Hey Daniel! I'm sorry it took you 12829 videos to get to mine! But I'm super happy that you enjoyed the video and took something from it! Thank you for taking the time to leave an awesome comment. Hope you have an awesome day!
So glad I stumbled on to your channel! This was very straightforward and informative, thank you for taking the time to put this out there. Awesome video
Hey there! Thank you so much for the kind words! I am very happy that you enjoyed the video! If you haven't done so already, mind subscribing to our channel?
Hey bud, thanks for being a great resource for this awesome little budget tracker. As you know, their documentation is real sketchy. Your videos tho? Aces! 😺 Thanks so much.
Neil, many thanks sir! I'm elated that you enjoyed the video and found it useful! I wish you all the clear skies, my friend! Happy shooting and enjoy the MSM!
@@319Photography i have a question… can i screw MSM directly on tripod and Then use ballhead on The tracking side? Thank you for reply! Appriciate it❤️
@@jaypissb Absolutely, you *can* screw the MSM directly to the tripod base (with an adapter for the thread), however, doing so will make alignment near, if not fully, impossible. You could attach the MSM directly to a tripod base and use if for the purposes of doing time-lapse video, but for wide field astro it will not work. In the video, I showed using the "Z" brackets that MSM makes. There is an alternative way where you would connect the MSM via a ball-head to the tripod and then connect the camera to the MSM via another ball head. I am not the biggest fan of that method because when you release the locks on the ball head, the movement of the ball head is too free and will not allow for precise movement during alignment. A second option would be to use a "alt-azimuth base" or sometimes referred to as a "wedge" base to connect the camera to the tripod. A wedge base is geared and allows for extremely precise movement both vertically and laterally. These bases are slower in movement and a bit bulky. But, they really are a great investment. I hope this helps! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask! Have an awesome day!
Cool video, and thank you for putting it together. I must be missing a basic concept, though.. I understand the whole alignment of the tracker, etc, but then afterwards how would you align your camera to point at the composition of the subject/milky way without throwing the alignment of the MSM tracker off..?? As I said, I'm sure it's pretty easy, but I'm just not grasping that concept of how to compose your camera without throwing off the tracker.. Cheers from Canada
That's exactly correct, Aaron. I'd suggest orienting your camera in the general direction you intend to shoot then aligning the MSM. That way you minimize the amount of movement needed to compose your camera and reduce the chance you disturb alignment! Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@319Photography thanks for the reply, and thanks for the video very simple to understand for setting up a MSM tracker. Now I need some clear weather to go and practise, but I’m in England 🌧
You don't mention the tricky part - actually pointing the camera to the object you are interested in (and can see with the naked eye). The difficulty is that the camera which is mounted on the ballhead which is mounted on the rotator can only be moved 90 degrees and with the rotator axis polar aligned this means that anything in the northern sky higher than Polaris cannot be reached. I think one needs a V-plate in addition.
Hey Nervenerd! Thanks so much for watching the video and for your comment. When I produced this video, my goal was to illustrate the setup of the MSM rotator for the purposes of Milky Way photography. In that case, orienting the camera is not an issue whatsoever. I don't think I made that extremely clear. As for the points you made, you are correct about the difficulty of photographing objects higher than Polaris in the night sky. With the MSM "Z" brackets that I showed in the video, you could orient the camera to the north easily. The "Z" brackets allow for full horizontal and vertical tilting of the camera. They really are pretty useful. I find them to be a bit easier to use versus a ball head because you can adjust each axis separately. Therefore, the "Z" brackets allow for a bit more control than what a ball head will allow. I hope this information helps. I'd love to hear more of your thoughts. Thanks again for the comment! Have an awesome day!
I didnt know pointing to zenith is not possible (unless you buy a second Z bracket (?)) Thanks for that information. However, mostly we keep shooting the milkyway WITH foreground like a see, mountains or a building etc. therefore you dont need to point the lens towards zenith. And Orion and Andromeda are also not that high (depending on the season). And for deep sky objects anyway a wide lens is too wide.. And a telescope too heavy for the MSM.
Hello, and thanks for this tutorial. I have ordered my MSM and should get it soon. A few questions: 1. Have you ever used the MSM "wedge base"? If so, is one better than the other? (wedge v Z mount). 2. Have you ever used the tracker with the broad flat side secured to your Z base (similar to the way you have it connected to demo the settings)? 3. What focal length do you normally use for your milky way photos? Thanks again.
