How I Set Up The iOptron SkyTracker & Tips
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- Опубликовано: 14 июн 2017
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Cool, got the juices flowing, what was the exposure time/ISO of the MW with the tent on the sand - Thanks Mike
Hey the foreground with the tent was Nikon D800 sigma 35 1.4 at f 2.2 ISO 1600 Shutter 2 minutes - 4 times stacked to reduce the noise even more. The sky was D800 / 35 1.4 at F2.8 ISO 2000 Shutter 90 seconds. Images blended in photoshop.
Thanks for the settings info - appreciated! :)
Good stuff. Gonna try this soon after purchasing it and letting it sit for 2 years. :D
Great content
Best setup video made for this device.
Good stuff, thanks Mike!
Thanks for the info. Just picked up a skyguider pro
Very well done and straight to the point
Great stuff thank you Mike!
Hi Mike, I have iOptron SkyTracker Pro, I did some test with the Polaris alignment too. As you said for wide angle lenses there is no need to get perfect alignment. I got nice results even, without using the scope, seeing only the Polaris through the hole.
Yea I definitely do that too sometimes to save time! Thanks for sharing
Nice video!
Great vlog, thx for sharing, I just wonder how this ioptron moves to track, do you have to leave any knobs undone or do you tighten everything once lunar alignment is achieved? As I am in lockdown like the rest of us I want to make use of the clear skies we are getting right now
Good video. I like your comment about using a laser to point to polaris to make sure you are looking at the right star. I actually came to this conclusion several weeks ago when I had a hard time trying to determine if I was actually looking at polaris. I recently ordered a green laser but haven't had a chance to use it yet. I think it will also help in guiding you as you move the camera to different spots in the sky to let you know if you are in the right ballpark or not.
For sure, it definitely has improved my accuracy and speed for finding polaris through the scope. Take care and happy shooting!
Hi Mike, great video. I'm using the Skytracker since some time now with more or less success in combination with Fujifilm X-T20 and the 55-200 mm lens. I'm satisfied with the SkyTracker but only the illumination of the scale of the polarscope with the red LED is a real catastrophy. I help myself using the IPhone torch to adjust the polaris on the scale. Do you have ever need to adjust the illumination glas in the polar scope or do you recommend an adjustment? Thanks a lot Thomas
I have both the Mark 1 and Pro models since I travel quite a bit and I can't possibly carry my equatorial mounts with me. Plus, I have the Fornax LighTrack II as well and yes, it is heaps more accurate in tracking with an incredibly low periodic error, many times lower than equatorial mounts costing thousands. The Fornax is not cheap by any means, but if you need longer exposures and/or longer lenses, this is a good model to consider.
Thanks for sharing!!! cheers!
What ISO and time of exposure would you suggest ? Thanks.
Hi Mike, can i ask what LED torch you use to light up the foreground or is it a lantern of some kind.... Excellent video really excited to try this method... Cheers Mike
royston palmer I’m actually releasing a video on that. Here’s a my blog... milkywaymike.com/2019/03/10/flash-set-up-for-milky-way-selfie/#.XIaX-aQpCEc
@@Milkywaymike Thats great news thank you sir...
Excellent video, thanks! After previously reading the instructions and using the app I still couldn't figure out how to accurately polar align. So I just stuck polaris, or what I think is polaris (great idea with the laser) near the middle of the circle of the polar scope. Seems to be okay with a 50mm prime lens. So after levelling tripod/ioptron and doing latitude you simply put the polarscope in the right way up and get polaris as close to the green dot on the app rather than the centre?
Make sure you download polar scope app by iOptron. This will show you exactly where to place polaris on the scope since polaris is slightly off Earth's true axis. I use the green laser to verify that I am indeed looking at polaris then when I find it while looking in the polar scope I position polaris how it shows it on the iOptron App. You can see the little green cross they use in the sample pics.. that represents the north star for the inner circle and the larger circle is if you are in the southern hemisphere so you would use the south star. Make sure you tripod is level when doing all of this also! Hope this info helps itunes.apple.com/us/app/ioptron-polar-scope/id564078961?mt=8
Thanks for the reply, I will use the laser technique too!
I have a silly question. Does The ball head you attach to the ioptron has to be bought separately?
Sometimes you can buy a kit which includes a ball head otherwise you would have to get a separate ball head.... OR if you have a tripod and ball head you simply unscrew the ball head attach the ioptron directly too the 3/8 screw on the tripod base and then take the ball head and screw it on to the ioptron.
