham.com/blog/2013/11/canon-6d-vs-nikon-d600-high-iso-night-photography)

What I learn from these comparisons is that the recent crop of (FF) cameras, be it mirrorless or DSLR, are all incredible tools for astrophotography. And maybe Canon sensors are not as good as equivalent Sony sensors (though the advantage of Sony sensors seems to be much smaller or gone at high iso - see that D600 - 6D comparison), but the differences are small, and impressive results can be obtained with any of them.

I don't know if differences between Canon sensors and Sony sensors are bigger in the APS-C field, but I've seen impressive results with cameras from all brands. Were I to buy a "digital back" for a telescope, mirrorless would of course hold the advantage, and the a6000 seems impossible to beat price-wise. Personally though, I still prefer the feel of a DSLR (I have big hands), with all the buttons in all the right places. Not a problem in most cases for DSO photography, where your setup is so bulky that having a laptop or tablet around for tethered shooting doesn't make a difference. For backpack photography though, I'll happily take along my slightly larger 70D, especially with that fully articulated screen that means I can easily operate it from any angle. Especially also when I'm shooting timelapses.

My point is: everybody has their own objectives, needs, preferences, and budget, and we are very lucky to live in a time where there's a camera for almost any set of variables.

cheers,
 
StillLearning said:
After reading more on the T minus adapter it was discovered this doesn have threads on the end but slips into 2 inch eye piece adapters. So I needed to add one more piece to help the a6000 work with my SCT. I have the Focal expander in place of my 2 " visual back on my C8 and this adapter won't connect to it so I needed the additional piece. They didn't have a place to modify the order so I had to make a new one plus mailing expense. This morning I received a messgae from Robert at CNC Supply. He caught the second order and combined with my first order. He credited my Mailing charge on the second order. My opinion of them is really gone up just for that simple courtesy.

I am curious would it still be able to focus if I had just slipped the camera with adapter into the 2" 90 degreee star diagonal or would that degrade the image too much?
Click to expand...
I glad to hear you're making progress in getting it all connected. I have always been very satisfied with CNC Supply (AKA TelescopeAdapters.com) - great products and service. Just to be clear in what I've used to attach my NEX cameras to the C-8, I have removed the visual back and replaced it with the Celestron f/6.3 focal reducer (manufacturer's part number 94175). The "2-inch Ultrawide Prime Focus Telescope Adapter" from CNC Supply threads directly onto the focal reducer's rear threads. The camera attaches directly to that. I assume we are taking about the same lens - focal reducer = focal expander. The lens reduces the focal length and expands the field of view.
 
RustierOne said:
StillLearning said:
After reading more on the T minus adapter it was discovered this doesn have threads on the end but slips into 2 inch eye piece adapters. So I needed to add one more piece to help the a6000 work with my SCT. I have the Focal expander in place of my 2 " visual back on my C8 and this adapter won't connect to it so I needed the additional piece. They didn't have a place to modify the order so I had to make a new one plus mailing expense. This morning I received a messgae from Robert at CNC Supply. He caught the second order and combined with my first order. He credited my Mailing charge on the second order. My opinion of them is really gone up just for that simple courtesy.

I am curious would it still be able to focus if I had just slipped the camera with adapter into the 2" 90 degreee star diagonal or would that degrade the image too much?
Click to expand...
I glad to hear you're making progress in getting it all connected. I have always been very satisfied with CNC Supply (AKA TelescopeAdapters.com) - great products and service. Just to be clear in what I've used to attach my NEX cameras to the C-8, I have removed the visual back and replaced it with the Celestron f/6.3 focal reducer (manufacturer's part number 94175). The "2-inch Ultrawide Prime Focus Telescope Adapter" from CNC Supply threads directly onto the focal reducer's rear threads. The camera attaches directly to that. I assume we are taking about the same lens - focal reducer = focal expander. The lens reduces the focal length and expands the field of view.

--
Best Regards,
Russ
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Exactly the same. I picked it up because I had to turn my Eos30D in portrait orientation to get the quarter moon all in. I guess I was too tired last night and miss read the QA on the site. Had this vision of getting my package next week and realizing I might need something in addition. I thought once a person was in their 60's they would have more patience. :) Oh well can't have too many 2" Rear Port Adapters? ;) Besides I misplaced my visual back for the C8 after I connected the focal reducer 7 years ago. It will turned up because I don't throw out things too often.

One of my old moon shots with C8



 
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