Proud owner of a new Olympus E-PL6

The deal was exceptional......$50 off with instant rebate from Newegg ($249) with kit lens. I wanted the lightest 4/3 camera I could find with relatively new sensor technology (from what I have heard and seen in reviews the image quality is just as good as the larger bodies at any ISO.) I want it to replace my Meade DSI III ccd camera which was used for astrophotography, and the weight is almost exactly the same as that camera.....11 oz vs 11.5 oz. It will compliment my E-520 well. I was also thinking of getting the Pentax K-50 weatherproof camera+weatherproof lenses (since it uses AA batteries as back up and was also an exceptional deal around $350+$30 for the AA holder) but I've read a lot of reports of that particular model having dust issues on the sensor when changing lenses (a problem Olympus doesn't have.) It also weighs a crushing 23 oz, a few ounces more than even my E-520 and I really wanted a second body lighter than that. What exactly is the purpose of making an interchangeable lens camera "weatherproof" when stuff can still get inside when changing lenses? IMO this is a feature more suited to fixed lens cameras like the Panasonic FZ300! Besides weathersealing wouldn't be any help in astrophotography since the camera heats up, therefore dew wouldn't be a problem. The very small size of the kit lens means the camera can also be used for afocal astrophotography! It has extremely low read noise and great high ISO image quality all the way to ISO 3200 and very good even to ISO 6400! These cameras have gotten really good, beginning in late 2012-2013! Other good thing with using a four thirds sensor is that I can use my 1.25" light pollution filters and my 1.25" diagonal without much vignetting!

Now, what accessories to get? I was thinking of getting a second battery (BLS-50 since it will work as well as the BLS-5 in this camera and uses the same charger.) I was thinking third party, like the Wasabi's I recently got for my E-520 (2xBLM-5 plus charger) but I've now read reports of Wasabi's expanding and getting stuck in the camera 18 months from purchase. So I will definitely be sticking with Olympus OEM batteries....with the BLM-5 I had no choice since Olympus no longer makes them. I was thinking of just keeping the one BLS-5 battery that came with the camera for now and getting a genuine Olympus BLS-50 sometime next year. Previously I used to buy 4-6 OEM batteries at the same time and rotate them, thinking that this would extend their life, but I dont think this worked, since my older Olympus BLM-1 batteries (10 yrs old) dont hold a charge more than a few hours. I'm thinking that having so many batteries and only charging them once a year (at most) was a bad idea and shortened their lives. With just having one BLS-5 battery and charging it about once a month (based on how much I expect to use the camera), I think will be better for the battery. Thoughts?

I guess I got a bit duped by "each battery is good for up to 500 charges" Oly advertizing thing, I figured 4 OEM batteries=2000 charges lol. Now I have to also rethink the idea that Fuji batteries are good for 300 charges each so the 6 OEM batteries I have are good for 1800 charges lol.

I have Panasonic Eneloop AA batteries that are marketed for being good for 2100 charges, I wonder about them too, but at least AA batteries are in no danger of ever going extinct lol, I can always get more.

Other thing I was wondering about is what kind of screen protector to get. I have a bunch of do-it-yourself strips I bought awhile ago that can make screen protectors from 1.5" to 4" by cutting them to the right size, good idea considering the 3:2 aspect ratio of the LCD? I did not get a glass screen protector this time because this is a touch screen- was that a good decision?

Here's a great thread on here about micro four thirds cameras for astrophotography:

http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/451681-a-night-with-the-micro-four-thirds-cameras/page-1

Here it is on sensorgen:
http://www.sensorgen.info/
It is the second best Olympus camera on there, after the E-M1 (and beats the Pentax K-50 in lower read noise.)

http://www.sensorgen.info/OlympusPEN-E-PL5.html

vs

http://www.sensorgen.info/PentaxK-50.html

(I used the E-PL5's numbers since they use the same sensor.)

Viewfinder!  Either a used VF2 (they don't have them new any more) or the VF4 (which locks into the accessory shoe - the VF2 doesn't).

It will increase your pleasure and ease with shooting outside in bright light.

I'll leave it to others to recommend lenses, etc.

Isabel

Isabel Cutler wrote:

Viewfinder! Either a used VF2 (they don't have them new any more) or the VF4 (which locks into the accessory shoe - the VF2 doesn't).