Hey, could you also include how to focus the stars to perfect crispness/quality? That's even more difficult to do than getting the mount polar aligned xD
Check out this ruclips.net/video/_JSV5HoGjGw/видео.html ... Focus at infinite during the day while shooting wide open and take a picture or mark it on your lens. At night use that as a reference and refine it by zooming in on a star at 100% on your LCD screen. Focus at sunset and tape your focus ring down so it is good to go at night. Focus on a flashlight 20-30 feet away at night to help you get an accurate focus.
You can get 1min subs with 300mm. You would need a counter weight kit tho
Hello Mike, I am a little confused with the positioning of the camera after you have placed it on the ioptron (after having aligned it for polaris). It looks like the camera is on backwards, or does it matter. After having aligned for the north star, does it matter which way you face the camera? I had thought you needed to face the camera in the same direction as the tracker. Thanks again for all your help.
John Smith The camera can face any direction it needs to after the tracker is polar aligned.
Great Video Mike! I tried using the laser pointer to spot what I thought was the polaris. However I didn't see any green dot / line in the sky and had to rely on my eyes. Is there a laser pointer that you'd recommend?
I use an Orion Skyline Deluxe which is a little pricey ($70) .. You may want to check out green laser pointers on B&H. www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&O=&Q=&ap=y&c3api=1876%2C%7Bcreative%7D%2C%7Bkeyword%7D&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqvvLBRDIARIsAMYuvBEvHLBlW1izDd-knDB66BN0L-FRvqJZ0IuAgr7E6AAdbLkYuPXmgv4aAqDaEALw_wcB&is=REG&m=Y&sku=1194651
Thanks for the tip mike! Will give it a try.
@@ramaswamyranganathan 2 years too late, but any $20 green laser off aliexpress or dhgate would work.
Suggestion for further hardware changes... use allen head cap screws, neater looking and easier access for adjustments with an allen wrench. Clear skies.
Hi Mike, Do you have any experience taking panorama photos with a tracker? For example using 35mm lense...This is chalenging for me. Have a nice day Jiri.
Jiri Jurczak it’s challenging for me as well.. I’m trying to figure an easier way to get tracked panos that stitch together without issues. As of now I just try to get enough overlap.. hopefully I come up with some ideas soon
I living in equator area. How to do the polar alignment before using this device? Once polar aligned, when attach dslr to the divice, will the attaching and locking motion will make the misalignment?
Are you in the northern or southern hemisphere? If in the north choose N on ioptron or S for south. Find the North or South Star depending where you are. You may have use constellations to help you find those stars. When you attach the DSLR you have to do it very gently. You may knock it out of alignment a little bit but it shouldn't be too noticeable unless you are using longer lenses or longer exposure times. I usually can go for 2 - 4 minutes before the stars start to get blurry.
Hello i wondering how YOU set scope on Polaris in the Day ;) and why not put the laser pointer right in the place of the scope?
Great point and I've definitely thought of that before too... I need to figure out how to accurately rig it so it would stay in the right position.
What is a problem from the top is a screw to set right position, maybe you need better laser pointer i suggest YL303. grerat powerfiul. u must check only diameter.If You dont wont buy a new ...You must put your laser in the tube if its diameter is too small and screw of course from the top.
Hey Mike! Do you take extra dark frames after your actual shots for the sky or foreground and blend those in post for less noise? Or do you just enable long exposure noise reduction on your camera?
Thanks in advance, and as alway great work mate :)
Hey I typically stack my tracked sky shots and stack my foreground as well.. then blend the 2 stacked images. The stacking reduces noise so I don't bother taking dark frames. I sometimes apply a slight noise reduction in Lightroom as well
I imagine that stacking foreground would not be possible for a timelapse though?
You could mask out a static foreground that is a stacked and just have the sky in motion
similar to this ruclips.net/video/ZDS26CT-CTE/видео.html
Mike, stacking only reduces photon and possibly colour noise, but not read noise in the form of hot pixels. These can be removed by the dark frames. Unless of course, you only shoot a couple of low ISO, short exposures, then possibly there won't even be any hot pixels. In this case, sure, you can dispense with the dark frames.
what settings are you getting the best results with? I just got an ioptron and only had 1 good night of testing. I didn't see a huge improvement over stacking but I need more clear nights to play.
Joe Choi I typically use F3.2 to F4 to reduce coma at ISO 2000 to 3200. My shutter will vary between 1-4 minutes. I’ll stack my track shots. The greatest benefit of the tracker will be seen with mid-telephoto lenses.
ok thanks, i was in the outer banks last weekend but the tracker hadn't come in yet. you ever consider a meetup somewhere?
Does the 'wedge' assembly really have that much slop in it? at 3:23 I see the whole tracker tilting and moving relative to the tripod.
