Why does nobody talk about how much money star trackers can waste?

I dropped $400 on a star tracker last year thinking it would turn my basic DSLR shots into pro-level astro photos. But after 8 tries in my backyard in Tucson, I couldn't get a single 2-minute exposure without star trails. The polar alignment process is a nightmare without a fancy mount. Has anyone else struggled with those cheap trackers or is it just me?

2 comments

2 Comments

evan_wilson1818d agoTop Commenter

Disagree with you man. I picked up a used iOptron SkyTracker for $250 and had it dialed in after maybe three backyard sessions in my Bortle 5 zone. The key is spending fifteen minutes on rough polar alignment with a simple bubble level and compass app, then fine tuning through the polar scope. I get clean 3 minute exposures at 50mm with my old Canon T3i, and my Andromeda shots this fall actually showed dust lanes. Sounds like you might have skipped the step where you balance your camera and lens weight properly, because uneven load will throw off even a perfect polar alignment every time.

murphy.linda18d ago

Read something the other day from a guy who used a cheap laser pointer taped to his camera hot shoe to help with rough polar alignment. He said it got him close enough that the polar scope did the rest in under a minute. Been meaning to try that myself since my compass app can be finicky near my metal tripod legs. Balance thing you mentioned is a good point though, I see a lot of new folks skip that and then wonder why their stars look like little comets. Even a small weight shift in the wind can ruin a whole session.