i know Im randomly asking but does someone know of a tool to get back into an instagram account?? I was dumb lost the password. I appreciate any help you can offer me.
@Tyler Salvador i really appreciate your reply. I found the site thru google and I'm waiting for the hacking stuff now. Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will reply here later with my results.
Thanks for this video Peter! Very informative. I bought the Sky Watcher Star Adventure last fall, but was intimidated about the whole set up and getting polar aligned. I had no idea shooting wide angle, that I did not need to be very precise with polar alignment. Now that Milky Way season is back, I am ready to get it out and set it up for some 3-5 minute exposures.
I used my iOptron (not pro) for the first time the other night, pretty easy to setup and I was amazed at the length of exposure I could use with no trails. Also discovered I need a much better tripod lol!
Your videos are excellent and so are your photographs. I ordered the iOptron SkyGuider and your videos are going to make it so easy to use. I have been using a Meade 10' scope for years and have some beautiful photos but at my age of 70, it is getting to be quite a chore to move around and drag thru the New Mexico desert. I have Nikon, Leica and Sony cameras, my newest one the A7RIII and a vintage 500mm F/5 Reflex Nikkor that I have had since about 1972 that I am really anxious to use with this new star tracker in addition to the new Sony lens. Once again, thank you so much for such good instructive videos.
How much does that 500mm lens weigh? If it's more than 8lbs, I'd be hesitant to use it with the SkyGuider Pro. The tracker can "handle a max payload of 11lbs", but that's iOptron being optimistic. You may be able to make it work though, but you'll likely need a second counterweight. Let me know how things go!
@@PeterZelinka I am glad you asked about the weight. Your question made me check it out and the lens and camera are 5.3 pounds so hopefully it will be OK. Here is a link to the Nikon lens. www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/nikkoresources/telephotos/50cmf5/index.htm I chose the Sony camera because of my grandson and I am very happy with it. The "mirrorless" cameras, as I am sure you know, have adapters for all of my vintage lens so nothing goes to waste. I was given my first Nikon camera in 1967 and it still works but not properly on the long exposures like 1 second. I think a spring gets weak in them. My iOptron is supposed to be here in two more days so I have been getting familiar with it watching your videos. Obviously, we know that lens/mirror size can not be cheated with smaller diameter lens but I am confident I will be able to make some nice photos with my smaller lens. I picked up new Sony lens, the FE 4/16-35, FE 4.5-5.6/70-300 G OSS and FE 3.5-6.3/24-240. I am very impressed with the resolution of each of these lens. I like the spectacular displays of color and drama in deep space photography but I also like high resolution photos. Just kind of my thing that makes me want a 16 inch telescope... :-) I have a TH-cam channel where I post audio and radio frequency equipment and a few other odd things. For astronomy I think I only have two on telescopes, one for the measurement of current required by the Meade scope and the other about upgrading the firmware for the 2019 tracking problem. Thanks for your reply and your videos. Stay safe.
wow, that's surprisingly light! You should have no problem with that then. However, you will need to do a very precise polar alignment. You'll also probably need to start auto-guiding at 500mm. With my tracker, I could not shoot longer than 30 seconds without getting star trails. I've got a few different videos on TH-cam which cover auto-guiders. If you want to try Milky Way photography that 16-35mm should do a nice job!
@@PeterZelinka Hi Peter, I have only had a little time to work with the new sky tracker but last night I did a polar alignment, wasn't very hard and I am getting pin point stars at 30 seconds different ISO's but generally around 400. I was using the 70-300 lens at 70mm. I am finding out that the Sony lens are quite good. As for the polar alignment, I left the alignment scope open so I could keep checking alignment and making adjustments as necessary. Unfortunately, as we know, when we turn the mount so that the counter weight attachment fits the tracker, I have to turn the alignment fixture so that N is at the bottom and the red light goes out in the alignment image in the scope. Am I overlooking something simple so as to keep the N at the top of the scope so the light will stay on? I can put a dim light in front of the scope and still see some detail of the alignment grid but it would be best to have it lit. Overall, I give the sky tracker a good rating. However, I had to move the 1/4 inch camera attachment and remove the four hex head screws and one of them would not come out and finally rounded off. I have good tools but that was that. I had to drill out the bad screw. It turned out OK but that could cause some people real trouble if they do not have the tools and experience to remove a stuck screw. Lastly, I am not impressed with the way the clamp of the ball head holds my expensive camera and lens. It seems sort of OK but I am a little concerned and just have to be very careful that it is attached as best I can do it and the clamping screw is very tight. I am not much of a complainer but thought I would throw this in for what it might be worth watching out for. Overall, I think the tracker is doing an amazing job and I do not find it hard to polar align it. I do use the iOptron app you suggested for the position of Polaris on the alignment grid. Works great and that is what I keep an eye on thru the alignment scope. I am considering the auto-guiding but thought I would get familiar with what I have first. Many thanks for your help and videos. I have watched a lot of your videos and I think yours are by far the best at explaining how things work and how to use the different items. Stay safe.
