Canon's mirrorless lenses have gotten off to quite an impressive start, though the bodies still have some catching up to do when it comes to innovation. Canon might be pushing that envelope a bit next year, though, as new rumors have uncovered the potential release of the ROS Ra, a full frame mirrorless camera designed specifically for astrophotography.
Canon has previously released two such cameras, the 20Da and 60Da, but the last such camera announcement was seven years ago now. Furthermore, both previous cameras used APS-C sensors. Surely, astrophotographers would love the benefits of seven years of development along with a full frame sensor. Canon News recently uncovered what appears to be a page from the EOS Ra's instruction manual, which details that the camera is about four times as sensitive to hydrogen-alpha light (656 nm). Paired with some of the stunning new glass in the R line and with some of the likely forthcoming wide angle prime lenses, this could be a great potential option for astrophotographers, who frequently place high technical demands on their equipment and for whom specialized consumer cameras are relatively rare. Along with the forthcoming professional-level EOS R camera and 1D X Mark III, it looks like Canon shooters are in for some exciting times!
As an astrophotographer (semi retired ha) I do wonder at this. If (when) I get back into my astrophotography, I won't be using a DSLR or mirrorless CMOS sensor to do it. I'll be using a dedicated astro imaging CCD sensor that can be used with narrowband and colour filters and can very easily be attached to telescopes without the need for special adapters. They can also be cooled down to -20 or more effectively without using very expensive specialist equipment.
Buying an astro modified ILC limits you to only shooting astro, unless you want to spend a long time editing out the red hue caused by the removal of the Ha filter etc.
I'm assuming there must be a demand for it, otherwise they wouldn't do it. It just seems very VERY niche, and going up against a very saturated and more specific market?
That’s mostly a different target market. I own two cooled / dedicated astro CMOS cameras but still often use my 6Da as well. It’s just easy and fast to setup and use, still effective and has a large field of view. The price on dedicated cooled astro full frame CCD or CMOS is REALLY expensive...
I hope they don’t mark the price much more than the regular EOS R. You can still do normal daytime photography with it but will have to use a grey card and custom white balance.
Custom white balance, not adjusting WB afterwards in LR. That would be a nightmare.
I’ll post some examples when I get my 6Da back from LifePixel
I should have my 6Da back late this week in time for the new moon. But till then here is an example using a grey card: http://www.imaginginfinity.com/customwb.htm
What an absolute shitload of Canon rumours in the past few weeks.
Do you suffer from Alzheimer Light Jan. Sony introduced two cameras and two lenses some weeks ago. Rumours aren't actually products you can shoot with.