Nice job Brent. For budget landscape astro it’s hard to beat the original 6D. That said, the R3 is the best landscape Astro camera I’ve ever used. High ISO performance is off the charts. For deep sky (galaxies, nebulae etc.), a dedicated, cooled Astro cam is my choice.
Hey Brent, thank you for informative video and hopefully starting an Astro Photography series. I have the original R6 as well as the R5 II, several nice fast wide angle lenses and good tripods. I’d like to start using them and look forward to your advice. I live on the Big Island and was able to photograph the eruption in the foreground with the Milky Way in the background, it was pretty cool.
@@lionheart4424 I have had good success with the Rokinon (or Samyang -- same manufacturer) 20 mm f/1.8, the Rokinon 35 mm f/1.4, and the Rokinon 14 mm f/2.8. Affordable but really good image quality. All manual focus, which is fine for astro. I sometimes also use the Canon 50 mm f/1.8. The 6D is excellent for astro -- equal to the 5D Mark IV, which I also have used many times on night sky adventures.
In my humble opinion if you're going to do astrophotography you might as well get one with Astro tracker like the Pentax K1 or any of the other Pentax that has the GPS tracker device on the hot shoe that way the sensor moves slowly without having all of the other gear such as a tripod tracker which would work for other things for the stars that you're looking at and wanting just a camera can do it Pentax K-70 all the way to the Pentax K1 Mark II very easily and body stabilization with AstroTracker
Fascinating. The K-1 also has excellent low-light performance, according to Dxomark. One note of caution: the Astrotracer function, as you say, works via GPS signal, which of course depends on being within range of cell-phone service. My favorite spots for astro, out along the south coast of Vancouver Island, Canada, has poor cell service. So I use the inexpensive Move Shoot Move star tracker, and find it quite good.
Another great video. Between the numerous camera bodies and the vast array of lenses, a person could go bonkers trying to figure it out. This is exactly what we need, a no-nonsense get to the point video. I can't wait until you suggest a few lenses and give a brief explanation of what will do the best job on a budget. All the best to you and your family in 2025.
I use the Canon 6D, astromodified, and get outstanding results. I had the un-modified 6D and the Canon 5D Mark IV before that, and found the image quality for astro to be about the same between the two. Actually, when forced to shoot at ISO 12800, the 6D was a little better. I once used my Canon R5 for astro, and I found it better than my 5D Mark IV -- a nice surprise in a high megapixel camera. I'd use it anytime for astro, if I didn't have access to my 6Da. BTW, for astro lenses, I think the Rokinon family of wide aperture, manual lenses, are severely UNDER-rated. I get great results with them.
I made a video about that last year. I'm sure I mentioned it in the video and put it in the video cards and the description. ua-cam.com/video/_mOoDmWjHyM/v-deo.html
I use a Canon 90D and I use it for everything. Tonight I shot the Crescent Moon with a Sigma 150-600mm and a 2x Teleconverter. I bought the 90D second hand and it was the best £800 I have spent!
Excellent recommendations, particularly getting old full frame DSLRs (IMO, for specialist genres of photography like astro or wildlife, APS-C isn't a good idea because of lens selection). When I switched to Sony, I kept my venerable 5D iii and converted 6D for astro (and for Magic Lantern).
Hey Brent, thanks for this video. I am thinking of getting either 6D mkii or 5D mkiii. I love the versatility and features of the Canon 6D mkii. So, am I going to miss much if I go with the 6D Mark II?
EOS R is good. I have the Ra which is very good (except for one or two quirks... red halo & no interval timer) but R should be fine for astro. I'm actually tempted to get one, alternative choice is R5ii because both have E-Shutter 14bits imaging.
Hey, I got myself an R7 in 2023 and then an R8 in 2024. Unfortunately I live in the center of a city and the sky has a lot of light pollution and so far I've never bothered to get away from town to get cleaner images. However, I did set my R8 up on the balcony with the RF 24-105 f/4 and took a few shots. I was mainly testing to see if it was even a viable option, and as I was experimenting with the post processing I noticed I could see concentric circles appearing, like ripples from the center of the image. This was only visible if I cranked a lot of sliders up, but as it wasn't just noise I got curious. Sure enough, I googled and I found some threads where people discuss it. Is this something you've seen as well on the R8 and/or R6 II ? Any thoughts?
cheers brent! i just got a friend hooked today and told him to sell his old 60D and 5D mk2 to get a R10 with a normal fixed lens first. he wants to shoot stars, scenery and moon. my R7 is perfect with the 100-500L and love it. is the R10 still fine as beginner cam for smaller budget? i adviced him against the R8 because lenses are so much more expensive and everything above is too much cash for him as student
Good stuff, Brent. Have you done much astro with either the R7 or R5II? I got some decent shots with the R5II when the aurora dipped down to us here in VA, but haven't tried much night sky stuff otherwise. Wondering if you're finding the R5II too noisy for astro?
