Modifying Canon T3

[Baskevo]

Hey y'all! I'm really excited because I purchased a Canon T3 the other day, with a pretty low shutter count (a lot of dust tho), and I have a tech-y friend who's going to help me modify it next weekend! I was wondering if anyone could share their experience, resources, etc. to help with the process. It seems easy enough, but I'm sure some of you have some do's and don't's, tutorials, etc. that you might want to share.

Has anyone here done it before, and where did you learn to do it from? Also, any recommendations on what else I will need after the modification (like filters, etc.)?

Thanks folks!

[JayTee]

Hi James,

You are aware of this site, yes? If not, you should definitely read this.
http://dslrmodifications.com/rebelmod450d1.html

Cheers,
JT

[yobbo89]

Forget everything in your past life, it's irelevant.

You are now the highest paid and highest skilled surgeon in your team, you have a very steady hand, you don't make mistakes, every operation is a success!!!

[SKEtrip]

Hats off to ya! Best of luck & keep track of the screws.

[Baskevo]

Should I do the full spectrum? That looks quite a bit more complicated. What exactly does that do, practically?

Thanks for sharing that JT!

[yobbo89]

Should I do the full spectrum? That looks quite a bit more complicated. What exactly does that do, practically?

Thanks for sharing that JT!

The lingo online sometimes isn't explained clearly.

"full spectrum and ha mod" are really the same modification to the camera which includes removing the stock filter in the camera which is known to block light in the ha spectrum. which the reason we remove the stock filter so we can go abouts and image those faint ha regions.

now.

"FULL SPECTRUM" means no replacement filter and this will let infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths in, not really ideal in most circumstances and it tends to leave star bloating especially for astronomers with refractors , more suitable for newtonian setups.

"HA MOD" means it has a replacement filter , The replacement filter is just a infrared and ultraviolet blocker, the term is very misleading.This is probably the most suitable setup for general use.

a full spectrum mod is more suitable if you using your own filters which already include ir/uv built in them ie ha /oiii/hb,sii , duo band and tri band filters.

I have not dug too deep into the mods or what services people supply but from my understanding the replacement filter will be clip in or one similar to the stock that sits over the ccd, you can always op for neither and buy a 2'' filter two screw onto the t ring adapter size, this can be cheaper, but the only problem is that you don't have support for using dslr lenses in astrophotography because of the filter position you'll need the clip in or internal filter to use dslr lenses ..

[Baskevo]

Very helpful! Thank you Yobbo. I do not care about using it except for astrophotography, and I am using it with a refractor, and not with any canon lens (I have a stock camera that I won't modify).

Someone in my area offered to modify it for me:

Low pass filter removal only: $ 200
Full Spectrum Modification (with Low Pass Filter removed): $ 280
Enhanced Spectrum Modification (Visible plus H-Alpha) this modification keeps the Low Pass Filter $ 300

So with my 80mm refractor, strictly using it for AP with my OTA, which one should I do? I would like to do narrow band so I can get through my Bortle 8 better.

[yobbo89]

The full spectrum should include a clear protective glass hence the price. ($80 is pretty expensive for clear glass..)

you can use a u-v/ir cut off (the ha mod) with another filter ie cls/ ha,duo/triband ectt but stacking filters can give a very small percentage in loss of light and sometimes adding more stuff in the light pathway can cause internal reflections .

overall i think it will be fine to use a uv/ir cut off or clear lense with a cls or ha filter, it's not going to make any noticeable difference and reflection will most likely not occur due to the distance from one another.

it's personal preference , for me i have a bunch of 2'' uv/ir cutoff filters, so i would save myself $80 and just screw one on the coma corrector/field flattener . and i don't mind cleaning my cmos chip so i wouldn't need a protective internal filter for it which the chip is already coated.

I think really, these mods are aimed for overall use , dslr lense imaging/little bit more protection to the chip from debris ectt.

but yeah i would put that $100 towards some sort of cls/duo band filter if you haven't already got one , since you're in a bortle
8 ,you need all the help you can get.

[Baskevo]

So I think I want a full spectrum mod... because I don't want to struggle with doubling up on filters with Ha and stuff, and it just sounds easier in the long run.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a place that will do a full spectrum?

I know of Lifepixel. They do the same full spectrum modification right? B/c they only charge $275

[Juno16]

Hi James,

I just had me dslr modified for Ha by LifePixel. Like it goes, the skies has been crap since receiving it a few days ago.
I got the Ha mod since it blocks the wavelengths outside of about 400-700 nm negating the need for a uv/ir filter. KISS principle in effect here.

