- OM System has just launched a niche E-M1 Mark III with an IR-CUT filter in front of the sensor
- Adjusted to cross 100% of vital Hα rays to astrophotography
- Two astrophotography filters for cameras in the current OM system have also been revealed
If astrophotography is your thing, then OM System has just launched the camera for you – E -M1 Mark III Astro. It is based on the same design and equipped with the same characteristics as the E -M1 Mark III, five years old, but with a crucial difference – it has an IR cutting filter in front of its sensor which is adjusted to pass 100% of Hα rays.
With such a configuration, vibrant colors of distant nebulae are revealed, colors that are also invisible to the human eye. I included photos side by side provided by the OM system of the same nebula taken with the new E-M1 Mark III Astro and an ordinary E-M1 Mark III to illustrate the difference that a small filter can make (see below), as well as other amazing images taken with the new camera by Iijima Yutaka.
In addition to the E-M1 Mark III Astro, the OM system has also announced two filters: the light mounting pollution removal filter (BMF-LPC01) and the flexible body mounting filter (BMF-SE01), which are available separately, or as a kit included with the new camera.
The filters are designed to be placed inside one of the recent cameras of the OM system, such as OM-1 Mark II and OM-3, between the support and the lens sensor, which means that you can switch the lenses while the filter remains in place.
The filter for removing light pollution cuts light from artificial sources, such as street and city lights (a scourge with astrophotography), which has led to more lively nighttime. Meanwhile, the flexible filter blurs and highlights the punctual light sources (stars), emphasizing their colors to bring them out.
Now available on the OM System website only, the E-M1 Mark III Astro with these two filters costs £ 1899, while the light pollution filter and the flexible filter are available separately for £ 259 and £ 179 respectively (American prices and Australia are TBC).
A stars full of stars
OM system cameras are a convincing choice for astrophotography thanks to several calculation methods that strengthen the quality of their night photos. These include “Starry Sky Autofocus”, which should assure you to acquire a clear development, and “a high resolution photo” which increases the fixed images of 20 Mp to 50 Mp (with the daytime movement of the stars corrected if the camera is mounted on a tripod or equatorial medium). In addition, you can also photograph Live Composite for Star Trails.
And if you want to go further, the E-M1 Mark III Astro is now a higher choice. It’s a bit of pony in a turn; If you used it for photography other than Astro, there will be a reddish / pink color on your images. This can be somewhat corrected by the adjustments of the white balance during the editing, or by reversing the effect with a UV / IR hot mirror filter on your goal at the time of capture.
An alternative to an astrophotography camera manufactured for the purpose of converting an existing camera, since the main difference is a particular type of IR-CUT filter in front of the sensor. If you are looking for online, there are a number of companies that offer this service, generally between $ 350 and $ 300-500.
If you know that astrophotography is something that you would like to explore more, the new filter kit E -M1 Mark III with a filter kit is well worth – it will create images of astrophotography live simply not possible with an ordinary camera.
