If you are an astronomy photography buff, you certainly know that most current photo cameras include a digital imaging sensor which is very sensitive to Infra-Red light but which is covered with a filter to remove this. As a matter of fact, the IR sensitivity is annoying in most day-to-day photography situations. But astronomers like to be able to capture the light associated with some hydrogen atom emission (very common in the galaxies around us).

In the past some astronomers grabbed their tools and modified their cameras (yes removing parts from them!) but Canon is known to be willing to help (see the EOS 20Da a few years ago). Now, they offer a modified Canon EOS 60D where the IR filter has been modified substantially to keep it sensitive to most of the useful IR light. The Canon EOS 60Da should be marvelous for most astronomers at the price of US$1500 and with its sensitive 18 MP sensor.

Press Release

New Canon EOS 60Da DSLR Camera For Astronomy Enthusiasts Captures The True Colors Of The Cosmos

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., April 3, 2012 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, today introduced the EOS 60Da Digital SLR Camera, a long-awaited successor to the EOS 20Da that is optimized for astrophotography. This DSLR caters to astronomers and hobbyists who enjoy capturing the beauty of the night sky by offering a modified infrared filter and a low-noise sensor with heightened hydrogen-alpha sensitivity. These modifications allow the camera to capture magnificent photographs of “red hydrogen emission” nebulae and other cosmic phenomena.

“The EOS 60Da is a testament to the constant desire to meet the needs of every customer, including those in specialized fields,” said Yuichi Ishizuka, executive vice president and general manager, Imaging Technologies & Communications Group, Canon U.S.A., “This new camera enables an accurate depiction of a part of our solar system which is hard to achieve with conventional cameras but should be enjoyed and celebrated.”

The Canon EOS 60Da camera packs a powerful 18-megapixel CMOS sensor (APS-C) that produces sharp and high-contrast images of astronomical objects, a major enhancement over the EOS 20Da model’s 8.2-megapixel sensor. The improved infrared-blocking filter is a modification suited specifically toward astronomy enthusiasts to achieve a hydrogen-alpha light sensitivity that is approximately three times higher than that of a normal Canon DSLR camera. This produces a 20-percent higher transmittance of Hydrogen Alpha line, or H α wavelength, allowing astronomers to capture crisp, clear images of reddish, diffuse nebulae.

Enhanced Features
Crisp images of the stars and planets can be viewed on the EOS 60Da’s improved 3.0-inch Clear View LCD screen with 1,040,000 dots for detailed focusing. The flip-out Vari-angle screen allows photographers to adjust the screen for easy viewing without straining even while the camera is mounted to a telescope via a third-party T-ring adapter. Optimized for stargazing with friends or in an educational setting, astronomy enthusiasts can connect the camera to a TV with the provided AVC-DC400ST Stereo AV Video Cable and display the night sky on a TV monitor using the camera’s Live View mode. Moreover, the EOS 60Da’s Live View mode is equipped with a Silent Shooting feature that eliminates shutter-induced vibration for maximum camera stability when the camera is mounted to a telescope or super-telephoto EF lens.

Enhanced noise reduction on the EOS 60Da sensor offers photographers the ability to experiment with the wide array of ISO settings and increased ISO speeds up to 6400 expandable to 12800. Other features include an intelligent nine-point autofocus system, full manual controls, and RAW, JPEG, and RAW+JPEG image recording capabilities.

Accessories
The EOS 60Da helps capture the wonders of the night sky with its use of Canon’s award-winning EF and EF-S lenses along with other EOS accessories. Additionally, the EOS 60Da is packaged with Canon’s RA-E3 Remote Controller Adapter, providing the ability to connect a Canon Timer Remote Control such as the TC-80N3 (optional accessory). The TC-80N3 is ideal for controlling time exposures longer than 30 seconds as well as capturing a series of consecutive time exposures that can be composited during post-processing for improved image quality. This is especially useful when the camera body is connected to a telescopei or an EF super telephoto lens.

