Dipping into astro with Olympus EM1?

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OK, (I don't want to put this in another section, there doesnt seem to be a Talk Astro section and any other section it will get lost!)

Im very interested in milky way etc rather than nebulae etc but have an Olympus EM1 which are pretty horrendous for long exposure so Im trying to think about what's best for me

either

a) Upgrade to EM1 mark 2 which handles noise and LE much much better

or

b) buy a nisi night filter ( light pollution filter) and an equatorial mount like the move shoot move.

Anyone got any thoughts?
 
I just popped out, badly prepared and dragged the wife with me so she could see the comet, pretty cool to see it 200 yards from my front door I have to admit.

Of course the shots a snap at best and if you look on flickr you'll see it's grainy as a grainy thing in a grain factory :-/

neowise by Donnie Canning, on Flickr
 
Cool, we took a look on Monday night, very clear then but we've had cloud ever since. I'll see if I can get some piccies tonight :)
 
OK, (I don't want to put this in another section, there doesnt seem to be a Talk Astro section and any other section it will get lost!)

Im very interested in milky way etc rather than nebulae etc but have an Olympus EM1 which are pretty horrendous for long exposure so Im trying to think about what's best for me

either

a) Upgrade to EM1 mark 2 which handles noise and LE much much better

or

b) buy a nisi night filter ( light pollution filter) and an equatorial mount like the move shoot move.

Anyone got any thoughts?

The Move Shoot Move is a nice small compact tracker which can handle as reasonable weight. So its an ideal 1st foot into Astro photography. For Milky Way photography you going to be shooting wide angle which is also more forgiving when it comes to tracking. Another Mount that would last you a bit longer and can handle larger setups would be the Skyguider Pro or the Skywatcher mounts.

Without a tracker Ideal setting would be an exposure of around 15-20 seconds (follow the 500 rule), ISO of 3200 to 6400 and a wide aperture say around F2.8 and take around 15 images one after the other then also put the lens cap on and do the same again. then take these 30 images and depending if your a windows or mac user load them into a stacking program like Starry Landscape stacker or Sequator on Windows. This will help eliminate the noise.

With a tracker you can shoot at a slightly better aperture of around f4-f5.6 and bring the ISO down to 800 and as long as you have aligned it properly shoot a 2-4 minute exposure and check the results and adjust from there.

Filters do help light pollution definitely, always shoot in RAW so you adjust the temperature balance in post.
 
The E-M1ii is perfectly capable of astro shots, I've done some recently during lock down. I tend to use the 8mm FE and Pana 15mm f/1.7, sometimes 40-150mmf/2.8, 12-100 at 12mm should be capable at 20s and try 3200/6400 ISO. I think I had a go with the original E-M1, but don't have shots to hand.

I would start with the Samyang 12mm f/2 as a cheaper alternative to see how you go.

It can help to use an app like Sequator on W10 or Starry Landscape Stacker on Mac to help handle the noise by stacking multiple shots, maybe 15 images, 3 with the lens cap on for the sensor noise, plus a mask file

nightscape-10-Min Horizon Noise by Justyn Crane, on Flickr

P3250170 by Justyn Crane, on Flickr

_7122087-Min Horizon Noise by Justyn Crane, on Flickr

_7122175 by Justyn Crane, on Flickr
 
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@richardhurst Thank you for this, very useful. I'll explore the cheapest options first I guess and look at the stacking software. I only have one lens the 12-100f4 so have to work with that currently.

No problem, always feel free to drop me a message if you need any advice
 
Damn you, you ratbag @Donnie I've been trying to talk myself out of (or possibly into) buying a tracker mount... Definitely maybe before the winter (gets darker earlier, and we appear to get less cloud)... Or perhaps not.

The Move-Shoot-Move seems great but I don't see them being sold in the UK based on a very swift search... I think that I'm personally edging towards a Sky-Watcher and already thinking of getting a dedicated body to astro convert...
 
Damn you, you ratbag @Donnie I've been trying to talk myself out of (or possibly into) buying a tracker mount... Definitely maybe before the winter (gets darker earlier, and we appear to get less cloud)... Or perhaps not.

The Move-Shoot-Move seems great but I don't see them being sold in the UK based on a very swift search... I think that I'm personally edging towards a Sky-Watcher and already thinking of getting a dedicated body to astro convert...

LOL, sorry :)
 
Apologies to anyone trying to see the sky, I've ordered a tracking mount (Skywatcher Star Adventurer). It's not dispatched yet so you'll all have clear skies until then when it'll turn to >90% cloud cover :exit:
 
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