Best Camera for Astrophotography

Last updated May 12, 2026

One of the first choices you’ll face when starting astrophotography is what kind of camera you will use to take photographs of your targets. If you want to use a camera with a telescope you’ll need to attach the camera to the telescope and different cameras will attach in different ways. In the beginning, before you have mastered the technical aspects of astrophotography, your best bet is to go with either what you already have or the cheapest and easiest camera.

So, what is the best camera for astrophotography? In this article, I will answer this question for you.

After trying to use my iPhone, (which can be done but with limitations), I did what most beginners to astrophotography do I bought a DSLR camera. This is a very good option.

The best camera for backyard astrophotography depends on the equipment you have and the targets you want to image. It also depends on your experience and understanding of photography. DSLR cameras are popular and easy to use but some prefer electronic cameras specifically designed for astrophotography.

Good results can be had from using DSLR cameras, especially those made by Canon or Nikon, but any brand will do as long as they are of reasonable quality. These cameras can be attached to telescopes or used with a lens to photograph images of the sky. Take a look here to find out which are the best lenses for astrophotography.

The advantages of DSLR Cameras For Astrophotography

Apart from DSLR cameras being generally cheaper to buy than dedicated electronic cameras¹ they can also be used for general photography. It may be possible to start using an existing camera that a beginner already has or can borrow from someone. In addition, good starter cameras are available online for less than $200.

What is the best DSLR for astrophotography?

I chose to use a Canon and made a mistake initially as I bought a cheap older model without a live view. Live view is absolutely necessary to frame your deep-sky target and to focus your camera in the dark. So, I changed my camera to the one I still use now, a Canon 600D.

Attaching the DSLR camera to a telescope is quite easy once you figure it out. With most Canons, you need a t-adapter to connect the camera to the focuser of the telescope. I also have three lenses. I have a Samyang 135mm, a Canon EF-S 85mm, and a Canon EF 30mm lens.

Do you need to get your DSLR camera modified?

If you are using a DSLR camera for astrophotography, then one thing you could consider is having it astro-modified to make it more sensitive to Hydrogen Alpha light which normally registers as red. This kind of modification involves removing the filter in front of the camera sensor and therefore the camera will need to be dismantled and then put back together.

You can do this job yourself if you want, but I wouldn’t recommend it as you could damage your camera. I didn’t risk it and asked a friend who owns a photography shop to get it done for me. What were the results of an unmodified vs a modified DSLR? Nothing short of amazing!

Here is a detailed article looking at how to do this modification and what kind of difference it makes¹ to your astrophotography.

Test: unmodified Canon 600D v Modified Canon 600D

To show the difference modification can make to a DSLR camera, I performed the following test:

I asked a friend who owns a Photography Business to remove the filters in front of my canon 600D, also known as astro modification. The filters in Canon DSLRs block much of the hydrogen alpha and IR wavelengths and when removed should improve astro images captured by the camera because of the added signal received in these wavelengths. This should be an improvement, especially for emission nebulae.

I took 10 photos of the Orion Nebula before I got my DSLR camera astro modified in October 2020, (Image A). I then took another 10 photos of the Orion Nebula after the astro modification was done, (Image B). Both images were processed in the same way to create a direct comparison between modified and unmodified image:

• the 10 lights were stacked in Sequator and darks were used to reduce the noise.
• sub exposure length was 10 seconds
• An Astronomik clip-in CLS filter was used
• Canon 600D was attached at prime focus to Celestron 130SLT telescope and mount.
• Stacked images were processed in Photoshop

Image B shows clearly how much more hydrogen alpha was captured as a result of the astro modification. Just look at the added detail! I have since gone on to create even better pictures of the Orion Nebula with my DSLR, so be sure to check those out!

Conclusions of the Test:

My test confirmed that It is worth having a DSLR astro modified because the camera will become significantly more sensitive to the Hydrogen Alpha wavelength and therefore more details will be captured in the same amount of time. It is possible, of course, to image without getting this modification done but you’ll need much longer integration times to capture as much detail as with a modified camera. For this reason, I can recommend you go ahead and get the modification, it is worth the money.

As a modified camera is more sensitive to Hydrogen Alpha, a signal that is strong in most emission nebulae, the signal-to-noise ratio will be increased, and the quality of the image should also improve.

The Advantages of Using an Electronic Astrophotography Camera

There are many different models of electronic cameras for astrophotography. One of the biggest names in this field is Zwo. These cameras are quite expensive but produce high-quality pictures with details such as hydrogen-alpha sensitivity for nebulae. You can get a color version of this type of camera or a mono-color version.

I tested my ZWO camera with my DSLR – check out what I found!