Canon has also included an AC adapter kit with the EOS 60Da, allowing the camera to be powered through an AC wall outlet or a battery-powered inverter, ideal for long exposure image or video capture at home or in the field.

Availability
As a specialized product, the EOS 60Da is only available to order from select authorized dealers. The estimated retail price is $1,499.00 and it is expected to be available this month.

To honor it, I have the pleasure to present a few stunning pictures demonstrating clearly what it is possible to do with a photo camera when passion is meeting the availability of such an impressive model (and, here, the meaning of “availability” has to be taken with quite some flexibility).

First, Paolo Nespoli, astronaut in the space station shot the arrival of the shuttle. Nice depth of field (down to Peru 360 km below) but also notice the shadow cast by the station itself. (Should this be classified as bad lighting or as the inclusion of a second model in the picture?)

But Paolo Nespoli was perfectly located: A window, a nice lighting (great direct sun with no cloud cover), a nice background, the model cooperating politely under direct and precise commands. But, exactly at the opposite end of the easiness spectrum, if you’re down here on Earth, you can see the space station with you own eyes (and maybe recognize more or less its shape with good binoculars). So, why not try and shot it?

This is a rather exceptional snapshot taken by Rob Bullen on Saturday night with a relatively small telescope (22 cm or 8,5″). Even worse or even better, instead of using a fully automated guidance/pointing setup, this craftsman of an astro photographer aligned his telescope and his photo camera by hand. I’m stunned!

But this is not all. If you want even more, you must go and see the great photo sequence of Thierry Legault, French engineer living near Paris who assembled 900 photos into a little accelerated video sequence where we can clearly see the International Space Station and the approaching shuttle.

All those photographers aiming their cameras at the same model nearly exactly at the same time!

Kudos to all of them! And my warm thanks to Xtian who put me on the track of the articles of Phil Plait in Discover Magazine.

photo credit: anthonycmaki

Sometimes, during Summer time, it’s fine to switch to low gear and to wander far from the normal path of things.

So, if you like lenses (specially long focal length primes), you may be interested in looking at the dinosaur age of tele-lenses: The Telescope era, which started in 1611 (nearly 400 years ago) when the Greek mathematician Giovanni Demisiani coined the word from the Greek τῆλε, tele “far” and σκοπεῖν, skopein “to look or see”; Thus, τηλεσκόπος, teleskopos “far-seeing”).

ArsTechnica has a fine 3-page feature article drawing a history of the telescope, showing how it evolved from the original 2-lens design of Galileo telescope to more modern mirror-based ones. In between the tele-lens derived from that, but it’s another story.

Fun reading. Good lesson ni optics.

At first, Peter Shah seems to be the usual astronomy photographer. He goes out at night to look at the sky with a photo camera and a very big lens on a tripod. This is actually wrong. Peter Shah is actually a perfectionist. Where most amateur astronomers learned to grind a mirror by themselves in order to build a bigger, better astro lens, Peter has perfected the art of improving the little details that make a difference between a good lens and a near perfect photo.

For example, covering the concrete pier, where the 8 inch lens is affixed, with a gold mylar sheet was a step into reducing unwelcome heat radiation that was impairing his pictures. [Peter Shah’s equipment]

You should absolutely go and check his wonderful stars and nebulae’s images. Peter authorized me to copy here a photo I would love to be able to do (any time I start shooting stars, of course): A full color photo of the Horse Head Nebula (in my eyes, one of the most marvelous sight in our skies).

Now, as we are on YLovePhoto and I am always tempted to help my readers improve their photos, I also found a useful article by Jason Anderson (from Canon Blogger) posted on the excellent DIY Photography web site. You will learn how he built a DIY star tracker (very much what astro-photographers would do). But you will start by the excellent basic advice of 5 tips:

1. Use a tripod
2. Turn on the in-camera noise reduction
3. Drop your ISO to its lowest setting
4. Make sure you are working with fully charged batteries and have some spares!
5. Try to shoot in a remote area where there is not much stray light

The Create Wonderful Astrophotography Images With A DIY Star Tracker article will have you brain working. Maybe, you will try your photo camera at night, too.