dark current noise

alexisgreat wrote:

Wow this is a lot of work you did, I took pictures of your pictures and printed them out to make a guide for myself to follow. Are there major advantages to using a small body for astrophotography with a telescope?

Less chance of flexing. And in general, less annoying operation. I've been attaching a DSLR to my telescope as well, and a switch to smaller and lighter Olympus body was a welcomed change for me.

I'm also considering getting one of the larger "EM" bodies (possibly the EM-5 Mk 1) because it is weatherproof

Once you attach that camera to a telescope, the weather proofing goes out the window. The body itself will still be, so you don't have to worry as much, but the connection with the scope won't and having water seep through the mount is the last thing you want. And depending on your telescope type, you may have the sensor exposed directly to the elements. So no, weather sealed camera is not a get-out-of-jail card when major dew hits you.

and can use an ac adapter as an alternate power source

That's nice, I was not aware of that possibility. But you could still make your own solution for that problem, as described here by another forum member.

and was wondering whether being weatherproof and a larger body is a benefit or a detriment for AP?

The larger the body, the more problems you'll potentially face with flexing and balancing. Using a cheap and small E-PL6 to get into astrophotography is fine. However, investing in more expensive, high-end Micro 4/3 camera for that purpose makes no sense whatsoever.

I also have heated dew strips if dew becomes an issue, not sure if dew is a good reason to get a weather resistant body or lens. I use UV protectors on my lenses.

Now, if you would like to do wide field astrophotography without a telescope, just with a lens, then a weather sealed camera and lens can be a big deal.