The Sony DSC-F717 was my first digital camera. I chose it for a number of reasons. First of all, it was less expensive than digital SLR cameras at the time I purchased it (Spring of 2003). Secondly, its Carl Zeis lens was smokin’ fast at f/2.0. This was critical for astro-imaging situations. Thirdly, while it didn’t have a bulb setting for arbitrarily long exposures, it would do a 30 second exposure and would go to ISO800. This was long enough and sensitive enough to at least get me started with astrophotography.

The fast lens, combined with 30 second exposures at ISO800 gave me all the photon capturing power I needed to snag some amazing aurora. The Northern Lights typically show themselves to Park City residents about two or three times each year (things have been a bit slow, unfortunately, this year). With the Sony DSC-F717 mounted on a tripod, I was able to imaged these in all there glory.

As alluded to above, because of its attached lens, I could not do prime focus astrophotography, and was limited to eye piece project. This turned out to be more limiting than I expected, but still allowed for the easy shots like the Sun (filtered, of course), the moon, etc.

Nonetheless, this digital camera still plays an active role in my astrophotography arsenal. It is the camera I go to if I want to image the Sun or the planets as well as smaller details on the moon. It would also be the camera of choice for aurora borealis. It’s f/2.0 lens simply outdistances the f/3.5 lens that I currently have attached to the Digital Rebel.