@@ElPasoTubeAmps Yeah, it's unfortunate that the red light only turns on at one specific spot. I usually shine a red headlamp light across the front of the polar scope quickly, so I can see the reticle. This is the best way to work around the problem. I've never had any problems with the clamp, even with my big 150-600mm lens. I understand your concern though. William Optics does make a few upgrades for the SkyGuider Pro, which address these concerns. I recently bought all their parts and will be doing a video on upgrading your skyguider pro. Stay tuned for that!
This is exactly what I needed. I bought the Star Adventure package and had no clue how I was going to use it. I just knew I needed something to track and people recommended it. Your videos helped me with alignment and purpose. I'm ready to rock the Milky Way tonight!
In the video you mentioned that you placed your laptop on he ground. I have been cabling my laptop to my camera for years. I use a tripod with a laptop tripod mount. It makes it really convenient for me because I am 6'6" tall. Also I use a Surface Pro 3, That might make a difference, but I have seen several "true" tripod laptop mounts on Amazon. I hope that this helps.
Thank you for details. Technically, EQ mount on telescopes do the same, in the past, a piggy back camera on a telescope would be doing that work. Keeping a dec motor locked to sidereal rate, a stable image can be captured. Your intro gave me ideas to use my old Newtonian reflector. Thanks a lot.
I heard somewhere (don't remember where) that when doing the balance, you should allow ever so slightly more weight on the side of the direction of turn. This supposedly helps keep the Star Guider gears firmly meshed and thus prevents gear lash. Don't saying this is 100 percent true but it made sense when I heard it.
19:50 look at how you tighten one knob on your ballhead and accidentally loosen the other knob at the same time, no wonder you get so many heart attacks :D you create great videos, thanks for all the very good and thorough explanations in your tutorials.
Great tutorial man! I got one question though, why would you get a blurry foreground when shooting mounted to the tracker if the tracker is turned off?
Hey Peter, on that model, there is a 1/2 speed button. This allows you to shoot foreground and background with neither being blurred. I dont know if the other trackers have it but I know the Skyguider Pro does.
Most star trackers have this function, however I really don't see the point. At best, you can maybe shoot 1 minute exposures before the foreground and sky start to blur. This is still not long enough to get a good SNR, in most cases. It can come in handy for timelapses though, since no one will notice a slight blur in every frame. Personally, I'd rather take 2 long exposures and blend them.
Thank you for the knowledge bombs my fellow star gazer!! Hey, when you first started using the IOptron Starguider Pro, did you have issues with Polaris appearing to jump/drift in the polar scope when attempting to polar align? That’s what I’m running into and haven’t found any mention in your vids. I’m kinda regretting not getting the IPolar version now lol! Thanks in advance for any info! Keep up the great videos and I’ll continue smashing that like button!!
Great videos Peter, they've helped me understand a lot of the basics. I've just bought a SA2i and just wanted to clarify something. Do you loosen off the clutch once you start taking photos and the tracker is activated or does it always stay tight during this part of the process?
What if you can barely see Polaris from where you are? With my telescope mount I use polemaster. Polemaster could see Polaris no problem. What do you do if you can barely see Polaris due to light pollution. Thx
So when shooting should the clutch be tightened or loose? =) Just got my skyguider pro and is trying to figure out how to use it. Thanks for the video, it was a massive help
Hey, appreciate the detailed guide. Could you help me with whether I should buy one of these star trackers for my camera? I am using a Leica CL with f/1.4 35 mm lens which gives a 52 mm equivalent since my camera is a crop sensor. The max exposure time for the camera in the manual mode is 30 seconds only. I have seen some Milky Way posts where they choose f/4 for 60 sec or a longer exposure at a lower ISO~800-1600, and they get a lot of detail in the image. Should I buy one star tracker? With the lens that I have, I could only expose up to 12 seconds without getting a star trail. Would it be worth buying one if I set the aperture to f/1.8 and expose for 30 seconds with the star tracker? Thank you.
Total newbie here, told myself I would start trying to do astrophotography when I retired. I just bought this and set it up the way you showed. One question how do you start the tracker to track? The camera doesn't talk to the mount and there's no start tracking button. Please help this old newbie, I couldn't get it to start tracking, what am I missing? I love all your videos and sub your channel Thank you!
Just turn on the power switch. Once the red light is on, it will begin tracking. Make sure it's on the 1x / Star tracking speed though. If you see a red light under the sun or moon icon, it won't track properly with the stars.
Thank you so much for your reply Peter I will give it a try tonight. I was confused because the light was on while I was doing the polar alignment and it didn't seem to be tracking when I hit the shutter button.
