Very nice images. I know from experience it's not especially easy to do long exposure astrophotography. Astronomy was my hobby back in the late 60's and 70's. I was even published Nov, 1976 in "the Reflector" a journal of the Astronomical League for a simple DIY telescope mount made from pipe fittings which I used for my DIY 8" reflector. I was also fortunate enough to get on as a volunteer assistant at the Fernbank Science Center observatory in Atlanta, Georgia where we had a 36" Cassegrain reflector. We happen to discover a Nova the first night it was visible but it was reported in Europe before us due to time/light differences. Time has caused me to forget the exact date. Those were good times. I no longer do any astrophotography or astronomy. I came across your video because of the Olympus 100-400 lens. Still trying to make up my mind on this lens...

@TheNarrowbandChannel

3 жыл бұрын

I remember doing astrophotography with film. It was really hard. Even though light pollution was a lot lower back then. We had to manual turn the nobs on the scope to guid it by hand back then. Very hard but fun. Nice to see you made history with the Nova discovery. I hope someday I can do the same.

Regarding the slight amount of rotational play between the lens and the camera body, I saw a blog comment by an Olympus engineer stating that this was an engineering decision intended to make it easer for users to align the lens and mount it to the camera body. When mounting the lens, a small hole on the lens mounting ring lines up with a pin on the camera body. Olympus designed the 100-400mm lens hole to be slightly larger than on other Olympus lenses. The same engineer stated that the rotational play has no effect on image quality or weatherproofing.

@TheNarrowbandChannel

2 жыл бұрын

Very interesting. Thank you for sharing.

I am surprised I didn't comment on this video before since I recall watching it last year before I bought this lens. Though an older vid, it was part of my decision to obtain this glass and it has served me well for the past 11 months (well, I DID succeed in cracking the lens hood but that was no surprise, for it's rather fragile lol). I am still obtaining some of the must-have gear to try it out in the dark skies further away from the North Dakota oilfield but should be up and running on that learning curve later this year. It has really surprised me how well it has performed for wildlife, landscapes and even rail images (I have enjoyed the success rate of the tracking in the E-M1X, I must admit), especially in light of it being a slower lens. Thanks to you and folks like Rob Trek for sharing such informative knowledge, for it's always appreciated.

Thank you. Plenty of ideas there. Whilst the Ollie and Pan-Leica 100-400s are probably equal in glassware, I do find the old "for Olympus 4/3" Sigma 50-500 f/4-6.3 "Bigma" superior (the first Bigma, The Bigma). Full Sigma alphabet soup, and because it is full frame, we're only using the centre of the lens, no edge effects. No, it won't AF (well it will but it's kinda steam punk), nor does it have any IS - but we don't need any of that for this even though the Pany will accurately focus on a star. Recognised by MFT as a native legacy, aperture works and focus peaking too. Not particularly cheap even used, rocking horse poo, and not easy to find a good example. Later Bigma can be adapted but I'm not convinced their glass is as good, I think Sigma pushed the boat out with the first one.

Really enjoyed your review. Two minutes into it and I’m thinking, I really like this guy and this pictures of andromeda are stunning!! So I pushed the follow button and the buy it now button. Looking forward to binge watching your other videos!

@TheNarrowbandChannel

9 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

Just traded the 100-400 Pana lens for the Olympus. Much sharper. Your review is perfect. New to astro work but what the heck; I have a lens which can do it. Been a subscriber since you use Olympus, so I'll start viewing other post. Thanks.

@TheNarrowbandChannel

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you! Yes a lot of the Oly lenses are quite sharp. I wish more the their fixed FL lenses could be used wide open is all.

Thanks. I'm just starting to dabble in astro. I was thinking only about wide angle whole sky, using the 12mm f/2. I recently purchased the 100-400 for wildlife, the moon, but not for astro. Something to try.

Excellent. I just picked up this lens for Birds. It's on sale this weekend on GetOlympus. They are hard to find used.

What software did you use during the video to demonstrate available objects in the night sky? I have a EM1 MK III and the 100-400 as well. But I will currently rely on a Sky Watcher Adventurer Pro.

@TheNarrowbandChannel

3 жыл бұрын

It is called Stellarium. It's free. Works on the Mac and PC.

Great timing was reading reviews when link came through 👌

I traded in the Panasonic/Leica lens I'd just bought on the basis of this review and a bit of confirmatory testing. The nearly pin-point stars were convincing! It's a great lens for BIF as well. However, least on my specimen, the zoom action could be - should- be - smoother for video. BTW It's reassuring that I'm not the only one to occasionally do dumb things in the dard!

