Canon EOS 350D (Digital Rebel XT)
The picture above shows the camera when I bought it with the twin lens
kit. These lenses are terrible for astrophotography. They suffer from
distortion and color fringing. Ditch them both and buy a cheap Canon 50mm f1.8 EF II
Plastic Fantastic which is an astonishingly sharp little lens for widefields (and
it's very cheap!). I also find that the Canon 200mm
f2.8 L USM II is a good lens for astrophotography.
| Attribute |
Value |
| Model |
Canon EOS 350D |
| Pixels |
8.0 Megapixels (3456 x 2304 pixels) RAW or JPG or both |
| Analog to Digital conversion |
12 bit |
| Chip Area (Form factor) |
22.2mm x 14.8 mm (known as APS form factor) |
| Pixel size |
6.4 um x 6.4 um |
| Sampling (50mm lens) |
26.5 arcseconds per pixel |
25.3 degrees field of view |
| Sampling (200mm lens) |
6.64 arcseconds per pixel |
6.4 degrees field of view |
| Sampling (480mm lens) |
2.75 arcseconds per pixel |
2.6 degrees field of view |
| Sampling (600mm lens) |
2.20 arcseconds per pixel |
2.2 degrees field of view |
| Sampling (812mm lens) |
1.63 arcseconds per pixel |
1.5 degrees field of view |
| ISO values |
100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 |
The Canon DSLR was the camera of choice for many amateur
astrophotographers when I bought it in 2006. It's a couple of generations of camera
old by now. It has been superceded by the Canon 400D, 450D, 1000D, 40D, 50D (I think
I've got them all - maybe not...) but the 350D continues to be a great workhorse for me.
I'd hate to check the shutter count because it must be measured in the tens of
thousands. It's hit the concrete twice in its life - (without taking a single
scratch mind you) - once when a cat jumped on the tripod and knocked it to the ground, and
once when the SN-8 OTA fell off the mount. It still works exactly as good as the day
I bought it. A fantastic, robust, and generally wonderful camera for
astrophotography. From what I hear the later Canon cameras are even better!
Especially the ones with the Liveview function of which I am very jealous.
It is possible to modify this camera to remove the infra-red filter that
covers the CMOS chip, however doing this is a very delicate operation not to be undertaken
lightly. Hutech in the USA will do it for a fee. It costs around $US
400. You can also buy modified cameras from Hutech and others new (covered by
warranty). Modified cameras are much more sensitive in the red and infra-red
spectrum around the Hydrogen alpha wavelength. This means that a modified camera
will capture MUCH more of the important red light from a H-a nebula than an unmodded
camera.
I want to keep mine unmodded - for the moment.
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Updated August 2009 |