So just got this today and I was going through set up for tomorrow night since I'm headed to the coast, but I found that my counter weight wont thread in properly. I'm afraid I'll really damage the threads. Have you (or anyone reading this) heard of this being a problem?
No, that's the first I've heard of the counterweight rod not threading in properly. Is the hole clean? You might want to contact iOptron if you can't get it working. They're usually pretty fast to respond
Peter, what do you think about sigma 150-600 sport lens in term of weigh? Do you think that it would work it properly with this kind of traker? I own a Canon 5d mark III whith grip and Sigma 150-600 sport, what do you think about my setup? Sorry for my english, i hope you understand me. Regards from spain!
My setup is very similar to yours, I use a Tamron 150-600mm lens. Provided you attach things correctly, the star tracker will work just fine. You may need an additional counterweight or extension rod though. For more information on using a telephoto lens, watch this TH-cam video: th-cam.com/video/I1PGjeBCVSc/w-d-xo.html
That was exactly the video i was looking for. Amazing work. Quick question though: How come one can shoot for 4-5 min instead of lets say 15min regarding star trails issue ? I mean since the camera with be on a star tracker isn't that issue eliminated completely ?
There's a couple reasons. First, you get diminishing returns past 4 minutes. So, the image really won't be much cleaner if you took a 15 minute exposure. In fact, it may actually look worse since the sensor will get hotter during that time frame and create more hot pixels. Second, if anything goes wrong in 15 minutes, you've just wasted a lot of time! 4 minutes is much more reasonable, and less time for something to go wrong. Third, your max shutter speed without star trails depends on your polar alignment. If you did the polar alignment perfectly, you could probably shoot 15 minutes at 14mm. However, if the polar alignment was off, you'd likely get star trails after about 8 minutes.
Second counterweight or the extension bar, I got the William Optics and need no counterweight. With the Sigma 70-200mm and a Nikon D3300 with no battery grip.
5 ปีที่แล้ว +2
Great video but there is no need for leveling the tripod for the polar alignment.
Hey Peter... Confused about one thing, if you find the North star all ok and can line it up, why do you still need to find your Latitude through the app, and then adjust the mount to that latitude? Thanks! Matt
Thanks for info and guide for the star tracker. I've got the Canon 700D and it takes great astrophotos with a very good tripod. One time with camera I got so many stars and now I'm wanting this star tracker. I'm also.looking to use this star tracker with my Hauwei p20 smartphone because the camera in phone is incredible for astrophotography. Is this tracker good to mount small telescope too?
Great video. One question. I am going to shoot with a Nikon Z6. If I bought a skytracker with all the extras it would cost about $420. This would allow you to shoot with a tripod and Nikon Z6 but at this cost why not just buy a computerized telescope like the Celestron 8SE for $999? It has tracking built in and you good get better pictures and even piggy back your camera?
I'm not too familiar with the 8SE, but it looks like that's an Alt-Az mount, rather than an equatorial mount (like the SkyGuider Pro or Star Adventurer). In other words, it actually won't perform that well for astrophotography. (The object will rotate in your photos over a few hours, and the tracking might not be clean). Imagine a staircase - up and over, up and over, up and over - that's like Alt-Az. Equatorial is a smooth arc, and it follow the rotation of the object over the course of the night. You could get a good, heavy-duty equatorial mount though, which might come with a telescope for roughly the same price as that 8SE. That's beyond what I cover though.
@@PeterZelinka thanks still researching. The cpc 800 HD Has a fork and looks amazing but it's 2400 dollars. I don't think the HD is worth the extra 500 dollars but I don't have any experience but am eager to learn.
It's really a detailed tutorial. But I still have a query that how do you make sure there's no slight movement with so many installation steps after aimed at the North polar star?
There will be. If you are shooting with a wide angle lens (14mm - 35mm) it's not really a big deal though. If you are using a telephoto lens (85mm+), you'd probably want to install the camera on the declination mount. This will allow you to still see through the polar scope once everything is attached and balanced. Then you can readjust the alignment at the end of your setup process.
@@PeterZelinka Thanks for your suggestion. I wonder if it is more rigorous to adjust the startracker after attaching the camera on it?(if useing a wide angle lens) By the way, I'm not a deepspace photography lover. All I want to shoot is just the milky way. However I‘m just a newhand, and whether a telephoto lens can be used in this condition also confused me.
I wonder what kink of images I would be able to get using my Nikon P1000, does it have broad enough settings to get good shots? its been converted to full spectrum and I’m going to put a Hydrogen Alpha filter on it. Also did I understand correctly that if I zoom past 50mm that would cut down on the length of exposure time?
I'm not sure, but it's worth a shot! Yeah, the more you zoom in, the faster your shutter speed needs to be. Even with a star tracker, you'll notice star trails faster as you zoom in more.
