Great review... well balanced and honest. To be sure, this unit is not a beginners tool and can be a bit complex to use. I see many people complain about it, but mostly because they don't understand its proper use and application. I've had mine about a year now (I was an original backer on Kickstarter) and while it does work as a decent tracker, my main use is for automated panoramas both tracked and untracked. Yes, it is expensive, but does replace a few devices when I travel, so it actually saves space and weight for me... as heavy as it is! They recently added holy-grail support which should work well enough to replace another piece of gear for me eventually (my beloved Timelapse+ VIEW). Be aware that the software is still undergoing changes/improvements... especially in the initial setup department. Getting the unit properly leveled and initial alignment can be finicky and they do not yet support multiple object alignment or plate-solving. Hopefully that comes in the future to improve accuracy. The unit does *not* need to be polar aligned, a huge feature IMHO, but getting it precisely leveled is absolutely critical to its performance. A basic tripod center column bowl leveler is not good enough and I use a precision tri-wheel leveler and large round bubble level (0.1 degree accuracy) on top of the Benro head after getting the base tripod roughly level using its level. Power issues (25:09)... I rarely have any. The trick is to short-press and immediately long press & hold until you hear a triple beep. If it does not work, wait a second or two before attempting again. You seem to be re-trying it too fast between attempts confusing the unit's power-on timer, as far as I can tell.
So informative , on using device , images look awesome , but your real world review is honest and non biased. This is often lacking in many reviews. Thanks again
I had to send mine back as I couldn't get it going. Absolutely love your images! Hopefully the one that comes back works and I go out and get some also!
Took my first shot last night with mine from my back garden, bit of a learning curve and still more to learn, a beginner but looking forward to the challenge, wish I had seen this before I went out at 3am this morning. Great tutorial. My shot is on the Facebook group.🙂👍
Very informative and balanced presentation of your experience so far Richard. Without doubt the best video on the Polaris I have seen to date. I will be sticking with my Star Adventurer 2 for now but will be keeping a keen eye on developments in this area for the future.
Incredible piece of gear Richard. I’m looking forward to seeing future tracked panos you get with it. Great examples you showed. Cheers for sharing the look at it. 👍🙏
OMG! An Aussie Voice, on here, talkin' my language, doing a great job of being HONEST!! Much appreciated!!! You mentioned the tripod...Bol..? But it is not 'linked' in your post, or have I missed it? Keep up the greatest work on here!
Hi Richard, when turning on the unit it’s similar to a drone. One short followed by a long press. The unit will them fold out so you can attach the unit to the tripod. Then turn the unit off. Plug the Astro cable in to the extra ports on the unit. Turn on the unit and connect with the app. Double click the virtual joysticks on the phone app. Then place the phone on unit and use the measure app to level the tripod. Then calibrate phone and align the unit.
Thanks so much for watching. Yes I'm aware of the turn on and off process. I had a faulty unit which was sent back and replaced. I've since received the replacement model and it works as it should. I hope you're getting good results with yours.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Hi Richard, glad you got your replacement. I got my from the kickstarter campaign and inspired from you videos - thinking this would be a good entry tool to use. Quite the opposite. Yes I enjoyed the video, I’ve seen a couple of reviews on the Benro Polaris lately. My comment about turning it on and off was aim at the reviewers that I have watched in past that are unaware of this Easter egg. And suggest investing in a spacer between the tripod and the Polaris. When in fact if you turn it on first, the polaris unfolds so that you can then mount onto the tripod without the need of a spacer. Sorry if the previous message came across as telling you how to suck eggs, this was not the intent. It was written within the first 3mins of your video and I discover later in the video after I posted the comment you refer to Dji and how to turn it on. My bad I should have waited it out to the end to refine my comment.
Yes that's quite ok. Regarding the spacer. I think it's a massive oversight for a tripod company to manufacture a product that has the potential to make contact with the tripod at all. I know of a few people that have actually had their finger jammed under the retracting unit also. It's fairly obvious to me that Benro outsourced the manufacture of the Polaris to someone else and it obviously needs more work done to perfect it. @@immersive360vr
yes the device is a little bit tricky. Thanks for sharing your first steps with this device. We can have a nice experience exchange in January next year when we meet. Greedings from Switzerland.
Thanks for being so honest. Benro has some serious work to do to fix these functional issues with the Benro Polaris. PLEASE do an update when and if Benro addresses all of these functional issues.
Yeah Nah thanks for such an honest review Richard, I'm sure they will work out the bugs and technology will improve over time, it's a great idea and I can see the benefits in time. However I bet you had trouble making this video and keeping all the beeps out of it as I imagine there would have been a few choice words between cups of tea and rum balls.
Hi Richard, Great video as ever. I can sympathise with your frustrations, I've had similar issues. I was lucky enough to buy my unit used but in 'as new' condition for about 30% original price (so less than I paid for my Star Adventurer GTi). One use for telephoto is solar imaging. I've used my Polaris for solar tracking at 800mm, works very well, clearly shutter speeds are very fast so no issues with that. Polar alignment during the day has always been a hit and miss affair so now with the BP its a simple solution. I'm heading to Texas next April for the total solar eclipse and will be taking the BP with me as I'm from the UK and so travelling with my SA GTi is not really so simple. I look forward to seeing more of your experiences with the unit and hopefully we can all learn together.
Very detailed analyst of the pros and cons of the Polaris Richard. I'm very glad that I decided to swap over from my Canon R5 (still have it for daytime imaging) to a couple of Sony's a A73 Ha modified & a A7R3 for nightscapes, before I bought the Polaris. As being able to see the liveview on the back of the camera, (in both normal and image review modes) and on the phone App simultaneously is a bonus, you just have to remember to cancel the review manually before the camera takes the next shot in a series of images, otherwise the camera locks up and you have to turn the camera off to reset it. As you said each camera brand has its problems.
Thanks a lot Keith. Yes it's really hard for everyone to get a handle on this piece of gear due to the varying issues some face. If everyone had the same problems it would be a lot easier to fix.
Thanks a lot Richard. I think you are the first one who has elaborately addressed all the issues , pros and cons of this device. I have been interested to have one but still unsure if this worths the enormous price until I watched your review, I can conclude that I would stick with the ordinary star tracker to do a normal single tracking image or even the tracking pano. A bit of work to do pano track on an ordinary tracker but it is way more friendly used if we compare with this pricy unit. I would wait until Benro comes up with the new version of this unit and see how it goes. Thanks again.
Interesting review. I too have the ioptron skyguider pro, and it does tracking very well. I went for the Benro for compactness in travel. No need to carry counterweights and very heavy setup. The pano shots are also a huge plus, but compactness is a very big deal especially if you intend to fly with it.
Hi Richard, this is without a doubt one of the most interesting videos you have made. Fascinating, and all your experiances to boot. When I read the name, I thought I regognised it, many years ago I had a Benro tripod, I think it really is the same company. I had never heard of such a device and did some searching on the internet. Low and behold, my local camera store actualy has them in stock, they cost about 1300€ which is about 3x that of the smaller, usual trackers. I then wanted to find out about the manufaturer, only to discover they are in Woverhapton, England, not 5 km from where I had began working for my current company. Unbelievable. The panos you showed were awesome, they just seem much better that all your previous ones. And when I saw the video, I just had to laugh. Believe it or not, some years back I wanted to take an impossible shot and actually built such a device, but not nearly as compact. I had a super foreground subject for a MW shot but the only vantage point was about 2km away. I had to use an 85mm focal length, hence tracking was a must due to the 20-30s exposure. At this FL I needed a 7x6 Pano, far too complicated to do by hand. So what did I do? I had a Emotimo TB3, a robotic motion control unit. This used arduino innards and similar to the Benro, could be programmed to automatically do the pano. I then rigged this up to sit on top of a Skywatcher HEQ5 ( a medium sized equatorial mount ). The whole set up was enormous, very heavy, had loads of cables and needed two motorcycle batterie to run. It did work though. I ended up with a 1TB photo. In the final pic, the church I wanted to capture was barely visible, but at 100% could be seen in detail. I'll PM a copy to you tomorrow. Thanks again, I look forward to hearing more about this unit, in principle it is a great idea, just a shame that it is not perfected. ps I too use a bowl type leveling device, it really makes life easier in the field. I heard of the Kirk ones but these were very expensive, I ended up with one from Kingjoy for about 100€, it was great but unfortunately longer available. On amazon they cost 50-150€, there are some from Sirui who make good quality stuff
Wow, that sounds like an amazingly interesting gadget that you made back then David. The tripod I use is from Amazon as well. Artcise AS80C it's great.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Thamks for the tip re tripods. I hadn't heard of this make. They seem to offer a lot of variations and also small LED lights. I might just end up having to spend some money!
That tripod is so good I actually bought another one ..!!! It's worth it for the easily adjusted bowl head alone . .but it's a really sturdy carbon fibre as well. @@dhg1960
Hi, Richard. It's the best review I saw so far. Very honest. And yes, I had some issues with it, specially to turn it on and levelling :). I also made a nylon adapter to my bubble level to do it right and quickly. But, I got used to it after a lot of practise. No issues with the camera settings. I'm a Sony's user. Now, I'm very pleased with the results.
Thanks for a great video. I’ve had mine about 6 months and struggled- even though been using Skywatcher for years . I’m hoping to get Milky Way panos this year (if UK weather allows 😄). You say you got up to 4 mins - was that on bulb ? Hopefully I’ll get to Tazzie in the next year or so to see my sister- less light pollution and better skies !
Thank you so much for this truly comprehensive review. I think I will stick with my sky watcher star adventurer at the moment. I do really want to do more panoramas but getting this device to start has put me off. Maybe I will consider it when they fix it.
WOW,Thanks for going through hell with this unit Richard. I have looked at this for awhile now and hoped that the previous issues have been fixed but it looks like they still have a ways to go. Its not cheap and can see why people use it as a paper weight. PLease keep us updated on the progress you are making with this unit in future videos. I also would use this as a panorama setup. Cheers Frank
As always, your advice has been very detailed and informative. I wanted to let you know that I purchased the Polaris a couple of days ago, and I'm already in love with it. B&H matched the discount currently offered by Benro at USD 998 plus shipping. I believe it's an excellent value for money, especially considering it's a precision head that can replace the need for a two-way long lens head and a geared head. It also comes with a remote trigger, a built-in intervalometer, and an electric head. In my opinion, the price they are asking is well justified. The Astro functionality, which is the unique selling point of this product, is actually a bonus for me, as I primarily focus on landscape and landscape astrophotography. Once Theta is released, I hope it will make for a fantastic combination of leveling and rotation, further enhancing my photography experience.
I was at the Nightscaper Conference (Utah) in May of this year. I can't remember which speaker asked, but he took a poll on how many shooters had a Polaris. A bunch of folks raised their hands. He then asked how many were having problems with it. The same people (maybe minus 1 or 2) raised their hands again. I was quite surprised! So you are not the only one, Richard as you have already discovered from your FB group. I want to keep things simple, so I'm not even going to go there! lol!
Yes I think a lot of people got in as early adopters of the Polaris, and found very quickly that the product wasn't really ready for general use at that time. It is slowly getting better . .I think. But there is certainly something to be said for simplicity.
Hi Richard, great video as always. I have been using the Polaris for a while now and finally am happy with it, but as I think we have discussed before, it was a journey….. My workflow is little different in set up but I do get good consistent results that I am happy with. Not aligning with the southern celestial pole has been a godsend on a couple occasions, but since with other trackers now I just use my phone and an app rather than try to find the octans it probably is not such an issue (although every now and then my phone decides not to calibrate well enough and disaster ensues with my other tracker). I have got great tracking with my 40mm lens up to 5 minutes, but totally agree that longer lenses are just not a good option. I also do like the go to functionality as I find it saves me a bit of time faffing around with ball heads etc, and generally knocking it out of alignment in the process 😂. And having a cuppa and biscuit while it does the pano work, magic ! All in all I do find it is a good (if outrageously expensive option) for star tracking, but it has taken a while to get there. And I suppose I am not a beginner really and definitely am a bit on a gadget geek 😊.
Thanks for your insights Eric. I think you'd be a good candidate for the Polaris as you have a lot of experience with other trackers and therefore can have a logical expectation. As well as that you have a common sense approach which would help work through any issues.
I've had similar (but different) frustrations with my unit. The first one delivered was obviously second hand, and quite beat up too! When that was replaced I had connection issues which I traced to a faulty usb-c cable, this was the new Benro one included in the box. Once that was replaced I've had a much better experience. I've had no connection issues, nor issues with powering on and off. I agree about the problem fouling the tripod when in the parked position. I normally power it on in my hand before attaching to the tripod, similarly I park and power off once I've removed it from the tripod. My camera is an Olympus OM-1 and the main issue with this is that it doesn't report the ISO setting to the Polaris. As I tend to just do deep sky imaging I've untethered the camera from the Benro and use the cameras internal intervalometer and this works fine. Means I can continue to use the screen on the camera. Tracking has been generally very good. I'm confident using the 40-150mm lens at 150mm and with the 1.4x teleconverter (equivalent 420mm focul length on a full frame) and generally do 30 second subs at ISO 1600. So my experience is good, after a shaky start, so much so that it encouraged me to go out and buy an IOptron german CEM26. Polaris will still make a really good travel solution though. Really enjoy your videos and nightscapes!