Thanks,
Jim

[Baskevo]

So the Ha mod can only capture in Ha, right? So would that make it impossible to capture like galaxies and stuff? I want the mod that lets me do RGB + Ha, so I can acquire more detail and still get color... Is that possible?

[Baskevo]

Okay guys... So I think I'm going to go with LifePixel, but I think I'm going to do the full spectrum. They have a Black Friday sale going on this weekend!

Because I live in heavy light pollution, I would want to do narrowband images. If I'm not mistaken, I can do the full spectrum mod, purchase a seperate UV/IR cut filter to prevent star bloating, and then clip-in narrowband (Ha, Sii, and Oiii eventually) filters. Will that be fine?

Because if I went with the Ha mod, I would not have to deal with bloated stars, but I wouldn't be able to use narrowband filters, is that correct? So I'd be able to capture more detail in my images without bloated stars, but I would have to be in a dark area to be able to get good shots...

Can someone confirm that this is correct for me? It's kind of a permanent decision and I want to make sure I make the right choice... Thanks for the help everyone, and happy thanksgiving.

[yobbo89]

So the Ha mod can only capture in Ha, right? So would that make it impossible to capture like galaxies and stuff? I want the mod that lets me do RGB + Ha, so I can acquire more detail and still get color... Is that possible?

As I explained before, the lingo is misleading. The ha mod let's all light in including ha and is an improvement for capturing ha signals over the stock filter. Hence the name "ha mod" . To do ha rgb, you need a ha filter as well, you would simply apply the filter on your modifyed dlsr or prefered osc, image and then dump the green and blue data with debayering, then take your ha filter of and capture the rgb data.

[Baskevo]

So the Ha mod can only capture in Ha, right? So would that make it impossible to capture like galaxies and stuff? I want the mod that lets me do RGB + Ha, so I can acquire more detail and still get color... Is that possible?

As I explained before, the lingo is misleading. The ha mod let's all light in including ha and is an improvement for capturing ha signals over the stock filter. Hence the name "ha mod" . To do ha rgb, you need a ha filter as well, you would simply apply the filter on your modifyed dlsr or prefered osc, image and then dump the green and blue data with debayering, then take your ha filter of and capture the rgb data.

Sorry there is so much conflicting info on the web... I get confused lol So then the only difference between Ha and Full spectrum is the ability to do UV and IR photos with full spectrum, and full spectrum needs a UV/IR cut filter for AP..?

maybe I should just sell my cameras and go straight to monochrome lol that's what other people on my Facebook group recommended when I asked which one to do haha

[Mac]

So the Ha mod can only capture in Ha, right? So would that make it impossible to capture like galaxies and stuff? I want the mod that lets me do RGB + Ha, so I can acquire more detail and still get color... Is that possible?

As I explained before, the lingo is misleading. The ha mod let's all light in including ha and is an improvement for capturing ha signals over the stock filter. Hence the name "ha mod" . To do ha rgb, you need a ha filter as well, you would simply apply the filter on your modifyed dlsr or prefered osc, image and then dump the green and blue data with debayering, then take your ha filter of and capture the rgb data.

Sorry there is so much conflicting info on the web... I get confused lol So then the only difference between Ha and Full spectrum is the ability to do UV and IR photos with full spectrum, and full spectrum needs a UV/IR cut filter for AP..?

maybe I should just sell my cameras and go straight to monochrome lol that's what other people on my Facebook group recommended when I asked which one to do haha

I am thinking the same thing James. I prefer to leave my D7500 for regular photography but have seen comments where users said they got better pictures with their DSLR vs. a AP monochrome or OSC. That will also provide the ability to install a focuser that I can control from inside.

[Baskevo]

As I explained before, the lingo is misleading. The ha mod let's all light in including ha and is an improvement for capturing ha signals over the stock filter. Hence the name "ha mod" . To do ha rgb, you need a ha filter as well, you would simply apply the filter on your modifyed dlsr or prefered osc, image and then dump the green and blue data with debayering, then take your ha filter of and capture the rgb data.

Sorry there is so much conflicting info on the web... I get confused lol So then the only difference between Ha and Full spectrum is the ability to do UV and IR photos with full spectrum, and full spectrum needs a UV/IR cut filter for AP..?

maybe I should just sell my cameras and go straight to monochrome lol that's what other people on my Facebook group recommended when I asked which one to do haha

I am thinking the same thing James. I prefer to leave my D7500 for regular photography but have seen comments where users said they got better pictures with their DSLR vs. a AP monochrome or OSC. That will also provide the ability to install a focuser that I can control from inside.

