Canon EOS XTi: Equipment Spotlight [DSLR Camera]

The Canon EOs XTi joins my astrophotography family. I started using my Google Pixel Really Blue to photograph night sky objects. I’ve captured the Orion Nebula, Sun, stars, planets, star clusters and the Andromeda Galaxy with my smartphone. The smartphone can capture, with the same quality, most night sky objects. Deep Sky Objects present a challenge for the smartphone. I acquired a used Canon EOS XTi DSLR Camera. It was donated by Chuck Marshall of Chuck’s Camera Plus in Hampton, VA. It is gently used and has a damaged card reader.

Canon EOS XTi Specs

Crop Sensor vs Full Frame

I don’t yet know enough about this comparison to speak to it. At minimum I know the crop sensor removes the edges from your field of view increasing focal length. Full Frame gives you everything which has its place in your astrophotography tool bag. More on this in future posts.

Light Sensitivity

The details of this camera can be found on the Canon website. So let’s discuss the inportant ones related to astrophotography. Light sensitivity allows you to adjust for the brightness of the planned target. Having this flexability is needed with the different objects night sky. The Horsehead Nebula for example is very dim in comparison to the Orion Nebula which you can see with the naked eye. The Canon EOS XTi has an ISO range of 100-1600. Bright objects like the Moon or Sun need low ISO to capture clearly. This model requires a filter to reduce the light intensity and/or very fast shutter speed to compensate. The Google Pixel is capable of ISO less than 50 with a max of 10000. Certainly the Canon EOS XTi, released in 2006, will be used for specific photos since it can’t compete with the smartphone.

Shutter speed

Shutter speed with the Canon EOS XTi is maxed at 1/4000 sec. Compared to my Google Pixel at 1/8000 sec, the smartphone wins. On the opposite end where DSO objects live, the camera slows shutter speed to a minimum of 30 sec. The Google Pixel, 0.6 sec. And the winner goes to the Canon.

Canon EOS XTi Capability

Yes there are many differences to point out between pictures. You can see the difference between the crop sensor (Canon) vs full frame (Google Pixel). The difference between a 30 sec shutter time and a 0.6 sec shutter time. The Google Pixel has elongated stars because polar alighment is difficult in my yard. I have to drift align for polar alignment and that works best with a long shutter opening time. Of course the pictures show how much post processing improvement I’ve gained since 2017.

Canon EOS XTi Conclusion

The Canon EOS XTi currently works with my Meade ETX-125 Telescope. The scope has a smaller field of view so getting all of an object in the frame is a challenge. I’ll explain why it cannot work with the Orion Astroview 6 telescope in another post. The Canon camera will perform great with DSO and I’ll keep the Google Pixel dedicated to solar system objects. I’ve learned enough in the short period to help my neighbor sucesssfully capture photos of the Super Blood Wolf Moon. He too uses a Canon product and the results match the picture here. My own experience aside, I’ve not seen anyone else sucessfully capture a detailed DSO photo with a smartphone that rivals a DSLR camera. Get one and clear skies!