This vintage-looking camera has been updated for shooting the stars

Feb 10, 2026 10:22 PM - 3 months ago 88732

Andrew Liszewski

is a elder newsman who’s been covering and reviewing the latest gadgets and tech since 2006, but has loved each things physics since he was a kid.

Just complete a twelvemonth aft OM System launched its vintage-styled OM-3 Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera, the institution has announced a caller type pinch a fistful of upgrades catering to astrophotography. The new OM-3 Astro will beryllium available starting successful March 2026 for $2,499.99, which is $500 much costly than the modular model. Both tin beryllium utilized to photograph the nighttime sky, but the Astro introduces hardware improvements to heighten the colors of reddish nebulae – a celebrated taxable for astrophotographers.

The astir notable upgrade to the OM-3 Astro is simply a caller infrared trim select positioned successful beforehand of the camera’s 20.37-megapixel stacked back-illuminated sensor featuring “optical characteristics optimally tuned to execute astir 100% transmission of Hα wavelengths.” Nearly each integer camera uses an IR select to trim infrared ray and amended colour accuracy, but the 1 successful the OM-3 Astro specifically lets deep-red Hydrogen-alpha ray get through, which is what gives reddish nebulae their chopped colors and shapes.

Side by broadside photos showing the improved astrophotography results from the OM-3 Astro.

One of the OM-3’s champion features erstwhile it launched past twelvemonth was a dedicated power dial for quickly accessing simulated movie look profiles, and the expertise to create your ain easy accessible civilization profiles. The OM-3 Astro comes pinch 3 of those profiles pre-programmed for astrophotography. Color1 is optimized for enhancing images of reddish nebulae, Color2 is optimized for nighttime entity photography that combines stars and landscapes, and Color3 is designed for handheld prima photography, according to PetaPixel.

The Astro version of the OM-3 besides carries guardant different features recovered connected the modular exemplary that are useful for capturing stars and celestial objects. Its Starry Sky AF locks onto stars utilizing autofocus. It’s not arsenic accelerated arsenic modular autofocus, but will prevention you having to zoom successful connected the entity and make attraction adjustments manually. There’s besides a Night Vision mode for the OM-3’s LCD preview screen. It will heighten everything connected the show pinch exaggerated opposition truthful you tin decently framework a changeable aliases make attraction adjustments successful the mediate of the night. The mode will besides trim the strength of the show to thief sphere your nighttime imagination truthful you tin run the camera without needing to scope for a flashlight.

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