Very good insights my friend. I think we'll all have slightly different experiences with the Polaris. . as I mentioned to someone else, it's a love hate relationship and sometimes in the same night ..!!! Thanks for watching.
Jesus! You deserve a medal alone for sticking with it through set up. Great video Richard. It looks impressive but trying to cram that much tech into a portable device is a recipe for disaster in my opinion. I don't like how it relies heavily on mobile phone synchronicity. There's so many issues that could ruin a night's shooting simply because of phone failure, battery drainage, WiFi or mobile data network failure due to location etc. Clear skies are few and far between especially in the UK and I would hate to lose a night due to not being able to even get the tracker switched on. I will be sticking with my ioptron and trusted dslr.
Yes all of those points are quite valid Tony. In fact I find that when using the Benro app my phone battery completely drains to zero in a night of shooting with the Polaris. None of my other apps have that effect on the phone.
But on the other hand mobile phone is one common device that every common man has and their goal to make it possible to take awesome photos just relying on phone (and of course the technique) is something should be given credit to. I am no professional astrophotographer but I can say i can take great pictures with this setup
There is a lot to like with the Benro Polaris. Indeed the ( stacked ) automated panoramas and path Timelapse’s are the biggest selling point. I agree with you on the quirks and downsides: 1. Turning it on properly without going to the travel position and hitting the leveling head in the dark is a challenge. I might get a benro extension head to get rid of that annoying problem 2. The lights on the unit made my foreground blue and green, I now use black tape on the lights. 3. Like you said make sure it is 100% level. 4. Please Nikon let me use the viewfinder or screen to make finding my composition easier and focus easier in the dark. (This is Nikon related). 5. The preview is nice but only works and only when camera is shooting JPEG (+RAW). Please make it so that I can choose for instance the middle part of the image for critical focus and star trails when previewing. Just a small part of the image is good enough as a high res. 6. The preview should be way more high res. As a general tip for anyone : Try it out extensively in the garden to learn all the difficulties and it will work fine after you’ve encountered all of them and get a feel for the unit. I like it but is has so much more potential to be amazing.
Hi Richard, I am always having difficulty connecting my Z6 to the Polaris. Do you have any tips for that problem as I think you’ve encountered this as well. Thanks in advance, Koen.
Thanks for your honest review. I've had my eye on this but with all the bugs its dealing with I had decided to put off purchasing it. After watching your video I am more excited about the possibility of easier tracked pano's but cautious about picking this unit up until they iron out a few more bugs.
Tks Richard. I myself had same problem with this machine, specially for power. But it could not be solved by myself. therefore I require Benro to replace it. I myself visited their office here in S.Korea and They willingly replaced new one. Now, new Polaris working very well and no problem. I am really looking forward to seeing your new execelent .video with this Polaris specially for Astro Timelapse Tks Richard again. I am studying planty of thing from your video.
Thanks for overview of your experience with the Polaris Richard, as you say the wide angle tracking works very well, amazing for the type of MW Tracked panos we take. As you said it takes the time and figuring out of the issues, I look forward to following your journey with it. enjoyed the video. (had a few laughs out loud with the frustrations lol....
Richard, thanks for the detailed information and walking through that valley of frustration for us. - It’s a touch screen. Why the heck isn’t it possible at 30:50 to simply touch on the star to be centred instead of that left/right up/down on screen wiggle buttons. I developed software for 25 years. Sometimes I’m tempted to think today’s developers are brain amputated. Point 3. at 38:18 nails it, on the one hand fantastic functionality but at essential functions such as on/off and WiFi connectivity ridiculous bad, frustration guaranteed, I can’t understand it.
Thanks for the straightforward pros and cons review of the Benro Polaris star tracker. It seems despite its impressive features with a price tag to match, there are still a lot of bugs that need to be worked out. Around the time stamp 30:18 of this video, you selected Rigel Kentaurus A for celestial alignment. You then had to center the reticle on one of the two visible stars. How did you know which one to select? Also, what made you select Rigel Kentaurus A instead of any other celestial bodies?
Thanks so much for watching. I used Rigel Kentaurus A because it is very easy to see on the phone screen. Another downside of this system is that on some phones it's really hard to see the fainter stars when doing the alignment. I know this star well so I am aware which one it is of the two bright one's.
Love what Benro are trying to do here, and I do believe they'll get it right eventually. Watching your user experience here though Richard and the only take away I have is being more comfortable with my decision to jump off this project when it was still a Kickstarter. For those sorts of dollars it needs to nail its niche both in function and reliability. I don't think its quite hit the mark. That Silence Corner Atoll however has gone on my shopping list. Great video Richard, way more patience displayed here to get the unit working than I could ever muster!
Oh, I reckon you'd be a pretty patient man Dominic ..!!! After all, you have all that deep space rig and timelapse sliders etc . .they could just as easily give you grey hairs ..!! But I do agree that they'll eventually get it right. Many people are using these as door stoppers at present. The Atoll and other brand variants are wonderful.
As usual Richard a really excellent layman's review, it would be a great device when they get the bugs ironed out. Thank you for taking the time and effort to record and explain these issues. Also nice to know the other trackers have benefits as well.
Hi Richard, I've had the Benro Polaris (BP) for some time now and I'm starting to learn how to use it. I write from Brazil and here the exchange rate + taxes are brutal when purchasing any imported equipment. Also, I'm not experienced with star trackers. I bought the Benro Polaris with the promise of ease of celestial alignment. Some of the problems pointed out by you also bother me, such as the button to turn on the BP (I never manage to put the BP into action on the first try); calibration with the cell phone (often the BP pointed the camera to the opposite side of the chosen target); the fact that one of the rotors collided with the base of the tripod; the difficulty of using the camera in the portrait position (I had to buy an accessory similar to the Atoll). I am using BP with two models of Nikon cameras: D810A and Z6 II. I noticed that in the case of the D810A, the Polaris app does not recognize exposure times above 30 seconds (the camera has up to 900s). In this case, the camera needs to be in Bulb mode. In the Z6 II, the BP recognizes times above 30 seconds of exposure. I've watched many videos about the Benro Polaris and yours is truly one of the most complete and sincere. Congratulations!
Thanks so much for watching the video Jorge. Really appreciated. Yes I've had no issues with the Nikon Z cameras but I've not used a DSLR with the Polaris. Interesting how they are different.
Great video Richard, like all your videos. I think I will stick with my Skywatcher! I may consider the Benro once they iron out these issues. You handled yourself extremely well…I am not so patient lol.
Thanks for the very informative review, Richard. I've been looking at a new tracker and was considering the Polaris, but I'd pretty much rejected it as an option due to the price and accuracy at greater zoom. It is a great concept and would be an early purchase once I win the lottery.
I currently have an iOptron Skytracker Pro, I'm looking for greater payload capacity and GoTo capability, so I'm leaning towards the Star Adventurer GTI.@@nightscapeimages.richard
Terrific review! I bought mine while it was still on Kickstarter, but haven't used it much. Now I am getting inspired to do some tracked panos! I use a Nikon kit on it as well (currently a Z8, but a D850 before). I have never had the wonky turn on problems that you experience. The main problem I get is that it after using the phone to get its compass heading set, it is more often than not 180 degrees off! Have you had that problem? Also, I use it with the Z-mount 800 mm f/6.3 to track the sun (used it during the April 8 eclipse). It works quite well! It drifts, but slowly, so will stay in frame for at least a half hour. Makes it much easier to photograph the sun this way.
Thanks for watching Steve. The wonky turn on was a warranty repair . .and a known issue by Benro. If you have the phone back to front when doing the calibration you'll be off by 180 degrees. Just turn the phone the opposite direction to fix this. The phone calibration is simply a guide so the Polaris knows roughly where you are in the world. .you'll always have to fine tune it onto a star to get accurate tracking.
Thanks for the informative video Richard! Could you please attach a link to the 2 way caravan bubble level you are using? I can’t find it online with the screw tread. Cheers!
Thanks for watching. You won't find the level with the threaded part . .that's home made. I used this caravan level and attached to a nylon block with a 3/8" thread in it. www.amazon.com.au/Leveler-Caravan-Trailer-Levelling-Indicator/dp/B09TDBLG71/ref=asc_df_B09TDBLG71/?tag=googleshopdsk-22&linkCode=df0&hvadid=606290820670&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7026318689453870885&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9071496&hvtargid=pla-1866186980316&psc=1
It was interesting to watch. 😊 When you were showing test pictures you said that they were made on "Nikon Z6 Astro modified" - what did you mean by "astro modified"?
Thanks so much for watching. My camera has had the standard filter removed and replaced with one that lets more of a specific wavelength through. This allows Hydrogren Alpha light into the camera. This is very common in nebulas etc in the night sky.
Richard, regarding your 'switching on' issue. I have similar fun, however I find now that if I long-press to initiate turn off (even though its already turned off) I get a response, then I do the same again, and finally I go for the start press-procedure and more often than not I get lucky in the next 20-30secs. Hope this helps.
Great and very informative video as always Richard. Interesting how different the problems are, dependent on the camera used. The main problem with my Sony A7 IV is, that it won't accept changes of the camera settings like exposure time via the app, but not a big deal, I simply change it directly at the camera. I totally agree that the device is expensive and not really made for beginners. Maybe your problems with longer focal lengths could be a levelling problem. I had used a caravan spirit level as well but at least mine did not seem to be that accurate. I bought a round spirit level (don't know the exact name in english how they are called) with an accuracy of 0.1 degrees and it works well for 600 mm and 30 sec exposures. But as you said, it varies across the session. Only about 70% of the sub exposures are usable. Also I level the device, when the camera and objective are already mounted (double tap both sticks to make the polaris to go where to it thinks the horizontal position is and then level it).
Thanks for your valuable insights. Yes I know a lot of people do use the round bubble level and place it on top of the unit itself. I have one of those and I'll see what difference that makes.
Hello Richard i had the same power on problems when i got the Benro Polaris. however, i found that if I press the power button twice in quick succession and then long press it once, i no longer had any problems with the switch-on sequence. i hope this helps you. Greetings from Germany Roland
Thanks so much for letting me know your solution Roland. However, that didn't work for me. I've been advised that there is a faulty circuit board in my unit which need total replacement.
Thank you Richard for introducing Benro Polaris and great results. I am new user BP and i have more questions but mainly when and how i focus on the star?My first picture was not sharp,it was blury.
Thanks for watching. The Polaris doesn't do any focusing. You have to do that yourself. I would recommend focusing the lens before you connect to the Polaris. What camera and lens are you using ..???
Thanks a lot for watching Tony. I had the camera modified at Camera Clinic in Melbourne. They are now called Imaging By Design. imagingbydesign.com.au/
i have this head and have yet to to produce anything useful... very aggravated as it is hit or miss with its functions.. great video.. I'll be using your tutorial to catch the last of the milkyway tonight in the Nevada (USA) desert.. Maybe you could influence benro to release a second star fix?
Thanks so much for watching. Yes I now have a replacement unit but I also had problems with the software recently. Touch wood it's all working fine now.
It's a caravan leveler. www.amazon.com.au/Leveler-Caravan-Trailer-Levelling-Indicator/dp/B09TDBLG71/ref=asc_df_B09TDBLG71/?tag=googleshopdsk-22&linkCode=df0&hvadid=606290820670&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16521914213332058871&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9071496&hvtargid=pla-1866186980316&psc=1
Mate this thing is doing my head in. Its taken me 3 days to get it set up and connected for Pano's but haven"t been able to set up astro properly yet as the compass calibration is way out. Have you tried the auto photo stacking on a tracked astro panorama? I'm interested to see the results for that or if it will even work say stacking 8 images for every pano position. It would give an amazing noise free image if you can stitch it all together. Pretty amazing if it can all be done in auto without even touching the camera.
Yes it sure can be a frustrating gadget, but when it does work it's amazing. I haven't done any stacking of panos in the Polaris . .in fact I haven't done any stacking in panos for years now to be honest. I appreciate you watching.
Great video! Couple of questions. For all your panoramas, are you using just the microsoft ICE stitching software, would you use something like PTgui for more advanced stitching where where you have alot more images? For panos, would you apply a light edit in lightroom to all images, like lens correction etc before stitching the images? There are several great denoises out there like Topaz and even the new Lightroom AI denoiser, do you generally apply denoise to the start process or at the very end? One last question! Will the Benro charge the camera at the same time as its in use, since its plugged into the usbC slot? I have a Nikon z camera too.
