[Dr_who]

Or wait a month and see how well/bad the new O-GPS1 and a normal tripod works.

It really depends on what is trying to be done with astrophotography. If your taking pictures of a small section and stacking a dozen exposures then I would think a tracking mount would be much better then the O-GPS1. if your going for a 1shot long exposure of the night sky/milky way ect then the O-GPS1 is for you. Now I suppose you could stack with the O-GPS1 IF, and only IF the sensor doesn't reset to its original position between shots/ AND continues to track the sky between shots. Then if permitting with focal length and time in between shots then yes you might be able to squeeze in 3 - 30s shots or something.

Don't get me wrong, I'm really interested in the O-GPS1, and am very interested in purchasing the product. Just wish Pentax would release some sample images for a product that is out in less then a month. Another interesting question would be is the O-GPS1 is familiar with its location and adjusts the sensor accordingly, can it continue doing so if the camera is moved slightly during exposure ie on a tracking mount. Or would that be like having a lens SR on while having a body SR on as well, and cause more problems then fixing.

[dmort]

I will wait. I will buy an O-GPS1. I will use the astrotracer feature. I will take pictures. I will delete them because they will probably be terrible. Then I will try again.

[Gimbal]

Now I suppose you could stack with the O-GPS1 IF, and only IF the sensor doesn't reset to its original position between shots/ AND continues to track the sky between shots. Then if permitting with focal length and time in between shots then yes you might be able to squeeze in 3 - 30s shots or something.

It will reset to it's original position between shoots, it has to. But that shouldn't stop you from stacking. The sensor can only move/track a short distance for each shoot, that means that it will take quite a number of shoots before a target has moved out of the picture. ( you will have to do some cropping of course).

But a real motorized mount will of course do better.

[secondliner]

They have some samples taken by astrotracer in their japanese site.
??????????GPS UNIT O-GPS1?PENTAX

Japanese English
----------------------------------------------------------------------
固定撮影 No astrotracer
アストロトレーサー使用による撮影 With astrotracer
撮影機材 Camera
秒 Seconds

[Dr_who]

They have some samples taken by astrotracer in their japanese site.
??????????GPS UNIT O-GPS1?PENTAX

Japanese English
----------------------------------------------------------------------
固定撮影 No astrotracer
アストロトレーサー使用による撮影 With astrotracer
撮影機材 Camera
秒 Seconds

Might be partly the exposures, but that's a lot of light pollution Anyhow looks cool, and reaffirmed my idea that if you have any horizon that a stack with the ground and a stack with the sky would be best as it'll be the one streaking instead of the stars.

[geo444]

.

first pictures, May 2011

* iso 80, 3 PEF = 12 minutes each :



.

* iso 80, 5 PEF = 12 minutes each :



.

* iso 80, 3 PEF = 10 minutes each :



.

* other pictures here :

Pentax-Full-Frame-Soon

[geo444]

.

last pictures July 2011

* iso 80, 4 PEF = 12 minutes each :



.

* iso 80, 5 PEF = 12 minutes each :



.

* iso 80, 4 PEF = 12 minutes each :



.

- No Dark Frames subtracted !

- No Bias Maps (Offset Frames) subtracted !

http://en.astronomike.net/m/134251.html

[garyk]

Beautiful series, The skywatcher refractor i assume. 120 ED apo? Boy stacking these really does a nice job. And noise is not bad.

[Class A]

.
last pictures July 2011

Amazing!

[valy]

Nice, very nice images.

So, would you recommend k5 for astrophoto? There is some drawbacks relative to canon cameras (which are widely used in this field)?

[geo444]

Beautiful series,
The skywatcher refractor i assume. 120 ED apo?
Boy stacking these really does a nice job. And noise is not bad.

Thanks !
1st picture on this page is from a Vixen Na 120/800 refractor
five other pictures are from a SkyWatcher 254/1200 réflector

Pentax-Full-Frame-Soon

[geo444]

Amazing!

thanks a lot !

[jephi]

Dear Pentax and Astro Fans,

As my contribution I would like to refer to my recently posted thread

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5-forum/167500-k5-o-gps1-astroph...s-namibia.html


Cheers from cloudy Berlin,

jephi

[geo444]

Nice, very nice images.
So, would you recommend k5 for astrophoto?
There is some drawbacks relative to canon cameras (which are widely used in this field)?

thanks, yes I would recommend it for astrophoto !
results at iso 80 are simply amazing... but you need guiding (I use PHD)
the drawbacks are :
- lack of any "Pentax Remote & Capture"... but some third party softwares
for now, I use the Pentax O-RC1 remote control
- not many ways to remove the IR-cut filter and replace it by Astro-filters !
my K-5 as my Eos remains unmodified for the moment !

Pentax-Full-Frame-Soon

http://en.astronomike.net/m/6809.html

[sebberry]

.

[U]last pictures July 2011

Were you using the Pentax GPS Astrotracer for that or an equatorial mount?