Very nice review, Walt! With my set-up, I needed to hand-cut a gasket from a rubber sheet that I bought at a hardware store and use that between the Nomad and anything connected to it. That helped to eliminated some slippage problem I had with heavier equipment. I think the rubber mat provided with the Nomad connection plate was a little too thin for my needs. Just a little tip for anyone encountering the same issue. Clear skies!
Don't forget to tighten the little setscrew inside the nose plate, helps prevent rotation of whatever you mount on the front (ball head, Y or Z plate). I've been impressed with how well the Nomad handles 4-5 lb loads as they rotate completely off balance during long runs of deep sky shots, aligned with the polar scope. It is very stable and seems to have little to no periodic error. It may not be meant for DSO, but it can handle moderate focal lengths.
@@yannickfillon3851 Running m4/3 Olympus cameras, I've had good results with the 40-150/2.8 at 150mm - that's 300mm full frame equivalent. I tried the 300/f4 (600 ff) and while it handled the weight ok, it's just too much focal length for a lightweight tracker, getting stretched stars and prone to any vibrations. I mostly use a Skywatcher GTI for deep sky.
Haven't tried the nomad (yet) but I've been using the Gen 2 of the MSM rotator since 2020. It is not designed for longer focal lengths or heavier lenses, but it is absolutely brilliant for wide-angle and nightscapes. I still use mine alot with a DSLR and a 16-35mm lens.
Great review, Walt. I’ve been blown away by my Nomad so far - I love the compact, lightweight nature, the fact it’s so simple to use and so far for me (up to 2 minute exposures at 50mm with laser alignment) it’s given me pinpoint stars. Big fan here.
My laser and scope were way off when I got mine (trails at 40sec with an 18mm). re-aligning the laser was easy, but broke the lens in the scope trying to fix it. I also found the 3 different mounts were all a bit different for alignment (cellphone, just laser, and the laser+scope)... really like the nomad, but it's been bit frustrating for a beginner like me
Great instructional video! You clearly explained the process to correctly assemble and use the Nomad MSM tracker, that even a 3-year-old could easily follow! Thanks. I thought the phone setup alignment with the North Celestial Pole was supposedly more accurate than aligning with Polaris using the laser pointer. Seeing the results of your photos proved that assumption to be incorrect. I definitely will use your code when I purchase the MSM NOMAD and its accessories in the near future. Given the choice would you recommend purchasing the Z-mount instead, plus the laser scope to go along with the laser pointer?
Great content Walt, jus back home to the UK after taking my SW 2i with 135mm and 14mm on the Milky Way in Portugal - was is the weight limit as would be to know of the 135mm Samyang could on top ? :-)
0:31 i went to that state recently just came back from it tried to take some astro stuff but i was in a backyard that was light polluted home had less of it 3:18 i have the same tripod for my small and only setup ok done watching and i might use this if i ever get a upgrade on my gear cuz im planning to maybe do that in dec when orion starts coming up
Hi just watched this video thanks for the review, I’m a total newbie at trackers etc I’m a landscape photographer but looking at photographing the Milky Way here in the uk any tips on my gear, Nikon z6ii & sigma 20mm f1.8 thank you
Greetings, Walt, have enjoyed your channel for a year now. I have graduated from a superzoom canon shooting milky way timelapse to a Nikon D3200 which I intend to use in NM for the upcoming new moon.The timelapse videos I was able to create were not outstanding, lol, but they were cool for me, embracing this hobby at this stage of my life. Is this tracker just for still image photography or can a person do timelapse of some kind? I confess I am confused, it seems any timelapse would not be smooth since the stars move much farther if I tried to create a sequential series of longer exposures, etc. I am just wondering if this is useful for anything besides still imagery. I read it doesn't have a lunar setting so it basically only for star tracking, thanks for any response.
@@alexsaptetreiwouldn’t or would? Sometimes youtubers drop words to drive engagement I guess it worked… as he got a query on the unit and the. You piped up. And I piped up hahaha….
Hey Walt shouldn’t the phone be perpendicular to the axis of the wedge? So perpendicular to Polaris, for best results, I see Richard Titti doing this in his video. I think it should improve your results with the tracker.