So the reason you flipped the tracker around is because the base on your unit doesn't go above 40 degrees, correct? The Star Adventurer base goes to 90 degrees so I assume this is not necessary, Right? Thanks.
Yes! One side of the iOptron base can go to 60 degrees, the other side only goes to 40 degrees. Meanwhile, the SkyWatcher base can do a full 90 degrees
Peter, I am considering buying the iOptron Sky Guider Pro. I shoot with a 20mm but might get a 14mm. My question due you set this up to the north star during twilight or when it's completely dark?
Both work, although if you're in a very dark sky it might be easier during twilight. Otherwise there may be a lot of stars that you can confuse for Polaris.
thank you Peter for your excellent tutorial. is it possible to use this tracker without counter weights when using 5D Mark IV body and canon 16-35 mm f/2.8?
You should be able to. I used a Nikon D750 with a 14-24mm lens quite often, and the SkyTracker Pro was able to handle it without the counterweight. However, it's generally recommended to use a counterweight system whenever your camera gear weighs more than about 3 or 4 lbs. With all that said, the SkyTracker Pro counterweight is terrible, and under no circumstances would I recommend buying it. You're better off just using the normal camera mount, or investing in the SkyGuider Pro instead.
Loved the Video. You are amazing. Just one question. Once you do all that you said on the video. You just power on the Skyguider Pro and it starts working by it self ?
How do I know how much my ioptron sky tracker pro can handle without using the balancing tool? For example, I have a Sony a7iii, sigma 14-24mm lens, and exactly the same ball head you have in this video.
Just a quick question, if I am using d850 + a 135mm sigma lens, counterweights are a must, or I could get by. I really don't want to spend that extra 40.
No, I don't worry about the leveling. As long as it's fairly close, it'll be fine. The big thing is just making sure one leg isn't a lot higher than the others, causing instability
You missed the most important part. How do you precisely aim the camera, after the tracker is aligned, with a deep space object using a longer lens? Seems near impossible with a floppy ball head.
Man you're really nervous sounding in this video. But I think you did great. I don't think people who just watch these understand how hard making a video like this actually is. I do like 30 takes to get one I like.
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 84 วันนี้!! คู่เอก "ก้องศึก vs เมืองไทย"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3kuzsAIDf1c/mqdefault.jpg)
No useless loud music intro, I like it. Good work!
So many people pollute their videos with horrid noise!
Clear, concise and your voice is soft that I don't feel like switching off. Very rare in this youtube age. Great tutorial.
Thank you Peter, I find your tutorials straight forward and devoid of exrta verbal cluter, which just simply adds layers of confusion. Thanks*
I've had the Star Tracker for over a year and haven't even used it until you made it so easy to understand! Thank you so much for your videos!
Super cool :)
This is by far the best, easier to understand way to use a tracker for first time user. Thanks for this great how to video! Just awesome! 👍
Man, you deserve more followers!
He certainly does :)
i know Im randomly asking but does someone know of a tool to get back into an instagram account??
I was dumb lost the password. I appreciate any help you can offer me.
@Kody Christian instablaster =)
@Tyler Salvador i really appreciate your reply. I found the site thru google and I'm waiting for the hacking stuff now.
Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will reply here later with my results.
@Tyler Salvador It worked and I now got access to my account again. I am so happy:D
Thanks so much, you saved my account :D
Love your tutorials. They are clear and concise. Thank you so much for putting these out!
Very informative. Great advice! Just got a sky tracker and this video and info will help tremendously! Thanks!
I cannot tell you how helpful this is, thank you thank you thank you 🙏
Thanks for this video Peter! Very informative. I bought the Sky Watcher Star Adventure last fall, but was intimidated about the whole set up and getting polar aligned. I had no idea shooting wide angle, that I did not need to be very precise with polar alignment. Now that Milky Way season is back, I am ready to get it out and set it up for some 3-5 minute exposures.
Same here, bought mine last Fall, and just now getting out again for the Milky Way.
Just got my sony 24 f1.4 wow what a lens . Omg those photos out of this world . 👏👏👏
This thing is great. I use it with a 14mm rokinon lens and a 72mm apo + dslr.
Great little tracker that got me into deep sky astro photography.
I used my iOptron (not pro) for the first time the other night, pretty easy to setup and I was amazed at the length of exposure I could use with no trails.
Also discovered I need a much better tripod lol!
Great video, will come in handy when they are back in stock from anywhere...!
I just got my SkyGuider Pro and was pretty confused about how to set it up. Your video was incredibly helpful, and really well done. Thanks Peter.
Your videos are excellent and so are your photographs. I ordered the iOptron SkyGuider and your videos are going to make it so easy to use. I have been using a Meade 10' scope for years and have some beautiful photos but at my age of 70, it is getting to be quite a chore to move around and drag thru the New Mexico desert. I have Nikon, Leica and Sony cameras, my newest one the A7RIII and a vintage 500mm F/5 Reflex Nikkor that I have had since about 1972 that I am really anxious to use with this new star tracker in addition to the new Sony lens. Once again, thank you so much for such good instructive videos.
