Hi-Tech GO-TO Star Trackers Are Here!

[@adampoll4977]

Just to add a perspective, for Sony cameras the live view still works fine with the camera connected to the Benro. With the camera connected there is a dithering option in the app. I've only had it a couple of days, but can confirm round stars at more than 200mm and over 30 seconds. Testing tonight at 400mm :)

[@NebulaPhotos]

Thanks Adam, I guess I missed the dithering option. I admittedly got frustrated since the liveview is blacked out on Canon cameras when connected to the Polaris so found it near-unusable with a camera connected, since the display through the app was terrible. Cheers, Nico

[@v3rlon]

@@NebulaPhotos The live view also blacks out on Nikon, and with mirrorless, this also kills the viewfinder. Score one for team Alpha, I guess. It looks in the video like you calibrated with your phone pointing in the opposite (yet more intuitive) direction from the instructions I got, where you place the top of your phone (earpiece) close to the base of the camera and the bottom (mic) close to the front of the lens. It can be difficult to align with filters in place, and I do wish there was an option to do 2-3 stars. I didn't know you could do the Messier catalogue or just input the address. Thanks for that. How dark is it at your dark sky site where you got those images? I need to know how far I need to drive. :)

[@NebulaPhotos]

@@v3rlon Huh, I thought I did it right based on the illustration in the app, and it seemed to calibrate correctly for go-tos both during the day (go-to the sun) and at night. Are the instructions you got, the written instructions it came with? I'll have to look again. This was Bortle 3, but I've had pretty good luck with wide-field deep sky with a DSLR/Mirrorless from Bortle 4 as well.

[@stewartlife]

Thanks for sharing. What sony camera do you use (full frame or aps-c)? To understand more context on the focal length you used. As I’m wondering how Benro Polaris would fare when used with Samyang 135mm on APS-C. And if used with William Optics Red Cat 51.

[@adampoll4977]

@@NebulaPhotos yeah, the app image preview is still bad with the Sony as well .

[@thomasmoffatt]

The Benro is attractive to me for these reasons: 1. My vision is imperfect due to age and polar aligning is extremely difficult. 2. In summer I live where mosquitoes make it torture to polar align. The Benro base sounds like a gift from the gods for this semi-blind guy wanting to capture views of the night sky.

[@malice6239]

I am in the same boat! I live on the equator with mosquitos that want to kill me. I am heavily considering the benro because of this. I currently own a swsa 2

[@nelsongonzalez6898]

Hi Thoms, sorry for this way delay reply. I am with you, mosquitoes are a pain and have made my life difficult trying to align the GTi; which I returned yesterday, not because the mosquitoes thought, it was an issue/defect with the device.

[@AlanHowellphotovideo]

You know the astrophotographer is legit when they have dark circles under their eyes. Really appreciate all your hard work in bringing great information to light.

[@kevingumfory]

The guy that could do commercials for the best most expensive gear on the market but keeps it practical ! Ty man.

[@skyenthusiast5573]

New subscriber here and I just have to comment that I really appreciate your clear and straightforward review Nico. This nerd (me) doesn't need dramatic music, click bait titles, or overacting; it's the info presented at a comfortable pace, from someone who knows what they're doing, that got me to subscribe. Looks like I've got a lot of other videos to check out now. I've got similar night sky challenges here in NY so I appreciate all of the viewing conditions tips. Peace!

[@mihailssisovs6983]

Exactly! Finally someone said it. Dramatic music and clickbaits are a menace

[@theJoeFagan]

I just recently picked up the Star Adventurer GTi as my first tracking mount. This video was quite helpful. While the GTi’s instructions are adequate, they weren’t the most detailed, so I wasn’t sure if my alignment process was correct. Thanks, Nico. Great video!

[@Moonlight_Dee]

Easier polar alignment would be amazing for us in Southern Hemisphere!! Benro looks amazing!

[@markwood1660]

Nice review as always Nico, however 500+ extra just to have some newer gadget type tech should push this only towards the “want to have” crowd. I would def prefer the option of being able to connect to a laptop as a choice ( its what we do with main rigs and becomes second nature) and 500 does leave room for lens, 2nd hand scope etc

[@barrymak421]

I don't know... I think anyone getting into the hobby right now, the star adventure just knocks it out of the park. Yes the Polaris has it's use cases, but for the nuts and bolts of AP, the Star Adventure gives you an introduction to all of it. Polar alignment, payload balance, and guiding all cross over to the bigger mounts so developing those skills right at the start are important. Just my opinion though, and the Polaris has its place.

[@lwizzit]

I would strongly suggest that anyone looking at GoTo star trackers check out the threads on Cloudy Nights forums. There’s a lot of variability in user experience.