Wow, I'm amazed at the results, should go well with my EM1mk2 too, looking forward for more :)

@bamsemh1

3 жыл бұрын

Only difference is the easier focus on mk3 😊

@StevesWeekender

3 жыл бұрын

@@bamsemh1 yup, thank you Villiam :)

@TheNarrowbandChannel

3 жыл бұрын

I find the Mk3 does have a little less noise but that is only evident with exposures longer then 2min. I did a review on the Mk3 and explained this. It was the reason I got the Mk3.

@StevesWeekender

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheNarrowbandChannel Thanks for that, have been viewing some of your older vids, some really good and interesting info, will look at the one on the Mk3 as well, cheers :)

I know this is an old video, but glad I watched it. I did not know how to look at the ocular using my EM1 Mkiii, so I set it up, real cool. Unfortunately, I sold this lens a long while back to finance my 300 f4. Sorta missing that lens now, it might make a comeback. I have done some really nice landscape starry night photos, and now I am thinking of going long with my 40-150, or my 300 f4. I will need a much stronger tracker instead of my MoveShootMove. Thinking of the Ioptron because of the setup allows non Polaris aligning I think. I have trees in the way. Cheers Dude!

@TheNarrowbandChannel

11 ай бұрын

Thank you Randy. A lot of people bought that lease because of the video. It isa cool lens.. Ill be getting it out again this fall.

Would be interesting to have an update with the OM-1.

Nice! Other than the extra 100mm reach, how do you think this would this compare to the 40-150 f2.8 pro with the 2x teleconverter?

@TheNarrowbandChannel

3 жыл бұрын

I do not have the 2x but I do have the 40-150 2.8 it is a faster lens and I will probably use that for shorter focal lengths and reserve the 100-400 for use on stuff that needs more then 200mm. I will do a review on the 40-150 when I can get some objects recorded with it.

Great lens, thanks man

hi, what cheap lens do you recommend for beginners for taking clear pictures of the moon? (only using a tripod and a camera)

@TheNarrowbandChannel

5 ай бұрын

You need a lot of FL for the moon. Even 400mm FL is short. 1000mm FL will fill 43rds.

Would this lens work with starry sky af? I read that for starry sky af, you need lens with f5.6 or smaller f-stop. I do both bird photography and Astrophotography and just bought the Om-1 MK II for the starry sky af feature (amongst other things), and would love it if this lens can do both bird and Astro!

@TheNarrowbandChannel

5 ай бұрын

Use the more accurate starry scy af. It works fine

@didimoser778

5 ай бұрын

@@TheNarrowbandChannel great, thank you!!

It seems a really awesome and versatile lens! Would you recommend it with the star adventurer 2i wifi combo? I'm actually owning an EM10-III but considering an upgrade to EM1-III for sharper and better quality image. Congratulations and thank you very much for your video!

@TheNarrowbandChannel

2 жыл бұрын

The 2i wifi version has dithering. I am considering upgrading to it myself. I would defiantly recommend the Mk3 Em1. Have you seen my review on it and also my noise battle between the Em1x and Mk3?

@rosalesgabriel4751

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheNarrowbandChannel Not yet! I just discovered and subscribed to your channel, so I gotta go trough all your videos to know a little more about astrophotography with olympus gear. Thanks a lot again and good job!! 😉

Dog Star is Sirius...is it not? Anyway, great video. I have this setup on the Em1 Mk ii. I have Star Walk 2 to identify my sky targets. Fantastic shots!

@TheNarrowbandChannel

11 ай бұрын

Thank you. Its a tuff star in broadband.

If it's any consolation I walked back in to the camera shop two weeks after picking up my 1X having dropped it. The male part of the 300mm lens mount was still on the camera. The lens wasn't!

@TheNarrowbandChannel

2 жыл бұрын

Hope they were able to fix it.

@Raysnature

2 жыл бұрын

They were great. Fixed the body at the quoted price. With the lens however they decided it was an uneconomical repair but provided me with a brand new one for the quotation price. That's what I call customer service! Not needed to test it yet but hope that level continues under the new owners.

@TheNarrowbandChannel

2 жыл бұрын

@@Raysnature What happened to the broken 300f4?

@Raysnature

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheNarrowbandChannel Olympus kept it. Presumably for spares, which I thought fair enough.

Curious if you've done any planets using the 100-400, either alone or with a teleconvertor, and if so how'd that work out?

@TheNarrowbandChannel

2 жыл бұрын

I have not. Maybe I will but they are really small. Most people use 2000mm minimum for that type of photography.