A very happy and healthy new year. I took som shots of the aurora but it wasn´t that strong. Now I´am looking for som video`s on how to prosess them inn photoshop to gett the most out of it. Which of your video`s do you recommend I should watch?
I've said for nearly 50 years it's not the camera that makes a great photograph it's the ability to use what you have and most importantly having the eye for a great composition
I agree for the most part. For astro, the quality of the camera and lens does make quite a difference. Crop sensor cameras don't do well at higher ISO values, which are part of the astrophotography game. And lenses with apertures above f/2.8, really don't work well, as they force even higher ISO values. That said, you can finesse both these issues to a large degree by using a star tracker. The Move Shoot Move tracker works well, and doesn't cost much.
@ you can also address those shortcomings by letting out some extra gas after your wife makes that string cheese melted washer dryer combo. If you don’t get my drift, just use your thumb and imagine a time where life wasn’t so complicated.
Nice job Brent. For budget landscape astro it’s hard to beat the original 6D. That said, the R3 is the best landscape Astro camera I’ve ever used. High ISO performance is off the charts. For deep sky (galaxies, nebulae etc.), a dedicated, cooled Astro cam is my choice.
Hey Brent, thank you for informative video and hopefully starting an Astro Photography series. I have the original R6 as well as the R5 II, several nice fast wide angle lenses and good tripods. I’d like to start using them and look forward to your advice. I live on the Big Island and was able to photograph the eruption in the foreground with the Milky Way in the background, it was pretty cool.
I just upgraded from a 6D to R6II and I'm so excited to do astro with it!
Great video Brent. The Canon 6D is also a great FF low light performer for astro.
I have a 6D and want to dabble into astro. Do know of EF lenses recommendations for astro?
@lionheart4424 I use a Sigma 24mm f/1.4 and a Samyang 14mm f/2.8
@@mcdond2512 thank you.
@@lionheart4424 I have had good success with the Rokinon (or Samyang -- same manufacturer) 20 mm f/1.8, the Rokinon 35 mm f/1.4, and the Rokinon 14 mm f/2.8. Affordable but really good image quality. All manual focus, which is fine for astro. I sometimes also use the Canon 50 mm f/1.8. The 6D is excellent for astro -- equal to the 5D Mark IV, which I also have used many times on night sky adventures.
@@neildickie6278 thank you!
In my humble opinion if you're going to do astrophotography you might as well get one with Astro tracker like the Pentax K1 or any of the other Pentax that has the GPS tracker device on the hot shoe that way the sensor moves slowly without having all of the other gear such as a tripod tracker which would work for other things for the stars that you're looking at and wanting just a camera can do it Pentax K-70 all the way to the Pentax K1 Mark II very easily and body stabilization with AstroTracker
Fascinating. The K-1 also has excellent low-light performance, according to Dxomark. One note of caution: the Astrotracer function, as you say, works via GPS signal, which of course depends on being within range of cell-phone service. My favorite spots for astro, out along the south coast of Vancouver Island, Canada, has poor cell service. So I use the inexpensive Move Shoot Move star tracker, and find it quite good.
Another great video.
Between the numerous camera bodies and the vast array of lenses, a person could go bonkers trying to figure it out.
This is exactly what we need, a no-nonsense get to the point video.
I can't wait until you suggest a few lenses and give a brief explanation of what will do the best job on a budget.
All the best to you and your family in 2025.
Thanks man. I actually made a video about lenses for astro last year.
ua-cam.com/video/_mOoDmWjHyM/v-deo.html
I use the Canon 6D, astromodified, and get outstanding results. I had the un-modified 6D and the Canon 5D Mark IV before that, and found the image quality for astro to be about the same between the two. Actually, when forced to shoot at ISO 12800, the 6D was a little better. I once used my Canon R5 for astro, and I found it better than my 5D Mark IV -- a nice surprise in a high megapixel camera. I'd use it anytime for astro, if I didn't have access to my 6Da.
