Officially, I'm very happy and wish Canon all the best. The more attention they give to astrophotographers and the things that are important to them, the better.

Unofficially, I predict another big flop. I find it amazing that Canon didn't learn their lesson last time and that they are actually repeating the same mistake. It would be hard enough to sell a camera that is targeted directly at astrophotographers. We are very few. But to target only that portion of astrophotographers who shoot Hα?

Why wont they sell one that targets *all* astrophotographers? My guess is that it's because they are sore afraid of the Nanny State Brigade. With real astro cameras (no IR filter), the boogie man is able to see underneath swimsuits at the beach. "Wont somebody think of the children!?" (A quote that is used to justify taking freedom *every* time.) Another possibility is that they only did their market research in Japan, where light pollution is pretty universally severe. If so, it's no wonder if they think there is no interest in infrared.

You can buy a vanilla 60D, send it in to one of four third party service centers, have the IR filtration *completely* removed, and still have more cash left over than buying this 60Da brand new. Not only do you get the entire astrophotography market, but you add in daytime IR photographers (it makes beautiful scenics) as well.