![\"Three](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Matt-Suess-OM-SYSTEM-OM-3-ASTRO-3.jpg\")
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Photographer Matt Suess was halfway through a 45-minute star trail exposure in Joshua Tree when he noticed a hazy band stretched across the sky. He had grown up in New England, where light pollution hid the Milky Way, so he didn\u2019t know what he was looking at. He pointed his camera at it. It was Suess\u2019s first time seeing the Milky Way, but the photos came back soft. Decades of night shooting later, understanding why is the kind of lesson only experience can teach.<\/p>\n
Full disclosure: This article was brought to you by OM SYSTEM.<\/a><\/p>\n At a Glance <\/p>\n OM SYSTEM Ambassador Matt Suess<\/a> has been taking photos of landscapes and the night sky for decades. He built his first darkroom at 12 years old and photographed star trails on color slide film as a teenager in Connecticut. His fascination with the stars briefly led him to study mechanical engineering with dreams of designing rockets for NASA. The rockets didn\u2019t happen, but his love of the night sky never went away.<\/p>\n Today he leads night sky workshops<\/a> from the Grand Tetons to arctic Norway, teaching photographers how to work in conditions most of them have never experienced before.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember what I was feeling when I saw the Milky Way for the first time in Joshua Tree,\u201d Suess shares with PetaPixel. \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe what I was looking at. I just stood there staring at it. A lot of people who attend my workshops experience that same moment of seeing a truly dark night sky for the first time. Watching them see it with their own eyes and then helping them photograph it, that\u2019s a reward that never gets old.\u201d<\/p>\n His most useful lessons don\u2019t come from books or gear guides. They come from hundreds of nights in the field diagnosing what went wrong.<\/p>\n Start With the Right Question <\/p>\n Semi-experienced astrophotographers plateau more often from asking the wrong question than from having the wrong gear. \u201cDo I need a better camera?\u201d is the wrong starting point.<\/p>\n \u201cThe real question is what\u2019s actually limiting your shots,\u201d Suess tells every workshop student who asks about upgrading. \u201cIf you\u2019re not getting sharp stars, it could be focus technique, wind on a lightweight tripod, or a lens that\u2019s too slow or soft for the conditions. A lot of photographers upgrade bodies when what they actually need is a faster prime or a more stable tripod.\u201d<\/p>\n The astrophotography technique Suess relies on most for star trails came from a workshop student, not a manual.<\/p>\n \u201cA participant wasn\u2019t taking my advice on manual stacking,\u201d he continues. \u201cI walked over to ask why, and he showed me star trails building on the back of his camera in real time, all in camera without any post-processing. I\u2019d been stacking exposures in post for years to get the same effect. That moment changed how I thought about what astro gear could do.\u201d<\/p>\n The feature was Live Composite<\/a>, an in-camera long-exposure tool on OM SYSTEM cameras.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s still how I think about gear decisions,\u201d he reflects. \u201cBefore I recommend anything to a student, I ask them: have you tried every feature and setting in your current camera? Have you tried astrophotography with different lenses? Most people haven\u2019t experimented. They\u2019ve used maybe 30% of what they already own.\u201d<\/p>\n Get to Know Your Kit Before You Buy <\/p>\n Knowing your kit starts with what\u2019s already in the bag, and just as importantly, with what gets left behind.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you get serious about astrophotography, night work might involve two tripods, a star tracker, and multiple lenses,\u201d Suess insists. \u201cLighter bodies and glass make a real difference. My own kit includes the OM-1 Mark II<\/a>, the OM-5 Mark II<\/a>, fast primes, and a star tracker for deep sky. The heavier the gear, the less you bring, and the more you wish you had out in the field. A lightweight setup that works for you will help you take better images and enjoy your time under the night sky.\u201d<\/p>\n In his workshop teaching, the lessons he repeats most often have nothing to do with what\u2019s in the bag:<\/p>\n \u201cBefore making any changes, identify how you can take better photos with the gear you have. For instance, one of the more common things I see on night one of my workshops are images with a small star trail because the shutter speed was too long.\u201d<\/p>\n One formula is worth memorizing as a starting point: the 500 rule. Divide 500 by the 35mm equivalent of your focal length, and any shutter speed longer than that number creates small star trails.