EOS not good for NASA?

[Nishi Drew]

As mentioned, Nikon has been very innovative in the past to meet the demands of NASA, like the long roll Nikon F250,
being able to keep on shooting in tight/harsh conditions was definitely a plus.
http://rturner.jalbum.net/CAMERA%20COLLECTION/NIKON/slides/NIKON%20%20F250%20LONG%20ROLL.jpg

 

[Aglet]

Space is mostly dark, eh..
Don't want to be using Canons that fill all that dark up with faint reddish stripes and such, gets confusing.

 

[dunkers]

NASA is an old organization that likes to stick to "tradition" or however you want to call it.

Back in the day, Nikon was the top company (film era). So back then, they used Nikon. Sticking to tradition, they still continue to use Nikon.

And don't forget that the D3s did have better low light capabilities than the 1DIV..

 

[sanj]

I suspect there is one (of two) people in-charge or buying photographic gear for the organization.

I feel it's fair to say that that (those) people decided to choose Nikon.

To say NASA choose Nikon may be incorrect.

 

[sandymandy]

I guess they asked several companies, compared prices and then stuck with Nikon cuz it was cheapest.
Anyway who cares what brand some people in space are using? Does it even matter as long as they get usable photos? Probably the guy who shoots the photos is just a Nikon user anyway thats why he got that camera on board.

 

[stefsan]

NASA doesn't send people into space any more. This is irrelevant

They still send people to the International Space Station – they only need to hitch a ride with the russians. But I doubt that this influenced their choice of camera brand…

 

[Zlatko]

For example, here are two factors that go into selecting equipment for space - 1) resistance to radiation (gamma rays, alpha particles, heavy ions in solar wind, tolerance to accumlate dose, etc.)

Some cameras don't survive the radiation. According to NASA:

"The cameras that come back are evaluated for damage. Depending on the condition the camera may fly again. The space environment (both inside the vehicle and on spacewalks) is tough on the electronic cameras. The radiation damages pixels on the sensor. Sometimes the damage is so great that the camera does not fly again."

http://www.popphoto.com/gear/2011/07/how-does-nasa-get-nikon-d2xs-ready-to-go-to-space

 

[emag]

It's been many years, but....when Uncle Sam switched the equipment I used to work on from 70mm film to 35mm, modified Nikon bodies were used. They proved to be more reliable when subjected to adverse conditions, primarily shock and vibration. Some of the data to support that undoubtedly came from NASA, but I'm sure tax dollars were spent to confirm it. Then again, we also continued to use Betamax long after it was dead in the civilian market.

 

[weixing]

Hi,
I think they do use Canon EOS, but just not in space.

http://www.popphoto.com/gear/2011/07/how-does-nasa-get-nikon-d2xs-ready-to-go-to-space

Anyway, this photo ( http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/565184main_jsc2011e040349_hires.jpg ) you mention is taken with a EOS 5D II (So they may be use Nikon to take photo of space and Canon to took photo on Earth?? ha ha ha ). If you look at NASA image archive ( http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts135/multimedia/preflight/Image_Gallery_Collection_archive_38.html ), you'll see quite a lot of them taken with Canon EOS (5D II, 7D & ID4).

Have a nice day.

 

[acafinecon]

Berretta won the contract with the goverment, Sig SAUER AND OTHERS lost. the us military now uses the M9 made by Beretta. Does that mean the M9 is better than the SIG P266 (that lost the contract)?


NOBODY (who knows guns) would agree with this!

well... all i can say here is it is all about political things during contract bid...

 

[serendipidy]

Does anyone know what the Hubble uses...it takes some really beautiful photos

 

[East Wind Photography]

Not sure but maybe they used a Flourite corrective lens

Does anyone know what the Hubble uses...it takes some really beautiful photos

 

[serendipidy]

You're right! I remember that they originally got a bad copy (de-centered or bad AFMA or something?) and some astronauts had to go up and fix it (still under warranty I think) ;D

 

[wellfedCanuck]

I'm friends with the Hadfield family and Chris http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hadfield is on the ISS right now. Through his younger brother- I shot him an email and posed your question. This was his reply:

Hi Flip and Doug!

We’ve had Nikons for decades, they work well. We’ve also had Linhof, Arriflex and Hasselblad, but for simplicity we just have the one make here now. The bodies are D2 and D3, and we have a variety of lenses, from fish eye to 400 mm. Lets us take some impressive photography of the Earth.

All the best from Mach 25

Chris

 

[Rat]

Great. After lens envy and body envy, I now got location envy. Badly.

 

[wellfedCanuck]

Great. After lens envy and body envy, I now got location envy. Badly.

Try being friends with an astronaut. No matter what you've accomplished in life- you'll always feel like an under-achiever.

 

[Rat]

I'll take your word for it, thanks very much ;D

 

[stefsan]

Great. After lens envy and body envy, I now got location envy. Badly.

+1

 

[East Wind Photography]

Landscape photography from orbit...takes it to a whole different level.

 

[awinphoto]

That's alright. After watching a documentary it appears the CIA uses canon gear so it's all good lol