Should I keep my 6D for astrophotography ?

[Geronimo73]

I just bought a 5D4 and want to know if it will be as good as my 6D for astrophotography?

 

[RogerZoul]

Why don’t you test them both out and see for yourself which is better and report back? I have both two but I am not very experienced with astro. I will be doing some testing but I don’t plan to sell my 6D because I have a LOT of shots on its shutter.

 

[Geronimo73]

I do astrophotography in late summer and it may take a long time before I can test/compare the new gear. I could also use the 6D selling money to fill the hole made by the 5D4 purchase. I did try to find some input from the net but It's fruitless. My 6D has near 30K shots and seems to kept its value since 6D2 came out...

 

[CameraCarl]

If you look at the low light/high ISO capabilities of both cameras, you will see the 6D has a slight edge. If you don't have a back-up body to the 5D Mark II, I'd keep the 6D for that. If you do have a spare body, then it might not be worth keeping the 6D, but you may not be able to sell it for much considering that you can get a refurb 6D from Canon USA for $900 right now.

 

[David Pavlich]

The 6D makes a nice astro camera. If you're going to shoot stuff like star streaks or Milky Way stuff, it'll do just fine as is. However, if you're considering making the leap to long exposure imaging of stuff like galaxies and nebulae, you might consider a couple of things; first, get an AC adapter. Batteries heat up as exposures get longer and heat is not your friend when doing long exposures since the sensor is also heating up as it's sitting there sucking in photons.

Second, consider having it modified with an IR/Cut filter. This will allow more of the red color in deep space which is Hydrogen (the most abundant element). And having the camera's stock filter replaced instead of eliminated keeps your camera's autofocus working and available for terrestrial shooting. The only thing you have to do is create a custom white balance for when shooting terrestrial stuff.

David

 

[Mike -]

I don't understand this type of question.

YOUR gear, YOUR photography subject(s), YOUR style(s).

WHY...are you asking others what YOU should do with YOUR gear ?

Mike

 

[Geronimo73]

If I just wanted to have the latest ''cool'' gear it would be an easy decision and would sell the 6D. But as I would like to further develop my astrophotography skills and already like what my 6D, I would not like to find later that I sold a more capable DSLR than the 5D4 for this type of photography.

As an enhousiast shooter, I can rely on dpreview community more experienced members to give good advice from time to time. I learned a lot from reading post and review and do not have enough time/money to do all testing by myself...

 

[Tristimulus]

Get it astromodded!

My 6D is a beloved astrocamera - low read noise at ISO 1600 makes it a perfect match for my CZ 2/135mm lens. Will keep mine until it dies...


Modded Canon 6D & stacked 64x30 sec exposures. Not that bad, eh...

 

[Geronimo73]

...first, get an AC adapter. Batteries heat up as exposures get longer and heat is not your friend when doing long exposures since the sensor is also heating up as it's sitting there sucking in photons.

Does using a handgrip will help in this regard ?

 

[David Pavlich]

...first, get an AC adapter. Batteries heat up as exposures get longer and heat is not your friend when doing long exposures since the sensor is also heating up as it's sitting there sucking in photons.

Does using a handgrip will help in this regard ?

No. Having the AC adapter will allow the camera to expose for long periods without the added heat of the battery. I used to shoot up to twenty 10 minute exposures with a good ole' 40D, then shoot 25 dark frames and 20 flat frames (darks get rid of much of the noise and flats take care of any dust moats or vignettes).

I had an observatory in my backyard and a program would run the whole exposure operation and another would keep the scope mount tracking properly. If you think this hobby is a money pit, try serious astro-imaging.

This is a shot with a 40D with a Hydrogen Alpha filter to get the maximum amount of Ha in the shot. Rosette Nebula.





David

David

--
"Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships." Ansel Adams
Viewbug: https://www.viewbug.com/member/David_Pavlich

 

[hfjacinto]

From my experiences the 6D is probably one of the best DSLR's for astrophotography, but it doesn't compared to a cooled CMOS or CCD monochrome camera.

 

[rmexpress22]

I don't know. I'm just here for the cool astro shots.

 

[groupoid]

I was in the same boat just a few days ago and sold it (and I think got a pretty good deal). With these recent deals for $900 new+printer, the market price will be dropping. Since you are not in a rush, you can put a reasonable price and wait.

If, at some point, you decide that you need a dedicated astro camera, you should be able to buy it again, probably for smaller price.

 

[irm]

I don't know. I'm just here for the cool astro shots.

+1

 

[landscaper1]

I do astrophotography in late summer and it may take a long time before I can test/compare the new gear. I could also use the 6D selling money to fill the hole made by the 5D4 purchase. I did try to find some input from the net but It's fruitless. My 6D has near 30K shots and seems to kept its value since 6D2 came out...

I suspect there is and will be extremely little practical difference in astro-photo performance between the 6D and the 5Div. If money is a real issue, then sell the 6D. However, in my experience, if you're serious about your photography, then you'd better have a back-up camera body that will use the same lenses as your primary body. You could, of course, "mod" the 6D for astro work, but then it may not be an effective back-up for other general photography.

One more thing. There is a difference between astrophotography and "nightscape" photography (the latter includes landscape or ground objects to a night sky of stars or Milky Way). True astrophotography involves attaching a camera to a telescope to record nebula and other deep space objects. If that's your intention, then the advice given about getting a dedicated cooled CMOS or CCD camera is definitely the way to go.

--
Landscaper

 

[David Pavlich]

If you or anyone else is really interested in astro imaging with a DSLR, this is the guy to study. He's arguably the best at getting great results with a DSLR.

Loading…

astropix.com

David

 

[Tristimulus]

I do astrophotography in late summer and it may take a long time before I can test/compare the new gear. I could also use the 6D selling money to fill the hole made by the 5D4 purchase. I did try to find some input from the net but It's fruitless. My 6D has near 30K shots and seems to kept its value since 6D2 came out...

I suspect there is and will be extremely little practical difference in astro-photo performance between the 6D and the 5Div. If money is a real issue, then sell the 6D. However, in my experience, if you're serious about your photography, then you'd better have a back-up camera body that will use the same lenses as your primary body. You could, of course, "mod" the 6D for astro work, but then it may not be an effective back-up for other general photography.

One more thing. There is a difference between astrophotography and "nightscape" photography (the latter includes landscape or ground objects to a night sky of stars or Milky Way). True astrophotography involves attaching a camera to a telescope to record nebula and other deep space objects. If that's your intention, then the advice given about getting a dedicated cooled CMOS or CCD camera is definitely the way to go.

Modern DSLRs have very low read noise, so taking several short sub exposures and stacking them is a sound workflow. CCDs have higher read noise so using longer exposures make sense. Astromodded DSLRs are not lagging that bad behind dedicated astro cameras unless into spectroscopy or photometry.

And DSLRs do not need to be tethered to a computer. Lots of users using a good star tracker and normal to tele lenses shooting the night sky - real astrophotography without the terrestial part!

Have a dedicated astro camera, but still my DSLRs are what is usually used for real astrophotography - with ordinary lenses and telescopes.

So the DSLRs of today can do real astrophotography too!

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Landscaper