Hey Dan, PtGui is an excellent stitching program and it really does suit those large multi row panoramas for sure. I always apply a light edit in Lightroom before sending images out for stitching. As a general rule I think for many images it's better to apply the noise reduction at the end when you're finished editing. I don't think the Benro Polaris will charge the camera. But to be honest I haven't paid much attention to that.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Many thanks for all your responses, greatly appreciated! FYI, after a day of use, im also having the issue with the device not turning on as expected on a consistant basis! Did they end up fixing your unit, or is there some magic pressing i need to do, ha. I do the short press followed by a long press, hoping i dont need to send the unit back.
@@Dan-yy7lk My original unit had to be returned under warranty. I received the unit back .. but I'm not sure if it's a new one or the old one repaired. Anyway, it's been working as it should since then. I believe this is a known issue, but you have to contact the people you bought the unit from. It seems you're method of turning the Polaris on is correct .. it's just like a DJI drone.
Nice video and explanation. And amazing panoramas… ❤ I have used benro polaris for 4 minutes and could get dot star on 14 and 28 mm; but I has to be really precise for the alignment. I have the same problem of the base touching the the tripod and also switching on. Even double press don’t work all the time. And for the base; I switch it on and then add to the tripod! 🙄 Not the best. Thank you for the video.
Thanks for watching. I generally use the cable that was supplied with the Polaris. But I've tried 3 or 4 other usb-c cables I had lying around, and they all worked fine.
Excellent test, thank you! Yes, it’s $1700 here in Canada. I’ll stick with my SA Mini and a V-Plate and pano head. Manual moves but it works. I hate fighting high tech in the field. But you got some beautiful panos!
Yes I think you've hit the nail on the head with that assessment Alan .. fighting with gear should never happen. As I mentioned, I love the SA Mini .. it's awesome.
The turn-on issue must have something to do with the internal battery, and the temperature as you say. Any other theories from users? Does it matter how charged it is? And how do you charge it and tell the battery level? The app tells you that I presume but you have to have been able to connect to see that. Or could it be as simple as just a faulty switch? Cheers!
@@alandyer910 Yes I've just had a reply from Benro and they say it's a faulty circuit board and I'll need to send the unit in for repair . .but it's a known issue it seems. You charge the unit with a usb-c connector and the light shows red. When full the light goes off. But as you suggested you need connection to the app to have any indication of battery level. There are quite a few other issues that I didn't mention that other users on the facebook group have had.
Great review, but I’d have palpitations trying to use this thing. I’d end up launching it into space! I can see a progression tutorial here.. “Tracked panoramas with light painting”.. keep it up Richard love the videos. Mike
Thank you. Do you know that using a Pentax K3-III (I have one, $2000, 850 g) or a Pentax K1-II, the Astrotracer mode 3 allows automatic tracking up to 5 minutes (by moving the sensor), WITHOUT any GPS or calibration! I have shot incredibly sharp Milky ways by just pressing the shutter. The camera takes 2 pre-shots of 15 s. each, computes the stars movement, then applies the correct sensor movement during the actual exposure (I use 50 seconds in general). No need to synch with an app, no need for horizontal levelling etc.
Great review Richard. Not a-cost effective item. But one that I could see being useful. But price would have to be a whole lot less. I like you hate all these devices now a days that require you to use your phone. Tripod is great. I got one after you recommending it. Quite pleased with mine. I need to get one of those vertical/ horizontal adapters for my Z6II that would solve the issue during my taking aurora images in landscape and portrait mode.
Thank you for the review. I'm new to astro and interested in tracking and creating panos. Are there star trackers that make good setups for tracked panos? Or is the Benro the best option just for pano?
Hey Dan. You can do tracked panoramas with any tracker. The key is to have a level base to start with. Then you just manually adjust each image, much like on a fixed tripod. Obviously as the tracker rotates you have to keep leveling . .but it isn't that difficult. The Benro does this automatically .. and when it works it's great.
Nice, very nice and honest review Richard. I’ve the Polaris as well and got a little bit discouraged in the beginning (bought this on the Kickstarter) because the use of the star tracker App wasn’t working like these days. So for the moment it’s taking dust in a closet… The alignement part however is not so easy on the smartphone, find it is rather difficult (for me). When doing the alignement I go easily a little to far beyond the target, have to come back, go to far again… But I think you can do it manually by using the two knobs ( not sure about this). Much easier way but didn’t try it until now. So a new question: Do you just set the tracking of when you take the pictures for the foreground or do you use the panorama module ? A new realignment is necessary after it isn't it ? The occasional tracking inconsistency is it due to a sort of periodic error or is it for the whole row of pictures ? And if this is the case would you consider to take two pictures of each stop (and even combine them when they are ok) ? Hope you come with another user video specific for pano’s. Was actually the reason why I bought it. And thank you again…think I will reconsider to use it. And sorry to hear about the problem for turning it on…this should be the easy part. Ps: I never store it in it’s parked position but in it’s normal (use) position. Just a long press to turn it off. A short followed by a long press to turn it on ( if it’s working for you). This way it won’t begin to turn…
Thanks so much for watching Edward. Yes I often also leave the unit in it's non-parked position and then just start from there . .that's when I can turn it on ..!! I always shoot my tracked panoramas with a clean foreground, so I'll move the tripod in front of trees etc and shoot the tracked pano from there. Then I'll move back to the foreground composition and shoot that as a standard untracked panorama. Then they will be joined in photoshop. I've found the initial alignment is always a fair way off and I use the joysticks to get the star I'm aligning to in the red centre circle with manual movement. That works quite well for me. I don't know why there is sometimes tracking inconsistency .. it's random.
Sorry Richard I was having a bit of a giggle with the “turning on” saga…that was a packet of bikkies and a block of chocolate break if ever I saw one! LOL very frustrating for the $$$ outlay, great review & some really impressive tracked panos! Thanks
Haha, yes . .we can have a laugh about it now can';t we. . .but it was pretty annoying at the time. Didn't even have any snacks with me. Thanks heaps for watching.
Hi Richard, what cables do you use to connect Benro to Nikon? I see some 90 degrees reduction. Great video, greetings from the opposite side of the globe.
Thanks heaps for watching. I've tried numerous cables with the Polaris . .and most of them worked fine. I bought the little 90 degree adaptors from ebay. www.ebay.com.au/itm/283119862386?hash=item41eb424272:g:cCEAAOSwsKtixZNE But since I had my unit repaired and sent back to me it seems to work best with a new cable they supplied called an OTG. It's a usb-c to usb-A female which then accepts a usb-A male to usb-c to go into the camera. I've also tried a few of these I had lying around and they all worked fine as well.
Thanks for the answer, it already works on good cables. So connecting a Nikon camera was an art, they should have a better manual. How is your unit after reparation?
Thank you for this video. A question : you use a two way caravan level item: is this item home made or can we buy such an item which we can screw on the tripod ? / Thank you
Thanks for watching. The nylon block is home made. But anything with a 3/8" female thread will work. The caravan bubble level is available everywhere. www.amazon.com.au/Leveler-Caravan-Trailer-Levelling-Indicator/dp/B09TDBLG71/ref=asc_df_B09TDBLG71/?tag=googleshopdsk-22&linkCode=df0&hvadid=606290820670&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11702858884091436394&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9071496&hvtargid=pla-1866186980316&psc=1
Do you still use the polaris Richard? I use to use the ioptron tracker but sold it because I thought it was a pain to polar align. The polaris looks like it has a learning curve and some frustrating technical issues, but if these can be worked out through experience and bug fixes, I like the concept. Thanks for a great review.
Thanks for watching Rory. Yes I still have the Polaris. I primarily bought it for multi row tracked panoramas. . but I don't do a heap of those. For single shots I prefer the simplicity of the Sky Watcher or ioptron trackers. Have you seen my simple polar aligning video ..?? ruclips.net/video/5D_n6ZtsZ4o/видео.html
@@nightscapeimages.richard yes I did see that video and I do like the phone mount method for the star adventurer. Trying to decide between that and the Polaris. Thanks for the feedback
Awesome review. It really helped me and I found out it wasn’t just me not being able to turn it on. One question I have is around the RAW + JPEG settings. I have camera turned onto RAW + JPEG but the RAW files I get are inconsistent. Most of the time they are super small and sometimes I don’t get RAW. Have a Canon R6 II. Wondered if you had similar issues. I think this unit is worth persevering with. Thanks again and love those tracked panos.
That's a bit odd. I've not used any of the Canon R6 models so I don't have any experience with that. Make sure your jpegs are set to the smallest size available, otherwise the Polaris may take too long to show the preview on the phone .. this can interrupt panorama shooting etc.
The turning on sequence, man that’s jaw dropping bad. I’m curious if they reach out to you. - Cold weather? It’s made for night sky photography, best results below zero ℃. Cold weather should definitely be no issue.
Yes it is bad, and appears to be a known issue. I've had contact with Benro and they said it looks like it needs a new circuit board .. so I'll have to send it in for repair.
@@nightscapeimages.richard 🙈 The more over regulation, the less responsibility everywhere. A new device needs to have the MB exchanged, that’s crazy. Despite of todays must have quality certification. Regulations never will replace responsibility, certification never good paid employees getting sufficient sleep, centralism never individualism. That’s the point the globalists are reckoning without the host, the whole system will catastrophically fail, the question is not if, only when.
hmmmm very very interesting...I was out with Levin Barrett a month ago, and he brought along his Benro Polaris, and I was keen to see this in action....well let's just say I'm not getting one!! Not until we can turn it on, and get the live view on the phone, and actually get it working!!! Took about half an hour....then it goes sideways cos the MW was right overhead us as it took so long to get it going, and the Polaris got a bit confused as to which way was right way up 😆. BUT. your images of the MW pano's are stunning, it would cut down editing times etc. But yeah I think I'll keep it KIS. I might get a Move shoot move if I wanted to get one...
Thanks for checking it out Carmel. It's a work in progress and I think many have had the same experience as Levin. I'd have a look at the Star Adventurer Mini .. it's awesome and compact.
Looks like you have had some frustrating fun out in the field Richard. I know that you have found the reason why you experienced the start up problems (faulty component in the Main Power Board) . Your images and tracking look really good with round stars. I did notice that in your panoramas that you went close to the top of the galaxy in the images. Do you think that this is due to the Pano Pro settings in that you were unable to determine where your camera was pointing for the END position? Is this a Nikon issue in that you can't see on the back of the camera where you are pointing? I use Bright Monitoring on my Sony a74 to see exactly where I am composing the image. In using the Benro Polaris and the Sony a74, for me they are very compatible in the field. 😎👍👌
Thanks Geoff. Yes in some cases I'm guessing a bit to know exactly where the top or bottom edges are when setting up the pano. But in some case I've actually cropped the top out a bit to make the foreground fit and look better. After all, for most of my images the foreground is just as important as the sky section. I think the fact that you can always see the camera screen with the Sony's is a great benefit . .however it seems that after talking with Keith . .there are a few issues that he has with the Sony that I've never had with the Nikon .. go figure. They all have some little niggles it seems.
Thanks Richard, Technical versus Art re the panorama compositions .... Good review of the Polaris. Keith's Sony is an older model than mine so he doesn't have all of the features of the newer model, hence the issues. We need clear skies up here so we can get out and shoot more with the Polaris 😎@@nightscapeimages.richard
I was using a panning platform in place of the Benro Tripod spacer since it was not yet available back then and it allows for a manual panning during initial setup process. I am still waiting for the 2-star alignment as the current 1-star alignment requires a bit of back and forth adjustments for deep sky astrophotography. Not sure Benro will come through with all the promises on their software tho. The power on issue is due to operator error (noob syndrome). It took me maybe a short minute to realize the short-long press combo to turn on the unit. Is never a good idea to do a product review until you really learn how to use the unit. BTW, after a long press to turn off the unit, an additional long press put the unit back to storage position. Live View is available on my Canon in conjunction with the app on the phone. As for focusing, I use a magnetic Bahtinov filter to do the job before connecting to Benro. Is all about a proper workflow when doing astrophotography, this way you don't have to second guess if the focus is correct, or is it proper levelled or aligned. I like the idea of Silence Corner Atoll mount, however it has compatibility issue with some of the lens (mostly L-series lenses). So I am staying with my L-brackets in combination with a quick release plate adapter.
Thanks so much for watching Joy. Your so called "Noob Syndrome" is way off the mark. My unit was sent back to Benro for repairs and they told me there was a faulty printed circuit board causing the power on issue . .furthermore, this is a well documented fault in many Polaris units. So maybe I did learn how to use the unit before doing this review. It's very common for people to criticize others who have particular issues with units like this simply on the basis that it hasn't yet happened to them. You should have also seen that the Live View is indeed visible on the app but not on the camera screen at the same time . .another well documented issue . .although not Benro's fault this time. I stand by my comments that this is not s beginner friendly device, nor is is really suitable for deep sky photography. For wide field nightscape photography like I do it is quite adequate.