<\/p>\n Suess himself skips the formula:<\/p>\n \u201cI prefer not to do math out in the field. I\u2019d rather take a test shot, see if the stars are sharp, and adjust the exposure time from there.\u201d<\/p>\n With experience, you will know the maximum exposure time allowed once you find your favorite lenses for astrophotography. One lens in Suess\u2019s kit earns more night-sky time than any other.<\/p>\n \u201cThe M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm F1.2 PRO<\/a> is what I reach for most nights when I\u2019m chasing the Milky Way,\u201d Suess shares. \u201cAt 34mm equivalent, it\u2019s wide enough to frame the Milky Way\u2019s arc with meaningful foreground, but not so wide that the stars stretch at the edges. F1.2 lets me drop my ISO by a stop or more compared to an F2 lens, which translates directly to cleaner stars and less noise in the RAW file. Fast glass is what separates a usable wide-field astro shot from a soft, noisy one. That lens stays on one of my cameras more than any other.\u201d<\/p>\n Find Your Focus, One Way or Another <\/p>\n Accurate star focus is one of the most technical challenges in astrophotography. The technique Suess teaches starts the same way.<\/p>\n \u201cYou put the camera in live view, increase the magnification, and find the brightest star near the center of your frame,\u201d Suess explains. \u201cTake the manual focusing ring and rotate it back and forth. You\u2019ll see the star get big and soft, like a golf ball, and then tiny. You keep making smaller increments, zeroing in until that star is at its smallest point. Tape down the focusing ring, and hope that focus stays throughout the night.\u201d<\/p>\n That process worked most of the time, but it took patience, steady hands, and conditions that didn\u2019t shift.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, being a professional, it\u2019s something I got used to,\u201d he acknowledges. \u201cWith practice, I got quicker at it. But there were times I was still off just a little bit and my stars weren\u2019t as sharp as they could have been. The distance between sharp and soft is very small.\u201d<\/p>\n Temperature changes, bumped tripod legs, or zooming to recompose can all shift focus. With workshop students shooting their first Milky Way, one drift means a night of soft stars.<\/p>\n Suess found OM SYSTEM\u2019s Starry Sky AF<\/a> feature replaced that entire manual focus process with a single button press. The camera runs the same focusing sequence automatically, locking focus on a star and confirming the result.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s almost like cheating,\u201d Suess continues. \u201cI watch the camera do basically the same technique I\u2019d been doing manually. The stars get bigger and softer, then smaller, and then it just locks in. Done. For me, and especially for my clients that have a camera with Starry Sky AF, it takes all the guesswork out of focusing on the stars so they can focus on getting the right exposure and the right composition.\u201d<\/p>\n Prepare for What the Guides Skip <\/p>\n Most astrophotography workshops start with teaching camera settings. Suess starts with teaching about the sky.<\/p>\n \u201cNumber one: clouds,\u201d he describes. \u201cIf you\u2019ve got clouds, you usually don\u2019t have a nice shot, unless there are some breaks in the clouds somewhere. I photograph a lot in the Tetons and we get sudden storms. You can look in one direction and see clear skies and in the other direction, it\u2019s gray and raining. So keeping an eye on the weather and being prepared to pivot locations is critical.\u201d<\/p>\n Suess checks Weather Mate (iOS only) for hourly forecasts and Windy for satellite cloud coverage before leaving home.<\/p>\n \u201cI always recommend being ready to change plans,\u201d he advises. \u201cTime with ideal darkness for stars is limited, so a great plan B astro shot is better than no shot at all.\u201d<\/p>\n The cold weather is one of the main things that can cut into that valuable astrophotography time. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve done shoots where 42 degrees felt manageable on the drive out,\u201d Suess recalls. \u201cBut, after two hours into a Live Composite star trail, standing in one spot, not generating any heat, I was shaking. If you\u2019re not moving much, it feels a lot colder than what the temperature is reading. I have learned to dress two layers warmer than the forecast.\u201d<\/p>\n Most photography guides don\u2019t address what to do when something moves in the dark.<\/p>\n \u201cAnimals are always a concern,\u201d Suess stresses. \u201cI\u2019m photographing in landscapes with bears, moose, and bison. In the desert, I\u2019ll bring a black light to see if there\u2019s any scorpions on the ground. I always recommend doing research on wildlife in any location you\u2019re visiting, because the best conditions for astro photography, darkness and remote nature, are also prime conditions for dangerous animals.