Canon EOS Ra is one of the best mirrorless cameras (MILC) for astrophotography on the market right now. In this short overview, you will find the camera specification, sample astrophotography images taken with it, the best lenses to use for astrophotography with this astro-imaging beast, and how to connect it to a telescope using external adapters.
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Canon EOS Ra Specification
| Type | Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera (MILC) |
| Mount | Canon RF |
| Image Sensor Size | 36 mm × 24 mm (Full-frame CMOS) |
| Max Resolution | 6720 × 4480 pixels (30.3 Mpix) |
| Weight | 580 g (20 oz) without battery |
| ISO Range | 100 - 40000 |
| Connections | Bluetooth + WiFi |
| Magnification | 30x |
| H-alpha transmission | 4x more than standard EOS R |
Full frame sensor and 30x magnification are features I would love to have in my compact travel Fujifilm X-T20 camera.
The bigger the sensor is - the better (usually).
The more magnification directly on the camera preview screen, the easier it is to focus your stars during the night ideally.
Canon EOS Ra Sample Astrophotography Pictures
The truth lies not in the camera specification but in the pictures that it can produce. And that's why you are here, right? So let's check out how the Canon EOS Ra performs in the area designed and constructed for — astrophotography.
Orion Nebula
Jellyfish Nebula
Gear used for those two pictures:
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Cepheus region
Gear Used for this Cepheus Picture:
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More EOS Ra astrophotography images on AstroBin
Best Astrophotography Lenses for Canon EOS Ra
If you plan to photograph the Milky Way without using a star tracker (equatorial mount), then you need a truly wide and fast lens. For those wide-field deep-sky shots, I would choose one of these lenses:
Canon RF mount
If you want a Canon RF mount dedicated lens, those are the picks I would consider to pair with this camera for ultra-wide-field astrophotography:
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The first one — RF 15-35mm f/2.8 — is wide and fast enough (at 15mm f/2.8) to photograph the Milky Way on a stationary tripod without a tracker (yet it's always a good idea to use one!). The other two lenses — RF 28-70mm f/2 and RF 50mm f/1.2 — are also wide and fast, but the best results you will achieve when using them on a dedicated astrophotography tracker.
Canon EF/EF-S Mount
If you want something more affordable yet still performing brilliantly, then consider those lenses:
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Those Rokinons and Canon are EF-mount lenses, so you need a proper adapter to connect them to the RF-mirrorless type Canon mount:
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Check out the short explanation of how to use Canon EF/EF-S lenses on the RF mount in this short video:
How to Connect Canon EOS Ra to a Telescope
If you want to connect your mirrorless Canon EOS Ra camera to a telescope for some deep-sky astrophotography, then you simply need a proper T2-EOS R adapter:
- High-quality, all-metal lens adapter
- Utilize T-Mount (screw mount) lenses with Canon EOS R mount cameras
- Simple, inexpensive solution to T-Mount compatibility
- Works with many third-party lenses that require a t-mount adapter
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