PSA: Don't waste $150 on a star tracker mount for your DSLR if you're just starting out

I bought the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Mini last month thinking it would fix all my blurry Milky Way shots. Instead I spent six hours fighting with polar alignment in my backyard near Fort Collins. The instructions are terrible and the finder scope is basically useless. I could have taken better wide field shots with just a tripod and a 24mm lens for half the price. Has anyone else here regretted jumping into tracking gear too early?

2 comments

2 Comments

gavinh2613h ago

and honestly the polar alignment struggle is half the battle with those cheaper trackers. the software they give you is junk. i tried the SAM with my a7iii and after three nights of frustration i just went back to stacking untracked shots with sequator. it's not as clean but you can get decent results with a 20mm f1.8 and just taking like a hundred 10 second exposures. the tracking makes everything look smoother but man that learning curve is steep when you're just trying to get a photo before the moon rises. did you ever try the android app for alignment or did you give up and just shoot wide?

jason32813h ago

Yeah but did you ever get the polar alignment actually dialed in or just kinda eyeball it and hope for the best?