\u201d<\/p>\n Many photographers write off partial-moon nights. Suess sees them as composite opportunities.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the darkest skies, I recommend shooting four or five days around the new moon,\u201d Suess advises. \u201cThat guarantees completely dark skies and the best view of the Milky Way. But even on nights with a half or three-quarter moon, as long as that moon is still below the horizon, you can shoot astro. If the moonrise is 45 minutes to an hour away, you\u2019ve got a solid dark sky window. Photograph your dark sky first, keep your tripod and camera in the exact same position, and then when the moon comes up, let it light your foreground. Get both images and blend them in Photoshop later.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll use PhotoPills to know when it\u2019s blue hour, when it\u2019s nautical twilight, and when it\u2019s pure dark,\u201d Suess adds. \u201cPure dark is when the sun is 18 degrees below the horizon and there\u2019s no ambient illumination left in the sky. That\u2019s when you get the most out of the Milky Way.\u201d<\/p>\n Most shooters skip one camera check that costs them at import. Suess recommends setting the EVF and LCD to their darkest levels before heading out.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s nothing worse than reviewing your shots through the viewfinder when it\u2019s bright and walking away with your eyes ruined for the dark sky,\u201d Suess notes. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about night vision, either. If you have the brightness up, your photo\u2019s going to seem a lot brighter than it actually is, which can lead to disappointment when you see the RAW file on your computer. You should always be relying on the histogram for the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n Use a Tracker, But Give Yourself Patience to Fail <\/p>\n A star tracker is a motorized mount that rotates your camera in sync with the Earth\u2019s rotation, counteracting the movement that turns sharp stars into soft, blurry lines. With a tracker running, exposures can stretch from 30 seconds to several minutes, revealing color and detail invisible at shorter settings.<\/p>\n Weight is the variable most beginners don\u2019t account for.<\/p>\n \u201cOn a portable tracker like the Move Shoot Move NOMAD, the motor can only handle so much weight,\u201d Suess warns. \u201cBigger trackers with counterweights will handle heavy glass just fine, because the counterweight balances the load on the motor. But on a rig without that option, the lighter your camera and lens, the better it tracks. That\u2019s where the lightweight Micro Four Thirds system has a real practical advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n For his preferred deep-sky setup, Suess pairs the Move Shoot Move NOMAD with the M.Zuiko Digital ED 50-200mm F2.8 IS PRO<\/a> and the M.Zuiko Digital 1.4x Teleconverter MC-14<\/a>. That combination is light enough to hold exposures stable.<\/p>\n Suess cautions that trackers are made for deep-sky photography, so while you can shoot wide angle, there is one extra step to prepare for. \u201cWhen you\u2019re on a tracker, your foreground is going to get blurry because the tracker keeps moving to follow the stars,\u201d he adds. \u201cIf you want foreground in your shot, you need separate exposures for sky and ground, then combine them in post.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite capturing deep-sky photos he is proud of, not all of it has clicked yet.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not an expert on deep sky photography, and I don\u2019t know if I ever will be,\u201d he admits. \u201cAnd that\u2019s ok, because I am really enjoying the learning process and I love creating something different than my usual Milky Way shots. Once I got that first exposure of the Andromeda Galaxy, I was hooked. I was surprised I could get that much detail out of a single exposure. The Orion Nebula in winter has also become an instant favorite.\u201d<\/p>\n Most beginners hit the same wall with their first star tracker: polar alignment, the process of pointing the tracker\u2019s axis at Polaris so the mount follows the sky.<\/p>\n \u201cGetting polar alignment starts with finding Polaris in the polar scope, and the first thing that throws people off is that the view is upside down,\u201d he cautions. \u201cThen you\u2019ve got trees to contend with. The North Star is in a fixed position, and if there\u2019s a tree in between you and the North Star, you\u2019ve got a problem. And even when you think you\u2019ve got it, you\u2019re asking yourself, did I align on the right star? There are a lot of stars up there.\u201d<\/p>\n Finding Polaris is one challenge. Finding a faint galaxy at 300mm is another.