How much does that 500mm lens weigh? If it's more than 8lbs, I'd be hesitant to use it with the SkyGuider Pro. The tracker can "handle a max payload of 11lbs", but that's iOptron being optimistic.
You may be able to make it work though, but you'll likely need a second counterweight.
Let me know how things go!
@@PeterZelinka I am glad you asked about the weight. Your question made me check it out and the lens and camera are 5.3 pounds so hopefully it will be OK. Here is a link to the Nikon lens.
www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/nikkoresources/telephotos/50cmf5/index.htm
I chose the Sony camera because of my grandson and I am very happy with it. The "mirrorless" cameras, as I am sure you know, have adapters for all of my vintage lens so nothing goes to waste. I was given my first Nikon camera in 1967 and it still works but not properly on the long exposures like 1 second. I think a spring gets weak in them.
My iOptron is supposed to be here in two more days so I have been getting familiar with it watching your videos.
Obviously, we know that lens/mirror size can not be cheated with smaller diameter lens but I am confident I will be able to make some nice photos with my smaller lens. I picked up new Sony lens, the FE 4/16-35, FE 4.5-5.6/70-300 G OSS and FE 3.5-6.3/24-240. I am very impressed with the resolution of each of these lens. I like the spectacular displays of color and drama in deep space photography but I also like high resolution photos. Just kind of my thing that makes me want a 16 inch telescope... :-) I have a TH-cam channel where I post audio and radio frequency equipment and a few other odd things. For astronomy I think I only have two on telescopes, one for the measurement of current required by the Meade scope and the other about upgrading the firmware for the 2019 tracking problem. Thanks for your reply and your videos. Stay safe.
wow, that's surprisingly light! You should have no problem with that then. However, you will need to do a very precise polar alignment. You'll also probably need to start auto-guiding at 500mm. With my tracker, I could not shoot longer than 30 seconds without getting star trails. I've got a few different videos on TH-cam which cover auto-guiders.
If you want to try Milky Way photography that 16-35mm should do a nice job!
@@PeterZelinka Hi Peter, I have only had a little time to work with the new sky tracker but last night I did a polar alignment, wasn't very hard and I am getting pin point stars at 30 seconds different ISO's but generally around 400. I was using the 70-300 lens at 70mm. I am finding out that the Sony lens are quite good.
As for the polar alignment, I left the alignment scope open so I could keep checking alignment and making adjustments as necessary. Unfortunately, as we know, when we turn the mount so that the counter weight attachment fits the tracker, I have to turn the alignment fixture so that N is at the bottom and the red light goes out in the alignment image in the scope. Am I overlooking something simple so as to keep the N at the top of the scope so the light will stay on? I can put a dim light in front of the scope and still see some detail of the alignment grid but it would be best to have it lit.
Overall, I give the sky tracker a good rating. However, I had to move the 1/4 inch camera attachment and remove the four hex head screws and one of them would not come out and finally rounded off. I have good tools but that was that. I had to drill out the bad screw. It turned out OK but that could cause some people real trouble if they do not have the tools and experience to remove a stuck screw. Lastly, I am not impressed with the way the clamp of the ball head holds my expensive camera and lens. It seems sort of OK but I am a little concerned and just have to be very careful that it is attached as best I can do it and the clamping screw is very tight. I am not much of a complainer but thought I would throw this in for what it might be worth watching out for.
Overall, I think the tracker is doing an amazing job and I do not find it hard to polar align it. I do use the iOptron app you suggested for the position of Polaris on the alignment grid. Works great and that is what I keep an eye on thru the alignment scope.
I am considering the auto-guiding but thought I would get familiar with what I have first.
Many thanks for your help and videos. I have watched a lot of your videos and I think yours are by far the best at explaining how things work and how to use the different items.
Stay safe.
@@ElPasoTubeAmps Yeah, it's unfortunate that the red light only turns on at one specific spot. I usually shine a red headlamp light across the front of the polar scope quickly, so I can see the reticle. This is the best way to work around the problem.
I've never had any problems with the clamp, even with my big 150-600mm lens. I understand your concern though. William Optics does make a few upgrades for the SkyGuider Pro, which address these concerns. I recently bought all their parts and will be doing a video on upgrading your skyguider pro. Stay tuned for that!
This is exactly what I needed. I bought the Star Adventure package and had no clue how I was going to use it. I just knew I needed something to track and people recommended it. Your videos helped me with alignment and purpose. I'm ready to rock the Milky Way tonight!
Excellent exclamation and demo.
This was super helpful! I appreciate the beginner's breakdown.
Great job explaining how all this goes together! Thanks!