@rayphillips815

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheNarrowbandChannel thanks for the reply. I have an E-M1 mkII and used a 4/3 Oly 70-300mm to capture Jupiter and 4 moons as well as a lucky handheld shot of Saturn with rings visible. Shocked me when I zoomed way into the photo and saw some separation between the planet and the rings. Granted, it's not hubble. I'm curious what to better glass of the 100-400 can accomplish (and tripod-mounted).

Wow! Great review and awesome shots.

@TheNarrowbandChannel

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Rob!

This is so informative! Where I live there are a couple of designated Dark Sky locations. I’d love to try deep sky shots. I have used my Mk 3 wide angle (7-14) and been happy with the results (though do need to learn how to bring out the best of the raw images in post) but do also have this 100-400. I don’t have a tracker ☹️. I assume they come in various different types. Is there a particular tracker you could recommend for a beginner to astrophotography? I’m in the U.K. Many thanks.

@TheNarrowbandChannel

3 жыл бұрын

I personally like the Skywatcher Adventure Pro. You can start with the basic unit and add to it to hold larger gear over time. Adding a guiding ability will really improve it.

@suerobinson1995

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheNarrowbandChannel Thank you!

looked at this set up for a long time, but then i would think noise, frame size , low light ect; but this just about covers everything. I want to try all types of photography, like you said a bit of astro, wildlife, family, holidays , video ect cameras i had in mind where the mx1 , mkiii & you chuck in the mkii so what would you recommend ? & i also love the photo with the 75mm 1.8 . thanks

@TheNarrowbandChannel

Жыл бұрын

Em1x is a favorite

This is great info, thanks. I have the 300mm f4 and have been thinking about the 100 400. Do you use a modified om-1 or is it as it comes out of the box? I am thinking of getting the Star Adv GTI with the Goto. Would that work with this set up? Thank you.

@TheNarrowbandChannel

11 ай бұрын

I am not using a modified camera. Never have done the modified rout. The Star Adv GTI should handle the lens fine.

@alandimery3379

11 ай бұрын

@@TheNarrowbandChannel thank you. Sorry to hear about your issues. Good luck with it.

Light has a constant speed. F stops are not accurate especially in modern times, t stops are more accurate. Fxx on one lens will not always be the same as another lens. Usually Olympus is off by 1/2 a measurement stop (darker).

What software do you use to track the nebula in the sky.? I am new to this.

@TheNarrowbandChannel

Жыл бұрын

I use the ASIAIR. and piggy back the camera on the telescope.

The real trick isn't really the lens 😅 but the tracker 😉 did you try single shot on anything?

@TheNarrowbandChannel

3 жыл бұрын

I don't think it is possible with any camera or lens longer than 25mm to do single shots. Everyone tracks and fallows the stars for multiple exposures.

@bamsemh1

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheNarrowbandChannel I've seen single shots of andromedia, with sigma 135mm f1.8. Was stacked in ps after. I tried it with my macro lens on fullframe some years ago. But didn't have a computer, so no option to stack 😬 it could be identified though 😊

Absolutely awesome. In my experience this lens had more coma vs the Panasonic 100-400. How do they compare in your experiences?

@TheNarrowbandChannel

2 жыл бұрын

Never tried any Panasonic lenses. Sorry

Did your camera modified? Great photo.

@TheNarrowbandChannel

3 жыл бұрын

No this is an unmodified camera. I might modify it later on but would like to get an Em1X before I do that.

Can you hear it? My 1st copy made clicking noises with the AF, I could also hear a whining from the motors. Still hear clicking in my 2nd but much quieter.

@TheNarrowbandChannel

2 жыл бұрын

Mine is rather quiet. I have not heard any clicking. Does it get quieter if u turn off the IS?

@chadadventure

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheNarrowbandChannel Its the same with IS on or off. And it seams to be getting quieter as I play with it. Go figure. If I try I can hear the focus motors.

@TheNarrowbandChannel

2 жыл бұрын

@@chadadventure Lens break in lol

Is it good with star adventurer 2i pro pack? If not, which star tracker should I buy? Is there anything better which will work with that lens on that price? Because I'm planning to buy this lens, and didn't want to spend more than 500€ for the sky tracker! But if there is no sky tracker which will be good for this lens, I need to change strategy

@TheNarrowbandChannel

2 жыл бұрын

It is about the limit of what the Adventurer can do but it can do it. 2i is def the one to get because you can dither with it.