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the biggest advantages of a zoom telephoto lens like the 50-200mm over a fixed telephoto is how easily you can find your target,\u201d he explains. \u201cYou zoom out wide, take a quick test photo, and you can see where Andromeda sits relative to the surrounding stars. Then you zoom in. With a fixed focal length like a 300, you\u2019re staring through the lens at a field of stars trying to find one specific target. That is difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n Getting alignment and keeping it are two different skills.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t tell you how many times I\u2019ve gotten polar alignment and then accidentally kicked my tripod leg,\u201d he stresses. \u201cOr you get it dialed in and then put a heavier lens on and one of your tripod legs sinks a little. You need a lot of patience and you need to have some forgiveness for yourself too, because things can and will go wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n If You\u2019re Serious, Research Why an Astro Sensor is Valuable <\/p>\n The OM-3 ASTRO was Suess\u2019s entry into deep-sky photography, and it taught him something most photographers never think about: the sensor in the camera most of us own is quietly filtering out the exact light that makes nebulae look like nebulae.<\/p>\n On non-astro-modified cameras, the pink and red clouds at the heart of the Orion Nebula show up as muted smudges. On an astro camera, the same scene glows. That color jump is why published nebula photographs look nothing like what most cameras actually record.<\/p>\n Every standard camera sensor has a filter that blocks hydrogen-alpha, the wavelength responsible for those glowing reds in nebulae. Getting it back traditionally meant a third-party modification service costing around $300 that voided the camera warranty and left the body with a reddish-pink cast for any non-astro use.<\/p>\n \u201cAn astro camera removes that filter, so it captures all of that red light instead of maybe 20% of it,\u201d Suess notes. \u201cThe difference on something like the Orion Nebula is night and day.\u201d<\/p>\n The OM SYSTEM OM-3 ASTRO<\/a> ships from the factory with a modified filter that passes H-alpha through fully, and changes Suess\u2019s approach to his astrophotography.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is my first venture with an astro-modified camera, and I\u2019m still learning all about it myself,\u201d Suess reflects. \u201cI know I\u2019m just scratching the surface, but it\u2019s been fascinating. Even with a wide-angle lens on the Milky Way, I\u2019m seeing a lot more color. There are other nebulae embedded in the Milky Way that a standard camera barely registers, and this picks them up. You put a telephoto on, and the difference is even more noticeable.\u201d<\/p>\n On a tracker, longer exposures give that sensor more time to capture hydrogen-alpha, which saturates the reds in deep-sky subjects like the Orion Nebula. The sensor modification handles one variable. Artificial light is another.<\/p>\n \u201cThe body-mount filter system is something I haven\u2019t had a chance to test yet, but the concept is exactly right,\u201d he adds. \u201cA light pollution filter (BMF-LPC01<\/a>) that sits behind the lens means it works with any lens, including the M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm F1.8 Fisheye PRO<\/a>. Try putting a screw-on filter on an 8mm fisheye. It\u2019s not happening.\u201d<\/p>\n The body-mount light pollution filter cuts the artificial light wavelengths from city glow, allowing fainter sky detail to register on the sensor without the color cast that streetlights introduce.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce you\u2019ve gotten used to photographing the Milky Way and it\u2019s something you enjoy, going to a star tracker is going to kick up your photos a notch. And then going to an astro-specific camera is going to be a whole other level. That\u2019s when you know you\u2019re committed to this.\u201d<\/p>\n Trust the Histogram, Not the Preview <\/p>\n If you want workable RAW files to edit, one simple rule prevents disappointment at import: the histogram tells the truth, the preview lies.<\/p>\n The histogram is the small graph on the back of the camera that shows how many pixels fall at each brightness level, from shadows on the left to highlights on the right. It is the only way to know, before you leave the field, whether the exposure has real detail in it or whether you are about to spend hours editing noise. Everything Suess does in post starts from what the histogram shows.<\/p>\n \u201cMany astrophotographers I talk to assume more frames means a better final image, but I like to get my astro shots in one or two exposures,\u201d Suess insists. \u201cWhen you\u2019re only taking one or two, every frame has to be right, and the histogram is how I check. With the noise reduction software we have now, I don\u2019t feel I have to do stacking for those big Milky Way shots. The basic stacking software is really just removing noise, not adding meaningful detail to your wide angle astro shots. Now, deep sky stacking with lights and darks and all those frames, that\u2019s different. That does pull more detail.