Hey David! Thanks for taking the time to comment! I'll gladly answer your questions. 1. I have used an MSM wedge base and do own one. I find it very easy to use. Much more useful than using a ball head. I used the Z platform in the video, but really the wedge base works just as well! 2. I have not use my tracker in that manner, but it can certainly be done. Advantages for doing so would likely be more stability, but I would imagine alignment and subsequent composition for the image would be difficult. 3. My go to focal length is 20mm with my Sigma 20mm 1.4 lens, however, I have shot (tracked with the MSM) the Milky Way at 35mm, 50mm, and 70mm. More times than not, it's the 20mm. I hope that helps! If you have more questions, feel free to ask!
@@319Photography Hello Keith can you please expand on question #2, you stated that "I would imagine alignment and subsequent composition for the image would be difficult." Why? I am just curious. I own the MSM and Z bracket and looking for the best setup.
Hey there! The laser pointer is accurate and works just fine for wide field astro (Milky way imaging). The laser is faster and less hassle than the polar scope. For DSO, as much as one can photograph DSO with the MSM, use the polar scope.
@Kowalski K. "wide field" in this context is any wide angle image of the night sky that captured a large section of the night sky. For example, I often use a 20mm lens to track the Milky Way and the stars. If I were to say use a 400mm lens to capture a DSO, for example, that would not be "wide field" astrophotography.
Where do you point the camera after polar aligment? Say tracker pointer north, but Milky Way rises from south east. Camera is almost 90 degree to the tracker. I’m new to MSM, if this sounds like a stupid question.
No worries and not a stupid question! Make sure you have a ball head on your MSM so you can mount your camera to it. Then you can orient the camera however you'd like. If the Milky Way is your target, then the camera should be facing the S / ESE /SE (depending on the time of year). Your ball head likely has a notch in it that will allow you to position the camera and level it. I hope this helps!
How do I capture the Milky Way arching from one horizon to another horizon, using my 14mm lens. I have to take 6-8 different frames when not using any skytracker.
Thanks for the explanation! I just received the MSM and tried using it last night on my roof. Ofc I pointed it at the wrong star and it didn't work. The night was pretty clear but I live in a dense city so it was hard to spot Polaris. Anyway you said the MSM is dead silence when it's going, but I can hear a faint kind of beeping sound coming out of it, is that normal?
So this is basically for wide sky only? I can't use 135mm or the 100 to 300 and get even stackable images of Andromeda Galaxy? or Orion's nebula? Or other clusters? Just large wide open shots? I ask you because you are the most recent upload on this, and actually show the 2 speed settings. And on your other video of the ioptron, it's basically the same, 1 speed. I don't plan on getting a longer lens, and am used to stacking. Was hoping this would work to get bigger pics to stack. A 50mm just doesn't have the same detail once it's cropped down. Thanks~
Hey! So, good news - to a degree. The MSM can support telephoto lenses up to 300mm. BUT, the caveat is two fold: 1) the MSM rotator has a payload capacity of 6.6lbs and 2) MSM says that when used with a telephoto lens, the optimal focal length is 135mm. All of that said, if you use a 300mm lens (or below) that fits within the weight capacity, you're golden. I hope that helps!
Hey there! Thanks for watching and commenting! For any tracker, having a stable tripod that is sturdy enough to support the weight of your tracker, camera, and lens is extremely important. For wide field astrophotography, however, an exactly level tripod isn't that important. Close to level will do. Typically I 'eyeball' it as far as leveling the tripod is concerned and have zero issues. Thanks again for taking the time to watch and comment. Have an awesome day! :)
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
Wow , i watched 12829 Videos about this thing. Your Video was the best! Thanks for this.
best regards from germany dude!
Hey Daniel!
I'm sorry it took you 12829 videos to get to mine! But I'm super happy that you enjoyed the video and took something from it! Thank you for taking the time to leave an awesome comment.
Hope you have an awesome day!
Thankyou really enjoyed your video.J
Thank you John! I appreciate your comment!
Great video really helpful, congrats
Thank you!!
So glad I stumbled on to your channel! This was very straightforward and informative, thank you for taking the time to put this out there. Awesome video
Hey there! Thank you so much for the kind words! I am very happy that you enjoyed the video! If you haven't done so already, mind subscribing to our channel?
@@319Photography did that about halfway through the video.Looking forward to more content in the future
Beautiful explanation!