@manuelraso2976

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheNarrowbandChannel and what if I want to buy a mount which can carry more weights on it? Lets say that thing get serious with me and astrophotography (I have never done that and that will be the first attempt), and let's say in the future I want to buy a dedicated telescope.. which mount should I buy now which will be useful in the future? Because if it's just few money more, I could consider to buy something better than star adventurer

@TheNarrowbandChannel

2 жыл бұрын

@@manuelraso2976 resale on telescope stuff is very good you could sell it and recoup your money. Right now its hard to find anything in stock though that is lower priced and close to a tracker in $$. I myself like the iOptron 25 series but they start new at 1400$ I myself like to buy used ones. You can get a iOptron Zeq25 for around 450$ these days.

If Olympus had sinc IS it would be the best camera I'm not going to carry a tripod Ill pass and keep my g9 100-400mm which has sinc IS

@TheNarrowbandChannel

3 жыл бұрын

Maybe someday they will add it. I think though that there is a hardware limitation that prevents this feature from being added via firmware. I hope I am wrong though.

@PetervanLint

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheNarrowbandChannel Very nice pictures! You discuss IS here, but I reckon that both IBIS and the lens IS are switched off with astrophotography?

I have this lens too. I have used it at night for the Moon but not for anything else as I am unable to track for more than 40sec without star trailing with my unguided ioptron skyguider pro tracker. I am bortle8 which does not help.

@TheNarrowbandChannel

3 жыл бұрын

Ouch bortle 8 is tuff. I would practice in your back yard though. Just get good at polar alignment so you can consistently get round stars. Then when you can go to a dark location and capture one of the brighter objects.

Do you use any form of CLS (or other) filter with the camera/lens?

@TheNarrowbandChannel

Жыл бұрын

Occasionally but not often. I live in a Bortle 4 so it's rather dark here. And with modern LED lights those CLS filters are not as affective.

Interesting video. I'm most interested in who you contacted and how you returned your lens for repair at Olympus. I had my tragedy at Hawk Mountain preserve...a place that I don't recommend; the trails are terrible and no hawks when we were there. I fell and the lens hit the trail. The lens still focuses, the front element is OK but the zoom is worse than the Panasonic Leica I used to own ;-) Thanks in advance.

@TheNarrowbandChannel

2 жыл бұрын

I just contacted their repairs services. And you can call them too. They have a phone line open between 8am and 2pm EST on business days. learnandsupport.getolympus.com/repair

@1955mlynch

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheNarrowbandChannel Thank you. I sent the lens and they have already contacted me. I will let you know how things went.

@TheNarrowbandChannel

2 жыл бұрын

@@1955mlynch Awesome,

@1955mlynch

Жыл бұрын

@@TheNarrowbandChannel Lens is back from Olympus repair, zoom works great. The repair was very successful. Thanks again. And to the subscribers of your channel...the Olympus repair folks in NJ do a great job at a very reasonable price.

@TheNarrowbandChannel

Жыл бұрын

@@1955mlynch That is great. Yes they have repaired many items for me now. Our Pen F too which took a while though because they had to get the part made in Japan as it is an out of production camera.

Do you have a link where I could buy the shade on the end of your lens?

@TheNarrowbandChannel

2 жыл бұрын

I cannot find any right now. Guess everyone has been swiping.

Hi I have em1 mk11 & 40-150 F2.8 with MC20 converter Is this suitable for astrophotography Many thanks 🙏

@TheNarrowbandChannel

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, absolutely

@everydaygrandad5642

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheNarrowbandChannel Thank you I live in bortle 4 area Just need some clear sky’s 🤔👍

@TheNarrowbandChannel

2 жыл бұрын

@@everydaygrandad5642 You have some nice sky then.

@everydaygrandad5642

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheNarrowbandChannel Landscape is good as well Live in Snowdonia North Wales UK

Does Starry AF work with this lens? From what I read, my guess is that it doesn’t :( at least not at the 400mm end

@TheNarrowbandChannel

2 жыл бұрын

Sure does. And quite well.

@QawiemJamil

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheNarrowbandChannel impressive! I found a statement released by olympus that it only works on olympus lenses and aperture 5.6 or faster. If half of that isn’t true, then there’s a chance it may work on Panasonic lenses (of which I have plenty..)

@TheNarrowbandChannel

2 жыл бұрын

@@QawiemJamil I don't think it works with Panny lenses but could be wrong. I seam to remember talk on the OMD Astrophotography FB group that it did not work at all on pan lenses.But could be wrong.

@QawiemJamil

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheNarrowbandChannel yea I wouldn’t expect it to. Just wishful thinking. It’d be inconsistent with the way they usually treat non-native lenses. Not the end of the world - but autofocus with a click of a button, what a pleasure that would be

@TheNarrowbandChannel

2 жыл бұрын

@@QawiemJamil Perhaps the new ownership will change some these things. However I suspect that there are actual hardware limitations in the older cameras so we have to wait for a totally new OM System camera to see if things change.