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019s started pushing into more specialized software:<\/p>\n \u201cPixInsight has a whole big learning curve. I\u2019m just starting to dive into it. It\u2019ll stack your photos, it has plugins for star reduction so you can focus on the nebula itself, and it\u2019s what the serious deep space photographers are using.\u201d<\/p>\n Every RAW processor handles files differently, particularly in how they convert sensor data into color pixels, a step called demosaicing. For the high-ISO files his OM SYSTEM cameras produce at night, Suess relies on DxO PureRAW as the first step.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first time I compared a high-ISO file processed through PureRAW versus going straight into Lightroom, the difference jumped off the screen,\u201d Suess says. \u201cIt kept the star detail sharp while cleaning the noise. Lightroom was smearing it. I have used the same workflow ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n Suess explains that the secret to good astro edits isn\u2019t just fixing noise. \u201cPureRAW is my go-to for noise reduction, but I also really like the way it demosaics the RAW file and puts its own little color spin on it. Each RAW processing engine handles the demosaicing a little differently, and I like the way it handles color, noise, and the sharpness of the lens.\u201d<\/p>\n From that single exposure, his workflow usually runs through a fixed sequence:<\/p>\n \u201cOnce the file is clean, I take it into Photoshop, where I\u2019ll run a high-pass filter, a sharpening technique, to bring out extra detail in the Milky Way core. The last step is DxO Nik Color Efex where I will apply the Clearview and Tonal Contrast filters, which apply localized contrast sharpening to specific tonal ranges in the image to add some clarity and pop.\u201d<\/p>\n Over-processing is the most common mistake Suess sees in workshop edits. \u201cWhat I see is people pulling harder on data that isn\u2019t there,\u201d he says. \u201cThey stack 50 weak exposures and try to brute-force the processing, and they end up with these mottled-looking nebulae that don\u2019t look real. Start with a stronger single exposure, run it through good noise reduction, and let the data speak for itself. You\u2019ll get a more honest result.\u201d<\/p>\n Photograph the Sky While You Can <\/p>\n Almost 40 years before he was teaching workshops under the Milky Way, Suess was a teenager in a Connecticut basement pointing a camera at a sky he couldn\u2019t see clearly.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a black and white darkroom when I was 12 years old, taking photos of trees and landscapes close to my backyard. Back then in Connecticut, the sky was light-polluted, and I never saw the Milky Way. But sometime around my 16th birthday, I tried to aim my camera at the night sky to see what I could get. And in the prints, I was seeing colors in the stars I couldn\u2019t see with my own eyes. Oranges and blues. Before then, I had thought all the stars were white. I instantly became addicted. I even went to school for mechanical engineering thinking I was going to design rockets for NASA. That didn\u2019t happen, but I never lost my fascination with the night sky.\u201d<\/p>\n That sense of wonder still pulls him outside when he could just as easily stay warm inside.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of my favorite things to do is set up two cameras, have one doing a star trail with Live Composite and the other doing a time lapse, and then just sit down in my chair and look up. Watch the shooting stars. Imagine what\u2019s out there. It makes you realize we\u2019re just such a small part of this whole universe.\u201d<\/p>\n What concerns him now is whether future generations will have the same access.<\/p>\n \u201cMore satellites, more light pollution, wildfires affecting the atmosphere,\u201d he cautions. \u201cIt\u2019s scary to think what it\u2019ll be like in 10 or 15 years. We\u2019re in a really good era right now where anyone can go out and enjoy this. But that window\u2019s not going to stay open forever.\u201d<\/p>\n Suess was recently diagnosed with HPV-positive squamous cell oropharyngeal cancer. During his successful cancer treatment this past winter, OM sent him one of the first OM-3 ASTRO cameras. Despite the fatigue he was feeling, he pushed himself to make it outside on the rare clear nights.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you can\u2019t go out and shoot, you start to realize how much of what you love about this has nothing to do with photos,\u201d he reflects. \u201cIt\u2019s being out there in the quiet, cold air looking up at thousands of stars. Even if it\u2019s millions of light-years away, I can still visit that with my camera. I missed the act of exploring the Milky Way, Andromeda Galaxy, and the Orion Nebula more than I missed the actual photos that I would take. It\u2019s been months that I haven\u2019t really been able to spend quality time behind the camera. I think it will be interesting, looking up at that night sky again and probably seeing it a little bit differently than I used to.\u201d<\/p>\n More from Matt Suess can be found on his website<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n Image Credits: Matt Suess<\/a><\/p>\n Full disclosure: This article was brought to you by OM SYSTEM.<\/a><\/p>\n ![\"Long-exposure](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Suess-7-8-21_0147_em1x-2.jpg\")