It will increase your pleasure and ease with shooting outside in bright light.

I'll leave it to others to recommend lenses, etc.

Isabel

Thanks, do both of these use the accessory port?

alexisgreat wrote:

Now, what accessories to get? I was thinking of getting a second battery (BLS-50 since it will work as well as the BLS-5 in this camera and uses the same charger.) I was thinking third party, like the Wasabi's I recently got for my E-520 (2xBLM-5 plus charger) but I've now read reports of Wasabi's expanding and getting stuck in the camera 18 months from purchase. So I will definitely be sticking with Olympus OEM batteries....with the BLM-5 I had no choice since Olympus no longer makes them. I was thinking of just keeping the one BLS-5 battery that came with the camera for now and getting a genuine Olympus BLS-50 sometime next year. Previously I used to buy 4-6 OEM batteries at the same time and rotate them, thinking that this would extend their life, but I dont think this worked, since my older Olympus BLM-1 batteries (10 yrs old) dont hold a charge more than a few hours. I'm thinking that having so many batteries and only charging them once a year (at most) was a bad idea and shortened their lives. With just having one BLS-5 battery and charging it about once a month (based on how much I expect to use the camera), I think will be better for the battery. Thoughts?

I decided to go with another Olympus brand battery for my E-M1. It works great, and I wanted to minimize the bloating chance.

I guess I got a bit duped by "each battery is good for up to 500 charges" Oly advertizing thing, I figured 4 OEM batteries=2000 charges lol. Now I have to also rethink the idea that Fuji batteries are good for 300 charges each so the 6 OEM batteries I have are good for 1800 charges lol.

Technically mirrorless cameras are not like SLRs. They are rated for some number of photos, but in reality that number doesn't mean anything. The amount of time a camera is turned on is more of a limiting factor. For example 3 hours of continuous shooting or just continuously being on might drain a battery a similar amount. There are reports of people getting 1000 shots out of an Olympus E-M1 on a single charge, and they are mostly just photographing continuously. And there are reports of people getting 50 shots during an evening out, but their camera was on most of the time.  I habitually turn off my cameras after I take a photo if I don't intend to take another for at least a few minutes.  At least the E-M1 turns on and is ready to shoot very quickly.

Since you are saying that you will be doing astrophotography, that means 2 things for the battery: 1. cold temperatures (unless you limit your photography to tropical nights) which lower effective battery charge, and 2. camera will be on continuously. So I'd get at least one extra battery and expect to swap if you will be doing long exposures for hours.

Specifically for E-PL6, I hope someone can comment on whether there are battery-saving features that could be useful for astrophotography.

I have Panasonic Eneloop AA batteries that are marketed for being good for 2100 charges, I wonder about them too, but at least AA batteries are in no danger of ever going extinct lol, I can always get more.

Other thing I was wondering about is what kind of screen protector to get. I have a bunch of do-it-yourself strips I bought awhile ago that can make screen protectors from 1.5" to 4" by cutting them to the right size, good idea considering the 3:2 aspect ratio of the LCD? I did not get a glass screen protector this time because this is a touch screen- was that a good decision?

I just cut to size myself, buying larger sheets meant for tablets. I go for well-rated budget-friendly varieties on Amazon, like by IllumiShield or TechMatte. They work very well, and there are no problems with the touch screen. I've even used a matte version of IllumiShield on a camera once, which helped dramatically in bright light but understandably lowered clarity a bit in less bright conditions (but it was a worthwhile trade-off, since that camera had no option for a viewfinder).

Here's a great thread on here about micro four thirds cameras for astrophotography:

http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/451681-a-night-with-the-micro-four-thirds-cameras/page-1

Here it is on sensorgen:
http://www.sensorgen.info/
It is the second best Olympus camera on there, after the E-M1 (and beats the Pentax K-50 in lower read noise.)

http://www.sensorgen.info/OlympusPEN-E-PL5.html

vs

http://www.sensorgen.info/PentaxK-50.html

(I used the E-PL5's numbers since they use the same sensor.)

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https://supermanalexthegreat.shutterfly.com/

Thanks for the Astrophotography info links!