Hi, interesting video and quite honest too! I would like to use a Benro Polaris Astro Edition with a telescope for Deep Space photography, could I use it?
Thanks for watching Nelson. I have seen other people attempt that but I personally wouldn't use the Polaris for long focal length lenses. In my opinion you need a much more rigid mount with better tracking options.
Uff, man, first time one could really see your frustration. Still, very controlled handling of emotions there onscreen - good on ya!! Did you encounter that the set start-end panorama angles wouldnt be used once your fire up the shooting. I had the device countless times rolling back to the opposed starting angles, but it was way over-rotating back. Which is one thing if it happens on a horizontal movement, but actually bringing your device into damaging position, if it overshoots the angle vertically. At some point one the rotating knobs started to grind into the tripod although I absolutely positively didn't put the device into that starting position at the beginning. Very weird and unreliable. The other point of frustration was that I couldn't, for the life of me, make use of the "free program" mode. Regardless the key frames (of exposure, angles, iso) and interpolation types the device just wouldn't smoothly follow the set curves. It would stay put and not rotate, or interpolate any value, at all. Countless times of frustration... Regarding the multirow tracked panoramas: did you manually setup the second, untracked, row or is there a way to edit tracking behavior between rows? And did you use the internal stitcher or did you stitch in post? Thanks for this episode, great value there!
Thanks for your encouragement. . I did take a lot of deep breathes and counted to 10 ..!!!! When you set the start and end point, and then the amount of overlap .. the Polaris works out how many rows are needed to cover that area. I didn't tell it to do 2 rows or columns . .it worked that out for itself. I didn't notice that it didn't go back to the start and end positions on this particular shoot but that actually did happen to me on one occasion. Not sure why. The main reason I fitted that extra tripod base extension was to stop anything from being able to hit the tripod. I was able to shoot almost vertically with no issues. I have heard that sometimes when the panorama sequence is finished the unit can take a shortcut back to the starting position .. which means the opposite direction from where it started . .thus tangling or even worse tearing out the usb cable from the device. That hasn't happened to me. Although on one occasion the astro unit started turning mid panorama sequence which resulted in long star trails in the one minute exposure. This thing can certainly have a mind of it's own sometimes.
The Polaris is very interesting but probably too expensive for me, for my use. Unless they'll do a kickstarter for a v2 for a good price... 😀 Talking about Kickstarter and the need for near-perfect levelling: sounds like the upcoming Benro Theta Max tripod will be a good match for the Polaris for that reason!
Yes I think they want people to invest in the Theta as well . .but I wouldn't add anything else until they fix what's already out there. Thanks for watching.
@@nightscapeimages.richard I did sign up for a Theta Max and looking forward to eventually receiving one, with some delays. I do hope the product will be less glitchy than the Benro Polaris, especially the camera control modules for time lapses!
I used a caravan bubble level . .but this was attached to a nylon disc with a 3/8 thread to go on the tripod. This nylon item is home made. This is the caravan level. www.ebay.com.au/itm/143887758773?chn=ps&_ul=AU&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=705-139619-5960-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=143887758773&targetid=1278430613456&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9071496&poi=&campaignid=19649531412&mkgroupid=146789074798&rlsatarget=pla-1278430613456&abcId=9305371&merchantid=114888625&gclid=Cj0KCQjwj5mpBhDJARIsAOVjBdpr-w26txrYMI0nf9ZCkKDE75rDcp8RL5w4DJKHlQNM-lg53TkMTVEaAlsjEALw_wcB
I would never consider using the auto stitching feature. You're far better off doing that in post production. Polaris doesn't handle raw files well at all. All I get on the polaris are low res jpeg images . .and I'd never use those for anything.
Currently stuck with issues of having to provide a password. Does not proceed with an empty password. Curious to hear of others have resolved this and how. Cheers
Yes I can see your point .. but if you look closer you'll realise that the main arch of the milky way would be out of shot anyway. The tops of the trees are at the shoreline Appreciate you watching.
I really would like one of these, I'm getting to the end of my sixties so want time saving gear. however, this is what one can get when certain companies copy things and reverse engineer stuff shoddily. I'll look for an update to this video, i love the time saving idea but don't want to by an expensive paperweight. This product was a crowd sourced idea...
Thanks for the review Richard, have to say, enlightening, considering it's so pricey, it has so many probs, lol. It's way out of my price range, and sounds way too much hassle........ I mean I swear at my intervalometers sometimes, I think this device is beyond budget and patience 😂😂 thank you for the insight
@@nightscapeimages.richard it's not at people, just equipment,........ Mainly intervalometers😂 they are the bane of my astrophotography. I'm finally learning the advantages of being prepared beforehand with charged batteries etc, need to take an extra lens warmer
I actually think you're doing the short/long press too slowly judging by the video. I have never had a problem with a quick press swiftly followed by a long hold til it beeps. Actually, only once, and that was a cold night without an external battery attached - hooked up the battery and it fired straight up. I would suggest ALWAYS using a good high output external battery pack (in my set-up with a Sony camera the Polaris also powers the camera so the external pack means you can shoot all night). I have yet to really do tracked MW panos as I usually have very close and complex foregrounds in my compositions so I prefer to capture everything in one go, but I have done some deep-sky with @ 200-400mm focal lengths. For MW panoramas it's the absolute bomb for me as I'm an impatient and greedy 😁photographer and like to get as many different compositions as I can in a night and the automation of this process is magic. It also means things like obvious planes or a car's headlights happening during a sequence are less of a pain because you can just run the sequence again. It's a complex device due to the 3 axis movement AND the camera integration (which seems to be great with Sony at least) and control. Sometimes I'm set up actually in the water and I can't have movement ruining reflections, so the remote app control is brilliant. It definitely is due some firmware and software updates (esp for 2-star alignment) but has otherwise done exactly what I wanted it to do (ie 20+ frame panoramas).
Thanks for your great comments Adam. The issue I had with the on/off switch was referred to Benro support and they eventually advised me that this is a known issue with faulty circuit boards. I returned my unit and they supplied a new one. No issues with that any more. I agree about the need for constant firmware upgrades.
Well, I'm sure there are less expensive paper weights out there ! :) Only joking ! Thank you for your detailed and fascinating insight to the Benro Polaris Auto Star Tracker Way beyond my capabilities but I'm sure the future will solve the many glitches ......... just hide the razor blades for the time being ! :) With the Star Adventurer 2, is it possible to do a panorama ? I imagine the foreground would be easy, its just aligning the tracked stars I'm not sure of Regards, ............. Gary ............. AU
Thanks again for watching Gary. Yes you can do panoramas with any tracker . .the only difference with this unit is that you can automate the capture process.
I am living in the northern hemisphere, and I wished one of these companies eventually releases a product, which makes it easier to adjust it into the earths axis. Where I live, Polaris is often covered by clouds, whereas the rest of the sky is clearly visible and it’s not possible to adjust one of those things towards it. By today’s technology, once you think it should be possible to create one of these things based on the effect of Foucault’s Pendulum and the GPS position to turn it by it self into the earths rotation axis or at least having a monitor Helping to adjust it easier. That adjustment, that’s the most annoying and difficult thing on all of these devices. I think I should patent this idea instead of writing about it here.
I think that's a very valid wish Roland. It's a problem that we all have to face whenever we go out to shoot. And here in the Southern Hemisphere . .there is no pole star anyway.
Your connection problems should have been sorted out by Benro. A simple WLAN button, like on Cameras, would have been the way to go. Even the Star Adventure 2i has a dedicated WLAN position. Disappointing that something so simple is not simple at all. Benro need to have a good think about this device.
I'm pretty sure they are scrambling quite a bit behind the scenes to sort out all the issues with the Polaris Michael. It has a lot of potential but I reckon quite a few photographers will give up on it before they sort everything out.
I was an early backer of this device and received a sizeable discount on my unit, but have become disillusioned with it. It has a high learning curve, only works on a cellphone (no tablet interfaces), cellphone screen too small, cannot view both camera and phone screen at the same time, way too expensive given other options, etc., etc., etc. Would I purchase again, hell no!!
Yes it was particularly bad on this night. I used it again last night and it started relatively quickly. But it has to go back for a circuit board repair. Thanks for watching.
@@nightscapeimages.richard it was a pleasure to watch :) Hopefully, when the bord from your unit will be replaced, everything will work fine In the near future, I’ll change my main camera, from Sony to sigma, I really hope everything will work as good :D
I like the idea of the Polaris, and it seems like its pretty good for traveling to a site, but for as much money as this thing costs, I can get an ASIAir and a guidescope, and get better results anyway. Seems like this is trying to fill a gap in the market for beginner to intermediate level astrophotographers, but people at that stage of their journey in this hobby probably shouldnt be spending this much on a piece of kit.
Great review... well balanced and honest. To be sure, this unit is not a beginners tool and can be a bit complex to use. I see many people complain about it, but mostly because they don't understand its proper use and application.
I've had mine about a year now (I was an original backer on Kickstarter) and while it does work as a decent tracker, my main use is for automated panoramas both tracked and untracked. Yes, it is expensive, but does replace a few devices when I travel, so it actually saves space and weight for me... as heavy as it is! They recently added holy-grail support which should work well enough to replace another piece of gear for me eventually (my beloved Timelapse+ VIEW).
Be aware that the software is still undergoing changes/improvements... especially in the initial setup department. Getting the unit properly leveled and initial alignment can be finicky and they do not yet support multiple object alignment or plate-solving. Hopefully that comes in the future to improve accuracy. The unit does *not* need to be polar aligned, a huge feature IMHO, but getting it precisely leveled is absolutely critical to its performance. A basic tripod center column bowl leveler is not good enough and I use a precision tri-wheel leveler and large round bubble level (0.1 degree accuracy) on top of the Benro head after getting the base tripod roughly level using its level.
Power issues (25:09)... I rarely have any. The trick is to short-press and immediately long press & hold until you hear a triple beep. If it does not work, wait a second or two before attempting again. You seem to be re-trying it too fast between attempts confusing the unit's power-on timer, as far as I can tell.
So informative , on using device , images look awesome , but your real world review is honest and non biased. This is often lacking in many reviews. Thanks again
Thanks Richard. It's a great device . ..when it works.
I had to send mine back as I couldn't get it going. Absolutely love your images! Hopefully the one that comes back works and I go out and get some also!
Yes I think that's a common scenario from what I'm hearing. Hope you get it back soon.
Took my first shot last night with mine from my back garden, bit of a learning curve and still more to learn, a beginner but looking forward to the challenge, wish I had seen this before I went out at 3am this morning. Great tutorial. My shot is on the Facebook group.🙂👍
Thanks so much for watching Mark
You have the patience of Jobe, while I will never use one of these it was a very entertaining and informative video. So thank you.
You're very welcome Bob. Thanks for watching.
Very informative and balanced presentation of your experience so far Richard. Without doubt the best video on the Polaris I have seen to date. I will be sticking with my Star Adventurer 2 for now but will be keeping a keen eye on developments in this area for the future.
Thanks a lot Greg. Yes the Star Adventurer is a very capable tracker for all of these things.
Incredible piece of gear Richard. I’m looking forward to seeing future tracked panos you get with it. Great examples you showed. Cheers for sharing the look at it. 👍🙏
Thanks Adrian, yes it is an amazing device . .I'll continue my testing.
OMG! An Aussie Voice, on here, talkin' my language, doing a great job of being HONEST!! Much appreciated!!! You mentioned the tripod...Bol..? But it is not 'linked' in your post, or have I missed it? Keep up the greatest work on here!
Thanks Gerry. The tripod is Artcise AS80C I bought this on Amazon Australia. Let me know how you go.
Hi Richard, when turning on the unit it’s similar to a drone. One short followed by a long press. The unit will them fold out so you can attach the unit to the tripod. Then turn the unit off. Plug the Astro cable in to the extra ports on the unit. Turn on the unit and connect with the app. Double click the virtual joysticks on the phone app. Then place the phone on unit and use the measure app to level the tripod. Then calibrate phone and align the unit.
Thanks so much for watching. Yes I'm aware of the turn on and off process. I had a faulty unit which was sent back and replaced. I've since received the replacement model and it works as it should. I hope you're getting good results with yours.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Hi Richard, glad you got your replacement. I got my from the kickstarter campaign and inspired from you videos - thinking this would be a good entry tool to use. Quite the opposite. Yes I enjoyed the video, I’ve seen a couple of reviews on the Benro Polaris lately. My comment about turning it on and off was aim at the reviewers that I have watched in past that are unaware of this Easter egg. And suggest investing in a spacer between the tripod and the Polaris. When in fact if you turn it on first, the polaris unfolds so that you can then mount onto the tripod without the need of a spacer. Sorry if the previous message came across as telling you how to suck eggs, this was not the intent. It was written within the first 3mins of your video and I discover later in the video after I posted the comment you refer to Dji and how to turn it on. My bad I should have waited it out to the end to refine my comment.