Thank you!!!
Hey bud, thanks for being a great resource for this awesome little budget tracker.
As you know, their documentation is real sketchy.
Your videos tho?
Aces! 😺
Thanks so much.
Neil, many thanks sir! I'm elated that you enjoyed the video and found it useful!
I wish you all the clear skies, my friend! Happy shooting and enjoy the MSM!
Thanks for sharing! I personally only use one V mount to make the whole setup simple.
I completely agree! One z mount can work just fine!
best video on youtube. you earned a sub!
Thank you!! That's pretty high praise, but I won't turn it down!
Seriously though, thanks for watching, commenting, and subscribing!
@@319Photography i have a question… can i screw MSM directly on tripod and Then use ballhead on The tracking side? Thank you for reply! Appriciate it❤️
@@jaypissb Absolutely, you *can* screw the MSM directly to the tripod base (with an adapter for the thread), however, doing so will make alignment near, if not fully, impossible. You could attach the MSM directly to a tripod base and use if for the purposes of doing time-lapse video, but for wide field astro it will not work.
In the video, I showed using the "Z" brackets that MSM makes. There is an alternative way where you would connect the MSM via a ball-head to the tripod and then connect the camera to the MSM via another ball head. I am not the biggest fan of that method because when you release the locks on the ball head, the movement of the ball head is too free and will not allow for precise movement during alignment.
A second option would be to use a "alt-azimuth base" or sometimes referred to as a "wedge" base to connect the camera to the tripod. A wedge base is geared and allows for extremely precise movement both vertically and laterally. These bases are slower in movement and a bit bulky. But, they really are a great investment.
I hope this helps! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!
Have an awesome day!
Cool video, and thank you for putting it together. I must be missing a basic concept, though..
I understand the whole alignment of the tracker, etc, but then afterwards how would you align your camera to point at the composition of the subject/milky way without throwing the alignment of the MSM tracker off..??
As I said, I'm sure it's pretty easy, but I'm just not grasping that concept of how to compose your camera without throwing off the tracker..
Cheers from Canada
So once the MSM is aligned can I then tilt and pan the camera depending on where I want to shoot ? Providing the MSM hasn’t moved
That's exactly correct, Aaron. I'd suggest orienting your camera in the general direction you intend to shoot then aligning the MSM. That way you minimize the amount of movement needed to compose your camera and reduce the chance you disturb alignment!
Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@319Photography thanks for the reply, and thanks for the video very simple to understand for setting up a MSM tracker. Now I need some clear weather to go and practise, but I’m in England 🌧
Thanks for the clear explanation. Can it also track planets, that rotate at a different speed from the stars?
You don't mention the tricky part - actually pointing the camera to the object you are interested in (and can see with the naked eye). The difficulty is that the camera which is mounted on the ballhead which is mounted on the rotator can only be moved 90 degrees and with the rotator axis polar aligned this means that anything in the northern sky higher than Polaris cannot be reached. I think one needs a V-plate in addition.
Hey Nervenerd! Thanks so much for watching the video and for your comment.
When I produced this video, my goal was to illustrate the setup of the MSM rotator for the purposes of Milky Way photography. In that case, orienting the camera is not an issue whatsoever. I don't think I made that extremely clear.
As for the points you made, you are correct about the difficulty of photographing objects higher than Polaris in the night sky. With the MSM "Z" brackets that I showed in the video, you could orient the camera to the north easily. The "Z" brackets allow for full horizontal and vertical tilting of the camera. They really are pretty useful. I find them to be a bit easier to use versus a ball head because you can adjust each axis separately. Therefore, the "Z" brackets allow for a bit more control than what a ball head will allow.
I hope this information helps. I'd love to hear more of your thoughts.
Thanks again for the comment! Have an awesome day!
I didnt know pointing to zenith is not possible (unless you buy a second Z bracket (?)) Thanks for that information.
However, mostly we keep shooting the milkyway WITH foreground like a see, mountains or a building etc. therefore you dont need to point the lens towards zenith. And Orion and Andromeda are also not that high (depending on the season).
And for deep sky objects anyway a wide lens is too wide.. And a telescope too heavy for the MSM.
Hello, and thanks for this tutorial. I have ordered my MSM and should get it soon. A few questions:
1. Have you ever used the MSM "wedge base"? If so, is one better than the other? (wedge v Z mount).
2. Have you ever used the tracker with the broad flat side secured to your Z base (similar to the way you have it connected to demo the settings)?