The V/Z mounts on top of the tracker can rotate east and west and point up and down. You cannot pan your camera left and right though. This results in the camera always being right side up when pointed north or south, but rotated 90 degrees into portrait mode when trying to shoot east or west. The ballhead solves this problem.
@@deltaastrophotography i would send you mine to review it and then send it back, but shipping across continents could end up costing a fortune so you'd be better off just buying one 🤷♂️
I have a problem, I have a Sony a7iv and a 20mm 1.8 g lens. I saw in tutorials that they set the exposure time to even 2 or 3 minutes and there are no star trails. I set it to a minute or a minute and 20 seconds and the stars start to blur. I don't know where the problem is. I choose the polar star from the stellarium application, I have a phone mount for MSM.
@@end_theinflu You just need to get more accurate polar alignment. I think the most accurate is the polar scope. Second would be the laser and final would be the phone. Using a polar align app on the phone would probably work better than Stellarium.
Very nice review, Walt! With my set-up, I needed to hand-cut a gasket from a rubber sheet that I bought at a hardware store and use that between the Nomad and anything connected to it. That helped to eliminated some slippage problem I had with heavier equipment. I think the rubber mat provided with the Nomad connection plate was a little too thin for my needs. Just a little tip for anyone encountering the same issue. Clear skies!
Don't forget to tighten the little setscrew inside the nose plate, helps prevent rotation of whatever you mount on the front (ball head, Y or Z plate). I've been impressed with how well the Nomad handles 4-5 lb loads as they rotate completely off balance during long runs of deep sky shots, aligned with the polar scope. It is very stable and seems to have little to no periodic error. It may not be meant for DSO, but it can handle moderate focal lengths.
Good to know! how big of a lens did you manage to mount?
@@yannickfillon3851 Running m4/3 Olympus cameras, I've had good results with the 40-150/2.8 at 150mm - that's 300mm full frame equivalent. I tried the 300/f4 (600 ff) and while it handled the weight ok, it's just too much focal length for a lightweight tracker, getting stretched stars and prone to any vibrations. I mostly use a Skywatcher GTI for deep sky.
Wake up babe, Walt just dropped another banger
YES YES YES
Haven't tried the nomad (yet) but I've been using the Gen 2 of the MSM rotator since 2020. It is not designed for longer focal lengths or heavier lenses, but it is absolutely brilliant for wide-angle and nightscapes. I still use mine alot with a DSLR and a 16-35mm lens.
Great review, Walt. I’ve been blown away by my Nomad so far - I love the compact, lightweight nature, the fact it’s so simple to use and so far for me (up to 2 minute exposures at 50mm with laser alignment) it’s given me pinpoint stars. Big fan here.
Many thanks! I just purchased the starter kit with your code.
Man ! Absolutely love your channel !
@@skylight1order2008 Thank you!!
Thank you so much for taking the time to make this video. This helps me a lot!❤️❤️
My laser and scope were way off when I got mine (trails at 40sec with an 18mm). re-aligning the laser was easy, but broke the lens in the scope trying to fix it. I also found the 3 different mounts were all a bit different for alignment (cellphone, just laser, and the laser+scope)... really like the nomad, but it's been bit frustrating for a beginner like me
Great video! Is it possible to do hyperlapses with your camera's built-in time-lapse feature and this product?
Thanks for all your useful educational videos, and we are waiting for an educational video about ifn dust, how to shoted it and process
Just ordered, thanks for the code and the inspiration.
Great review Walt
Looks a handy little portable unit
Cheers Simon
Great instructional video! You clearly explained the process to correctly assemble and use the Nomad MSM tracker, that even a 3-year-old could easily follow! Thanks. I thought the phone setup alignment with the North Celestial Pole was supposedly more accurate than aligning with Polaris using the laser pointer. Seeing the results of your photos proved that assumption to be incorrect. I definitely will use your code when I purchase the MSM NOMAD and its accessories in the near future.
Given the choice would you recommend purchasing the Z-mount instead, plus the laser scope to go along with the laser pointer?