OrdinarilyInordinate wrote:

alexisgreat wrote:

Now, what accessories to get? I was thinking of getting a second battery (BLS-50 since it will work as well as the BLS-5 in this camera and uses the same charger.) I was thinking third party, like the Wasabi's I recently got for my E-520 (2xBLM-5 plus charger) but I've now read reports of Wasabi's expanding and getting stuck in the camera 18 months from purchase. So I will definitely be sticking with Olympus OEM batteries....with the BLM-5 I had no choice since Olympus no longer makes them. I was thinking of just keeping the one BLS-5 battery that came with the camera for now and getting a genuine Olympus BLS-50 sometime next year. Previously I used to buy 4-6 OEM batteries at the same time and rotate them, thinking that this would extend their life, but I dont think this worked, since my older Olympus BLM-1 batteries (10 yrs old) dont hold a charge more than a few hours. I'm thinking that having so many batteries and only charging them once a year (at most) was a bad idea and shortened their lives. With just having one BLS-5 battery and charging it about once a month (based on how much I expect to use the camera), I think will be better for the battery. Thoughts?

I decided to go with another Olympus brand battery for my E-M1. It works great, and I wanted to minimize the bloating chance.

Thanks, sounds like you came to the same conclusion as me about picking Olympus OEM batteries.

I guess I got a bit duped by "each battery is good for up to 500 charges" Oly advertizing thing, I figured 4 OEM batteries=2000 charges lol. Now I have to also rethink the idea that Fuji batteries are good for 300 charges each so the 6 OEM batteries I have are good for 1800 charges lol.

Technically mirrorless cameras are not like SLRs. They are rated for some number of photos, but in reality that number doesn't mean anything. The amount of time a camera is turned on is more of a limiting factor. For example 3 hours of continuous shooting or just continuously being on might drain a battery a similar amount. There are reports of people getting 1000 shots out of an Olympus E-M1 on a single charge, and they are mostly just photographing continuously. And there are reports of people getting 50 shots during an evening out, but their camera was on most of the time. I habitually turn off my cameras after I take a photo if I don't intend to take another for at least a few minutes. At least the E-M1 turns on and is ready to shoot very quickly.

Since you are saying that you will be doing astrophotography, that means 2 things for the battery: 1. cold temperatures (unless you limit your photography to tropical nights) which lower effective battery charge, and 2. camera will be on continuously. So I'd get at least one extra battery and expect to swap if you will be doing long exposures for hours.

Specifically for E-PL6, I hope someone can comment on whether there are battery-saving features that could be useful for astrophotography.

I hope there are power saving features like the camera going into sleep mode after one minute of nonusage. I have that on my E-520. I half press the shutter and the camera comes right back on. It also keeps the camera from overheating. I wonder if the small form factor of the E-PL6 will make it more prone to overheating (and noise) during long exposures (like 15-30 seconds at ISO 1600, which is a common exposure length for me.) Good thing we have dark frame subtraction built in!

I have Panasonic Eneloop AA batteries that are marketed for being good for 2100 charges, I wonder about them too, but at least AA batteries are in no danger of ever going extinct lol, I can always get more.

Other thing I was wondering about is what kind of screen protector to get. I have a bunch of do-it-yourself strips I bought awhile ago that can make screen protectors from 1.5" to 4" by cutting them to the right size, good idea considering the 3:2 aspect ratio of the LCD? I did not get a glass screen protector this time because this is a touch screen- was that a good decision?

I just cut to size myself, buying larger sheets meant for tablets. I go for well-rated budget-friendly varieties on Amazon, like by IllumiShield or TechMatte. They work very well, and there are no problems with the touch screen. I've even used a matte version of IllumiShield on a camera once, which helped dramatically in bright light but understandably lowered clarity a bit in less bright conditions (but it was a worthwhile trade-off, since that camera had no option for a viewfinder).

Thanks, I just got the version you cut yourself- do these things have to be replaced periodically? I have 12 sheets.

Here's a great thread on here about micro four thirds cameras for astrophotography:

http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/451681-a-night-with-the-micro-four-thirds-cameras/page-1

Here it is on sensorgen:
http://www.sensorgen.info/
It is the second best Olympus camera on there, after the E-M1 (and beats the Pentax K-50 in lower read noise.)

http://www.sensorgen.info/OlympusPEN-E-PL5.html

vs

http://www.sensorgen.info/PentaxK-50.html

(I used the E-PL5's numbers since they use the same sensor.)