3. What focal length do you normally use for your milky way photos?
Thanks again.
Hey David!
Thanks for taking the time to comment! I'll gladly answer your questions.
1. I have used an MSM wedge base and do own one. I find it very easy to use. Much more useful than using a ball head. I used the Z platform in the video, but really the wedge base works just as well!
2. I have not use my tracker in that manner, but it can certainly be done. Advantages for doing so would likely be more stability, but I would imagine alignment and subsequent composition for the image would be difficult.
3. My go to focal length is 20mm with my Sigma 20mm 1.4 lens, however, I have shot (tracked with the MSM) the Milky Way at 35mm, 50mm, and 70mm. More times than not, it's the 20mm.
I hope that helps! If you have more questions, feel free to ask!
@@319Photography Hello Keith can you please expand on question #2, you stated that "I would imagine alignment and subsequent composition for the image would be difficult." Why? I am just curious. I own the MSM and Z bracket and looking for the best setup.
Thank you for a very clear tutorial! You made it easy for me to set up my MSM,
That's awesome! I'm super happy you found the video helpful! Enjoy your MSM! I'd love to see what you come up with while shooting!
Hi, I am wondering why you use the laser pointer but not the polarscope for polar alignment. How precise is the laser pointer?
Hey there! The laser pointer is accurate and works just fine for wide field astro (Milky way imaging). The laser is faster and less hassle than the polar scope.
For DSO, as much as one can photograph DSO with the MSM, use the polar scope.
@@319Photography So when you say "wide field" what exactly do you mean? Where is the focal length limit? Thank you
@Kowalski K. "wide field" in this context is any wide angle image of the night sky that captured a large section of the night sky. For example, I often use a 20mm lens to track the Milky Way and the stars. If I were to say use a 400mm lens to capture a DSO, for example, that would not be "wide field" astrophotography.
Where do you point the camera after polar aligment? Say tracker pointer north, but Milky Way rises from south east. Camera is almost 90 degree to the tracker. I’m new to MSM, if this sounds like a stupid question.
No worries and not a stupid question! Make sure you have a ball head on your MSM so you can mount your camera to it. Then you can orient the camera however you'd like.
If the Milky Way is your target, then the camera should be facing the S / ESE /SE (depending on the time of year). Your ball head likely has a notch in it that will allow you to position the camera and level it.
I hope this helps!
How do I capture the Milky Way arching from one horizon to another horizon, using my 14mm lens. I have to take 6-8 different frames when not using any skytracker.
Thanks for the explanation! I just received the MSM and tried using it last night on my roof. Ofc I pointed it at the wrong star and it didn't work. The night was pretty clear but I live in a dense city so it was hard to spot Polaris. Anyway you said the MSM is dead silence when it's going, but I can hear a faint kind of beeping sound coming out of it, is that normal?
So this is basically for wide sky only? I can't use 135mm or the 100 to 300 and get even stackable images of Andromeda Galaxy? or Orion's nebula? Or other clusters? Just large wide open shots?
I ask you because you are the most recent upload on this, and actually show the 2 speed settings. And on your other video of the ioptron, it's basically the same, 1 speed. I don't plan on getting a longer lens, and am used to stacking. Was hoping this would work to get bigger pics to stack. A 50mm just doesn't have the same detail once it's cropped down.
Thanks~
Hey! So, good news - to a degree. The MSM can support telephoto lenses up to 300mm. BUT, the caveat is two fold: 1) the MSM rotator has a payload capacity of 6.6lbs and 2) MSM says that when used with a telephoto lens, the optimal focal length is 135mm.
All of that said, if you use a 300mm lens (or below) that fits within the weight capacity, you're golden.
I hope that helps!
Excellent video. The instructions that come from MSM are horrible. This really helped a lot.
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I agree the directions are a bit lacking. I think some things were lost in translation.
Forgot to mention the need for a level tripod.
Hey there! Thanks for watching and commenting!
For any tracker, having a stable tripod that is sturdy enough to support the weight of your tracker, camera, and lens is extremely important. For wide field astrophotography, however, an exactly level tripod isn't that important. Close to level will do.
Typically I 'eyeball' it as far as leveling the tripod is concerned and have zero issues.
Thanks again for taking the time to watch and comment. Have an awesome day! :)
Okay, got the setup part. Very well described. So how do you know where to point camera??