Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Mon, 04/29/2024 - 16:04

I recently purchased a reconditioned Nikon z50 with the 16-50mm zoom lens for dome search photography. I’ve used Nikon DSLR equipment for many years now for nova search and photometry, with older fixed focal length manual lenses. 


The improvements in image quality and sensor performance are nothing short of spectacular with the new equipment! The lens is extremely sharp and distortion free at 16mm wide open. I’m getting down to a limiting magnitude of almost 10 under semi-rural skies using 30 seconds at ISO 1600. I’m using in-camera noise reduction and have yet to see any noise in my images. It’s energized my dome search program and given me the capabilities I could only hope for with my existing equipment. 

I can strongly endorse this equipment to any DSLR users!

John