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https://supermanalexthegreat.shutterfly.com/

Thanks for the Astrophotography info links!

Thanks I hope you like them, the sensor specs can be used for any camera for any purpose in determining how sensors have progressed through the years, for example, you can see there was a big jump in quality between 2011 and 2012- look at the sensorgen numbers for the E-PL3 and compare them to the E-PL5. It was an across the board change actually (across compacts, mirrorless, DSLR, etc.) , personally, I would no longer want to use a camera made before 2012 unless it was for specialty purposes.  Although thy still produce very good images in bright light, the 2012 and later cameras are much better in low light.

Depending on quality of the screen protectors and how much you plan on scuffing the screen, of course. I don't change mine for many months, if at all, but I'm very careful with my equipment.

There should be those basic power saving features.

Regarding long exposure noise, you'd be subtracting a dark frame anyway. If you plan on doing a series of long exposures in a row, make one dark frame of the same duration as the exposure (many astro stacking programs include an option to upload a dark frame exposure). Otherwise there should be an option to enable long exposure noise reduction--that automatically creates and subtracts a dark frame for every long exposure photo. So your 30-second exposure will take 60 seconds in total. You can disable that if you'd rather save time and create one dark frame for all subsequent 30-second exposures and apply it later yourself with computer software.

OrdinarilyInordinate wrote:

Depending on quality of the screen protectors and how much you plan on scuffing the screen, of course. I don't change mine for many months, if at all, but I'm very careful with my equipment.

There should be those basic power saving features.

Regarding long exposure noise, you'd be subtracting a dark frame anyway. If you plan on doing a series of long exposures in a row, make one dark frame of the same duration as the exposure (many astro stacking programs include an option to upload a dark frame exposure). Otherwise there should be an option to enable long exposure noise reduction--that automatically creates and subtracts a dark frame for every long exposure photo. So your 30-second exposure will take 60 seconds in total. You can disable that if you'd rather save time and create one dark frame for all subsequent 30-second exposures and apply it later yourself with computer software.

Thanks, is there an option in the camera menus to take just one dark frame exposure for a series of exposures that are all of the same length?  Also, I take it that there will be a bit more noise in this situation than if a dark frame was taken after every exposure?

Congrats, Alex. Enjoy .

Best of luck with your new camera and welcome to the Micro Four Thirds Forum, Alan!

The E-PL6 has long struck me as the sleeper amidst the ranks in Olympus' lineup, being an improvement upon the already very good E-PL5, yet currently selling for less.  Has all the goodness: beautiful contemporary design, small and light, outstanding Sony 16MP sensor.  The perfect take anywhere camera and intro to Micro 4/3's.

On batteries, I just traded my E-M5 in on purchase of a new camera with different batteries, and I hated giving up my Wasabi batteries and charger.  In 3 years I never had any trouble with "bloating", they hold a charge longer than the Olympus battery, the cordless plug-in charger is an attractive and compact design (unlike the bulky Olympus battery and cord), and it has a logical red light when charging and green when charged.  Cost under $30 with 2 batteries as compared to $60+ for a single price gouging Olympus battery.  Most reviews on Amazon are very positive.

I would think the demands of astro-photography long exposure times wouldn't be much different that taking a few minutes of video, but others will hopefully chime in.

Enjoy your camera over the holidays and for years to come, Alan, Olympus (and Panasonic) makes quality products.

I recommend that you read about dark frames in general.  There's no single automated dark frame in camera features as you want it, it's either all or nothing. You create your own by doing an equal length exposure with a tight lens cap on, trying to avoid any light leaks.

OrdinarilyInordinate wrote:

I recommend that you read about dark frames in general. There's no single automated dark frame in camera features as you want it, it's either all or nothing. You create your own by doing an equal length exposure with a tight lens cap on, trying to avoid any light leaks.

It sounds very similar to how we do dark frames for CCD cameras, but with CCD cameras you can take a bunch of them at different CCD temperatures (the camera sensors are calibrated with thermo-sensors) and store them to use them later on when you are imaging and the CCD is at that temperature.

sderdiarian wrote:

Best of luck with your new camera and welcome to the Micro Four Thirds Forum, Alan!