Yes that's quite ok. Regarding the spacer. I think it's a massive oversight for a tripod company to manufacture a product that has the potential to make contact with the tripod at all. I know of a few people that have actually had their finger jammed under the retracting unit also. It's fairly obvious to me that Benro outsourced the manufacture of the Polaris to someone else and it obviously needs more work done to perfect it. @@immersive360vr
yes the device is a little bit tricky. Thanks for sharing your first steps with this device. We can have a nice experience exchange in January next year when we meet. Greedings from Switzerland.
Yes I think tricky is a good way to describe it ..!! Thanks again for watching my friend.
Thanks for being so honest. Benro has some serious work to do to fix these functional issues with the Benro Polaris. PLEASE do an update when and if Benro addresses all of these functional issues.
Thanks a lot for tuning in Guy. I will be doing more videos regarding the Polaris for sure.
Love love love the 7 shot pano over the creek mate….
Thanks mate really appreciate that.
Yeah Nah thanks for such an honest review Richard, I'm sure they will work out the bugs and technology will improve over time, it's a great idea and I can see the benefits in time. However I bet you had trouble making this video and keeping all the beeps out of it as I imagine there would have been a few choice words between cups of tea and rum balls.
Haha, yes it was a very frustrating experience that's for sure Rob ..!!!
Hi Richard, Great video as ever. I can sympathise with your frustrations, I've had similar issues. I was lucky enough to buy my unit used but in 'as new' condition for about 30% original price (so less than I paid for my Star Adventurer GTi). One use for telephoto is solar imaging. I've used my Polaris for solar tracking at 800mm, works very well, clearly shutter speeds are very fast so no issues with that. Polar alignment during the day has always been a hit and miss affair so now with the BP its a simple solution. I'm heading to Texas next April for the total solar eclipse and will be taking the BP with me as I'm from the UK and so travelling with my SA GTi is not really so simple. I look forward to seeing more of your experiences with the unit and hopefully we can all learn together.
That's great feedback Tom. I really appreciate you watching.
These look far too painful and would test my patience, thanks for the real world review
Thanks for watching again my friend.
Very detailed analyst of the pros and cons of the Polaris Richard.
I'm very glad that I decided to swap over from my Canon R5 (still have it for daytime imaging) to a couple of Sony's a A73 Ha modified & a A7R3 for nightscapes, before I bought the Polaris.
As being able to see the liveview on the back of the camera, (in both normal and image review modes) and on the phone App simultaneously is a bonus, you just have to remember to cancel the review manually before the camera takes the next shot in a series of images, otherwise the camera locks up and you have to turn the camera off to reset it.
As you said each camera brand has its problems.
Thanks a lot Keith. Yes it's really hard for everyone to get a handle on this piece of gear due to the varying issues some face. If everyone had the same problems it would be a lot easier to fix.
Thanks a lot Richard.
I think you are the first one who has elaborately addressed all the issues , pros and cons of this device.
I have been interested to have one but still unsure if this worths the enormous price until I watched your review, I can conclude that I would stick with the ordinary star tracker to do a normal single tracking image or even the tracking pano. A bit of work to do pano track on an ordinary tracker but it is way more friendly used if we compare with this pricy unit.
I would wait until Benro comes up with the new version of this unit and see how it goes.
Thanks again.
Yes I think that's a fair assessment. It does show a lot of promise but it seems to have been released without everything working as promised.
Interesting review. I too have the ioptron skyguider pro, and it does tracking very well. I went for the Benro for compactness in travel. No need to carry counterweights and very heavy setup. The pano shots are also a huge plus, but compactness is a very big deal especially if you intend to fly with it.
Yes I can see your logic. I really like the Star Adventurer Mini for the same reason.
Hi Richard, this is without a doubt one of the most interesting videos you have made. Fascinating, and all your experiances to boot. When I read the name, I thought I regognised it, many years ago I had a Benro tripod, I think it really is the same company. I had never heard of such a device and did some searching on the internet. Low and behold, my local camera store actualy has them in stock, they cost about 1300€ which is about 3x that of the smaller, usual trackers. I then wanted to find out about the manufaturer, only to discover they are in Woverhapton, England, not 5 km from where I had began working for my current company. Unbelievable. The panos you showed were awesome, they just seem much better that all your previous ones. And when I saw the video, I just had to laugh. Believe it or not, some years back I wanted to take an impossible shot and actually built such a device, but not nearly as compact. I had a super foreground subject for a MW shot but the only vantage point was about 2km away. I had to use an 85mm focal length, hence tracking was a must due to the 20-30s exposure. At this FL I needed a 7x6 Pano, far too complicated to do by hand. So what did I do? I had a Emotimo TB3, a robotic motion control unit. This used arduino innards and similar to the Benro, could be programmed to automatically do the pano. I then rigged this up to sit on top of a Skywatcher HEQ5 ( a medium sized equatorial mount ). The whole set up was enormous, very heavy, had loads of cables and needed two motorcycle batterie to run. It did work though. I ended up with a 1TB photo. In the final pic, the church I wanted to capture was barely visible, but at 100% could be seen in detail. I'll PM a copy to you tomorrow.
Thanks again, I look forward to hearing more about this unit, in principle it is a great idea, just a shame that it is not perfected.
ps I too use a bowl type leveling device, it really makes life easier in the field. I heard of the Kirk ones but these were very expensive, I ended up with one from Kingjoy for about 100€, it was great but unfortunately longer available. On amazon they cost 50-150€, there are some from Sirui who make good quality stuff
Wow, that sounds like an amazingly interesting gadget that you made back then David. The tripod I use is from Amazon as well. Artcise AS80C it's great.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Thamks for the tip re tripods. I hadn't heard of this make. They seem to offer a lot of variations and also small LED lights. I might just end up having to spend some money!
That tripod is so good I actually bought another one ..!!! It's worth it for the easily adjusted bowl head alone . .but it's a really sturdy carbon fibre as well. @@dhg1960
Wow, thought they were American not for the midlands 😄 maybe I’ll pay them a visit with my unit and say “you try it ? )
Hi, Richard. It's the best review I saw so far. Very honest. And yes, I had some issues with it, specially to turn it on and levelling :). I also made a nylon adapter to my bubble level to do it right and quickly. But, I got used to it after a lot of practise. No issues with the camera settings. I'm a Sony's user. Now, I'm very pleased with the results.
did you 3d print your nylon adapter? can I have the 3d model if you did! thanks
Thanks for watching. Yes I think it's one piece of gear that takes a lot of practice to work out all the quirks in it's behaviour.
@@zentrani yes, for sure. How can I send it to you?
Thanks for a great video. I’ve had mine about 6 months and struggled- even though been using Skywatcher for years . I’m hoping to get Milky Way panos this year (if UK weather allows 😄). You say you got up to 4 mins - was that on bulb ? Hopefully I’ll get to Tazzie in the next year or so to see my sister- less light pollution and better skies !
Thanks for watching Simon. Yes it's a tricky beast. Yes Bulb mode will work. Tassie is a wonderful place.
Thanks for reviewing this device! Considering it for myself to buy, but still definitely have to wait.
It has lots of potential but maybe not for everybody.
Thank you so much for this truly comprehensive review. I think I will stick with my sky watcher star adventurer at the moment. I do really want to do more panoramas but getting this device to start has put me off. Maybe I will consider it when they fix it.
Yes I think that's a fair assessment. Thanks for watching.
WOW,Thanks for going through hell with this unit Richard. I have looked at this for awhile now and hoped that the previous issues have been fixed but it looks like they still have a ways to go. Its not cheap and can see why people use it as a paper weight. PLease keep us updated on the progress you are making with this unit in future videos. I also would use this as a panorama setup. Cheers Frank
Thanks for checking out the video Frank. I'll persist with it and see where it leads me.
As always, your advice has been very detailed and informative. I wanted to let you know that I purchased the Polaris a couple of days ago, and I'm already in love with it. B&H matched the discount currently offered by Benro at USD 998 plus shipping. I believe it's an excellent value for money, especially considering it's a precision head that can replace the need for a two-way long lens head and a geared head. It also comes with a remote trigger, a built-in intervalometer, and an electric head. In my opinion, the price they are asking is well justified.
The Astro functionality, which is the unique selling point of this product, is actually a bonus for me, as I primarily focus on landscape and landscape astrophotography. Once Theta is released, I hope it will make for a fantastic combination of leveling and rotation, further enhancing my photography experience.
Thanks so much for watching the video my friend. I'm pleased you're enjoying the Polaris.
I was at the Nightscaper Conference (Utah) in May of this year. I can't remember which speaker asked, but he took a poll on how many shooters had a Polaris. A bunch of folks raised their hands. He then asked how many were having problems with it. The same people (maybe minus 1 or 2) raised their hands again. I was quite surprised! So you are not the only one, Richard as you have already discovered from your FB group. I want to keep things simple, so I'm not even going to go there! lol!
Yes I think a lot of people got in as early adopters of the Polaris, and found very quickly that the product wasn't really ready for general use at that time. It is slowly getting better . .I think. But there is certainly something to be said for simplicity.
Hi Richard, great video as always. I have been using the Polaris for a while now and finally am happy with it, but as I think we have discussed before, it was a journey….. My workflow is little different in set up but I do get good consistent results that I am happy with. Not aligning with the southern celestial pole has been a godsend on a couple occasions, but since with other trackers now I just use my phone and an app rather than try to find the octans it probably is not such an issue (although every now and then my phone decides not to calibrate well enough and disaster ensues with my other tracker). I have got great tracking with my 40mm lens up to 5 minutes, but totally agree that longer lenses are just not a good option. I also do like the go to functionality as I find it saves me a bit of time faffing around with ball heads etc, and generally knocking it out of alignment in the process 😂. And having a cuppa and biscuit while it does the pano work, magic ! All in all I do find it is a good (if outrageously expensive option) for star tracking, but it has taken a while to get there. And I suppose I am not a beginner really and definitely am a bit on a gadget geek 😊.
Thanks for your insights Eric. I think you'd be a good candidate for the Polaris as you have a lot of experience with other trackers and therefore can have a logical expectation. As well as that you have a common sense approach which would help work through any issues.
I've had similar (but different) frustrations with my unit. The first one delivered was obviously second hand, and quite beat up too! When that was replaced I had connection issues which I traced to a faulty usb-c cable, this was the new Benro one included in the box. Once that was replaced I've had a much better experience. I've had no connection issues, nor issues with powering on and off. I agree about the problem fouling the tripod when in the parked position. I normally power it on in my hand before attaching to the tripod, similarly I park and power off once I've removed it from the tripod. My camera is an Olympus OM-1 and the main issue with this is that it doesn't report the ISO setting to the Polaris. As I tend to just do deep sky imaging I've untethered the camera from the Benro and use the cameras internal intervalometer and this works fine. Means I can continue to use the screen on the camera. Tracking has been generally very good. I'm confident using the 40-150mm lens at 150mm and with the 1.4x teleconverter (equivalent 420mm focul length on a full frame) and generally do 30 second subs at ISO 1600. So my experience is good, after a shaky start, so much so that it encouraged me to go out and buy an IOptron german CEM26. Polaris will still make a really good travel solution though.
Really enjoy your videos and nightscapes!
Very good insights my friend. I think we'll all have slightly different experiences with the Polaris. . as I mentioned to someone else, it's a love hate relationship and sometimes in the same night ..!!! Thanks for watching.
Jesus! You deserve a medal alone for sticking with it through set up. Great video Richard. It looks impressive but trying to cram that much tech into a portable device is a recipe for disaster in my opinion. I don't like how it relies heavily on mobile phone synchronicity. There's so many issues that could ruin a night's shooting simply because of phone failure, battery drainage, WiFi or mobile data network failure due to location etc. Clear skies are few and far between especially in the UK and I would hate to lose a night due to not being able to even get the tracker switched on. I will be sticking with my ioptron and trusted dslr.
Yes all of those points are quite valid Tony. In fact I find that when using the Benro app my phone battery completely drains to zero in a night of shooting with the Polaris. None of my other apps have that effect on the phone.
But on the other hand mobile phone is one common device that every common man has and their goal to make it possible to take awesome photos just relying on phone (and of course the technique) is something should be given credit to. I am no professional astrophotographer but I can say i can take great pictures with this setup
There is a lot to like with the Benro Polaris. Indeed the ( stacked ) automated panoramas and path Timelapse’s are the biggest selling point.
I agree with you on the quirks and downsides: 1. Turning it on properly without going to the travel position and hitting the leveling head in the dark is a challenge. I might get a benro extension head to get rid of that annoying problem
2. The lights on the unit made my foreground blue and green, I now use black tape on the lights.
3. Like you said make sure it is 100% level.
4. Please Nikon let me use the viewfinder or screen to make finding my composition easier and focus easier in the dark. (This is Nikon related).
