Spent $120 on a star tracker mount and it totally changed my astrophotography

I was getting so frustrated with blurry shots of the Milky Way at a dark sky site in West Texas. Every photo I took at 30 seconds had star trails no matter how steady my tripod was. So I saved up and bought a used iOptron SkyGuider Pro for $120 from a guy on Craigslist. After I figured out the polar alignment, my first 2 minute exposure came out crystal clear. Has anyone else had good luck with a budget tracker for deep sky shots?

2 comments

2 Comments

anthony1275d ago

Read that the Celestron Nexstar SE mount can handle some DSLR weight if you're careful with balance.

fisher.diana5d ago

It overstates it a bit to say it "can handle" a DSLR. The SE mount is really made for the little 6SE and 8SE scopes, and adding a DSLR on the back throws the balance off badly unless you add a counterweight setup. Without careful balancing, the gears start skipping and you get terrible tracking. I've seen way too many people ruin their imaging sessions trying to push that mount past its limits.