[ffking]

Incidentally, it's also encouraging to see the distance scale showing

[shyrsio]

Anybody noticed the second switch on the other side of the barrel? I wonder what might that be!

[Digitalis]

A heated lens hood? i'm not sure if that is just plain weird or totally brilliant.

Looks like a bog standard lens hood to me - I see no signs of electrical contacts for a heating element. However, heating just chews up energy I doubt you could expect much life out of the camera battery if you used it, and I also doubt it could throw out enough heat to efficiently stave off the effects of temperatures lower than a few degrees from 0.

---------- Post added 2018-06-13 at 09:21 PM ----------

Anybody noticed the second switch on the other side of the barrel? I wonder what might that be!

A zoom lock presumably.

[Kunzite]

No, it's just the shape of the lens, allowing to put a lens heater on it.

[Digitalis]

No, it's just the shape of the lens, allowing to put a lens heater on it.

It won't have much of an effect if the rear element is fogged up, I have had that happen to me...and fogging in the viewfinder optics too.

[normhead]

It won't have much of an effect if the rear element is fogged up, I have had that happen to me...and fogging in the viewfinder optics too.

The weird thing to me was the time Tess and I had cameras set up beside each other and her lens fogged and mine didn't. She thinks the heater is a great idea. I'm thinking "who needs that."

[Digitalis]

The need for such things is usually situational, when a lens fogs up I usually have a spare I can use while I wait for the offending optic to clear up. If both lenses fog up, I just throw my hands in the air and use language that starts small fires in dry grass.

[SteveinSLC]

It would be useful, and as others have mentioned, dew heaters are pretty common for astro.
That said, would be a little odd to target a APS-C lens, as most of the more serious Milky Way photographers I know prefer full-frame.

[normhead]

It would be useful, and as others have mentioned, dew heaters are pretty common for astro.
That said, would be a little odd to target a APS-C lens, as most of the more serious Milky Way photographers I know prefer full-frame.

Given the differences in resolution between the two that makes sense. There are many situations where a lot of resolution isn't necessary. I'm guessing astrophograhy isn't one of them. That being said, for an image of a particular feature, if the full frame is limited by focal length for different galactic features, APS0c will still be better with good lenses.

[DeadJohn]

If both lenses fog up, I just throw my hands in the air and use language that starts small fires in dry grass.

There's your mistake! Start the foul language sooner. The heat from fires will then keep your lenses dry. Smoke interferes with astrophotography, though, so only curse upwind.

[ffking]

when a lens fogs up I usually have a spare I can use while I wait for the offending optic to clear up.

but suppose its a 50mm - would you have a spare? (I think that was a joke, but it relies on my memory serving me correctly, so...)

[Digitalis]

suppose its a 50mm - would you have a spare?

I'd have hundreds to choose from. Though like a photon, I like to travel light.

[vitc]

Anybody noticed the second switch on the other side of the barrel? I wonder what might that be!

I believe the second switch is: "* Focus clamp function that can fix the focus position at an arbitrary place"

From: RICOH to Exhibit One Reference Product at CP⁺ 2018 Camera and Imaging Show?RICOH IMAGING

[RGlasel]

My in-laws arrive this afternoon, so I need to get in as many posts as I can to carry my share of the load through the weekend.

Given the differences in resolution between the two that makes sense. There are many situations where a lot of resolution isn't necessary. I'm guessing astrophograhy isn't one of them. That being said, for an image of a particular feature, if the full frame is limited by focal length for different galactic features, APS0c will still be better with good lenses.

Any astronomical features (other than the Earth's moon) are basically spots unless the camera is hooked up to a telescope, so I'm thinking resolution isn't that important. It should also be more practical to increase magnification with the telescope instead of working with a smaller image circle, so if a FF camera has less noise than an APS-C camera available to the photographer, advantage goes to the FF camera, but not because of increased resolution. I have a friend who is getting into astro-photography, it seems to me that getting an expensive motorized tracking mount and an expensive telescope was more important than deciding to get a 5D, but I could be wrong.

[SteveinSLC]

This all depends on what type of astrophotography one is doing. If you're using a telescope for it, then a lens heater means zero. And most folks, for anything over 200-300mm, will use a telescope. For this, an ASPC sensor camera may be a better choice.
But if you're talking about wide-field/Milky Way photography, FF is probably better, as they tend to have both lower noise and better low-light sensitivity. And in this case, you'd be using the camera lens, and if you're in a humid climate, a dew heater would help. On the other hand, two nights ago out in the Utah West Desert, it was warm and dry and I didn't need one.