[ChopperCharles]

Just got one for my birthday. I tried it on all my cameras, and im looking forward to using it on my K-30 for long exposure Astro photography.

That said, I do have some questions. I seem to be missing some features. My K30 never displays a satellite image on the bottom of the info display like the manual indicates it should. I don’t have simple navigation on my K30 either.

On the K-01, which is shown as a supported camera on the Ricoh site, only the location option exists. The Astro option isn’t there.

So... is there a master list of what cameras with what firmware support which features?

Thanks!

Charles.

[Adam]

The GPS should be supported out of the box, but if you're not already running the latest firmware, you should go ahead and upgrade for the best possible stability.

Here is a breakdown of what camera supports what features (there is no simple navigation on the K-30):

O-GPS1 vs Built-in GPS Guide - Feature Comparison - In-Depth Articles

The easiest way to check if the GPS is working if to try to access the electronic compass by pressing the info button.

[PJ1]

My understanding is that GPS works with the K-01 but not astro.

[ZombieArmy]

The K-01 only works with the regular GPS function. It's disappointing they never updated it to allow astro.

[Michail_P]

Happy birthday and enjoy your new toy ! It’ll be nice to see some astro shots, I’m hoping to get a unit myself soon...

[aslyfox]

The GPS should be supported out of the box, but if you're not already running the latest firmware, you should go ahead and upgrade for the best possible stability.

Here is a breakdown of what camera supports what features (there is no simple navigation on the K-30):

O-GPS1 vs Built-in GPS Guide - Feature Comparison - In-Depth Articles

The easiest way to check if the GPS is working if to try to access the electronic compass by pressing the info button.

Perhaps the O-GPS in depth review needs an amendment or needs to be linked to the comparison article since this language is confusing, at best, to its effectiveness:

Pentax O-GPS1 GPS Unit
Introduction
The Pentax O-GPS1 unit is a small accessory unit that attaches to any K-01, K-5, K-r or 645D (or newer) camera flash hotshoe and provides geotagging of images (latitude, longitude, elevation), an electronic compass, and a simple navigator function. The GPS function also has the option of keeping the camera clock up-to-date. It was announced in June, 2011 and made available shortly thereafter.

Read more at: Pentax O-GPS1 GPS Unit Review - Introduction | PentaxForums.com Reviews

the chart indicates otherwise regarding " simple navigation " function and newer camera bodies

[kypfer]

Here is a breakdown of what camera supports what features (there is no simple navigation on the K-30):

O-GPS1 vs Built-in GPS Guide - Feature Comparison - In-Depth Articles

Thanks for that link


Like the OP I've treated myself to an O-GPS1 for my recent birthday but, as yet, the weather and social circumstances have not given me the opportunity to play with it


I read there that "We didn't test beyond 135mm because lenses longer than that focal length with suitable speed are rare to non-existent" but other than a reference to a 135mm f/2.5 there's no mention of what a "suitable speed" might be. Do longer focal-length lenses need to be even faster? I have a Sun 200mm f/2.8 (in screw mount) and a Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 and was hoping that I might take advantage of them, but if they're not worth the effort I'll not waste my time and stick with the shorter focal lengths.

[MossyRocks]

It is a wonderful little gizmo but it does take some learning. Your first few shots will likely be underwhelming but with practice and experience one can get very good results with it. I haven't used it on a K-30 but frequently use it on my K-3 and with practice (I've had it 2 years or so now) one can get an image like this.

Calibration is important as is checking your tracking on the first shot. Also what is neglected in the documentation is that things that affect magnetic fields affect its accuracy so don't use it near vehicles, power lines, electric motors, or as I found out recently in areas with unusually high soil iron concentrations (the north shore/iron range of MN for example) as you will either get very poor tracking or it will just fail to calibrate.

Some people think you can't use it with longer glass but that image of mine I liked to above was taken with a 400mm lens using 20 second exposures. By using astrotracer I was able to take shots 40 times longer than I would have been able to without it. That is also something that is pretty close to the ecliptic so it's linear speed across the sky is fairly high and shooting things closer to the celestial pole will allow even longer good tracking. I've also use a 300mm lens and have been able to consistently get good tracking for 30 seconds or about 45 times longer than I would have without it there.

Have fun, play with it, learn how to operate your camera in the dark, and learn how to focus at real infinity at night. You will be shooting full manual

[ChopperCharles]

The focusing at real infinity at night is damn difficult with short lenses. Doable with a 300mm, but damn difficult with the shorter lenses.

Charles.

[kypfer]

The focusing at real infinity at night is damn difficult with short lenses. Doable with a 300mm, but damn difficult with the shorter lenses.

Charles.

I find a viewfinder magnifier to be very useful, even more so than trying to use LiveView with magnification. The O-ME53 magnifier or the REF-A right-angle viewfinder are both an improvement over the standard viewfinder in this circumstance, indeed, if the subject is high in the sky, the REF-A can be a lot easier to use for framing as well, if you don't have a tilting screen.

[MossyRocks]

With longer lenses, about 100mm or greater, using a bahtinov mask works wonders for nailing infinity focus. There are generators that will create a SVG file for them so you can print a template or if you have a 3D printer you can convert the SVG to an STL file. I find extruding to 3mm to 4mm works well for 3d printed ones. I have one for my 300mm lens and one for my 400mm lens. The one for the 300mm lens works well enough on my 200mm and is useable on my 100 and is practically useless on my 50mm (I can confirm that I am really close and that is it). The problem is that the shorter the lens the narrower the slots and a 300mm one uses 1mm slots and the 400mm uses 1.3mm slots, so for a 100mm one the ideal slot width would be .3mm which might be doable for a 3D printer. I could probably create one for my 200mm lens which would have .7mm slots which would work better on my shorter lenses but would still be less than ideal.

[ZombieArmy]

With longer lenses, about 100mm or greater, using a bahtinov mask works wonders for nailing infinity focus.

I had never even heard of this! I really need to get this since I've always struggled with focus on my telescope.

[MossyRocks]

I had never even heard of this! I really need to get this since I've always struggled with focus on my telescope.

You will never go back and wish you could construct one even on the short ones. I 3d printed both of mine at the local library. Both times I got questions as to what it was from the librarian working the lab and they seemed interested enough in finding out what it was and how it worked.

[BirdDude007]

I got one for Christmas, and cant wait for a chance to use it on my K3s

[Derek]

It is a wonderful little gizmo but it does take some learning. Your first few shots will likely be underwhelming but with practice and experience one can get very good results with it. I haven't used it on a K-30 but frequently use it on my K-3 and with practice (I've had it 2 years or so now) one can get an image like this.

Calibration is important as is checking your tracking on the first shot. Also what is neglected in the documentation is that things that affect magnetic fields affect its accuracy so don't use it near vehicles, power lines, electric motors, or as I found out recently in areas with unusually high soil iron concentrations (the north shore/iron range of MN for example) as you will either get very poor tracking or it will just fail to calibrate.

Some people think you can't use it with longer glass but that image of mine I liked to above was taken with a 400mm lens using 20 second exposures. By using astrotracer I was able to take shots 40 times longer than I would have been able to without it. That is also something that is pretty close to the ecliptic so it's linear speed across the sky is fairly high and shooting things closer to the celestial pole will allow even longer good tracking. I've also use a 300mm lens and have been able to consistently get good tracking for 30 seconds or about 45 times longer than I would have without it there.

Have fun, play with it, learn how to operate your camera in the dark, and learn how to focus at real infinity at night. You will be shooting full manual

You have some really nice astrophotos in your gallery. Very inspiring, thanks for sharing.