Canon launches EOS Ra astro camera
7.11.2019
Translation: machine translated
With a special filter in front of the sensor, the Canon EOS Ra is designed to bring out the starry sky better.
Canon is launching the EOS Ra - a camera specially designed for astrophotography. It is basically a Canon EOS R that has been modified so that it can better image certain phenomena in the starry sky. It should be available later this year.
How does an astro camera work?
Normal cameras have an infrared blocking filter in front of the sensor. This keeps out the infrared light, which would cause colour distortions and possibly also blurring. This blocking filter must be removed for infrared photography.
An astro camera also has an IR cut filter, but one that lets much more hydrogen alpha light through. In the case of the EOS Ra, it is four times as much. Hydrogen alpha is a still visible red, not infrared. It occurs in the starry sky in diffuse nebulae such as the Orion Nebula.
Source: ESO/H. Drass et al. - http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1625a/
The first astro cam in seven years
Canon launched an astro camera based on this principle back in 2012. The EOS 60Da was a modified EOS 60D. The 60D dates back to 2010 and is technologically outdated. It is also not a full-frame camera. It is therefore high time for a new astro camera, even if it is an extremely niche product. <p
David Lee
Senior Editor
David.Lee@digitecgalaxus.chMy interest in IT and writing landed me in tech journalism early on (2000). I want to know how we can use technology without being used. Outside of the office, I’m a keen musician who makes up for lacking talent with excessive enthusiasm.
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