Canon reaches for stars with DSLR refresh
Aimed at astrosnappers
Canon sent its latest DSLR into orbit today with the launch of the EOS 60Da, a high-res snapper designed for astrophotography.
The Canon EOS 60Da - essentially a refresh of the 20Da - packs a modified infrared filter and low-noise sensor, which along with a "heightened hydrogen-alpha sensitivity", makes it an ideal candidate for shooting the night skies, apparently.
The DSLR features an 18Mp APS-C CMOS sensor with a Digic 4 processor and an ISO range of 100-6400, expandable to 12800. Meanwhile, on the rear you'll find a 3in LCD with a million-dot resolution.
The system is compatible with the EOS range of interchangeable lenses ranging from 8mm to 800mm.
You can get a full read-out of the EOS 60Da's specs at Canon's website.
The Canon EOS 60Da hits shelves in June, with a price tag of 9823 Galactic Groats (£1174 Earth money). ®
COMMENTS
Re: Damn that is expensive even by Canon's standards
"If this is a replacement for the 20d, where does that leave the 30d, 40d, 50d and 60d ..."
It isn't - it's a replacement for the 20Da
"At this price point this cannot be a regular DSLR"
Well done - you kept up this far.
"and therefore really only appeals to Astrologers"
...keep going...
"anyone looking for a regular Canon DSLR will go for a regular 60d or one of the 1000 range, and certainly not this."
Congratulations - you've worked out that this camera is different!
"Best of luck with this niche market turkey Canon.........."
Amongst astrologers, the 20Da is highly respected, so it probably will be.
Might go and post a comment in a story about a new SSD that this can't be a normal hard drive and that people who want a tradional hard drive will look at tradional hard drives and that at this price, it'll won't appeal to people who value cost/gigbyte over performance.
Sorry - not much patience today...
Re: "heightened hydrogen-alpha sensitivity"
...or point it at a nebula. Most of the brightness in a nebula tends to be in the h-alpha emission line, which happens to be right on the edge of the UV/IR passband in a typical camera, causing you to lose most of it. As a result, a stock DSLR is significantly less sensitive than it could be in capturing many "feint fuzzy" objects.
There is a very active secondary market for modified DSLRs and modification services to swap out the UV/IR filter (that sits right on top of the sensor) with one that moves the passband slightly into the IR region to fix this problem.
You can also buy the filter and do it yourself, if you're a masochist. I've done it myself on an older model Canon DSLR, and I can't say I recommend it. It involves getting out a soldering iron and dealing with the tiniest connectors you've ever seen.
I see the pound's took another hammering against the Galactic Groat.
Re: Good HA filters..
I didn't read it as it having a Halpha filter. I read it that the IR blocking filter now has a better pass characteristic for Halpha. Therefore, the camera is more responsive to Halpha.
I'm afraid that the camera still has a bayer colour filter over the sensor. If you are really into your astronomy, you use a monochrome sensor and take different exposures with a different filter for each exposure.
Good HA filters..
are notoriously expensive...Probably accounts for the price increase over a standard body..
Would like to see if it has any effect on any other aspect of it, seing as it has preset scene modes.