You're saying upgrading to a mono will let you install an auto focuser? Why can't you do that with your DSLR?

Yeah I am in extremely bad light pollution. I purchased a DSLR strictly for AP, and I bought the top of the line one and a used canon. The more I think about it, the more I think my best option would be to sell the cameras and just buy a mono, because those 2 together isn't much less expensive than a mono camera. And while the accessories and filters (especially narrowband) would also be expensive, I would still want to get some of the filters anyway. I'll have to do some more research, but this sounds like the best option right now.

[Mac]

You're saying upgrading to a mono will let you install an auto focuser? Why can't you do that with your DSLR?

Yeah I am in extremely bad light pollution. I purchased a DSLR strictly for AP, and I bought the top of the line one and a used canon. The more I think about it, the more I think my best option would be to sell the cameras and just buy a mono, because those 2 together isn't much less expensive than a mono camera. And while the accessories and filters (especially narrowband) would also be expensive, I would still want to get some of the filters anyway. I'll have to do some more research, but this sounds like the best option right now.

I am sure it could be done with the DSLR too.

We are both in the same boat in regards to what camera to use. I don't want to modify my DSLR, that is 1/4 the price of a monochrome.

[yobbo89]

So the Ha mod can only capture in Ha, right? So would that make it impossible to capture like galaxies and stuff? I want the mod that lets me do RGB + Ha, so I can acquire more detail and still get color... Is that possible?

As I explained before, the lingo is misleading. The ha mod let's all light in including ha and is an improvement for capturing ha signals over the stock filter. Hence the name "ha mod" . To do ha rgb, you need a ha filter as well, you would simply apply the filter on your modifyed dlsr or prefered osc, image and then dump the green and blue data with debayering, then take your ha filter of and capture the rgb data.

Sorry there is so much conflicting info on the web... I get confused lol So then the only difference between Ha and Full spectrum is the ability to do UV and IR photos with full spectrum, and full spectrum needs a UV/IR cut filter for AP..?

maybe I should just sell my cameras and go straight to monochrome lol that's what other people on my Facebook group recommended when I asked which one to do haha

yep, that's correct about the ha vs full spectrum mod. full spectrum needs a uv/ir for a refractor,a newtonian should be fine. you're buying preference and control.

[yobbo89]

Sorry there is so much conflicting info on the web... I get confused lol So then the only difference between Ha and Full spectrum is the ability to do UV and IR photos with full spectrum, and full spectrum needs a UV/IR cut filter for AP..?

maybe I should just sell my cameras and go straight to monochrome lol that's what other people on my Facebook group recommended when I asked which one to do haha

I am thinking the same thing James. I prefer to leave my D7500 for regular photography but have seen comments where users said they got better pictures with their DSLR vs. a AP monochrome or OSC. That will also provide the ability to install a focuser that I can control from inside.

You're saying upgrading to a mono will let you install an auto focuser? Why can't you do that with your DSLR?

Yeah I am in extremely bad light pollution. I purchased a DSLR strictly for AP, and I bought the top of the line one and a used canon. The more I think about it, the more I think my best option would be to sell the cameras and just buy a mono, because those 2 together isn't much less expensive than a mono camera. And while the accessories and filters (especially narrowband) would also be expensive, I would still want to get some of the filters anyway. I'll have to do some more research, but this sounds like the best option right now.

auto focusing software is best supported with astronomy cameras , only a few dlsr brands are supported in imaging/focus software, i guess thats what mactech is trying to imply .

having a colour camera has a lot of pros, night scape imaging,lunar eclipse,simplicity with imaging and processing. one should at least have some sort of osc camera in their kit in astrophotography in my opinion , but unused equipment is dead weight and best passed off for something you would use.

even in a very highly lp areas there are targets you can still image with a osc/dslr, m42,carina,omega,eagle,triffid,lagoon,tarantula ,sombrero and other bright galaxies and many open clusters.

[Mac]

auto focusing software is best supported with astronomy cameras , only a few dlsr brands are supported in imaging/focus software, i guess thats what mactech is trying to imply .

My Nikon is not well supported in AP, nor am I happy with Nikon's connectivity software. To put it bluntly, it sucks bad. Controlling my D7500 with Nikon's own software is often an issue so it's easy to see why 3rd parties may have them too.

The only way I can focus is using Liveview on the DSLR but it is unavailable when connected to software and the playback frame rate is terrible to get good focusing.