E-M1X \u2022 M.Zuiko Digital ED 12mm F2.0 \u2022 12mm (24mm equivalent) \u2022 60sec \u2022 f\/2.8 \u2022 ISO 1600. Live Composite.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Suess-7-11-23_0522.jpg\")
OM-5 \u2022 M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm F1.2 PRO \u2022 17mm (34mm equivalent) \u2022 13sec \u2022 f\/1.4 \u2022 ISO 3200 <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Suess-7-5-24_0160-v2-1700px.jpg\")
OM-1 Mark II \u2022 M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm F2.8 PRO \u2022 9mm (18mm equivalent) \u2022 60sec \u2022 f\/2.8 \u2022 ISO 2000. Tracked and stacked composite. Listed EXIF is for the sky; foreground exposed at 60sec, f\/2.8, ISO 4000. <\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Suess-7-6-24_0221.jpg\")
OM-1 Mark II \u2022 M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm F2.8 PRO \u2022 7mm (14mm equivalent) \u2022 363sec \u2022 f\/2.8 \u2022 ISO 2000. Tracked and stacked composite. Listed EXIF is for the foreground; sky exposed at 120sec, f\/2.8, ISO 1250. <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Suess-8-12-21_3271_em1x.jpg\")
E-M1X \u2022 M.Zuiko Digital ED 12mm F2.0 \u2022 12mm (24mm equivalent) \u2022 13sec \u2022 f\/2.2 \u2022 ISO 5000 <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Suess-9-26-22_0359-1400px.jpg\")
OM-5 \u2022 M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm F1.2 PRO \u2022 17mm (34mm equivalent) \u2022 60sec \u2022 f\/2.5 \u2022 ISO 1250. Tracked and stacked composite. Listed EXIF is for the foreground; sky exposed at 60sec, f\/1.6, ISO 500. <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Suess-7-11-23_0550.jpg\")
OM-5 \u2022 M.Zuiko Digital ED 12mm F2.0 \u2022 12mm (24mm equivalent) \u2022 20sec \u2022 f\/2 \u2022 ISO 3200 <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Suess-7-28-25_OM-1-II-1600.jpg\")
OM-1 Mark II \u2022 M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm F2.8 PRO \u2022 7mm (14mm equivalent) \u2022 54sec \u2022 f\/2.8 \u2022 ISO 3200. Untracked exposure blend. Listed EXIF is for the foreground; sky exposed at 15sec, f\/2.8, ISO 12,800.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Suess-2-4-26_0010-2000px.jpg\")
OM-3 ASTRO \u2022 M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm F1.2 PRO \u2022 17mm (34mm equivalent) \u2022 40sec \u2022 f\/1.8 \u2022 ISO 1250. Tracked with a Move Shoot Move Nomad star tracker. <\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Suess-7-26-25_OM-1-II_0031-1600px.jpg\")
OM-1 Mark II \u2022 M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm F2.8 PRO + MC-14 \u2022 210mm (420mm equivalent) \u2022 60sec \u2022 f\/4 \u2022 ISO 3200 <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Suess-7-25-25_OM-1-II_0016-1600px.jpg\")
OM-1 Mark II \u2022 M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm F2.8 PRO + MC-14 \u2022 210mm (420mm equivalent) \u2022 30sec \u2022 f\/4 \u2022 ISO 3200 <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Suess-12-14-25_0023-v3-2000px.jpg\")
OM-3 ASTRO \u2022 M.Zuiko Digital ED 50-200mm F2.8 IS PRO + MC-14 \u2022 280mm (560mm equivalent) \u2022 20sec \u2022 f\/4 \u2022 ISO 1600 <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Suess-2-4-26_0024-2000px.jpg\")
OM-3 ASTRO \u2022 M.Zuiko Digital ED 12mm F2.0 \u2022 12mm (24mm equivalent) \u2022 30sec \u2022 f\/2 \u2022 ISO 3200. Listed EXIF is for the foreground; sky captured with Handheld High Res Shot at 40sec, f\/2, ISO 2000. <\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Suess-7-27-25_Final_Panorama.jpg\")
OM-3 \u2022 M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm F1.2 PRO \u2022 17mm (34mm equivalent) \u2022 60sec \u2022 f\/1.4 \u2022 ISO 1600. Stacked multi-photo panorama, no tracker. Listed EXIF is for the foreground (Tripod High Res Shot); sky captured with Handheld High Res Shot at 13sec, f\/1.6, ISO 6400. <\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Suess_5300015.jpg\")
OM-5 Mark II \u2022 M.Zuiko Digital ED 12mm F2.0 \u2022 12mm (24mm equivalent) \u2022 60sec \u2022 f\/3.5 \u2022 ISO 1600. Live Composite. <\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Suess_5300045.jpg\")
OM-5 Mark II \u2022 M.Zuiko Digital 17mm F1.8 II \u2022 17mm (34mm equivalent) \u2022 13sec \u2022 f\/1.8 \u2022 ISO 5000 <\/p>\n