Excellent video. Very well explained. Thanks.
In the video you mentioned that you placed your laptop on he ground. I have been cabling my laptop to my camera for years. I use a tripod with a laptop tripod mount. It makes it really convenient for me because I am 6'6" tall. Also I use a Surface Pro 3, That might make a difference, but I have seen several "true" tripod laptop mounts on Amazon. I hope that this helps.
Thanks very much Peter you’re a true gent sharing your valued knowledge
Great video Peter. Thank you!
So glad I found you on here. Great help
This tutorial was awesome ! Thanks !
This was soooooo incredibly informative!!! My sky tracker is on the way I’m so pumped to try tracking over stacking!
Thank you for details. Technically, EQ mount on telescopes do the same, in the past, a piggy back camera on a telescope would be doing that work. Keeping a dec motor locked to sidereal rate, a stable image can be captured. Your intro gave me ideas to use my old Newtonian reflector. Thanks a lot.
I heard somewhere (don't remember where) that when doing the balance, you should allow ever so slightly more weight on the side of the direction of turn. This supposedly helps keep the Star Guider gears firmly meshed and thus prevents gear lash. Don't saying this is 100 percent true but it made sense when I heard it.
Yes! Usually it's recommended to have the counterweight system "East-heavy". This keeps things meshed together and helps to prevent "gear slop"
Awesome Video! I recently bought a Star Tracker and this video helps me really much!
That was an awesome video full of knowledge, really learnt a lot as I'm planning to start it as a hobby
Your videos are all well done.Great details nice closeups.
19:50 look at how you tighten one knob on your ballhead and accidentally loosen the other knob at the same time, no wonder you get so many heart attacks :D you create great videos, thanks for all the very good and thorough explanations in your tutorials.
Thank you so much!!... very easy to understand explanations, much appreciated.
Nice video, I had no idea how to make these night sky photos.
Thanks a lot for your video, very good explanations! I am not afraid of setting up the whole thing anymore. Keep it up.
You have tipped the scale in inspiring me to get into Astro/Landscape Photography! Loved this tutorial! Made sure to hit the subscribe and like 👍
Thanks a lot! But where's the full length deep space video?
Great tutorial man!
I got one question though, why would you get a blurry foreground when shooting mounted to the tracker if the tracker is turned off?
Yo tampoco sé porqué. Ojalá nos lo aclarase.
Thanks very much, love your videos, so easy to understand.
Great tech info ✨ ⭐️ camera 🎥 😎❤️🤙🏻
Subscribed
Great Video thanks for all the tips!!
love it you have answered so many questions i had . . . . thankyoui sooo much
Great turtorial Im in.
Outstanding introduction and tutorial. Very well done!
Hey Peter, on that model, there is a 1/2 speed button. This allows you to shoot foreground and background with neither being blurred. I dont know if the other trackers have it but I know the Skyguider Pro does.
Most star trackers have this function, however I really don't see the point. At best, you can maybe shoot 1 minute exposures before the foreground and sky start to blur. This is still not long enough to get a good SNR, in most cases. It can come in handy for timelapses though, since no one will notice a slight blur in every frame.
Personally, I'd rather take 2 long exposures and blend them.
@@PeterZelinka I agree, I get longer than a minute though, but either way works
Great video, Thank you for your efforts.
The second most important camera gear is dew heater. If you are serious and want to capture whole night photos, you need that one.
Unless you're in the desert :)
@@PeterZelinka Or, at moon. :D
This is something what I need. Thank you!
Please review the D850 for astrophotography
Thank you for the knowledge bombs my fellow star gazer!!
Hey, when you first started using the IOptron Starguider Pro, did you have issues with Polaris appearing to jump/drift in the polar scope when attempting to polar align?
That’s what I’m running into and haven’t found any mention in your vids. I’m kinda regretting not getting the IPolar version now lol!
Thanks in advance for any info! Keep up the great videos and I’ll continue smashing that like button!!
24:24 I do the same. Best for printing large, but the "that's a composite" crowd will hate on it. lol.
Thanks great tutorial!
Great explanation, thanks!
This guy is very good.
Very very compliment from italy.
Great videos Peter, they've helped me understand a lot of the basics. I've just bought a SA2i and just wanted to clarify something. Do you loosen off the clutch once you start taking photos and the tracker is activated or does it always stay tight during this part of the process?
What helped my tripod stability was to hang a milk jug full of water on the little hook inside the center shaft.
Counterwait
Thank you so much Peter! I'm going to try it out!
What if you can barely see Polaris from where you are? With my telescope mount I use polemaster. Polemaster could see Polaris no problem. What do you do if you can barely see Polaris due to light pollution. Thx
So when shooting should the clutch be tightened or loose? =) Just got my skyguider pro and is trying to figure out how to use it. Thanks for the video, it was a massive help
Thank you, that was helpfull. 👍
Really good video, thanks.
