E-PM2 + 12mm Samyang + Remote Trigger for Astrophotography?

Hi all,

Heading out bushwalking and looking at take the lightest kit possible for astrophotography.  Have both e-m1 and e-pm2 bodies, 12mm Samyang f2.0 and various remote triggers.

Just wondering if the e-pm2 + 12mm Samyang + trigger would be best combo?

I have heard for long exposures (I am looking at 20-25 secs shots) there is less noise on the em5 than em1 and have also read the e-pm2 has the same sensor em5.  Because of this and the smaller size of e-pm2 over the em1, the e-pm2 seems a better body to take than the em1?  Would even think the e-pm2 battery would last longer?

I may be way off mark here but interested to hear your thoughts.

Cheers,
Chumby

Chumby wrote:

Hi all,

Heading out bushwalking and looking at take the lightest kit possible for astrophotography. Have both e-m1 and e-pm2 bodies, 12mm Samyang f2.0 and various remote triggers.

Just wondering if the e-pm2 + 12mm Samyang + trigger would be best combo?

I have heard for long exposures (I am looking at 20-25 secs shots) there is less noise on the em5 than em1 and have also read the e-pm2 has the same sensor em5. Because of this and the smaller size of e-pm2 over the em1, the e-pm2 seems a better body to take than the em1? Would even think the e-pm2 battery would last longer?

I may be way off mark here but interested to hear your thoughts.

Cheers,
Chumby

I'm in a similar situation to you because I'm planning to hike the 3000km Te Araroa trail, starting October this year.

Obviously, 3000km is a hell of a long way and it's crucial to keep gear weight to a minimum.

If you look at my gear list, you'll see that I own two M43 camera bodies and no less than 13 lenses - some of them professional grade. I've found it very difficult to choose which lenses to take with me.

Nevertheless, I've decided to take only the GM5 body, the tiny 12-32 kit lens, the almost-as-tiny 35-100 f4-5.6 and maybe - for just one of two sections of the trip - the M. Zuiko 17/1.8 for astrophotography.

I'm going to use the Panasonic app on iPhone as a remote release and a miniscule Joby Gorillapod Micro 250 as my "tripod".

Looking at your gear list, I see that you own the Olympus 17/1.8 and a GM1, which has the same sensor as my GM5.

I would therefore suggest that you take the 17/1.8 and your GM1.

I'm not sure if the GM1 can be controlled with the Panasonic smartphone app (I suspect it can't), but the little camera's sensor is as good as any as long as it doesn't get too hot.

Have fun!

S

Thanks for that Scott.

You make some interesting observations.  Have you tried the 17mm 1.8 for astrophotography?Wide enough?  I purchased the 12mm Samyang as it is has really nice write up's for working with the stars.

Your shots are amazing in that Flickr feed - were they all taken with m4/3?  Do you do much post processing?

3000km!!!!  I can see why your trying to keep your gear kit light.  Massive effort...

Cheers
Chumby

Chumby wrote:

Thanks for that Scott.

No worries.

By the way, did you know there was an astrophotography talk forum on dpreview? It might be worth posting the same questions in there.

You make some interesting observations. Have you tried the 17mm 1.8 for astrophotography?Wide enough? I purchased the 12mm Samyang as it is has really nice write up's for working with the stars.

No, I haven't used the 17/1.8 for astrophotography yet. The reason is that I'm living in east Asia, and the skies here are too hazy. However, I'm returning to New Zealand in October to start my hike, and NZ has some of the clearest night skies in the world.

There are two reasons I suggested the 17/1.8.

The first is that it's much smaller and half the weight of the Samyang, and your initial post stated that weight was a concern for you.

The second reason I suggested the 17/1.8 is that a couple of weeks ago I read an article written by an amazingly-good astrophotographer who suggested that lens for M43 users. Unfortunately, I can't remember the site. However, a 30-second exposure at f1.8, ISO 1600 should produce the goods with the 17mm. Wider focal lengths allow for longer exposures (because star trails are less obvious), so the Samyang should be fine even though it is only f2.

Your shots are amazing in that Flickr feed - were they all taken with m4/3? Do you do much post processing?

Thanks.

All of the shots in the Flickr feed were taken with m43 gear, apart from those shots several pages back that were taken more than four years ago. The early shots were taken with Nikon and Canon gear.

In 2011 I started shooting exclusively in Raw, and I have been post-processing all of my images since then.

Cheers
Chumby

I'm going to say you will want a 12mm lens for real widefield astro and night sky photography, otherwise, you may well not fit what you had intended to in your frame. I struggled with my 12mm F/2 not being wide enough. You can stitch photos later if you want more real estate but it's not ideal for every situation. This is actually 2 12mm frames... I've had to do perspective and distortion correction in post processing and the perspective is still not really correct if you look at the building in the background.

Your going to end up with a whole heap of perspective distortion and the majority of your shots will look as if you took them with a fish eye if you start trying to do night sky photography with a 17mm lens.

The second shot below is 3 frames of the Milky Way with my 9-18, it still really isn't wide enough nor is it really fast enough to properly expose the milky way. You can see it just faintly... I live in an area as you can see where dark sky nights are a regularity. I wouldn't live without at least a 12mm lens at F/2. It is my most useful and versatile lens.

The 12/2 can be used for just about everything even close crop portraits, just use the portrait orientation on your camera and get closer if you want more of someone in the frame for isolation, or just get closer in general.

One of the biggest misconception with lenses bordering on being ultra wide angle lenses is that you have to take a shot from 40ft away and get it all in, this is wrong on so many levels I don't even know where to begin.

Just get closer.... My 12mm F/2 is the most versatile lens I have. I have the 20mm F/1.7 as you will see from my gear list, I honestly almost always feel stuck in no mans land with a standard lens in terms of modern photography.

There are too many people on this forum that have silverfish and moths in their closets and enjoy the fact that they have silver fish and moths in their closets. 35mm is really no mans land, it's not wide nor is it long, and you will find yourself either stuck with "horse blinker" photos, or stuck in a situation where your lens is not wide enough, or long enough.

I honestly hate standard lenses, the last 4 shots in the list are from my 20mm F/1.7. Actually finding a good use for a standard lens for me is like finding a needle in a haystack. There is so much more to the world than defining yourself by 50 year old camera standards for "normal" lenses and that "standard" is not relevant to modern photography.

12/2

9-18

12/2

20/1.7

20/1.7

20/1.7

20/1.7

You can do so much better if you just open your mind up to the possibilities that the world need not exist in a 35mm frame.

Ok nice... thanks for that information Hithertoo... I will try both the 17mm and 12mm before I head off and see which produces the best results. Great photos also btw...

Scott... yes will check out that forum. Also, what are you doing for battery management/recharginf etc such a long trip?

Cheers

Chumby

Chumby wrote:

Ok nice... thanks for that information Hithertoo... I will try both the 17mm and 12mm before I head off and see which produces the best results. Great photos also btw...

Scott... yes will check out that forum. Also, what are you doing for battery management/recharginf etc such a long trip?

Cheers

Chumby

I have three batteries for the GM5, which I'm hoping will last me 6 days with careful management (I turn off the camera between shots - the on/off switch is well positioned for this).

S