BTW, for astro lenses, I think the Rokinon family of wide aperture, manual lenses, are severely UNDER-rated. I get great results with them.
You need to do a follow up video about what to look in a lens for astrography. Happy new year!
I made a video about that last year. I'm sure I mentioned it in the video and put it in the video cards and the description.
ua-cam.com/video/_mOoDmWjHyM/v-deo.html
I use a Canon 90D and I use it for everything. Tonight I shot the Crescent Moon with a Sigma 150-600mm and a 2x Teleconverter. I bought the 90D second hand and it was the best £800 I have spent!
Excellent recommendations, particularly getting old full frame DSLRs (IMO, for specialist genres of photography like astro or wildlife, APS-C isn't a good idea because of lens selection). When I switched to Sony, I kept my venerable 5D iii and converted 6D for astro (and for Magic Lantern).
I've managed to avoid that rabbit hole for 50 + years but u keep tempting me 😂
Hey Brent, thanks for this video. I am thinking of getting either 6D mkii or 5D mkiii. I love the versatility and features of the Canon 6D mkii. So, am I going to miss much if I go with the 6D Mark II?
6d is the best value not anything mirrorless
EOS R is good. I have the Ra which is very good (except for one or two quirks... red halo & no interval timer) but R should be fine for astro. I'm actually tempted to get one, alternative choice is R5ii because both have E-Shutter 14bits imaging.
Hey, I got myself an R7 in 2023 and then an R8 in 2024. Unfortunately I live in the center of a city and the sky has a lot of light pollution and so far I've never bothered to get away from town to get cleaner images. However, I did set my R8 up on the balcony with the RF 24-105 f/4 and took a few shots. I was mainly testing to see if it was even a viable option, and as I was experimenting with the post processing I noticed I could see concentric circles appearing, like ripples from the center of the image. This was only visible if I cranked a lot of sliders up, but as it wasn't just noise I got curious. Sure enough, I googled and I found some threads where people discuss it. Is this something you've seen as well on the R8 and/or R6 II ? Any thoughts?
cheers brent! i just got a friend hooked today and told him to sell his old 60D and 5D mk2 to get a R10 with a normal fixed lens first. he wants to shoot stars, scenery and moon. my R7 is perfect with the 100-500L and love it. is the R10 still fine as beginner cam for smaller budget? i adviced him against the R8 because lenses are so much more expensive and everything above is too much cash for him as student
Yeah, I think the R10 would be a great place to start, especially if he is on a budget.
Canon 6 D
Good stuff, Brent. Have you done much astro with either the R7 or R5II? I got some decent shots with the R5II when the aurora dipped down to us here in VA, but haven't tried much night sky stuff otherwise. Wondering if you're finding the R5II too noisy for astro?
Yeah, I've done astro with both, and have made videos about both too.
ua-cam.com/video/6LkBLAUZbqA/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/KBZpg2KCSkA/v-deo.html
A very happy and healthy new year. I took som shots of the aurora but it wasn´t that strong. Now I´am looking for som video`s on how to prosess them inn photoshop to gett the most out of it. Which of your video`s do you recommend I should watch?
Here's one where I shot and edited aurora back in may.
ua-cam.com/video/75483V4FUvw/v-deo.html
Just get to Pentax K1 and don't ever update the firmware you'll be good to go with the absolute best Astro tracking camera
I've said for nearly 50 years it's not the camera that makes a great photograph it's the ability to use what you have and most importantly having the eye for a great composition
False
@curtsuneson6161 that's funny I guess mine shouldn't have been on local and national TV and printed in books then
I agree for the most part. For astro, the quality of the camera and lens does make quite a difference. Crop sensor cameras don't do well at higher ISO values, which are part of the astrophotography game. And lenses with apertures above f/2.8, really don't work well, as they force even higher ISO values. That said, you can finesse both these issues to a large degree by using a star tracker. The Move Shoot Move tracker works well, and doesn't cost much.
@ you can also address those shortcomings by letting out some extra gas after your wife makes that string cheese melted washer dryer combo. If you don’t get my drift, just use your thumb and imagine a time where life wasn’t so complicated.