Hey Walt, thanks for the review!! What lens were you using for your Colorado landscapes please?
Great content Walt, jus back home to the UK after taking my SW 2i with 135mm and 14mm on the Milky Way in Portugal - was is the weight limit as would be to know of the 135mm Samyang could on top ? :-)
0:31 i went to that state recently just came back from it tried to take some astro stuff but i was in a backyard that was light polluted home had less of it
3:18 i have the same tripod for my small and only setup
ok done watching and i might use this if i ever get a upgrade on my gear cuz im planning to maybe do that in dec when orion starts coming up
Already know several people that can use this 😎Make sure everyone shares the video to other media platforms. It'll get Walt's channel out there . 🎉
Hi just watched this video thanks for the review, I’m a total newbie at trackers etc I’m a landscape photographer but looking at photographing the Milky Way here in the uk any tips on my gear, Nikon z6ii & sigma 20mm f1.8 thank you
Greetings, Walt, have enjoyed your channel for a year now. I have graduated from a superzoom canon shooting milky way timelapse to a Nikon D3200 which I intend to use in NM for the upcoming new moon.The timelapse videos I was able to create were not outstanding, lol, but they were cool for me, embracing this hobby at this stage of my life. Is this tracker just for still image photography or can a person do timelapse of some kind? I confess I am confused, it seems any timelapse would not be smooth since the stars move much farther if I tried to create a sequential series of longer exposures, etc. I am just wondering if this is useful for anything besides still imagery. I read it doesn't have a lunar setting so it basically only for star tracking, thanks for any response.
Niceeeee! I own a tiny SAM so I won’t buy the Nomad - but it’s a 100% recommendation for anybody searching a nice small tracker I‘d say!
3.5 g? Or kg?😅
@@harimadhav8846 kg! Ha! I'm so American
I was going to ask the same thing. Greetings from Chile 🇨🇱
If you have a common sense you would ask this auestion
@@alexsaptetreiwouldn’t or would?
Sometimes youtubers drop words to drive engagement I guess it worked… as he got a query on the unit and the. You piped up. And I piped up hahaha….
Hey Walt shouldn’t the phone be perpendicular to the axis of the wedge? So perpendicular to Polaris, for best results, I see Richard Titti doing this in his video. I think it should improve your results with the tracker.
Very cool! Thanks.
The Mary Tyler Moore comment literally made me lol
thanks man ,good show
Great review!
How long is that discount valid for? Ill pick one ip after my trip this weekend.
Hi ! I don’t understand the point to keep the ballhead when you have the V or Z mount on top of the tracker ?
The V/Z mounts on top of the tracker can rotate east and west and point up and down. You cannot pan your camera left and right though. This results in the camera always being right side up when pointed north or south, but rotated 90 degrees into portrait mode when trying to shoot east or west. The ballhead solves this problem.
@@deltaastrophotography sounds very clear to me now, many thx !
you should compare it with the vixen polarie, would be an interesting vid
@@fadi-safar if I can get them to send me one I absolutely will!
@@deltaastrophotography i would send you mine to review it and then send it back, but shipping across continents could end up costing a fortune so you'd be better off just buying one 🤷♂️
Would be an insta buy for me if they had a vendor inside the EU (they only have a warehouse in the EU).
I have a problem, I have a Sony a7iv and a 20mm 1.8 g lens. I saw in tutorials that they set the exposure time to even 2 or 3 minutes and there are no star trails. I set it to a minute or a minute and 20 seconds and the stars start to blur. I don't know where the problem is. I choose the polar star from the stellarium application, I have a phone mount for MSM.
@@end_theinflu You just need to get more accurate polar alignment. I think the most accurate is the polar scope. Second would be the laser and final would be the phone. Using a polar align app on the phone would probably work better than Stellarium.
payload of 3,5 grams? :D
@@perstale2 I know. I'm never going to live that one down 😂
@@deltaastrophotography Im on APSC so i guess i'll manage ;) Jokes aside, thanks for the review, i recieved mine today and cant wait to try it out!
Okay.
I can get 300 seconds out of a normal msm