5. The preview is nice but only works and only when camera is shooting JPEG (+RAW). Please make it so that I can choose for instance the middle part of the image for critical focus and star trails when previewing. Just a small part of the image is good enough as a high res.
6. The preview should be way more high res.
As a general tip for anyone : Try it out extensively in the garden to learn all the difficulties and it will work fine after you’ve encountered all of them and get a feel for the unit. I like it but is has so much more potential to be amazing.
All very good thoughts indeed. I appreciate your insights and for watching.
Hi Richard, I am always having difficulty connecting my Z6 to the Polaris. Do you have any tips for that problem as I think you’ve encountered this as well. Thanks in advance, Koen.
Thanks for your honest review. I've had my eye on this but with all the bugs its dealing with I had decided to put off purchasing it. After watching your video I am more excited about the possibility of easier tracked pano's but cautious about picking this unit up until they iron out a few more bugs.
Yes I think that's a wise thing to do. Cautious optimism is a good thing.
Tks Richard. I myself had same problem with this machine, specially for power. But it could not be solved by myself. therefore I require Benro to replace it. I myself visited their office here in S.Korea and They willingly replaced new one. Now, new Polaris working very well and no problem. I am really looking forward to seeing your new execelent .video with this Polaris specially for Astro Timelapse
Tks Richard again. I am studying planty of thing from your video.
Yes I've been instructed that this is a hardware problem and I'll have to return my unit for repair. Thanks for watching.
Thanks for overview of your experience with the Polaris Richard, as you say the wide angle tracking works very well, amazing for the type of MW Tracked panos we take. As you said it takes the time and figuring out of the issues, I look forward to following your journey with it. enjoyed the video. (had a few laughs out loud with the frustrations lol....
Yes it's certainly a journey that's for sure Alan.
Nice product and awesome demonstration video, Richard. And the photos are awesome as usual
Thanks so much for watching.
I've been using the Sigma Art 40mm Magic lens for astro when tracking!
Same here, Fab lens, John Rutter has a lot to answer for 🙂
@@TomYnysMonyes he has lol 😅
Yes that's a great lens for sure John.
Richard, thanks for the detailed information and walking through that valley of frustration for us. - It’s a touch screen. Why the heck isn’t it possible at 30:50 to simply touch on the star to be centred instead of that left/right up/down on screen wiggle buttons. I developed software for 25 years. Sometimes I’m tempted to think today’s developers are brain amputated. Point 3. at 38:18 nails it, on the one hand fantastic functionality but at essential functions such as on/off and WiFi connectivity ridiculous bad, frustration guaranteed, I can’t understand it.
Yes I think you're right. In 2023 all of this should be easily possible.
Thanks for the straightforward pros and cons review of the Benro Polaris star tracker. It seems despite its impressive features with a price tag to match, there are still a lot of bugs that need to be worked out. Around the time stamp 30:18 of this video, you selected Rigel Kentaurus A for celestial alignment. You then had to center the reticle on one of the two visible stars. How did you know which one to select? Also, what made you select Rigel Kentaurus A instead of any other celestial bodies?
Thanks so much for watching. I used Rigel Kentaurus A because it is very easy to see on the phone screen. Another downside of this system is that on some phones it's really hard to see the fainter stars when doing the alignment. I know this star well so I am aware which one it is of the two bright one's.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Thanks for the response.
Love what Benro are trying to do here, and I do believe they'll get it right eventually. Watching your user experience here though Richard and the only take away I have is being more comfortable with my decision to jump off this project when it was still a Kickstarter. For those sorts of dollars it needs to nail its niche both in function and reliability. I don't think its quite hit the mark. That Silence Corner Atoll however has gone on my shopping list.
Great video Richard, way more patience displayed here to get the unit working than I could ever muster!
Oh, I reckon you'd be a pretty patient man Dominic ..!!! After all, you have all that deep space rig and timelapse sliders etc . .they could just as easily give you grey hairs ..!! But I do agree that they'll eventually get it right. Many people are using these as door stoppers at present. The Atoll and other brand variants are wonderful.
As usual Richard a really excellent layman's review, it would be a great device when they get the bugs ironed out. Thank you for taking the time and effort to record and explain these issues. Also nice to know the other trackers have benefits as well.
Thanks a lot Les. I think there is certainly something to be said for simplicity.
Hi Richard, I've had the Benro Polaris (BP) for some time now and I'm starting to learn how to use it. I write from Brazil and here the exchange rate + taxes are brutal when purchasing any imported equipment. Also, I'm not experienced with star trackers. I bought the Benro Polaris with the promise of ease of celestial alignment. Some of the problems pointed out by you also bother me, such as the button to turn on the BP (I never manage to put the BP into action on the first try); calibration with the cell phone (often the BP pointed the camera to the opposite side of the chosen target); the fact that one of the rotors collided with the base of the tripod; the difficulty of using the camera in the portrait position (I had to buy an accessory similar to the Atoll). I am using BP with two models of Nikon cameras: D810A and Z6 II. I noticed that in the case of the D810A, the Polaris app does not recognize exposure times above 30 seconds (the camera has up to 900s). In this case, the camera needs to be in Bulb mode. In the Z6 II, the BP recognizes times above 30 seconds of exposure. I've watched many videos about the Benro Polaris and yours is truly one of the most complete and sincere. Congratulations!
Thanks so much for watching the video Jorge. Really appreciated. Yes I've had no issues with the Nikon Z cameras but I've not used a DSLR with the Polaris. Interesting how they are different.
Great video Richard, like all your videos. I think I will stick with my Skywatcher! I may consider the Benro once they iron out these issues. You handled yourself extremely well…I am not so patient lol.
Haha, thanks Matt. I did get a replacement unit from Benro because of the faulty on/off switch. It's working better now.
Thanks for the very informative review, Richard. I've been looking at a new tracker and was considering the Polaris, but I'd pretty much rejected it as an option due to the price and accuracy at greater zoom. It is a great concept and would be an early purchase once I win the lottery.
I'd seriously suggest you check out the Star Adventurer Mini tracker. .it's really good.
I currently have an iOptron Skytracker Pro, I'm looking for greater payload capacity and GoTo capability, so I'm leaning towards the Star Adventurer GTI.@@nightscapeimages.richard
Yes that's a very good option.@@billinglendaleca5093
The milkyway looked amazing in the tracked panoramas! Curious what bortle class was of the location where you were shooting?
Thanks for watching. These were shot in Bortle 2-3 skies.
Terrific review! I bought mine while it was still on Kickstarter, but haven't used it much. Now I am getting inspired to do some tracked panos! I use a Nikon kit on it as well (currently a Z8, but a D850 before). I have never had the wonky turn on problems that you experience. The main problem I get is that it after using the phone to get its compass heading set, it is more often than not 180 degrees off! Have you had that problem? Also, I use it with the Z-mount 800 mm f/6.3 to track the sun (used it during the April 8 eclipse). It works quite well! It drifts, but slowly, so will stay in frame for at least a half hour. Makes it much easier to photograph the sun this way.
Thanks for watching Steve. The wonky turn on was a warranty repair . .and a known issue by Benro. If you have the phone back to front when doing the calibration you'll be off by 180 degrees. Just turn the phone the opposite direction to fix this. The phone calibration is simply a guide so the Polaris knows roughly where you are in the world. .you'll always have to fine tune it onto a star to get accurate tracking.
Thanks for the informative video Richard! Could you please attach a link to the 2 way caravan bubble level you are using? I can’t find it online with the screw tread. Cheers!
Thanks for watching. You won't find the level with the threaded part . .that's home made. I used this caravan level and attached to a nylon block with a 3/8" thread in it. www.amazon.com.au/Leveler-Caravan-Trailer-Levelling-Indicator/dp/B09TDBLG71/ref=asc_df_B09TDBLG71/?tag=googleshopdsk-22&linkCode=df0&hvadid=606290820670&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7026318689453870885&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9071496&hvtargid=pla-1866186980316&psc=1
It was interesting to watch. 😊
When you were showing test pictures you said that they were made on "Nikon Z6 Astro modified" - what did you mean by "astro modified"?
Thanks so much for watching. My camera has had the standard filter removed and replaced with one that lets more of a specific wavelength through. This allows Hydrogren Alpha light into the camera. This is very common in nebulas etc in the night sky.
Richard, regarding your 'switching on' issue. I have similar fun, however I find now that if I long-press to initiate turn off (even though its already turned off) I get a response, then I do the same again, and finally I go for the start press-procedure and more often than not I get lucky in the next 20-30secs. Hope this helps.
Thanks a lot for watching Tom. My unit is being returned to Benro for circuit board replacement under warranty.
Great and very informative video as always Richard. Interesting how different the problems are, dependent on the camera used. The main problem with my Sony A7 IV is, that it won't accept changes of the camera settings like exposure time via the app, but not a big deal, I simply change it directly at the camera.
I totally agree that the device is expensive and not really made for beginners.
Maybe your problems with longer focal lengths could be a levelling problem. I had used a caravan spirit level as well but at least mine did not seem to be that accurate. I bought a round spirit level (don't know the exact name in english how they are called) with an accuracy of 0.1 degrees and it works well for 600 mm and 30 sec exposures. But as you said, it varies across the session. Only about 70% of the sub exposures are usable. Also I level the device, when the camera and objective are already mounted (double tap both sticks to make the polaris to go where to it thinks the horizontal position is and then level it).
Thanks for your valuable insights. Yes I know a lot of people do use the round bubble level and place it on top of the unit itself. I have one of those and I'll see what difference that makes.
Great honest review, but I couldn't be bothered with that frustration, I'll stick with my little mini for now
Haha, yes that's a good move Tony.
Hello Richard
i had the same power on problems when i got the Benro Polaris. however, i found that if I press the power button twice in quick succession and then long press it once, i no longer had any problems with the switch-on sequence. i hope this helps you.
Greetings from Germany
Roland
Thanks so much for letting me know your solution Roland. However, that didn't work for me. I've been advised that there is a faulty circuit board in my unit which need total replacement.
Seems like the final destination (photo) is a gruesome trip. Glad you approve of the final result. A little too much trouble it seems to get there.
Yes I think a lot of people would agree with you Mike. Thanks for watching.
Thank you Richard for introducing Benro Polaris and great results. I am new user BP and i have more questions but mainly when and how i focus on the star?My first picture was not sharp,it was blury.
Thanks for watching. The Polaris doesn't do any focusing. You have to do that yourself. I would recommend focusing the lens before you connect to the Polaris. What camera and lens are you using ..???
Thanks a lot Richard. That's what i needed to know@@nightscapeimages.richard
My camera is Nikon D850,lens Tamron 18-35 mm
Greatvideo, full of info,I've looked at one, thought it was very heavy, thanks for your time
Thanks again for watching Phil. It's about the same weight as a star adventurer but a lot bigger and heavier that the mini .. which I love to use.
great review. out of interest who did the h-alpha conversion for your Nikon Z6?
Thanks a lot for watching Tony. I had the camera modified at Camera Clinic in Melbourne. They are now called Imaging By Design. imagingbydesign.com.au/
i have this head and have yet to to produce anything useful... very aggravated as it is hit or miss with its functions.. great video.. I'll be using your tutorial to catch the last of the milkyway tonight in the Nevada (USA) desert.. Maybe you could influence benro to release a second star fix?
Thanks so much for watching. Yes I now have a replacement unit but I also had problems with the software recently. Touch wood it's all working fine now.
Looked out for the spirit leveler you're using but don't find it. Seems very useful. Can you let me know where to buy it, thank you
It's a caravan leveler. www.amazon.com.au/Leveler-Caravan-Trailer-Levelling-Indicator/dp/B09TDBLG71/ref=asc_df_B09TDBLG71/?tag=googleshopdsk-22&linkCode=df0&hvadid=606290820670&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16521914213332058871&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9071496&hvtargid=pla-1866186980316&psc=1
Yes…found these spirit levelers but you transformed it.
That’s why I didn’t find them, nicely done.
What “adaptor-base” did you use ?
Thank you +++
Mate this thing is doing my head in. Its taken me 3 days to get it set up and connected for Pano's but haven"t been able to set up astro properly yet as the compass calibration is way out. Have you tried the auto photo stacking on a tracked astro panorama? I'm interested to see the results for that or if it will even work say stacking 8 images for every pano position. It would give an amazing noise free image if you can stitch it all together. Pretty amazing if it can all be done in auto without even touching the camera.
Yes it sure can be a frustrating gadget, but when it does work it's amazing. I haven't done any stacking of panos in the Polaris . .in fact I haven't done any stacking in panos for years now to be honest. I appreciate you watching.
Great video!
Couple of questions.
For all your panoramas, are you using just the microsoft ICE stitching software, would you use something like PTgui for more advanced stitching where where you have alot more images?
For panos, would you apply a light edit in lightroom to all images, like lens correction etc before stitching the images?