They are very easy to attach to a telescope and use. They are also suitable for linking to a laptop or PC and this makes it easy to use software to process the pictures even as they are being taken.

Dedicated astrophotography cameras can produce very clear images and these can be better than those taken with a DSLR². They cannot be used, though, for general photography.

The Wizard Nebula case was shot with a ZWO ASI533MC Pro — this is what 13 hours of narrowband exposure looks like

One other advantage to consider is that generally, DSLRs are heavier than dedicated astrophotography cameras. Why is this important? Well, your mount has limited payload capacity and weight could be important especially if you have a light setup. The heavier the equipment you have on your mount, the better quality mount you need, and the more weight you place on the mount the more likely tracking could be affected negatively. Balance is also a major concern with EQ mounts and this is obviously better to achieve with lighter setups.

Most equatorial mounts have a weight capacity but most people advise to only load the mount with about 50% of full capacity. Dedicated cameras should therefore lighten your load.

Comparison of Camera Weight

My choice of camera so far is the last one on the above list, the Canon 600D also known as the Rebel T3i. I have had it Astro modified so it is more sensitive to hydrogen alpha wavelengths.

Do I need a cooled camera for astrophotography?

A simple answer to this question is no, you don’t, …but should you?

I have bought a new cooled camera because I thought it was necessary and would enable me to get even better pictures of deep sky objects. The main reason I decided to switch to a dedicated astronomy camera with cooling is that I wanted to reduce the noise in my images.

I bought a ZWO ASI533 MC PRO camera and have used it with my existing setup rather than the Canon 600D DSLR that I was using for almost two years. It has definitely made a huge difference!

In the summer of 2022, I found that the amount of noise in my images taken with my modified Canon 600D was very high. I tried to take many images and for some targets, I managed up to 7 hours or so of 2-5 minute exposures but still, the noise was so bad that some targets were too difficult to get a good result and one I did manage, the Wizard Nebula, was not spectacular.

In summer, the sensor was reaching, on average, 7 degrees C higher than ambient temperature and I regularly observed that through the night my camera sensor was showing 34 C according to APT (Astrophotography Tool software). Even with stacking the remaining noise was extremely hard to deal with and my images were either unusable or quite bad and lacking detail.

Now, with my new ZWO cooled camera, I am cooling the sensor down to 0C any darks I use to subtract noise are also calibrated at 0C. Before with the DSLR, it was impossible to match darks taken at the same temperature as the lights. Even now, when summer has gone using my DSLR would result in a sensor temperature of roughly 20C given an ambient temperature of 13C. The noise reduction from 20 degrees plus down to 0 should reduce the noise substantially. For every 6-7 degrees that the camera sensor temperature drops the noise is halved (Photometrics.com²), and so this equates to the following:

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Noise Reduction with Camera Sensor Cooling

Remember also that if your images are each reduced in noise then they will also be further reduced by your stacking sequence and this makes the difference even greater than above. So, for my camera and my current situation, if my ambient temperature is 13 then I would be reducing my sensor temperature by 20 degrees with my new camera compared to my DSLR and this would reduce noise in each image by almost 88% according to the above.

In summer when my DSLR was at 34C I would be reducing noise in each image by about 97%. All of this is assuming the cameras operate similarly but in reality, the ZWO camera has much lower dark noise than the Canon 600D. So if anything our comparison is underestimating the difference slightly.

So, if you care about noise, and you should, especially for deep-sky objects, you should consider getting a cooled camera. DSLRs are not designed to be cooled although a modification could be designed. The most practical way to do this is with a modern low-noise cooled camera. The results are amazing and have certainly improved my astrophotography!

If you would like to see my latest images as I release them then follow me on Instagram.

Is the number of Megapixels Important?

Most cameras today that we use for astrophotography are digital CCD or Cmos cameras and have an electronics sensor covered with pixels. Each pixel collects light coming from your astrotarget. Our targets are usually very faint, so we need sensitive cameras and long exposure times to collect enough light.

You would think that the more pixels in your sensor, the better, right? That’s more pixels collecting light…

But it is not that simple!

How Many Megapixels Do Different Astrophotography Cameras Have?

First, let’s take a look at some of the most popular cameras used for astrophotography, including both DSLRs and dedicated astro cameras:

From the above table, which does not include all the possible models used for astrophotography, we can see a wide difference in megapixel count, ranging from 6 (QHY 8L) to 45.4 (Nikon D850). Is this a valid comparison of how good a camera is for astrophotography? The simple answer is not really. It helps, but it is not the only important factor in choosing a camera for astrophotography. Is the Sony A6000 any good?⁴

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If other factors are taken into consideration and everything is equal, then megapixels may make a difference. But what are the other factors that make the number of megapixels less important?

