Bought a cheap star tracker that couldn't handle my camera weight

I grabbed a basic star tracker online for about $120, thinking it would be fine for my DSLR and a small lens. It kept slipping and couldn't hold the weight steady, so all my shots of the Orion Nebula last week were just blurry streaks. Has anyone found a good, solid tracker that actually works without costing a fortune?

3 comments

3 Comments

ross.river2mo ago

Blurry star photos are a bummer, but is a perfect tracker really needed? A lot of those shots online are stacked from hundreds of frames anyway. Maybe just use a shorter exposure and take more pictures to combine later.

the_mary2mo ago

Honestly, that sounds like a pretty standard experience for a budget tracker. They often list a weight capacity that's a bit optimistic. Maybe try balancing the setup differently before giving up on it entirely.

danieltaylor2mo ago

My old air fryer said it could cook a whole chicken, but it barely fit two chicken breasts. These product limits always seem like a best case scenario in a perfect lab.