ABSTRACT
Modern digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras are truly masterpieces of technological innovation. This chapter reviews the essential features of DSLRs that are the most important in landscape astrophotography. It also reviews characteristics of camera sensors, focus and metering modes, lens characteristics and selection, and factors that govern image sharpness. The camera sensor is the heart of every imaging system. DSLRs with larger sensors that contain a high number of relatively large pixels are best suited for landscape astrophotography. Many modern DSLRs have the ability to spot focus and spot meter. These are just as they sound; the camera uses a single spot to determine focus as well as to measure the light value of the scene. Nightscapes are appealing precisely because of their in-focus foreground coupled with an in-focus night sky.
