Non supported cameras

[andysydney]

I have just received my Astro version of Polaris.
Does anybody have suggestions for using with a non supported camera?
I will be using Polaris with my Lumix G95 micro 4/3 camera and I'm not sure which features will be available to me.
I have also thought of possibly getting an Olympus body and can anyone suggest which Olympus bodies work well with Polaris?
Thank you.

[bundyo]

Just received my Polaris and tested with E-M1 Mark II, Mark III and OM-1. Of the three - only Mark II works with Live View and all functionality. Mark III (which is almost identical to II, but with faster processor) crashes Benro (can be seen how it disappears from the app and Mark III reverts to normal state of shooting (as if USB is not connected)). OM-1 (which is quite different from the other two and has protocol changes, including manufacturer) seems to connect, but app screen is black and no controls are working. On the good side - Benro should be easily able to fix those, if they want to, but on the bad side - only Mark II is working.

[andysydney]

Thanks for your info.
Having only Lumix bodies and lenses, and not touching an Olympus since my 1st SLR, the OM-2, and the wonderful Olympus XA, would you recommend the E-M1 Mark ll for Astrophotography?
Originally sold for $2000 in 2016, they can now be bought for $500 on eBay.

[bundyo]

Can't say yet - I'm completely new to Astrophotography (except star trails) and hoped Polaris to help me take first steps, but currently struggling with the app, which refuses to acknowledge that the Compass on my phone is calibrated.

On the other hand - E-M1 Mark II is very able camera with good astro functionality and is only missing the Starry Sky AF function and the faster processor from Mark III (so one needs to use manual focus only, but that's hardly a problem).

[bundyo]

Just upgraded to latest firmware and now compass works. Currently happily shooting Live Composite with tracking, though I'm in a big city and probably the result won't be very good. Of course the Benro app doesn't support Live Composite, but if you start tracking, it will work regardless what you do with the camera.

[luislafuentemedina]

Does the EM1 mkiii work now?
Thanks!

[ASHOK.KUMARBL]

From the forum I understood EM1-Mark II able to connect. But I have EM1-Mark III and new OM-1 Camera. Anybody had success with theses two model cameras, following latest updates from Benro?

[bundyo]

The status is still the same, except the crash - E-M1 Mark II connects, E-M1 Mark III stays on the "One second..." message on its screen (though Benro doesn't crash) and OM-1 connects and no video and no control on screen.

[Madcat]

You haven't indicated you've tried it but have you looked at the various USB connection modes on the EM1?
I've just got my Polaris out of storage and updated it to the latest firmware and since the last time I used it I had also upped the Mk2 firmware to 3.7.
Connecting the Polaris, it gave the 'One Moment' message then a flashing sd-card icon then... nothing... the camera itself was unresponsive until the USB cable was removed.
Was at it for about an hour, trying different things to recover (1 step at a time and putting the EM1 config back afterwards!)
What I hadn't appreciated was that when I last updated the camera a few months back I was also doing some other things on it and had changed the USB mode to default 'Storage' to stop the annoying 'how do you want to connect?' message each time it was plugged in - anyhow, popped it to Auto and boom! Camera remained live, the App found the camera and happiness. Also tried a couple of the other USB modes and the camera seems happy with those too, just not 'Storage' as the default.
Maybe something to try on your Mk3?

[Wookie65]

I dropped Benro a note re the OM1, I was stunned by the briefness of the reply.
“OM1 s supported - give it a go” that was it.
As for instructions, I’ve really found the poor compared to my Skywatcher.


Really, no suggestions as to what might help.
For such a financial investment, customer service is shocking, I’m so glad I don’t buy their tripod or any other equipment!