Does it list a weight limit?
Benro Polaris
- Thread starter Kyle Jones
- Start date
Kyle Jones
Moderator
7kg
Kyle Jones
Moderator
I will see how it works with my 500 f/4. That should be a good payload test.
Yeah, that would be perfect, and great for a simulation of a long lens or scope.
I just captured the M3 Globular Cluster last night, that could be a good target to test out how well it can track since it's made up of a bunch of little stars.
Kyle Jones
Moderator
Finally got the darn thing working. Still struggling with getting it to fire the camera shutter, but I was able to press it myself. Pretty easy now that I've got the hang of it. Alignment/Calibration just took a minute. This is a single 20s image at ISO 640, f/5.6 and 280mm (Canon 70-200 f/4 with a 1.4x extender). Now that I have it working, I can get a little more serious with the gear.
Of course I now have the moon to deal with for a while but that's OK. I'll be in a dark sky area in a few weeks.
Of course I now have the moon to deal with for a while but that's OK. I'll be in a dark sky area in a few weeks.
Very cool Kyle! Orion is a nice bright target to test with. Could you tell it to aim at Orion?
If you did some stretching on this it would look even better. And next time when you are at the darker skies, expose for the core so it’s just not blowing out.
It would be nice to know if it can track longer, like 60, 90 and 120 secs.
But it looks like it’s got some potential!
If you did some stretching on this it would look even better. And next time when you are at the darker skies, expose for the core so it’s just not blowing out.
It would be nice to know if it can track longer, like 60, 90 and 120 secs.
But it looks like it’s got some potential!
Looks pretty durn good to me Kyle.
Kyle Jones
Moderator
When you power on, you calibrate in the app by holding your phone next to it to give it a basic orientation. You then tell it to "goto" something you can see and then nudge the device until that object is perfectly centered. I usually use Alnilam (the center of Orion's belt) because I can always be sure which star is correct. Last night I used the moon.
Once that is done, you can tell it to goto any visible object. In this case I can just send it to M42. It isn't perfect, but works fine. From what I've been seeing online, 60s exposures seem OK but it gets touchier after that.
My issue right now is that the app is supposed to control your camera to take images - including, for example, I want 20 images of 15s each with a 2s gap between them. For whatever reason that is failing (the SW is pretty buggy). So to capture an image, I need to unplug the camera while the device is tracking and then I can activate the shutter myself. I didn't have my remote switch with me last night (since I wasn't supposed to need it) so I got some camera shake even with a 2s shutter delay.
Kyle Jones
Moderator
The good news is that I am now completely confident using this for MW/landscape shots. Tracked stars look so much nicer in those.
That’s good news! Glad you will be fine using it for the MW.
And it sounds like if you want to shoot a few the bigger and brighter Deep Space Objects like Orion or Andromeda, you can.
I am sure they will get the bugs worked out soon.
For my needs though, I am glad I didn’t get it as I got the iOptron Gem28 instead which has 4 times the weight capacity which I need for my increased DSO interest.