Can you tell us the type of adapter that you mounted your ball head to? Thanks in advance.
Williams Optics base works great, too
Hey, appreciate the detailed guide. Could you help me with whether I should buy one of these star trackers for my camera? I am using a Leica CL with f/1.4 35 mm lens which gives a 52 mm equivalent since my camera is a crop sensor. The max exposure time for the camera in the manual mode is 30 seconds only. I have seen some Milky Way posts where they choose f/4 for 60 sec or a longer exposure at a lower ISO~800-1600, and they get a lot of detail in the image. Should I buy one star tracker? With the lens that I have, I could only expose up to 12 seconds without getting a star trail. Would it be worth buying one if I set the aperture to f/1.8 and expose for 30 seconds with the star tracker? Thank you.
I use the Polar Scope Align Pro app on my iPhone 7 plus Daytime/ No polarscope alignment to align the polaris
Total newbie here, told myself I would start trying to do astrophotography when I retired. I just bought this and set it up the way you showed. One question how do you start the tracker to track? The camera doesn't talk to the mount and there's no start tracking button. Please help this old newbie, I couldn't get it to start tracking, what am I missing? I love all your videos and sub your channel Thank you!
Just turn on the power switch. Once the red light is on, it will begin tracking. Make sure it's on the 1x / Star tracking speed though. If you see a red light under the sun or moon icon, it won't track properly with the stars.
Thank you so much for your reply Peter I will give it a try tonight. I was confused because the light was on while I was doing the polar alignment and it didn't seem to be tracking when I hit the shutter button.
Awesome video man! Helped a lot! Thanks!
Thanks for sharing! Now i know what to do and how
So just got this today and I was going through set up for tomorrow night since I'm headed to the coast, but I found that my counter weight wont thread in properly. I'm afraid I'll really damage the threads. Have you (or anyone reading this) heard of this being a problem?
No, that's the first I've heard of the counterweight rod not threading in properly. Is the hole clean? You might want to contact iOptron if you can't get it working. They're usually pretty fast to respond
Peter, what do you think about sigma 150-600 sport lens in term of weigh? Do you think that it would work it properly with this kind of traker? I own a Canon 5d mark III whith grip and Sigma 150-600 sport, what do you think about my setup? Sorry for my english, i hope you understand me.
Regards from spain!
My setup is very similar to yours, I use a Tamron 150-600mm lens. Provided you attach things correctly, the star tracker will work just fine. You may need an additional counterweight or extension rod though. For more information on using a telephoto lens, watch this TH-cam video:
th-cam.com/video/I1PGjeBCVSc/w-d-xo.html
Thank you very much Peter!
Thanks a lot for the video!
That was exactly the video i was looking for. Amazing work. Quick question though: How come one can shoot for 4-5 min instead of lets say 15min regarding star trails issue ? I mean since the camera with be on a star tracker isn't that issue eliminated completely ?
There's a couple reasons. First, you get diminishing returns past 4 minutes. So, the image really won't be much cleaner if you took a 15 minute exposure. In fact, it may actually look worse since the sensor will get hotter during that time frame and create more hot pixels. Second, if anything goes wrong in 15 minutes, you've just wasted a lot of time! 4 minutes is much more reasonable, and less time for something to go wrong. Third, your max shutter speed without star trails depends on your polar alignment. If you did the polar alignment perfectly, you could probably shoot 15 minutes at 14mm. However, if the polar alignment was off, you'd likely get star trails after about 8 minutes.
@@PeterZelinka Great and helpful reply!! Thanks Peter!
Second counterweight or the extension bar, I got the William Optics and need no counterweight. With the Sigma 70-200mm and a Nikon D3300 with no battery grip.
Great video but there is no need for leveling the tripod for the polar alignment.
Hey Peter... Confused about one thing, if you find the North star all ok and can line it up, why do you still need to find your Latitude through the app, and then adjust the mount to that latitude? Thanks! Matt
Probably best practice to get good at dialling it in as best you can every time though. Practice makes perfect!!
Thanks for info and guide for the star tracker. I've got the Canon 700D and it takes great astrophotos with a very good tripod. One time with camera I got so many stars and now I'm wanting this star tracker. I'm also.looking to use this star tracker with my Hauwei p20 smartphone because the camera in phone is incredible for astrophotography. Is this tracker good to mount small telescope too?
Yeah, provided you mount things correctly. The SkyGuider Pro can handle up to a William Optics Z61 or Z73 sized telescope
Great video. One question. I am going to shoot with a Nikon Z6. If I bought a skytracker with all the extras it would cost about $420. This would allow you to shoot with a tripod and Nikon Z6 but at this cost why not just buy a computerized telescope like the Celestron 8SE for $999? It has tracking built in and you good get better pictures and even piggy back your camera?
