# Canon officially announces the Canon EOS Ra astrophotography camera



## canonnews (Nov 6, 2019)

> Introducing the EOS Ra Camera with Specialized Filtration that Delivers Four Times Greater Hydrogen-alpha Wavelength (656.3 nm) Transmittance Compared to the EOS R
> *MELVILLE, N.Y., November 5, 2019 —* In the words of poet Quintus Ennius, “No one regards what is before his or her feet; we all gaze at the stars.” Helping to gaze and capture the beauty of the stars and beyond, Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, today announced the company’s first full-frame mirrorless camera for astrophotography, the EOS Ra. This new camera was built off the EOS R system combining new features, such as four times greater transmittance of hydrogen-alpha (Hα) light of 656.3 nm compared to the original EOS R. For astrophotographers and hobbyists who enjoy capturing the detailed splendor of the night sky, the new EOS Ra will be an ideal camera to shoot with.
> Preorder the Canon EOS Ra at Adorama
> 
> “Since the introduction of the EOS R...



Continue reading...


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## Punio (Nov 6, 2019)

Looks like an easy sell for a great niche. A little alteration to the EOS R making a difference to astro photogs. I like this move from Canon. 

Now I'm waiting for the their mirrorless PRO. The lack of recent rumors means maybe a longer wait??


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## Del Paso (Nov 6, 2019)

Named Ra after the Egyptian Sun God?
Good name for an astro-specific camera.


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## Canfan (Nov 6, 2019)

What about weather sealing?


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## slclick (Nov 6, 2019)

Canfan said:


> What about weather sealing?


Just like the R.









Canon EOS R Review - Weather Testing


Canon EOS R Review - EOS R Weather Testing



www.imaging-resource.com


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## unfocused (Nov 6, 2019)

slclick said:


> Just like the R.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for the link. We read so many comments from people saying the "R" is not a professional camera because it doesn't have this or that. This test pretty much demolishes anyone claiming that it's not sufficiently weather-sealed to be called "professional" (whatever that may be).


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## Canfan (Nov 6, 2019)

How hard can it be to add weather sealing?


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## Joules (Nov 6, 2019)

Canfan said:


> How hard can it be to add weather sealing?


If you're doing astro photography, you need clear skies anyway


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## slclick (Nov 6, 2019)

Joules said:


> If you're doing astro photography, you need clear skies anyway


Not sure why the article didn't help with the query.


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## dtaylor (Nov 6, 2019)

Canfan said:


> How hard can it be to add weather sealing?


The R did a good job in IR's weather testing. Is there some reason to believe the Ra does not have the R's sealing?


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## SteveC (Nov 6, 2019)

Joules said:


> If you're doing astro photography, you need clear skies anyway



You could still collect dew.


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## slclick (Nov 6, 2019)

dtaylor said:


> The R did a good job in IR's weather testing. Is there some reason to believe the Ra does not have the R's sealing?


Perhaps English is not the posters 1st language. Things get lost....But that's why we're here!


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## Graphic.Artifacts (Nov 6, 2019)

So this is a good use of Canon's development resources but a dedicated mirrorless body for Video is too much of a "niche" product.


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## Jethro (Nov 6, 2019)

Graphic.Artifacts said:


> So this is a good use of Canon's development resources but a dedicated mirrorless body for Video is too much of a "niche" product.


Actually its an absolute minimal use of development resources - most of which I'm sure remain focused on the multiple FF bodies confidently expected to be seen in 2020.


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## justaCanonuser (Nov 6, 2019)

Canfan said:


> What about weather sealing?


The Ra needs cosmic ray sealing


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## justaCanonuser (Nov 6, 2019)

I didn't expect Canon to reintroduce an astro camera again after so many years, the last one was the EOS 60Da back in 2012. Nice, so people do not have to remove IR filters covering the sensors of older camera bodies.


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## Don Haines (Nov 6, 2019)

Joules said:


> If you're doing astro photography, you need clear skies anyway


Condensation!


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## Canfan (Nov 6, 2019)

Don Haines said:


> Condensation!


This is what I’m referring to, some of us live in humid climate and take our camera out on clear days in winter. For a 2500 dollar camera what’s a few 5 cent gaskets in their bodies. IMHO

Don’t get me wrong I love what direction canon is heading with mirrorless and both the RF and M line.


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## cellomaster27 (Nov 6, 2019)

This is the first full-frame astro dedicated camera, I think?


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## SteveC (Nov 6, 2019)

justaCanonuser said:


> The Ra needs cosmic ray sealing



Meteorites.

(Though in all seriousness, in case someone reading this isn't aware, BOTH can happen in daytime too.)

Now, if Canon will just figure out how to photograph using neutrinos....


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## Tessar (Nov 7, 2019)

It would have been interesting if Canon managed to produce a few batches of sensors that dosen't have a color filter array at all. So basically a black&white sensor and also remove use an IR and Moire filter at all. 
Then a Dual Pixel Raw file would be a really interesting file to play with. 
The EF-RF adapter with drop-in filter would be an interesting tool to use different filters for several important wavelengths that are important for Astro photography (besides the h-alpha like) like UV and certain visible wavelength. But maybe this limits the use only for use with telescopes and tracking system but not for example night-sky shots.


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## Aussie shooter (Nov 7, 2019)

Graphic.Artifacts said:


> So this is a good use of Canon's development resources but a dedicated mirrorless body for Video is too much of a "niche" product.


They have plenty of dedicated mirrorless bodies for video. It's called the cinema range. I am surprised you haven't heard of them.


