Modified Canon 300D - Anyone got one?

Hi Guys and Gals, as the title states, has anyone got a modified Canon 300D for astrophotography from Hutech in the states? I'm on the verge of ordering one soon, they offer 3 options, the simplest being the removal of the IR filter inside the camera for better response to h-alpha aka: nice red nebulae

Or - could you buy one as normal, and try to remove the filter yourself? Seems a bit dodgy though

www.sciencecenter.net/hutech/canon/index.htm

Thanks, Keith..

No I haven't done this but I've heard bits and bobs about it on the net. I did a quick search and found a fair few pages, here's one with a lot of modification details:

ghonis2.ho8.com/rebelmodnew.html

Looks a bit tricky alright but if you wanted to try it yourself you could pick up a cheap used 300D off Ebay and give it a shot.

The results sure look good.

Keith,
I've seen them advertised alright but, for my level of astrophotography, it's simply too expensive. It costs several hunderd $$$ more than the standard version. I suppose the question is whether you see the extra cost as value for money? Only you can answer that one.
However, if you do go for one I would be interested to hear how you find it.

BTW, with the webcams, people want the IR filter. With the slrs, people want to get rid of the IR filters. IS there any pleasing people??
Seriously, is there any other way around it besides removing the IR filter? Could you simply use a h-alpha filter and a longer exposure?

Clear skies,

Thanks Lads, I know the cost is a bummer, certainly you'd have to add about 300 USDollars , now using the h-alpha filter is a good idea, i'll do some more looking around. I've posted the same question to the digital astro yahoo group, but have'nt got a reply yet, i'll be sure to let you know

Keith..

The thing that crosses my mind with these modified 300Ds is since they are more sensitive to red light, are they more sensitive to skyglow also ??
It would be great on a dark sky, but in the subarbs, it seems like its advantage may be reduced.... ??

I shall stick to my vanilla 300D as I do landscape photography too.

If I want to do Hydrogen work in the future then I think I will get a b&w CCD imager and use RGB, H and O filters.

The following link tells you how to do the mod yourself and I suppose you can put a filter over the camera for terrestrial use.

ghonis2.ho8.com/rebelmod.html

I prefer to use the right tool for the right job.