Oh man that’s expensive. I’ve seen worse but yeah for an astrophotography lens a telescope sounds better. William Optics seems good so far and perfect for deep sky so I don’t think I’ll do this one.

Do you keep noise reduction on while you shoot astro?

@TheNarrowbandChannel

3 жыл бұрын

No I do not. I have a series on my camera settings that I use because I stack and do calibration frames. I should though do an updated on on the Em1 Mk3 and Mk2

@petecoady6676

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheNarrowbandChannel thank you

So I can avoid melting my lenses in the future, what type of outlet did you plug it into which caused it to overload? That was tragic.

@TheNarrowbandChannel

3 жыл бұрын

So what I did is actually hard to do. I was using an ASIAIR with its power based hub. The Dew heater that I have is for 2.1 amps 12v while the ASI AIR puts out 5amps. All I had to do was in the ASIAIR programing turn down the power on that port to 15% and have not had issues since. Also a lot of the new dew heaters have a power limiter built into the cord itself which is nice. Mine is older and it does not have one. Plug yours in and just see how warm it gets. you only need a little heat. This of it as like a warm spot on the bed where the cat was just sleeping warm.

@GrandmasterBBC

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheNarrowbandChannel Oh I seen what happened. Quite the cautionary tale. Fortunately I just run my dew heater off of a USB power bank, and my heater has 3 power settings. I never put it above medium even in sub freezing temperatures. But on the up side, you get to buy a fancy new dew heater! ;-)

An f/13 equivalent lens for astro. Brilliant. Or you could just use your phone for less noise.

@TheNarrowbandChannel

Жыл бұрын

This must be sarcasm

@youknowwho9247

Жыл бұрын

@@TheNarrowbandChannel Right, or maybe you don't understand crop factor conversion. There's no reason ever to use a lens as slow as f/13 for astro when Nikon has an f/6.3 and Canon offers an f/11 at the same focal length. Not to mention that those are both much sharper and can be put on much higher res bodies. MFT is simply the absolute worst system on the market, especially for telephoto shooting.

@richardfink7666

Жыл бұрын

@@youknowwho9247 Have you ever used it yourself, or are you just repeating nonsense of others?

@larrychicco1062

20 күн бұрын

​@@youknowwho9247 but this is an f6.3 at 400mm? Where are you getting f13?

@youknowwho9247

20 күн бұрын

@@larrychicco1062 Conversation to full frame equivalent. A 400mm f/6.3 on MFT produces about the same results as an 800mm f/13 in the full frame world. Of course MFT people will tell you that it's physically f/6.3 - that's true, but it's also physically 400mm. Either you convert both to get the full frame equivalent, or neither. What you can't do is compare a 400mm f/6.3 on MFT to an 800mm f/6.3 on full frame. That's apples to orange. You're adjusting one side of the equation and not the other, which everyone who's been in highschool should know is mathematical nonsense.

I live twenty minutes from Black Canyon NP (Hella dark AF) and own the EM-1 mk iii Come visit - you can stay at my place in exchange for an astrophotography lesson.

@TheNarrowbandChannel

3 жыл бұрын

Someday I may have to take you up on that.

@danielpittman889

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheNarrowbandChannel Western Colorado is all pretty dark if you can avoid Durango and Grand Junction. The downside is that the clearest nights are usually pretty chilly.

So boring all I want like most people want the settings so can you give me settings to shoot the sky thank you because this video doesn’t give it

@TheNarrowbandChannel

Жыл бұрын

Hay it is a lens review. Not a how too. I have some videos with my setting for the EM1. Its in my calibration frames series. That has a lot of the how too that you are looking for.

Here is a comparison of a Pentax 50 mgpxl shot of the sun using an f5.6 400mm, 320 equivalent in 35mm, to an Olympus OMDMark5iii using legacy Zuiko glass, an f4.5 300mm + a 1.4X telextender . . . 820mm equiv. on 35mm . . . and using Olympus Hi-Res 50 mgpxl pixel shift . . . The Olympus shot is far inferior to the straight shot on the Pentax. But, considering you can fit almost nine 4/3rd sensors on a '645' medium format sensor . . . the Pentax cropped was half the magnification of the Olympus lens . . . Next time, will try the Olympus without the telextender and use the 4K video stacking instead of the pixel shift. facebook.com/photo/?fbid=5399549336726532&set=a.132248503456668

@TheNarrowbandChannel

2 жыл бұрын

More likely the difference is atmospheric seeing and motion blur. The sun is a moving target. You have to track it at the solar rate to use the pixel shift.