I have a WO Redcat 51, and an Olympus OM-1. I bought a Williams Optics 4/3 adapter with the hope of using the telescope with he camera. The adapter fits the Olympus bayonet, albeit very tightly, but the camera won't "see" anything through the scope, regardless of what mode I put it in, nor will the shutter activate. Live View is just black. I'm assuming that the camera is not reading anything regarding the lens (scope) via the mount contacts, although the camera see an image and the shutter will fire with no lens at all.
Neil have you set the camera to manual metering?
Sorry, I'm neither familiar with the Redcat or the Olympus camera but all metering functions are disabled through most telescopes, I'm not familiar with any telescopes with metering functions but then again I own mostly old, cheap junk so I may be very incorrect in my assumptions.
If the camera is trying to meter through non existent systems it may cause your issues.
Again, I'm clutching at straws, I have no idea.
Hi Neil, you didn't mention anything about focusing. If you haven't done it yet, for new equipment I find it easier to focus on a distant building/landscape feature during the day (the Moon is also a good target if day activity is not an option) and then remember roughly the focus position and this becomes my starting point for focusing at night.
Regarding back focus distance, here is the text from the specs of the scope: "Camera connection via male M48 thread (suitable adapters are available) - working distance 55 mm".
Once you ready, set manual mode, bump the ISO to 800-1600, set your shutter to 1-2 sec, point towards a bright star and go from there.
neither metering nor focusing are possible because the camera is not seeing anything at all. It's the adapter, as far as I can tell now, because if I put the adapter on the camera without the Redcat, the camera is still not reading anything. The view is still black and the shutter inoperable. If i remove the adapter, the camera is functional, even without a lens.
Faulty adapters aren't uncommon. I've had a few over they years, mostly mass produced with small machining errors and assembly errors highly possible., it could be shorting out a couple of the metering contacts it's not supposed to be shorting out making the camera inoperable.
Best with these things not to persist for fear of bigger, more expensive problems.
I learnt the hard way recently (pre Christmas) fitting a genuine old Nikon macro extension tube from my old 35mm film cameras onto my Nikon D810. I've used them numerous times in the past with good results but this one time it felt tight fitting the thing.
A $47 part which ended up as a $550 repair and 7 weeks without my camera.
I recall it feeling tight fitting it but having used the things so many times in the past I ignored it, till I didn't....
Silly question I know but you don't know anyone locally with an identical adapter (local astronomy group perhaps) you could borrow to test?
Thanks Leo. Yes, the WO adapter is such a a tight fit I really fear damaging the camera. In the end it's probably not worth persisting with. I have a 300mm lens for the Olympus, and a ZWO camera for the Redcat. Just thought I'd try the combo because I could.
Thanks Leo. Yes, the WO adapter is such a a tight fit I really fear damaging the camera. In the end it's probably not worth persisting with. I have a 300mm lens for the Olympus, and a ZWO camera for the Redcat. Just thought I'd try the combo because I could.
I'll also check with other members in our group.
Cheers,
Neil, I have the same camera and have connected it to various scopes with no issue. I use an adapter that is fiddly at times but it does not interfere with imaging. Could you post an image of your adapter? By the way, you have to set your camera to manual focus.
Neil, it 'looks' right. My adapter seems like a cheap version of the same. It has a depth of 26.3mm producing an overall backfocus, when fitted of 55mm.
If you have a look in the Terrestrial Images section here, and check a thread titled "Taking a risk" you'll see a recent image taken in a howling gale with a cheap 1000mm lens (hence imperfect focus) so you can see it does work.
Neil you can buy an adapter that is specific to the OM1 - I just did a quick Google and found them at kentfaith.com.au for under $30. Might be worth it.
Leo (see his post below) is right about the electrical contacts between camera and lens. When using this adapter it is essential that the adapter does not touch those contacts. That's why there is an indexing mark on the adapter and the 3 flanges on the adapter are not equally spaced. It might pay to check your WO adapter to be sure it is actuaĺy compatible with the Olympus 4/3 OM cameras.
Neil you can buy an adapter that is specific to the OM1 - I just did a quick Google and found them at kentfaith.com.au for under $30. Might be worth it.
The K&F concept gear (Kent Faith) is very well made and very cheap for what you get but one thing, ignore the .au at the end of the web address, they ship from China and it will be slow on delivery as is my recent purchase of a Pentax PK lens to Nikon F mount adapter, some weeks later still awaiting arrival and it's just hit Aus post today (so another huge delay, lol).
I received an adapter from K&F concepts (Kent Faith) , Pentax K lens to Nikon F mount the other day, again, they are a very well made quality product. It was very tight with me originally thinking it was incorrect, it just needed the Pentax lens turned a little harder in the opposite direction of the Nikon mount.
It has given me a very nice 80mm macro lens I don't have in Nikon gear and it's so sharp, it's off a Pentax late model 35mm camera and the lens is like new.
Ah, move onto the next problem, I get that.
I just chased an end milling bit around with a vice in my bench drill because I'm too lazy (health) to weld up a stand for the brand new milling machine sitting in my shed.
Nothing critical, I made a 90 degree mount for my astro camera with some thick aluminium C channel scrap I had laying around but I needed a recess for an E clip to fit on the camera mount screw so it doesn't fall out.
Just an update on this, in case any other Olympus users are interested. There is a small hole on the inner rim of the WO adapter that allows the shutter lock pin to release into it. The hole on the adapter I purchased was just not quite deep enough to allow the pin to fully release into the adapter, rendering the camera inoperable. (If you push that little pin on the camera in, you get the same effect.)
I carefully drilled this hole out a tiny bit, and now the adapter works!
That's a good outcome but a real P.I.T.A. for you finding that and rectifying the problem.
Glad you got it sorted and I'm sure there are plenty of people using Olympus cameras, they always made quality equipment.