There are several great denoises out there like Topaz and even the new Lightroom AI denoiser, do you generally apply denoise to the start process or at the very end? One last question! Will the Benro charge the camera at the same time as its in use, since its plugged into the usbC slot? I have a Nikon z camera too.
Hey Dan, PtGui is an excellent stitching program and it really does suit those large multi row panoramas for sure. I always apply a light edit in Lightroom before sending images out for stitching.
As a general rule I think for many images it's better to apply the noise reduction at the end when you're finished editing.
I don't think the Benro Polaris will charge the camera. But to be honest I haven't paid much attention to that.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Many thanks for all your responses, greatly appreciated!
FYI, after a day of use, im also having the issue with the device not turning on as expected on a consistant basis!
Did they end up fixing your unit, or is there some magic pressing i need to do, ha.
I do the short press followed by a long press, hoping i dont need to send the unit back.
@@Dan-yy7lk My original unit had to be returned under warranty. I received the unit back .. but I'm not sure if it's a new one or the old one repaired. Anyway, it's been working as it should since then. I believe this is a known issue, but you have to contact the people you bought the unit from.
It seems you're method of turning the Polaris on is correct .. it's just like a DJI drone.
Nice video and explanation. And amazing panoramas… ❤
I have used benro polaris for 4 minutes and could get dot star on 14 and 28 mm; but I has to be really precise for the alignment.
I have the same problem of the base touching the the tripod and also switching on. Even double press don’t work all the time. And for the base; I switch it on and then add to the tripod! 🙄
Not the best.
Thank you for the video.
Thanks so much for watching. Benro got back to me and informed me that it looks like I need a replacement circuit board for the on/off switch.
Informative review Richard, can I ask what cable you use to connect the Nikon to the Polaris? Thanks
Thanks for watching. I generally use the cable that was supplied with the Polaris. But I've tried 3 or 4 other usb-c cables I had lying around, and they all worked fine.
Cheers Richard @@nightscapeimages.richard
Excellent test, thank you! Yes, it’s $1700 here in Canada. I’ll stick with my SA Mini and a V-Plate and pano head. Manual moves but it works. I hate fighting high tech in the field. But you got some beautiful panos!
Yes I think you've hit the nail on the head with that assessment Alan .. fighting with gear should never happen. As I mentioned, I love the SA Mini .. it's awesome.
The turn-on issue must have something to do with the internal battery, and the temperature as you say. Any other theories from users? Does it matter how charged it is? And how do you charge it and tell the battery level? The app tells you that I presume but you have to have been able to connect to see that. Or could it be as simple as just a faulty switch? Cheers!
@@alandyer910 Yes I've just had a reply from Benro and they say it's a faulty circuit board and I'll need to send the unit in for repair . .but it's a known issue it seems. You charge the unit with a usb-c connector and the light shows red. When full the light goes off. But as you suggested you need connection to the app to have any indication of battery level. There are quite a few other issues that I didn't mention that other users on the facebook group have had.
Great review, but I’d have palpitations trying to use this thing. I’d end up launching it into space! I can see a progression tutorial here.. “Tracked panoramas with light painting”.. keep it up Richard love the videos. Mike
Thanks again for watching Mike. It may well end up in a river or something . .We'll see what eventuates.
Nice shots wow great new toy.
Did you get any shots of the metor shower .
No, to be honest I didn't even go outside. Most of these meteor showers are better in the northern hemisphere.
Thank you.
Do you know that using a Pentax K3-III (I have one, $2000, 850 g) or a Pentax K1-II, the Astrotracer mode 3 allows automatic tracking up to 5 minutes (by moving the sensor), WITHOUT any GPS or calibration! I have shot incredibly sharp Milky ways by just pressing the shutter.
The camera takes 2 pre-shots of 15 s. each, computes the stars movement, then applies the correct sensor movement during the actual exposure (I use 50 seconds in general).
No need to synch with an app, no need for horizontal levelling etc.
Yes I've heard very good things about the Pentax Astrotracer. Never had a chance to try it myself.
@@nightscapeimages.richard too bad other brands (Sony etc.) don't implement it, it is only a matter of software.
Great review Richard. Not a-cost effective item. But one that I could see being useful. But price would have to be a whole lot less. I like you hate all these devices now a days that require you to use your phone. Tripod is great. I got one after you recommending it. Quite pleased with mine. I need to get one of those vertical/ horizontal adapters for my Z6II that would solve the issue during my taking aurora images in landscape and portrait mode.
Thanks John. Yes they are very handy indeed. silencecorner.net/collections/atoll-series
Thank you for the review. I'm new to astro and interested in tracking and creating panos. Are there star trackers that make good setups for tracked panos? Or is the Benro the best option just for pano?
Hey Dan. You can do tracked panoramas with any tracker. The key is to have a level base to start with. Then you just manually adjust each image, much like on a fixed tripod. Obviously as the tracker rotates you have to keep leveling . .but it isn't that difficult. The Benro does this automatically .. and when it works it's great.
Nice, very nice and honest review Richard. I’ve the Polaris as well and got a little bit discouraged in the beginning (bought this on the Kickstarter) because the use of the star tracker App wasn’t working like these days. So for the moment it’s taking dust in a closet…
The alignement part however is not so easy on the smartphone, find it is rather difficult (for me). When doing the alignement I go easily a little to far beyond the target, have to come back, go to far again…
But I think you can do it manually by using the two knobs ( not sure about this). Much easier way but didn’t try it until now.
So a new question: Do you just set the tracking of when you take the pictures for the foreground or do you use the panorama module ? A new realignment is necessary after it isn't it ?
The occasional tracking inconsistency is it due to a sort of periodic error or is it for the whole row of pictures ? And if this is the case would you consider to take two pictures of each stop (and even combine them when they are ok) ?
Hope you come with another user video specific for pano’s. Was actually the reason why I bought it.
And thank you again…think I will reconsider to use it. And sorry to hear about the problem for turning it on…this should be the easy part.
Ps: I never store it in it’s parked position but in it’s normal (use) position. Just a long press to turn it off. A short followed by a long press to turn it on ( if it’s working for you). This way it won’t begin to turn…
Thanks so much for watching Edward. Yes I often also leave the unit in it's non-parked position and then just start from there . .that's when I can turn it on ..!! I always shoot my tracked panoramas with a clean foreground, so I'll move the tripod in front of trees etc and shoot the tracked pano from there. Then I'll move back to the foreground composition and shoot that as a standard untracked panorama. Then they will be joined in photoshop.
I've found the initial alignment is always a fair way off and I use the joysticks to get the star I'm aligning to in the red centre circle with manual movement. That works quite well for me.
I don't know why there is sometimes tracking inconsistency .. it's random.
Thank you for the quick reply. But is it so that it's possible to align manually by using the knobs ?
Think so but not sure about it.
Yes you can do that .. but they turn painfully slow. @@edwarddebruyn8717
Yes that's what I want. Will do the major tuning with the smartphone and do the very last finetuning with the knobs. Thank you !
been looking forward to this.
I hope it's helpful Steve.
Sorry Richard I was having a bit of a giggle with the “turning on” saga…that was a packet of bikkies and a block of chocolate break if ever I saw one! LOL very frustrating for the $$$ outlay, great review & some really impressive tracked panos! Thanks
Haha, yes . .we can have a laugh about it now can';t we. . .but it was pretty annoying at the time. Didn't even have any snacks with me. Thanks heaps for watching.
Hi Richard, what cables do you use to connect Benro to Nikon? I see some 90 degrees reduction. Great video, greetings from the opposite side of the globe.
Thanks heaps for watching. I've tried numerous cables with the Polaris . .and most of them worked fine. I bought the little 90 degree adaptors from ebay. www.ebay.com.au/itm/283119862386?hash=item41eb424272:g:cCEAAOSwsKtixZNE
But since I had my unit repaired and sent back to me it seems to work best with a new cable they supplied called an OTG. It's a usb-c to usb-A female which then accepts a usb-A male to usb-c to go into the camera. I've also tried a few of these I had lying around and they all worked fine as well.
Thanks for the answer, it already works on good cables. So connecting a Nikon camera was an art, they should have a better manual. How is your unit after reparation?
So far it's working quite well.@@hibygg
Thank you for this video. A question : you use a two way caravan level item: is this item home made or can we buy such an item which we can screw on the tripod ? / Thank you
Thanks for watching. The nylon block is home made. But anything with a 3/8" female thread will work. The caravan bubble level is available everywhere. www.amazon.com.au/Leveler-Caravan-Trailer-Levelling-Indicator/dp/B09TDBLG71/ref=asc_df_B09TDBLG71/?tag=googleshopdsk-22&linkCode=df0&hvadid=606290820670&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11702858884091436394&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9071496&hvtargid=pla-1866186980316&psc=1
Thank you
Very honest review. Really appreciated!
Yes I think it's one of those devices that you either love or hate . .and sometimes that's in the same night out shooting ..!!!
Do you still use the polaris Richard? I use to use the ioptron tracker but sold it because I thought it was a pain to polar align. The polaris looks like it has a learning curve and some frustrating technical issues, but if these can be worked out through experience and bug fixes, I like the concept. Thanks for a great review.
Thanks for watching Rory. Yes I still have the Polaris. I primarily bought it for multi row tracked panoramas. . but I don't do a heap of those. For single shots I prefer the simplicity of the Sky Watcher or ioptron trackers. Have you seen my simple polar aligning video ..?? ruclips.net/video/5D_n6ZtsZ4o/видео.html
@@nightscapeimages.richard yes I did see that video and I do like the phone mount method for the star adventurer. Trying to decide between that and the Polaris. Thanks for the feedback
Awesome review. It really helped me and I found out it wasn’t just me not being able to turn it on. One question I have is around the RAW + JPEG settings. I have camera turned onto RAW + JPEG but the RAW files I get are inconsistent. Most of the time they are super small and sometimes I don’t get RAW. Have a Canon R6 II. Wondered if you had similar issues. I think this unit is worth persevering with. Thanks again and love those tracked panos.
That's a bit odd. I've not used any of the Canon R6 models so I don't have any experience with that. Make sure your jpegs are set to the smallest size available, otherwise the Polaris may take too long to show the preview on the phone .. this can interrupt panorama shooting etc.
The turning on sequence, man that’s jaw dropping bad. I’m curious if they reach out to you. - Cold weather? It’s made for night sky photography, best results below zero ℃. Cold weather should definitely be no issue.
Yes it is bad, and appears to be a known issue. I've had contact with Benro and they said it looks like it needs a new circuit board .. so I'll have to send it in for repair.
@@nightscapeimages.richard 🙈 The more over regulation, the less responsibility everywhere. A new device needs to have the MB exchanged, that’s crazy. Despite of todays must have quality certification. Regulations never will replace responsibility, certification never good paid employees getting sufficient sleep, centralism never individualism. That’s the point the globalists are reckoning without the host, the whole system will catastrophically fail, the question is not if, only when.
Yes I think you are right.@@rolandrick
hmmmm very very interesting...I was out with Levin Barrett a month ago, and he brought along his Benro Polaris, and I was keen to see this in action....well let's just say I'm not getting one!! Not until we can turn it on, and get the live view on the phone, and actually get it working!!! Took about half an hour....then it goes sideways cos the MW was right overhead us as it took so long to get it going, and the Polaris got a bit confused as to which way was right way up 😆. BUT. your images of the MW pano's are stunning, it would cut down editing times etc. But yeah I think I'll keep it KIS. I might get a Move shoot move if I wanted to get one...
Thanks for checking it out Carmel. It's a work in progress and I think many have had the same experience as Levin. I'd have a look at the Star Adventurer Mini .. it's awesome and compact.
Looks like you have had some frustrating fun out in the field Richard. I know that you have found the reason why you experienced the start up problems (faulty component in the Main Power Board) . Your images and tracking look really good with round stars. I did notice that in your panoramas that you went close to the top of the galaxy in the images. Do you think that this is due to the Pano Pro settings in that you were unable to determine where your camera was pointing for the END position? Is this a Nikon issue in that you can't see on the back of the camera where you are pointing? I use Bright Monitoring on my Sony a74 to see exactly where I am composing the image. In using the Benro Polaris and the Sony a74, for me they are very compatible in the field. 😎👍👌
Thanks Geoff. Yes in some cases I'm guessing a bit to know exactly where the top or bottom edges are when setting up the pano. But in some case I've actually cropped the top out a bit to make the foreground fit and look better. After all, for most of my images the foreground is just as important as the sky section. I think the fact that you can always see the camera screen with the Sony's is a great benefit . .however it seems that after talking with Keith . .there are a few issues that he has with the Sony that I've never had with the Nikon .. go figure. They all have some little niggles it seems.