The E-PL6 has long struck me as the sleeper amidst the ranks in Olympus' lineup, being an improvement upon the already very good E-PL5, yet currently selling for less. Has all the goodness: beautiful contemporary design, small and light, outstanding Sony 16MP sensor. The perfect take anywhere camera and intro to Micro 4/3's.

On batteries, I just traded my E-M5 in on purchase of a new camera with different batteries, and I hated giving up my Wasabi batteries and charger. In 3 years I never had any trouble with "bloating", they hold a charge longer than the Olympus battery, the cordless plug-in charger is an attractive and compact design (unlike the bulky Olympus battery and cord), and it has a logical red light when charging and green when charged. Cost under $30 with 2 batteries as compared to $60+ for a single price gouging Olympus battery. Most reviews on Amazon are very positive.

I would think the demands of astro-photography long exposure times wouldn't be much different that taking a few minutes of video, but others will hopefully chime in.

Enjoy your camera over the holidays and for years to come, Alan, Olympus (and Panasonic) makes quality products.

Thanks Steve!  Sounds like a very positive review for the Wasabi's! Did that camera use BLS-50 also?  How much did you sell your camera for?

alexisgreat wrote:

Thanks, do both of these use the accessory port?

Yes, both use the accessory port, which means you cannot use the flash at the same time.

I don't know if it was fixed in later bodies, but when the VF-2 came out, most users (including me) came to the conclusion that the VF-2 was more battery hungry than the LCD of the cameras at the time (E-P2, E-PL1, E-PL2). Generally, there were several reasons people thought this might be the case:

• The VF-2 had more pixels than the LCDs of the time (newer LCDs now have caught up or surpassed the VF-2 in terms of pixels, so it may have been limited to the older cameras)
• The VF-2 refreshed at twice the rate of the LCD
• Different types of display used

Note, all Olympus viewfinders suffer from polarization problems to different degrees when people use polarized sunglasses. The polarization in the EVF is opposite that of the LCD. On the LCD, you can view the LCD just fine in landscape orientation when using polarized glasses. If you switch to portrait orientation, the image darkens quite a bit (but it still can be viewable if you shade the LCD).

On the EVF's, if you shoot in portrait mode, everything is clear. But if you shoot in landscape mode, it becomes a problem. On the VF-2, it is completely opaque. On the E-M5 mark 1 and Stylus-1, which use a similar display from Epson, it is a little darker, and there are parts of the screen that you can't see, but I can still frame the shot with the EVF. On the E-M1, it goes back to nearly opaque if memory serves (and the VF-4 uses a display with similar characteristics, and I've heard it blacks out the screen -- the E-M5 mark II and E-M10 mark II also use similar displays).

Before upgrading to the E-M5 mark 1 and Stylus-1, I tended not to use the VF-2 due to the polarization issues (I need wrap around polarized prescription sunglasses to reduce the amount of migraines). Mostly, I just used the LCD, shading it with my hand. At times I would use the ClearViewer and it would work, but I didn't like the viewer lens bopping into my side when I carried the camera on a neck/shoulder strap.

Michael Meissner wrote:

alexisgreat wrote:

Thanks, do both of these use the accessory port?

Yes, both use the accessory port, which means you cannot use the flash at the same time.

I don't know if it was fixed in later bodies, but when the VF-2 came out, most users (including me) came to the conclusion that the VF-2 was more battery hungry than the LCD of the cameras at the time (E-P2, E-PL1, E-PL2). Generally, there were several reasons people thought this might be the case:

• The VF-2 had more pixels than the LCDs of the time (newer LCDs now have caught up or surpassed the VF-2 in terms of pixels, so it may have been limited to the older cameras)
• The VF-2 refreshed at twice the rate of the LCD
• Different types of display used

Note, all Olympus viewfinders suffer from polarization problems to different degrees when people use polarized sunglasses. The polarization in the EVF is opposite that of the LCD. On the LCD, you can view the LCD just fine in landscape orientation when using polarized glasses. If you switch to portrait orientation, the image darkens quite a bit (but it still can be viewable if you shade the LCD).