Unfortunately for my iOptron it does... I'm not sure it is from wear and tear, a defect or if all of the units have that issue.
As well, attach your camera BEFORE aligning. That will get you as close as possible with less effort
Hey! Can I screw the tracker in a cheap tripod which has a tripod plate instead of a removable head?
If you can attach a 3/8" step-up thread on your quick release plate.
@@Milkywaymike thank you so much!!!
Your copy looks looks shaky compared to mine. With the axes locked-down, I don't get noticeable play from the Ioptron. I wouldn't try to tighten the ball head with it bolted to the device as you've done. That would torque the motor and bushings. The platform is removable so you can mount the ball head tightly without torquing the drive mechanism. You could use set screws with allen sockets so you could tighten them more effectively yet still remove the mount easily. The battery compartment and door on this tracker is incredibly badly designed and I look forward to replacing mine.
Yeah, my iOptron is extremely shaky and I had to do several "Macgyver" modifications to make it work properly. Thanks for the tips I will definitely give them a shot
How robust is it the design looks a bit flimsy. For probably a little bit more I might go for the FORNAX 10 LighTrack II this is supposed to have a peak-to-peak unguided tracking error of around 2 arcseconds. The design looks pretty solid but I've never had the chance to try either one.
Yes the Ioptron is not the most stable star tracker out there... It is easy to get knocked out of alignment when moving your camera into position so I recommend the Ioptron for wide angle astrophotography mostly. People have shot deep space objects with Ioptron however it is not the easiest tracker to use for deep space photography. The Fornax looks nice but cost more I believe. If you are trying to get into deep space then you definitely want to invest into a better tracker. My ioptron is great for traveling and wide angle (milky way) photography mostly. Hope this helps.
Thanks for the reply and good tips. I've got a fairly decent Celestron CG5GT mount for my telescope and lenses but unfortunately its not really portable my skies are badly light polluted. I do need a portable driven mount that can take about 3KG of load a canon 300mm f2.8 LIS 2.5kg + one of my canon bodies.
I also use the sky watcher star adventurer for larger lenses. I just got it a few months ago and only shot orian so far.. but it is more solid than ioptron and slightly bigger. I think it may be more portable then a larger tracker and can still handle the weight of large lenses. amzn.to/2sU3Z8R
That looks great thanks again. I'm in the UK I just checked it out there seems to be some good deals on that star adventurer as a bundle you get the the tripod wedge, counterweight and mounting brackets all for £275. Had a look through some of your other videos great channel you got going!
Appreciate it, thanks and good luck!
What should i do if i cant find Polaris in the sky?
Akil Brathwaite why can’t you find it?
@@Milkywaymike Polaris is low to the horizon in Barbados so it's usually obstructed by low clouds or by hills
It looks like this nice, slim, sturdy model of the Skytracker is no longer available.
Slim.. YES... Sturdy, not so much. This older version is not too good which is why they updated it. Mostly the locks that hold it in place are really bad and easily get knocked out of alignment. However another company has a slim version similar to this called Vixen Polarie: amzn.to/2P9OXCu
Please dont do this green laser trick thing everywhere on the east coast , specially if you're a tourist . if it accidentally lights up an ongoing aircraft , the FAA/local pd will track you down and make your life a living hell. (A friend of mine has faced serious charges for this)
Do NOT use the app that ioptron makes you buy, there's a free one called PS align, that is FREE and is MORE accurate. You also need to mention how to PROPERLY focus the polar scope AND the fact that there is parallax error that CANNOT be adjusted out. This is CRITICAL for shooting longer focal lengths without trailing, regardless of PE
Why are they so expensive :(
Do you have a apple computer? A great / cheap alternative is to use a program like Starry Landscape Stacker to track and stack night images to make your pictures a lot cleaner. The program was 20.. but I think they raised the price to 30 bucks. Way cheaper than a tracker. Although if you compare a 300 dollar tracker to lenses and camera bodies it is relatively inexpensive and will outlast your camera body.
Milky Way Mike Nah. Im using windows. Currently stacking my stars in Photoshop. Would be nice to have a tracker but it's just not worth the money for the few occasions I would use it
Yeah, I done the photoshop stacking and it can be tedious! If you don't shoot the night sky too often or aren't trying to sell your night images than the tracker may not be worth it. Hey instead of photoshop you may want to check out Deep Sky Stacker. Take a picture of your foreground subject than aim your camera at the sky and take several exposures and use Deep Sky Stacker. I think that it will track and align the milky way for you. Then you can blend the sky with the foreground in photoshop.
Milky Way Mike Thanks I'll try that!
How does Starry Landscape Stacker deal with a foreground? This sounds like interesting software...