Astrophotography issues with M43 Camera

systemic_anomaly · Jan 11, 2018

Hi guys,

I travel a lot and got tired of lugging my old APS-C canon, so I switched lock, stock and barrel to Micro 4/3. The reason I'm posting is to ask those with astrophotography experience with this format, about an issue I see with all of my night-time shots. Basically I dont know if this is a camera issue, settings issue (I'm a astro-newb) or something else I dont know about.

These images are a crop from a shot I took of my jeep in pitch dark. Specs are as follows:

GX85, 20mm f1.7 lens wide open aperture, 60 second exposure, ISO 1600, RAW.

This is the RAW image from the camera, converted uncorrected to JPG:

And this is the same image de-noised with DxO Optics Pro 11, which used to give excellent results with my APS-C canon.

What are those white dots in the dark areas? I can't seem to get rid of them! Is the exposure too long, ISO too high or low, or is the body crap and I need to claim warranty on it? I would certainly appreciate some light shed on this issue, I really love this M43 setup otherwise.

maggiemole · Jan 12, 2018

Thanks, Mark!

Maggie

Mark9473 · Jan 12, 2018

That JPEG does look a lot more natural and normal.

gotoole · Jan 13, 2018

SteveY80 said:
SteveY80 said:

....

Click to expand...

......

SteveY80 said:
Unfortunately the Panasonic sensors are simply appalling for this kind of thing - even using dark frames and careful noise reduction I've found it difficult to get decent results.

These days I use Fuji gear if I want to do long exposures - my X-T10's OOC image quality (no NR) is much better than a GX7 shot after PP.

If you're interested in astrophotography then I thinou'd definitely be better off getting a different camera. I'd use the camera on my phone for that before using anything with a 16mp Panasonic sensor. An Olympus body (except the original E-M1) or a 20mp Panasonic body like the GX8 would give you considerably better results.

Is there a chart showing which camera has which sensor. I was always under the impression, obviously wrongly, that Olympus and Panasonic shared sensors. I have had some noisy images with the Olympus E620 but the OMD-e-m10 is much improved. I was thinking of getting a second-hand E-M1 on sale locally but your reference here is making me think twice. Has it a Panasonic sensor?

Thanks

Astrotripper · Jan 13, 2018

gotoole said:
SteveY80 said:

If you're interested in astrophotography then I thinou'd definitely be better off getting a different camera. I'd use the camera on my phone for that before using anything with a 16mp Panasonic sensor. An Olympus body (except the original E-M1) or a 20mp Panasonic body like the GX8 would give you considerably better results.

Click to expand...

Is there a chart showing which camera has which sensor. I was always under the impression, obviously wrongly, that Olympus and Panasonic shared sensors.

That has been the case in the past. But since Olympus moved from 12mp to 16mp sensors, that is no longer the case. All Olympus cameras since then with the exception of E-M1 use Sony sensors.

It is a bit more tricky with Panasonic. In general, you can assume that their 16mp cameras use Panasonic sensors. The only models where this might not be the case are GH3 and GH4. In general, if a Panasonic camera has a 2 minute limit in BULB mode, you can be sure it's one of those problematic (for long exposure) sensors inside.

gotoole said:
I have had some noisy images with the Olympus E620 but the OMD-e-m10 is much improved. I was thinking of getting a second-hand E-M1 on sale locally but your reference here is making me think twice. Has it a Panasonic sensor?

Yes, it has a Panasonic sensor. And while it does not have the same limitations as Panasonic cameras with regards to exposure time, it does produce worse results at long exposures compared to other Olympus cameras.

gotoole · Jan 13, 2018

Astrotripper said:
gotoole said:

SteveY80 said:

If you're interested in astrophotography then I thinou'd definitely be better off getting a different camera. I'd use the camera on my phone for that before using anything with a 16mp Panasonic sensor. An Olympus body (except the original E-M1) or a 20mp Panasonic body like the GX8 would give you considerably better results.

Click to expand...

Is there a chart showing which camera has which sensor. I was always under the impression, obviously wrongly, that Olympus and Panasonic shared sensors.

Click to expand...

That has been the case in the past. But since Olympus moved from 12mp to 16mp sensors, that is no longer the case. All Olympus cameras since then with the exception of E-M1 use Sony sensors.

It is a bit more tricky with Panasonic. In general, you can assume that their 16mp cameras use Panasonic sensors. The only models where this might not be the case are GH3 and GH4. In general, if a Panasonic camera has a 2 minute limit in BULB mode, you can be sure it's one of those problematic (for long exposure) sensors inside.

Astrotripper said:

I have had some noisy images with the Olympus E620 but the OMD-e-m10 is much improved. I was thinking of getting a second-hand E-M1 on sale locally but your reference here is making me think twice. Has it a Panasonic sensor?

Click to expand...

Yes, it has a Panasonic sensor. And while it does not have the same limitations as Panasonic cameras with regards to exposure time, it does produce worse results at long exposures compared to other Olympus cameras.

--
My photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/astrotripper2000/

Thanks for that information, I really didn't know.

regards

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Astrophotography issues with M43 Camera

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