On the EVF's, if you shoot in portrait mode, everything is clear. But if you shoot in landscape mode, it becomes a problem. On the VF-2, it is completely opaque. On the E-M5 mark 1 and Stylus-1, which use a similar display from Epson, it is a little darker, and there are parts of the screen that you can't see, but I can still frame the shot with the EVF. On the E-M1, it goes back to nearly opaque if memory serves (and the VF-4 uses a display with similar characteristics, and I've heard it blacks out the screen -- the E-M5 mark II and E-M10 mark II also use similar displays).

Before upgrading to the E-M5 mark 1 and Stylus-1, I tended not to use the VF-2 due to the polarization issues (I need wrap around polarized prescription sunglasses to reduce the amount of migraines). Mostly, I just used the LCD, shading it with my hand. At times I would use the ClearViewer and it would work, but I didn't like the viewer lens bopping into my side when I carried the camera on a neck/shoulder strap.

Michael Meissner wrote:

alexisgreat wrote:

Thanks, do both of these use the accessory port?

Yes, both use the accessory port, which means you cannot use the flash at the same time.

I don't know if it was fixed in later bodies, but when the VF-2 came out, most users (including me) came to the conclusion that the VF-2 was more battery hungry than the LCD of the cameras at the time (E-P2, E-PL1, E-PL2). Generally, there were several reasons people thought this might be the case:

• The VF-2 had more pixels than the LCDs of the time (newer LCDs now have caught up or surpassed the VF-2 in terms of pixels, so it may have been limited to the older cameras)
• The VF-2 refreshed at twice the rate of the LCD
• Different types of display used

Note, all Olympus viewfinders suffer from polarization problems to different degrees when people use polarized sunglasses. The polarization in the EVF is opposite that of the LCD. On the LCD, you can view the LCD just fine in landscape orientation when using polarized glasses. If you switch to portrait orientation, the image darkens quite a bit (but it still can be viewable if you shade the LCD).

On the EVF's, if you shoot in portrait mode, everything is clear. But if you shoot in landscape mode, it becomes a problem. On the VF-2, it is completely opaque. On the E-M5 mark 1 and Stylus-1, which use a similar display from Epson, it is a little darker, and there are parts of the screen that you can't see, but I can still frame the shot with the EVF. On the E-M1, it goes back to nearly opaque if memory serves (and the VF-4 uses a display with similar characteristics, and I've heard it blacks out the screen -- the E-M5 mark II and E-M10 mark II also use similar displays).

Before upgrading to the E-M5 mark 1 and Stylus-1, I tended not to use the VF-2 due to the polarization issues (I need wrap around polarized prescription sunglasses to reduce the amount of migraines). Mostly, I just used the LCD, shading it with my hand. At times I would use the ClearViewer and it would work, but I didn't like the viewer lens bopping into my side when I carried the camera on a neck/shoulder strap.

That's very interesting, Michael, I was actually thinking of getting a Hoodman or some other LCD shader for bright sunlight.

There is another consideration.  Does the 3" LCD cause any heat build up on the sensor for long exposures at high ISO?  For example, 15 second shutter speeds at ISO 1600?  I saw this sometimes with my E-520, and although Dark Frame Subtraction does help, I'm wondering if the issue will be worse with a smaller body?

It's got a flip-up screen; you could always tilt it up slightly, away from the body.

alexisgreat wrote:

That's very interesting, Michael, I was actually thinking of getting a Hoodman or some other LCD shader for bright sunlight.

There is another consideration. Does the 3" LCD cause any heat build up on the sensor for long exposures at high ISO? For example, 15 second shutter speeds at ISO 1600? I saw this sometimes with my E-520, and although Dark Frame Subtraction does help, I'm wondering if the issue will be worse with a smaller body?

I don't know.  If it is just the LCD that causes heat build up (and not the camera electronics), you could always either put a VF-2 electronic view finder on the camera, or just connect the analog video out cable (if you connect the cable, even if you don't connect a monitor, it will turn off the video on the LCD).  As was mentioned, the LCD also flips up.

VF-4 yiew finder! It made such a difference with my PL 5 compared to the VF-3 thatvI had. Check FM forum for a good deal on a used one.

sbrasure wrote:

VF-4 yiew finder! It made such a difference with my PL 5 compared to the VF-3 thatvI had. Check FM forum for a good deal on a used one.

Thanks, I shall look!  They're not too heavy either, are they