I'm not too familiar with the 8SE, but it looks like that's an Alt-Az mount, rather than an equatorial mount (like the SkyGuider Pro or Star Adventurer). In other words, it actually won't perform that well for astrophotography. (The object will rotate in your photos over a few hours, and the tracking might not be clean). Imagine a staircase - up and over, up and over, up and over - that's like Alt-Az. Equatorial is a smooth arc, and it follow the rotation of the object over the course of the night.
You could get a good, heavy-duty equatorial mount though, which might come with a telescope for roughly the same price as that 8SE. That's beyond what I cover though.
@@PeterZelinka thanks still researching. The cpc 800 HD Has a fork and looks amazing but it's 2400 dollars. I don't think the HD is worth the extra 500 dollars but I don't have any experience but am eager to learn.
excellent video thanks
It's really a detailed tutorial. But I still have a query that how do you make sure there's no slight movement with so many installation steps after aimed at the North polar star?
There will be. If you are shooting with a wide angle lens (14mm - 35mm) it's not really a big deal though.
If you are using a telephoto lens (85mm+), you'd probably want to install the camera on the declination mount. This will allow you to still see through the polar scope once everything is attached and balanced. Then you can readjust the alignment at the end of your setup process.
@@PeterZelinka Thanks for your suggestion. I wonder if it is more rigorous to adjust the startracker after attaching the camera on it?(if useing a wide angle lens) By the way, I'm not a deepspace photography lover. All I want to shoot is just the milky way. However I‘m just a newhand, and whether a telephoto lens can be used in this condition also confused me.
Hi Peter,
The star tracker base has to be leveled? or not necessary ?
Cheers
I wonder what kink of images I would be able to get using my Nikon P1000, does it have broad enough settings to get good shots? its been converted to full spectrum and I’m going to put a Hydrogen Alpha filter on it. Also did I understand correctly that if I zoom past 50mm that would cut down on the length of exposure time?
I'm not sure, but it's worth a shot! Yeah, the more you zoom in, the faster your shutter speed needs to be. Even with a star tracker, you'll notice star trails faster as you zoom in more.
why do all the iOptron skyguider's are red I see online but the one i got is all black ? Is mine a newer model or an older one ?
So the reason you flipped the tracker around is because the base on your unit doesn't go above 40 degrees, correct? The Star Adventurer base goes to 90 degrees so I assume this is not necessary, Right? Thanks.
Yes! One side of the iOptron base can go to 60 degrees, the other side only goes to 40 degrees. Meanwhile, the SkyWatcher base can do a full 90 degrees
@@PeterZelinka Thanks!
Peter, I am considering buying the iOptron Sky Guider Pro. I shoot with a 20mm but might get a 14mm. My question due you set this up to the north star during twilight or when it's completely dark?
Both work, although if you're in a very dark sky it might be easier during twilight. Otherwise there may be a lot of stars that you can confuse for Polaris.
Good video, can I have a question about ioptron skytracker pro? Please
thank you Peter for your excellent tutorial. is it possible to use this tracker without counter weights when using 5D Mark IV body and canon 16-35 mm f/2.8?
You should be able to. I used a Nikon D750 with a 14-24mm lens quite often, and the SkyTracker Pro was able to handle it without the counterweight. However, it's generally recommended to use a counterweight system whenever your camera gear weighs more than about 3 or 4 lbs.
With all that said, the SkyTracker Pro counterweight is terrible, and under no circumstances would I recommend buying it. You're better off just using the normal camera mount, or investing in the SkyGuider Pro instead.
Does it matter what focal length you use
Loved the Video. You are amazing. Just one question. Once you do all that you said on the video. You just power on the Skyguider Pro and it starts working by it self ?
Yep! Once the star tracker is turned on, it will automatically move at the speed of the stars
good speaker you explain well! ill look into buying one of those :)
How do I know how much my ioptron sky tracker pro can handle without using the balancing tool? For example, I have a Sony a7iii, sigma 14-24mm lens, and exactly the same ball head you have in this video.
Great upload :)
Very cool! Thank you
Great video! Thank you very much :)
Just a quick question, if I am using d850 + a 135mm sigma lens, counterweights are a must, or I could get by. I really don't want to spend that extra 40.
Hi Peter,
Regarding to the tripod setting.
Is it compulsory to get precise bubble level on the tripod before attaching the star tracker on top?
Cheers
No, I don't worry about the leveling. As long as it's fairly close, it'll be fine. The big thing is just making sure one leg isn't a lot higher than the others, causing instability
You missed the most important part. How do you precisely aim the camera, after the tracker is aligned, with a deep space object using a longer lens? Seems near impossible with a floppy ball head.
Man you're really nervous sounding in this video. But I think you did great. I don't think people who just watch these understand how hard making a video like this actually is. I do like 30 takes to get one I like.