My OM-System Astrophotography Gear & Setup with Ben Chappell ep.384

I went to visit Ben Chappell of The Narrowband Channel to do some Astrophotography. I show you all the gear I used and Ben walks you through the setup to get started. Be sure to visit his channel for details on taking and processing the photos. / thenarrowbandchannel
Recommended Setup for Beginner to Intermediate Astrophotography
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#omsystem #robtrek #astrophotography

[@mxyptlk]

Thats the best breakdown for beginner astro-photography I have ever seen...delivered by two very competent people..... thank you so much...!

[@RobTrek]

Wow, thank you!

[@hellsing0999999999]

YES! Just what I needed! I love astrophotography, and I've learned a lot from KZbin, but almost no one has a particular video for OM/Olympus cameras! I hope you make another for editing these pictures.

[@RobTrek]

Glad it was helpful! I'll do a follow up video next week. There is certainly a lot to cover. Thanks.

[@norman-de-plume]

If it helps, what you are looking for in a battery pack for an OM-1 is a USB-C supply that supports PD (Power Delivery) at 9V up to 3A. The reason that Olympus have to recommend battery packs is because lots of battery banks only support 5V for simple devices like phones or 20V for laptops. It took me about 15 minutes to find a suitable supply on Amazon and it works absolutely fine - I'm not going to say what it is because this isn't an advert and I'd rather that you believed me than thinking I was shilling for a manufacturer.

[@RTFM70]

Thanks Rob and Ben. A very informative video and the results look great.

[@RobTrek]

Thanks, Jeff. Good to hear from you.

[@derekgpony]

Great video! Thank you. Hoping for some clear skies on days off to try out some astro this summer. You and Ben are such great advocates for Olympus (OM Systems). I've had my eye on the 300 f4 and OM-1 for some time for astro and wildlife. Already have the 100-400mm and the EM1iii. It would be cool to see a shoot-out between the two lenses for deep sky.

[@RobTrek]

I'm sure they would optically perform about the same. The key difference being you need longer exposures or "lights" on the 100-400.

[@samsen3965]

May the dark deep sky only be your limits & Way to Go.

[@RobTrek]

Thanks!

[@desertfrag]

Manual focus I assume? Really important to use live view to get pinpoints instead of blobs. You know you're close when faint stars 'pop' into view. Impressive work to use a 300mm on that mount!

[@TheNarrowbandChannel]

Oly cameras have an aAf system called Starry Sky AF that can focus on stars. It is more accurate than using a bahtinov mask.

[@RobTrek]

Thanks. Olympus added Starry Sky AF to the EM1.3 and OM-1, now the OM-5, so it's easy. Not that manually focusing was that hard with magnify feature.

[@desertfrag]

@@TheNarrowbandChannel AF for adapted lenses also or Olympus only?

[@TheNarrowbandChannel]

@@desertfrag Olympus only as far as I know.

[@Barryferg100]

Great topic to cover, like how Rob you make it look easy (actually asking Ben for clarification, thanks for expertise Ben). Will be checking out the Narrow Band channel next. 💫⚡️🪐⭐️

[@RobTrek]

Definitely check ouut Ben's channel. I created a playlist of Ben's Olympus related stuff here: kzbin.info/aero/PLyBjgg0NvOrPP1sxJBUU_nyQQ-s6Dn9Lg

[@jakobhovman]

Hullo you two "Night Owls...Thank You for a inspirational demo and video...! Great setup Rob. Idea: For night vision...Why not tape a red filter on your screens...? Kodak 75mm #25 Red Tricolor Wratten 2 Optical Filter (3 x 3") or something similar... Greetings

[@RobTrek]

Thanks for the idea!

[@rodmehta5356]

Very cool shots! Hope you guys are going well. 🌟

[@RobTrek]

Thanks! You too!

[@39zack]

Here im looking at msybe getting the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i WiFi Pro Pack and then this video drops in my face 😮 I think you guys are mind readers

[@RobTrek]

I'm sure the advertising algorithms had a little to do with it. But I am a bit psychic.

[@kamilrakowski23]

Nice video Rob. I haven't used my tracker for over a year. Unfortunately, the weather in Denmark is unpredictable. Typical scenario in my case: What a beautiful clear night! Let's go out of town and take some pictures of andromeda! 70km later - it's raining. It's time to go back. I am surprised how good your result was. My sky adventurer couldn't handle the 40-150 pro. 30-40 seconds was all i could achieve. I haven't even tried the 300mm f4. Good luck with your asteophotography! Good weather and dark nights.

[@mihaidavid359]

Can you guys test the 9mm f/1.7 Pana-Leica lens? How it performs for milky way astro? 😁

[@RobTrek]

Unfortunately, neither of us own that lens, so won't be able to do a test.

[@ericlundquist3466]

I'll have to give all this a shot when at the beach home in Cape Charles. There's too much light pollution in Fairfax and certainly wouldn't attempt this in winter. You both look frozen, lol Great video. The setup looks damn expensive. 300mm gonna cost me, but i want it anyways for nature

[@gilles987654321]

Great team, precious suggestions, tks to both! I have the MoveShootMove (MSM) but an EQ mount is SO MUCH better! Hint: I mounted the MSM laser pointer onto the OM-1 hot shoe and it greatly facilitates visual star alignment...

[@RobTrek]

Thanks for sharing!

[@gilles987654321]

@@RobTrek another tip, Rob. I tried HiRes on the moon: stupendous! However, only the Tripod version worked: handheld fights too much with the autotracker and does not resolve.

[@d-entrecasteaux]

Nice run through of how to do astrophotography. My problem is finding a good dark sky site. Sky Meadows has a meet-up in Northern Virginia once a month organised by NOVAC which is a pretty good location for me.

[@RobTrek]

Thanks. Sky Meadows is not that far from me, just a little over an hours drive. Email me [e-mail] with details of the NOVAC. I'd love to go.

[@nickhill1425]

Hi Rob and Ben, I'm interested why you let the camera to run the time-lapse instead of using the Skywatcher running the shoot move shoot time-lapse. Why do you use the camera intervalometer in the camera and not the Skywatcher for the job. I have a Skywatcher Adventurer Mini I've only ever used the Mini to run the time-lapse triggering the camera. I hope you can answer my query. cheers.

[@RobTrek]

Hi Nick. I didn't have the 2.5mm cable to connect it to the tracker. Ben uses his. I ordered one the other day so will be trying that next.

[@nickhill1425]

@@RobTrek Thanks, that's a simple explanation no hidden tricks to chase up for the amateur.

[@Vincenzo-bm1up]

Is the MoveShootMove hopeless with the M.300mm F4? Thanks

[@RobTrek]

Ben and I have not used this tracker, so can't really say.

[@TheNarrowbandChannel]

Looks like I did have the AF off. Sorry about that.

[@RobTrek]

Not a problem, just a bit ironic.