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## SecureGSM (Nov 7, 2019)

Joules said:


> If you're doing astro photography, you need clear skies anyway


Humidity however can be an issue for a non sealed camera body even under clear skies


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## jolyonralph (Nov 7, 2019)

Tessar said:


> It would have been interesting if Canon managed to produce a few batches of sensors that dosen't have a color filter array at all. So basically a black&white sensor and also remove use an IR and Moire filter at all.
> Then a Dual Pixel Raw file would be a really interesting file to play with.
> The EF-RF adapter with drop-in filter would be an interesting tool to use different filters for several important wavelengths that are important for Astro photography (besides the h-alpha like) like UV and certain visible wavelength. But maybe this limits the use only for use with telescopes and tracking system but not for example night-sky shots.



I'd be very interested in this too. There are a lot of people who would love a high resolution no-compromise mono sensor camera with IR capabilities. IR cut filter in an RF-EF adaptor would be super. But this is even more niche than astro, so it's probably just better to wait for the EOS R II to come out and get my EOS R modified by a third party.

Still, even then it's not perfect because the RAW conversion assumes the pixels are RGBG, so you'd really need a new raw converter that understood each pixel was a grey pixel of equivalent luminosity.


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## Tessar (Nov 7, 2019)

jolyonralph said:


> I'd be very interested in this too. There are a lot of people who would love a high resolution no-compromise mono sensor camera with IR capabilities. IR cut filter in an RF-EF adaptor would be super. But this is even more niche than astro, so it's probably just better to wait for the EOS R II to come out and get my EOS R modified by a third party.
> 
> Still, even then it's not perfect because the RAW conversion assumes the pixels are RGBG, so you'd really need a new raw converter that understood each pixel was a grey pixel of equivalent luminosity.



There is actually a really powerful and customizable RAW converter. The interface can be a little overloaded but for special stuff I think it's great:








darktable


darktable is an open source photography workflow application and raw developer



www.darktable.org





Edit: sorry I meant RawTherapee




__





Home







rawtherapee.com


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## Proscribo (Nov 7, 2019)

Canfan said:


> How hard can it be to add weather sealing?


A classic!

No wait are you serious?


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## analoggrotto (Nov 8, 2019)

Ra must signify Ra's Al Ghul 

jus' sayin'


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## justaCanonuser (Nov 8, 2019)

SteveC said:


> Now, if Canon will just figure out how to photograph using neutrinos....


A neutrino oscillation sensitive sensor technology would be nice - c'mon Canon!


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## Don Haines (Nov 9, 2019)

justaCanonuser said:


> A neutrino oscillation sensitive sensor technology would be nice - c'mon Canon!


Been there, done that, but it only has 9600 pixels and is not very portable. On the plus side, if you want to take neutrino pictures 6500 feet below Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, the gear is there!


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## Tessar (Nov 9, 2019)

Don Haines said:


> Been there, done that, but it only has 9600 pixels and is not very portable. On the plus side, if you want to take neutrino pictures 6500 feet below Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, the gear is there!



Yeah, the portability is definitely an issue.
And the images you get are not really usable. 
Imagine a photo shoot with a model and all you get are one or two pixels of exposure a day... But not from your model as all neutrinos pass just right through her.


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## Ozarker (Nov 11, 2019)

Canfan said:


> How hard can it be to add weather sealing?


Sony can answer that one.


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## Don Haines (Nov 11, 2019)

CanonFanBoy said:


> Sony can answer that one.


This is something that I really don’t understand....

Oly has all models sealed, including the bottom of the lineup. Why is this absent on so many cameras from so many manufacturers?


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## Ozarker (Nov 11, 2019)

Don Haines said:


> This is something that I really don’t understand....
> 
> Oly has all models sealed, including the bottom of the lineup. Why is this absent on so many cameras from so many manufacturers?


Wish I knew. They say Canon's R isn't very well sealed either. My wife's Olympus E-M5 Mark II got really soaked at a splash pad, and I mean drenched. No problem whatsoever. That's one thing I can say good about Olympus. I thought for sure it would be ruined as it took a direct hit from a torrent of water. Nope. It never missed a beat. I love the build quality of the Olympus Pro lenses. I just wish Olympus made FF and could sort out their nightmare menu system. I'll never worry about the Oly getting wet. Not ever.


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## Don Haines (Nov 11, 2019)

CanonFanBoy said:


> Wish I knew. They say Canon's R isn't very well sealed either. My wife's Olympus E-M5 Mark II got really soaked at a splash pad, and I mean drenched. No problem whatsoever. That's one thing I can say good about Olympus. I thought for sure it would be ruined as it took a direct hit from a torrent of water. Nope. It never missed a beat. I love the build quality of the Olympus Pro lenses. I just wish Olympus made FF and could sort out their nightmare menu system. I'll never worry about the Oly getting wet. Not ever.


Yes!

Canon really got the user interface and menu system right. They were awful slow to the game with touchscreens, but when it finally arrived , the first rendition beat the competition.


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## SteveC (Nov 12, 2019)

CanonFanBoy said:


> Wish I knew. They say Canon's R isn't very well sealed either. My wife's Olympus E-M5 Mark II got really soaked at a splash pad, and I mean drenched. No problem whatsoever. That's one thing I can say good about Olympus. I thought for sure it would be ruined as it took a direct hit from a torrent of water. Nope. It never missed a beat. I love the build quality of the Olympus Pro lenses. I just wish Olympus made FF and could sort out their nightmare menu system. I'll never worry about the Oly getting wet. Not ever.



Not only that but Olympus has an M5 mark II!!!


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