The Effect the Number of Megapixels Has on Astrophotography

These are the effects of having more megapixels:

• More megapixels are needed if you want to print larger copies of your images, as you need better resolution.
• Given that the sensor is big enough to support more megapixels so that each pixel is big enough to collect enough light, then more megapixels mean better quality photos and more detail.

And here are some points to think about when considering the question: How many megapixels do you need for astrophotography?

• If you have very high-resolution photos, it will become problematic to store these files as they will become very large.
• There is a likelihood that your processing software may not be able to cope with larger files and in any case, it is probable that your computer screen may be limited to about 4 megapixels, (depending on your PC or laptop), making it impossible to process higher resolution images anyway.
• Cameras have different size sensors and you can have a higher megapixel count for a smaller sensor which will not necessarily be ideal, better to consider individual pixel size and the efficiency of each pixel.

The above points highlight the fact that the number of megapixels a camera has is not a good measure of how good it is for astrophotography². In fact, more megapixels can have a negative effect on your photography.

So How Many Megapixels Do You Need for Astrophotography?

Despite what we have said about all the caveats that go with megapixels as a measure of a camera’s ability to take good astrophotos, is there any way to quantify how many megapixels you should look for in a camera?

Looking through various forums and comments from experienced hobbyists and semi-professionals in the astrophotography world we find that:

• Cameras such as the Rebel T1i (Canon 500D) and Canon 5D Mk.III can take great pictures of Astro targets and 15 MP is enough for many.
• The Hubble Telescope is fine with pictures at about 16 MP³, so why shouldn’t that be good enough for us? It can do more with its different cameras but this would be a good figure to go with.
• Taking pictures of the Milky Way is quite popular and many claim that great astrophotos can be taken with much lower resolution than the above numbers. There are great examples of Milky Way photos taken with phones at about 9MP or even less.
• Thomas Dalton Ph.D. claims that the number of megapixels is irrelevant for astrophotography. He argues that there are many more important factors involved in taking good astrophotos. I would agree with that!

Why Megapixels Are Less Important Than You May Think

Astrophotography requires technique, technical ability, patience, the right equipment and the ability to get the best out of it, and artistic skills. It also requires a problem-solving attitude and a determination to constantly learn and improve. How important is the number of megapixels in your camera? Not so much when put into perspective.

Much more important factors include the quality of your mount and especially the accuracy of your tracking and guiding setup. Other important factors which contribute to the final quality of the images you produce include your skill as an astrophotographer, your ability to process your images, and your attention to detail in all areas of this hobby/ profession.

The number of megapixels is of some importance in terms of data capture, but that’s all.

In conclusion, then, how many megapixels is enough for astrophotography? If you’re looking for a number as a guide, I would say anywhere from 9MP upwards will be fine, depending on what your target is. For deep space photography, in my opinion, it’s not necessary to go beyond 15-20 MP.

After all, you’re not competing with Hubble, that’s impossible, just seek to be happy with what you produce and look to improve on that slowly. Astrophotography is meant to be enjoyed!

Conclusion – What is the best camera for astrophotography?

There is no definitive answer to this. You may prefer the DSLR as it is durable and has a long history of use for astrophotography and you can get some incredible photographs of the night sky and deep sky objects with them. They have the added versatility of use with or without a telescope. DSLRs can also be used with clip-in filters to block out light pollution or take narrowband images at different wavelengths.

On the other hand, perhaps you prefer completely digital integration with software on your computer and the ability to cool the electronic dedicated camera. The quality of images for astrophotography is excellent and generally, they are easy to use.

Here is a great video that explains the main differences between DSLRs and Astrocameras, hopefully, this will help you make your choice and help you understand that both have their positives and negatives.

I hope this page has given you some insight into which is the best camera for astrophotography and I wish you success on your Astro imagery journey!

References

[1] Sony a6000 Astrophotography Review – Lonely Speck. Retrieved from https://www.lonelyspeck.com/sony-a6000-astrophotography-review/

[2] Are more megapixels better for astrophotography? – Quora. Retrieved from https://www.quora.com/Are-more-megapixels-better-for-astrophotography

[3] Digital Photography Review Forums. Retrieved from https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/2587390

[4] OPT Telescopes. DSLRs Vs Dedicated Astro Cameras. Retrieved from https://optcorp.com/blogs/astrophotography-101/dslrs-vs-astro-cameras

[5] Stargazers Lounge. DSLR or Dedicated Astrophotography Camera? Retrieved from https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/380851-dslr-or-dedicated-astrophotography-camera/