OM System for Astrophotography - What we want now and in future cameras with Ben Chappell ep.485 

Great video Rob!

Very informative and educational. OM Systems would do well to seek input from both of you. Would also contribute to keeping the format alive.

For me the Starry Sky AF in Olympus cameras is sensational. More than anything else, it is what sets Olympus apart from other mainstream camera manufacturers (Sony, Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Panasonic et al) when it comes to astrophotography. Sure you can manually focus with those cameras, but using manual focus to absolutely nail focus on stars is very difficult. It's especially difficult when you have to refocus multiple times as temperatures change in the wee hours of the morning. I've used automated focusing systems with astronomical gear involving electronic focusers and specialized software to accomplish this, but I am really impressed with the speed, precision, and simplicity of OM Systems star auto focusing with standard camera lenses.

I think picking up on these tips would be great for OM Systems. They could be implemented with the OM-1, and it would help improve their position against Panasonic with the G9 ii. It seems like there are positives with the latter camera, but computational functions are still missing that the OM-1 has. Add in improved astrophotography, and they'd have a niche secured. Kind of like how Panasonic has the video niche.

Thanks for an excellent ideas session! I have to agree with your thoughts on markets & demographics for photography gear; especially the specialized application areas. Here’s a contribution for your coffee fund.

I hope OM systems is watching and taking serious notes because my son just turned 12 and is getting into astrophotography with his friends. He has done what he could with my O MD EM 10 mark ii and photoshop/lightroom. But he has saved his $ to buy the new ZWO digital telescope because the camera has too many limitations. I am impressed, though, with the shots he has been able to pull off. If digital camera companies used astrophotography to market their cameras to middle/high schoolers, they would get a tn of new customers!

Great convo👌

Now you have done it. Pushed me over the edge. Just received ASIAir plus and ZWO guide scope and ASI110 for guiding. Already have an old ASI294 camera. Just bought a T2 to micro 4/3 adapter. Planning to use my 150-400 as scope. To start I will use my iOptron Star Tracker. If I get really hooked I can upgrade to a real mount like the AM5. I will let you know how it goes. I am happy. My banker not so much.

Frame tracking would be nice. Samsung phones already have it. Shoots the sky for about 5-10 minutes and doesn't get trails or out of focus. And that would make it able to do like 30-50 stack in camera, without trails or missed focus. So, an astro live composite mode. But only across the frame.

Great video Rob and Ben. Thanks so much for making it 👍

Great insights into astro! The ability to shift to red light / night mode would be great for astro and for other lowlight / night instances.

Great to see you two together! Hope all is well!

Thank you, men.

Very interesting conversation! I do astrophotography too, and moved to Olympus cameras because it's a lot easier to carry around in my hikes than aps-c and full frame cameras. We shouldn't underestimate this advantage: with a smaller camera you need a smaller mount and a smaller scope to get (almost) the same results! (That means also less money and less bulk!) The sensitivity gap between small sensors and bigger ones can often be filled with more shots. So any feature that help you take more useful shots is welcome! The features you talked about are all great - One more feature I'd love to see is support for external power from USB-C while shooting.

Love narrowband dude. Njce hat

The intervalometer, night view, and cut filter are all great ideas. However, I really think mirrorless astrophotography is really just the gateway drug for astrophotography. Most people are then going to get an actual telescope once they are hooked. I think most people use mirrorless at first because they already have camera. I am not sure that if one wanted to start in astrophotography and did not have a camera that i would recommend a camera. Why not just bite the bullet and get the scope. Another thing they should do is lend corporate support to Dark Skies groups around the world. Good publicity and if we continue to lose the dark skies it won't matter what kind of kit you have.

Great ideas to put into cameras which will help astrophotographers.

Heyyyy!!! Very awesome to see you guys making a vid together. I shoot my E-M1X with either the Sigma 16mm f1.4 or M.Zuiko 17mm f1.8. I really want to go super wide with it. I wish i could afford the mzuiko 7-14 f2.8 lens. #dreamingforthestars

Thanks. I'm not an astronomy shooter, but this was an interesting discussion. I learned a few things.

Great discussion, thsnks. Would it br possible for you to give a brief description of what was needed to take the first 2 astro images you showed, taken with rhe 300mm f4 pro lens. Thanks

Rob, I had my Olympus m5 mark ll camera modified to full spectrum which allows UV and IR into the sensor. Is the Infared astronomy? Is it any better than an unmodified Olympus camera?

why not a business model for camara manufactures to sell dedicated firmware for their cameras? dedicated to photography genres?

How can we help amplify this to OM Digital? Some of the firmware changes are absolute no-brainers and (should be) really easy to implement. I can continue to wish for a more open ecosystem and an available SDK, but that's a longer stretch IMHO.

Nikon p1000 👍

Hi rob I was wondering wich camera would you offert for a girl of 7yo yo replace her v-tech camera /toy 😅.? Some advice the stylus 1, some the a6000, some the em5 mk2, some tough tg 4/5/6... She like taking picture of insects, animals, people. Budget is short so it will be second hand... Because we never sure she continue 😁 I have an e-m1 mk2 buy i prefer not letying her use it for now 😅. If anyone have advices... Thanks 👍

Yes but can they get Starry AF to work? It does not for me. Working with OM Systems to resolve.

I am an astro guy and I want better, a lot better high ISO performance out of the MFT sensor, it's really a pain to deal with those noise from my MFT when it comes to Milky Way photography so I simply don't use it for this application, Starry sky AF is cool but for me pretty useless, instead, a much much better EVF will make manual focus on stars much easier, it's a real pain using that piece of junk EVF in my EM1X at night shooting Milky way when compare to all my Sony and Nikon bodies, How about a half decent super fast, super wide MFT prime? like an equivalent like my FF Sigma 14mm F1.4 and 20 F1.4 DG DN? without those lenses, I simple don't care for Olympus or MFT in general when It comes to wide field Astro. What about an Astro modified Olympus? but given how few camera they can sell, Astro MFT camera will probably make up 0.01 % out of the pitiful 4% total market share, so no hope any MFT manufacture will spend the kind of effort to address such tiny market. it would be much more easier (as a user) to take a good FF camera and go spent $400-$600 to do an after market Astro modification instead of dreaming and waiting for a MFT Astro camera,, which is exactly what I did to few of my Sony FF bodies. to me, MFT is all about small and light for travel and extreme telephoto work, for Deep sky it can be a good alternative if you don't have the " right" FF lens ( AKA, long enough Focal length FF lens), ,so you can taking advantage of the 2X crop factor, but for wide field Astro, I would definitely stay away from it.