Thanks Richard, Technical versus Art re the panorama compositions .... Good review of the Polaris. Keith's Sony is an older model than mine so he doesn't have all of the features of the newer model, hence the issues. We need clear skies up here so we can get out and shoot more with the Polaris 😎@@nightscapeimages.richard
Yes it's been generally pretty good down here. But a cold front moved in yesterday so we'll have to wait and see what eventuates. @@geoffsharpe6456
I was using a panning platform in place of the Benro Tripod spacer since it was not yet available back then and it allows for a manual panning during initial setup process. I am still waiting for the 2-star alignment as the current 1-star alignment requires a bit of back and forth adjustments for deep sky astrophotography. Not sure Benro will come through with all the promises on their software tho.
The power on issue is due to operator error (noob syndrome). It took me maybe a short minute to realize the short-long press combo to turn on the unit. Is never a good idea to do a product review until you really learn how to use the unit. BTW, after a long press to turn off the unit, an additional long press put the unit back to storage position.
Live View is available on my Canon in conjunction with the app on the phone. As for focusing, I use a magnetic Bahtinov filter to do the job before connecting to Benro. Is all about a proper workflow when doing astrophotography, this way you don't have to second guess if the focus is correct, or is it proper levelled or aligned.
I like the idea of Silence Corner Atoll mount, however it has compatibility issue with some of the lens (mostly L-series lenses). So I am staying with my L-brackets in combination with a quick release plate adapter.
Thanks so much for watching Joy. Your so called "Noob Syndrome" is way off the mark. My unit was sent back to Benro for repairs and they told me there was a faulty printed circuit board causing the power on issue . .furthermore, this is a well documented fault in many Polaris units.
So maybe I did learn how to use the unit before doing this review. It's very common for people to criticize others who have particular issues with units like this simply on the basis that it hasn't yet happened to them.
You should have also seen that the Live View is indeed visible on the app but not on the camera screen at the same time . .another well documented issue . .although not Benro's fault this time.
I stand by my comments that this is not s beginner friendly device, nor is is really suitable for deep sky photography. For wide field nightscape photography like I do it is quite adequate.
Hi, interesting video and quite honest too! I would like to use a Benro Polaris Astro Edition with a telescope for Deep Space photography, could I use it?
Thanks for watching Nelson. I have seen other people attempt that but I personally wouldn't use the Polaris for long focal length lenses. In my opinion you need a much more rigid mount with better tracking options.
Will be a great until once thw fix the bugs in the firmware. But not usable until that is fixed!
Yes the potential is enormous, but it isn't there yet. Thanks for watching.
Beautiful images sir.
I'm pleased you enjoyed the video David
Uff, man, first time one could really see your frustration. Still, very controlled handling of emotions there onscreen - good on ya!!
Did you encounter that the set start-end panorama angles wouldnt be used once your fire up the shooting. I had the device countless times rolling back to the opposed starting angles, but it was way over-rotating back. Which is one thing if it happens on a horizontal movement, but actually bringing your device into damaging position, if it overshoots the angle vertically. At some point one the rotating knobs started to grind into the tripod although I absolutely positively didn't put the device into that starting position at the beginning. Very weird and unreliable.
The other point of frustration was that I couldn't, for the life of me, make use of the "free program" mode. Regardless the key frames (of exposure, angles, iso) and interpolation types the device just wouldn't smoothly follow the set curves. It would stay put and not rotate, or interpolate any value, at all. Countless times of frustration...
Regarding the multirow tracked panoramas: did you manually setup the second, untracked, row or is there a way to edit tracking behavior between rows?
And did you use the internal stitcher or did you stitch in post?
Thanks for this episode, great value there!
Thanks for your encouragement. . I did take a lot of deep breathes and counted to 10 ..!!!! When you set the start and end point, and then the amount of overlap .. the Polaris works out how many rows are needed to cover that area. I didn't tell it to do 2 rows or columns . .it worked that out for itself. I didn't notice that it didn't go back to the start and end positions on this particular shoot but that actually did happen to me on one occasion. Not sure why.
The main reason I fitted that extra tripod base extension was to stop anything from being able to hit the tripod. I was able to shoot almost vertically with no issues. I have heard that sometimes when the panorama sequence is finished the unit can take a shortcut back to the starting position .. which means the opposite direction from where it started . .thus tangling or even worse tearing out the usb cable from the device. That hasn't happened to me. Although on one occasion the astro unit started turning mid panorama sequence which resulted in long star trails in the one minute exposure.
This thing can certainly have a mind of it's own sometimes.
PS: No I wouldn't dare try to stitch anything internally with the Polaris. That's a job for specialist software.
Thanks for taking the time, Richard. Much appreciated! 🙂👍
The Polaris is very interesting but probably too expensive for me, for my use. Unless they'll do a kickstarter for a v2 for a good price... 😀
Talking about Kickstarter and the need for near-perfect levelling: sounds like the upcoming Benro Theta Max tripod will be a good match for the Polaris for that reason!
Yes I think they want people to invest in the Theta as well . .but I wouldn't add anything else until they fix what's already out there. Thanks for watching.
@@nightscapeimages.richard I did sign up for a Theta Max and looking forward to eventually receiving one, with some delays.
I do hope the product will be less glitchy than the Benro Polaris, especially the camera control modules for time lapses!
Could you please let me know what is the bubble level device you used to level the tripod? Thanks
I used a caravan bubble level . .but this was attached to a nylon disc with a 3/8 thread to go on the tripod. This nylon item is home made. This is the caravan level. www.ebay.com.au/itm/143887758773?chn=ps&_ul=AU&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=705-139619-5960-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=143887758773&targetid=1278430613456&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9071496&poi=&campaignid=19649531412&mkgroupid=146789074798&rlsatarget=pla-1278430613456&abcId=9305371&merchantid=114888625&gclid=Cj0KCQjwj5mpBhDJARIsAOVjBdpr-w26txrYMI0nf9ZCkKDE75rDcp8RL5w4DJKHlQNM-lg53TkMTVEaAlsjEALw_wcB
Before you start shooting tracked shot. Do you have to manually focus the lens to infinity?
Yes you always have to have infinity focus to shoot the stars.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Thank you. What a about nodal rail? Do you need to use nodal rail when shooting pano on Benro Polaris to avoid parallax?
I never use a nodal rail. They are only useful for very close foreground objects.@@XDR2201
if the auto stitching is enabled how does it work? I've shot a test pano and all I have are the 16 panels? did I fail to flip a swtich or something?
I would never consider using the auto stitching feature. You're far better off doing that in post production. Polaris doesn't handle raw files well at all. All I get on the polaris are low res jpeg images . .and I'd never use those for anything.
Hello, have you had any problems with the Nikon Z and the Polaris when trying to shoot in Bulb mode for more than 1 minute?
No it has always worked fine for me. What is it doing for you ..???
Currently stuck with issues of having to provide a password. Does not proceed with an empty password. Curious to hear of others have resolved this and how. Cheers
I did create a password when I set mine up. Just make it really simple .. .as yet it hasn't asked me to provide it again.
@@nightscapeimages.richard that’s interesting. I didn’t provide any and it makes me enter one. Hope they iron out these issues.
in that lake shot the milky way reflection in the water is missing. thats a pity, bcz it would make the shot even better.
Yes I can see your point .. but if you look closer you'll realise that the main arch of the milky way would be out of shot anyway. The tops of the trees are at the shoreline Appreciate you watching.
I really would like one of these, I'm getting to the end of my sixties so want time saving gear. however, this is what one can get when certain companies copy things and reverse engineer stuff shoddily. I'll look for an update to this video, i love the time saving idea but don't want to by an expensive paperweight. This product was a crowd sourced idea...
Yes I think what you're saying is correct. If they bring out a mk 2 version it should be much better.
Thanks for the review Richard, have to say, enlightening, considering it's so pricey, it has so many probs, lol. It's way out of my price range, and sounds way too much hassle........ I mean I swear at my intervalometers sometimes, I think this device is beyond budget and patience 😂😂 thank you for the insight
I don't think I'd like to be around when you get angry Suzie ..!!! Thanks as always for watching.
@@nightscapeimages.richard it's not at people, just equipment,........ Mainly intervalometers😂 they are the bane of my astrophotography. I'm finally learning the advantages of being prepared beforehand with charged batteries etc, need to take an extra lens warmer
I actually think you're doing the short/long press too slowly judging by the video. I have never had a problem with a quick press swiftly followed by a long hold til it beeps. Actually, only once, and that was a cold night without an external battery attached - hooked up the battery and it fired straight up. I would suggest ALWAYS using a good high output external battery pack (in my set-up with a Sony camera the Polaris also powers the camera so the external pack means you can shoot all night).
I have yet to really do tracked MW panos as I usually have very close and complex foregrounds in my compositions so I prefer to capture everything in one go, but I have done some deep-sky with @ 200-400mm focal lengths. For MW panoramas it's the absolute bomb for me as I'm an impatient and greedy 😁photographer and like to get as many different compositions as I can in a night and the automation of this process is magic. It also means things like obvious planes or a car's headlights happening during a sequence are less of a pain because you can just run the sequence again. It's a complex device due to the 3 axis movement AND the camera integration (which seems to be great with Sony at least) and control. Sometimes I'm set up actually in the water and I can't have movement ruining reflections, so the remote app control is brilliant. It definitely is due some firmware and software updates (esp for 2-star alignment) but has otherwise done exactly what I wanted it to do (ie 20+ frame panoramas).
Thanks for your great comments Adam. The issue I had with the on/off switch was referred to Benro support and they eventually advised me that this is a known issue with faulty circuit boards. I returned my unit and they supplied a new one. No issues with that any more. I agree about the need for constant firmware upgrades.
I feel Richard you are getting into selling posters
Haha, I'm not sure exactly what you mean .. but I appreciate you watching again.
@nightscapeimages.richard well if your doing panno shots you must be thinking of selling posters now or big canvasses
Yes I have sold a few of those.@@treeman3663
Well, I'm sure there are less expensive paper weights out there ! :) Only joking ! Thank you for your detailed and fascinating insight to the Benro Polaris Auto Star Tracker
Way beyond my capabilities but I'm sure the future will solve the many glitches ......... just hide the razor blades for the time being ! :)
With the Star Adventurer 2, is it possible to do a panorama ? I imagine the foreground would be easy, its just aligning the tracked stars I'm not sure of
Regards,
............. Gary
............. AU
Thanks again for watching Gary. Yes you can do panoramas with any tracker . .the only difference with this unit is that you can automate the capture process.
I am living in the northern hemisphere, and I wished one of these companies eventually releases a product, which makes it easier to adjust it into the earths axis. Where I live, Polaris is often covered by clouds, whereas the rest of the sky is clearly visible and it’s not possible to adjust one of those things towards it. By today’s technology, once you think it should be possible to create one of these things based on the effect of Foucault’s Pendulum and the GPS position to turn it by it self into the earths rotation axis or at least having a monitor Helping to adjust it easier. That adjustment, that’s the most annoying and difficult thing on all of these devices. I think I should patent this idea instead of writing about it here.
I think that's a very valid wish Roland. It's a problem that we all have to face whenever we go out to shoot. And here in the Southern Hemisphere . .there is no pole star anyway.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Yes, we’re blessed north of the equator. South of it it’s even more difficult.
Interesting but, as you say, expensive if you aren’t shooting panos.
Yes it's a system I have a hard time recommending because of the high cost and potential faults as suggested in the video.
Your connection problems should have been sorted out by Benro. A simple WLAN button, like on Cameras, would have been the way to go. Even the Star Adventure 2i has a dedicated WLAN position. Disappointing that something so simple is not simple at all. Benro need to have a good think about this device.
I'm pretty sure they are scrambling quite a bit behind the scenes to sort out all the issues with the Polaris Michael. It has a lot of potential but I reckon quite a few photographers will give up on it before they sort everything out.
I was an early backer of this device and received a sizeable discount on my unit, but have become disillusioned with it. It has a high learning curve, only works on a cellphone (no tablet interfaces), cellphone screen too small, cannot view both camera and phone screen at the same time, way too expensive given other options, etc., etc., etc. Would I purchase again, hell no!!
I think a lot of people may share your assessment there Ron. Appreciate you watching.
The Polaris can be a pain to use.
Mine definitely is, but nowhere near yours ^^
Yes it was particularly bad on this night. I used it again last night and it started relatively quickly. But it has to go back for a circuit board repair. Thanks for watching.
@@nightscapeimages.richard it was a pleasure to watch :)
Hopefully, when the bord from your unit will be replaced, everything will work fine
In the near future, I’ll change my main camera, from Sony to sigma, I really hope everything will work as good :D
I don't know much about Sigma. I hope it goes well.@@kindjalkazad
I like the idea of the Polaris, and it seems like its pretty good for traveling to a site, but for as much money as this thing costs, I can get an ASIAir and a guidescope, and get better results anyway. Seems like this is trying to fill a gap in the market for beginner to intermediate level astrophotographers, but people at that stage of their journey in this hobby probably shouldnt be spending this much on a piece of kit.
Yes spot on... . and as I said in the video . .this tracker is not beginner friendly anyway.