ES ED80 Canon Xsi unmodded (54) 3 Min Frames @ iso 1600 Stacked with Darks in DSS, Processed in PS CS5
When I shot the North American Nebula, my astro-buddies said things like "Wow your unmodded Xsi picks up a lot of red" and I thought, hey, maybe I can hold off on an expensive and intrusive mod to my precious Canon. All of those thoughts disappeared as I began to process my photo of NGC 1499 yesterday.
This nebula doesn't even EXIST with an unmodded dslr! I suppose the photo above shows a pleasant mix of coloured stars and faint pink nebulosity, but if you've ever seen a REAL photo of the California Nebula, you will understand my predicament;) So here's the plan: Since I do not want to rip apart my 450D just yet, as I use it A LOT for daytime photography, I will wait until boxing day, at which point I will buy a new dslr, then either mod the 450D myself, or fork out the cash to do it right at KW Telescope.
UPDATE: Dec. 14, 2012
California Nebula with Unmodified DLSR
I decided I would give this object a fair kick in the can. I added about 2 hours of data under dark skies at the CCCA. It was a nightmare to process however. Becasue I stretched it to its limits, I revealed light pollution, amp glow, gradients... you name it! I don't usually like to stretch images this far. Needless to say, I won't be imaging the California Neb until I modify my 450d!
