This is a standard Canon 350D which I sent off to have its own low pass filter removed and replaced with an enhanced H-alpha transmission filter, plus a regulated Peltier Cooler behind the CMOS sensor. First light with the modified camera on daytime objects with 18% gray card manual white balance, shows perfectly clean balanced colours. The camera can be used without the Cooler and a neat blanking plate is fitted. A temperature probe is fitted which displays detector & ambient temps.
The camera remote and all control functions are retained, the fit & finish is excellent and looks like it came out of the factory like this.
Used with 18% grey card white balance, the camera remains completely
usable for everyday use. Kit lens image above, WO Megrez 90 APO below..
The two static 30-second exposures of the southern Milky Way from our front porch, taken at 1600 ISO with the modified 350D fitted with a Nikkor 16mm fisheye lens at f/2.8, look pretty good, even through light cloud in both images. Jupiter is the large bright object beneath Antares. Notice how the cloud haze expands the star/planet images in the lower image. Northern viewers will see this the other way up!
Note*
Use a manual white balance by setting with a photographic 18% Grey Card under noon sunlight. Cards are available from most camera.photographic shops. See your Canon manual on how to do a Custom White Balance - too easy.
Using static terrestrial objects as a means of comparing cameras, lenses, telescopes/optics and colour balance, is a good way, given the same object at the same distance is used under good weather conditions.
