JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

I bought the ioptron. It is very easy to set up and every time I have used it, I have gotten pin point stars. It is not a big time commitment for the evening to set it up like it is the bigger equatorial drive I have. Instead, I take out the tripod, aim the built in scope to Polaris, using the free App to identify where Polaris is located in relation to the real north pole. Lock it in place, add the camera and aim it. Recheck Polaris, and I'm ready to go.

I went out tonight before the moon rose with it being 1 day past full. Once it rises, I wouldn't be able to do this. And I used my 100mm Minolta F2.8 macro lens with a Full Frame Sony A99. Took eleven 30 sec shots of Deneb @ ISO 800. I wanted to keep it low enough that I didn't have noise. And then I stacked in DSS. The sky went from very bright looking, to almost this dark. I almost didn't need any noise removal in Lightroom, but I did use LR to make it an even darkness and remove some corner vignetting and did some cropping. The sky came out just about this level of black straight out of DSS. Only the center was a bit brighter which I worked to darken to the same as the rest of the image.

Then labeled the brighter stars.

11 stack of Deneb

(Download)

One of the originals, unprocessed

(Download)

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

I toyed with getting one of these when they first came out.
The idea is sound and the results speak for themselves.
Nice shots and nice post prod.
:thumbup: :thumbup:

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

I am not sure yet what is going to be the weight and focal length limit on this drive. It handled the 100mm f2.8 lens perfectly, but that lens isn't very heavy. I think I will try next the 70 - 200mm f2.8. This is a much heavier lens. But it seems that it is mostly dependant upon the strength of the ball head I added to it to not slip under the weight. I am using a Vanguard SBH-100 which I was not currently using and it was available. I also dedicated a tripod to this effort, and just to improve things, I am hanging a weight under it to lower the center of gravity. The weight happens to be a bag of gravel. Seems perfect for the job. It also dampens vibration. I believe it has the strength to hold this bigger lens. And then will come the Tokina 300mm f2.8. It is even heavier. At some point, it is not going to be practical.

And of couse, aiming with this setup is totally manual. This is not a GO TO type operation. But it easy to use it. If I decide at 9:30PM that I want to start, I can be setup and operating in minutes.

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

That's what makes it a go to setup.
If you decide to shoot, you can "go to" this little drive and "go to" your location.
;)

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

Yes, I plan to experiment with this at a dark site. It will also run off my portable 12V battery I use for the much bigger Celestron Drive. There is a dark area 10 miles away at Henry Coe State Park that is quite dark. I need to take this unit up to it soon.

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

Cool equipment and app. Great shot with just a 100mm Lens.
Craig

Straight Shooter Loc: Newfoundland, Canada

Nice. I was wondering if you had tried using exposures over 30 seconds. Have you found stars starting to trail at longer exposures? I've taken shots with that tracker at over 4 mins with good results, but with a shorter, and probably lighter, lens.

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

Last night, I tried 200mm for 60 sec, and I still had no star trails. I am quite impressed with this SkyTracker.

Its a bit of hassle using the ball head to aim the camera and the act of doing this tends to make the polar alignment go out. So I have to do it again. Which is OK, but sometimes the camera or lens is in front of the polar scope. I would like to find about a 1" spacer to have the ball head a bit farther away so I have more room to work with the camera.

But the tracking has been great.

nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

I assume you are talking about the ZEQ25. At age 70 setting up kit at a remote site and lugging gear makes the Z sweat indeed. I have been successful with 24 lbs of payload and 180 sec subs. I made the mistake and didn't upgrade to the larger tripod - again looking to manage weight.

nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

Nevermind my post...just saw you were using the skytracker!

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

These have always intrigued me, Jim.
Although, I am no longer inclined to buy one.
But it never hurts to hear what actual users have to say.
I will say I am impressed to hear it tracks so well without trails.

Any thoughts about stretching the envelope out to longer exposures? I'd be really interested in that.

Sez it will handle up to 7.7 pounds.
http://www.ioptron.com/product-p/3302w.htm

Recently I got a MoVo head for time lapse. It is only rated to 3.5 pounds, depending on who you check with.
:lol: Chuckel... I checked my camera/lens weight with a digital bathroom scale, 3.2 pounds. :lol:

Mark in the Hudson Valley also has one of these Ioptron's. (In case you'd like to compare notes with him.)

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Afterthoughts...
Also, I have a 180mm Tamron Macro lens, and have thought many times of using it for infinite photos, but haven't much.
It does take outstanding photographs for me, I just haven't used it for astronomy yet. Thought about it, just haven't done it.
Since it does have a mount built into it, mounting it to a tripod or telescope mount could be easily done. (It's a chunky monkey lens at 2+ pounds.)

I think I'll do that, with my geared head. ;)

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

It should work!

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

The 180mm should work well if you have a tracking mount.
Also might work pretty good for Jupiter or Venus on fast exposures???
Craig

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Ouch. Salt in the wound. :shock:

:lol: :lol: :lol:
I do believe I should try it.
Tonight even.... ;)