[@egratudo1974]

just got my star adventurer. love it already so much

[@TheReadDesultory]

hey… just got one myself. Did you guys have to rotate the RA to get the polar scope alignment marks to be oriented correctly? In the home position the etching looks rotated about 5 degrees counterclockwise. Totally new at this so maybe that is normal? Nico didn’t mention it.

[@adityasoni6185]

Benro polaris would be a game changer for tracked multirow panoramas

[@Penwiggle]

This video is exactly what I needed. I have a nice tripod and a good camera (Nikon P1000). But am getting frustrated at the out of focus shaky photos of planets, and want to get a star tracker. But, had no idea where to start, and wanted to get one that I knew would work with a camera and not a tripod. Thank youl

[@AmatureAstronomer]

The Polaris looks really neat and really high tech, but I was used to Sky-Watcher AZ GTi, so I just bought a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi as a grab and go equatorial mount a few days ago.

[@OzarkBill]

Thank you for the great video! Since the Benro has an increased payload advertised, I'd be really interested to see how it would do in the 200-400mm range at up to a three minute exposure.

[@Lord_Whiteley]

Great video Nico :) I decided to buy the Benro Polaris Astro edition, simply because it’s more portable that a normal Astro tracker. I have tried it out properly, only aligned it to one star and the GoTo feature works really well. I had trouble formatting a SD card in that I kept getting a “format failed” error. I eventually went into disk manager on Windows11, deleted the partition on the SD card and then formatted to FAT32 (file explorer kept asking if I wanted to format, but you just ignore that). This time the SD did format and you can then update the firmware. NB you need to connect the 3rd axis (via the supplied cable) for the Polaris Astro firmware to update (otherwise it updates the 2-axis firmware). I too had problems with a canon M6 MkII, when connected to the mount. On turning on the screen on the camera goes blank after a few seconds. I originally thought the battery was low, but unplugging the lead, the screen stays on. Like you, I have a wired intervalometer and power the camera and mount with a typical dual USB output power bank. BTW I am going to use a Samyang 135mm F2 lens with an EF to M camera adapter to the Canon M6 MkII. I am in the process of printing out a Bahtinov mask on the 3D printer (definitely worth getting a 3D if you are an Astrophotographer btw). Hopefully, I can get some decent images from Tenerife which has a latitude of 28deg compared to my South Coast of England 52deg latitude :) . I don’t expect to see any new targets but the Orion, Seagull etc, should all be a lot higher in the sky???

[@fireislandmavic5939]

him i have the canon m6 mark ii also, how has it been working for you?

[@ricardoabh3242]

Very nice thanks The first statement for me is important… “you don’t need a telescope “

[@joshuagharis9017]

I'm a headshot photographer, but kudos to yall. Always appreciate 🙏 the craft. And amazing images

[@vivienrajz798]

Well, I'm an owner of the GTi since Aug. Got a lot of hassle wit it, but finally I know a bit better. Few things to point out. The app is partially useful. Things not working with the app: 1st: bulb mode - as soon as the phone turns off the screen, it goes to haywire, better to forget taht feature 2nd: do not star align, it makes traking worst. Meesed up two good clear night. Polar align it well, and it will be able to track 2-2.5 min easily at 200mm with good balance. Otherwise it will be a mess no matter how many stars it's aligned. Almost 3 min can be pulled out at 200mm with some gain of salt, so it's a bit better than the regular Star Adventurer 2i, which I was able to do 2min @200mm, after it drifted. The mount works well with NINA, but also can be used with Kstars-Ekos but it needs an EQMOD cable, so Raspberry with like Astroberry works. At the moment can't say about it's performance with guiding, since currently trying to solve my power issues. I'm hiking with it and everything else, so big power tanks ar out of questions, and trying to balance out my power banks to give power but not turn off, but if I solve that I'm eager to try out with guiding up till 600mm.

[@stewartlife]

Living in the equator where it’s always not possible to do visual polar alignment to both NCP and SCP, might mean this Benro Polaris is a perfect solution for me to venture into DSO astrophotography and while traveling by plane (as I live in big city of Bortle 9 sky). Am wondering if it can work well with William Optics Red Cat 51?

[@christianbowes7907]

I think you really should’ve done 2 star alignment in the Benro to better assess its capabilities. It’s driving 3 axes with no polar alignment other than the rough phone alignment thing it does.

[@NebulaPhotos]

I didn't see an option for 2 star alignment in the app. Is that already implemented?

[@StarScaperPhoto]

Great thorough review. Thank you!

[@garbageman9145]

I always have problems identifying the stars, anyway to do some plate solving

[@romaindechamps457]

Very nice comparison! I would be very interested in your opinion about the Omegon Minitrack LX3 / 4 as these are wayyyyyy much cheaper and lightweight, fully mecanical also and intend to be travel mount as well :)

[@vivienrajz798]

I have an LX3, SA 2i and GTi. Sure the LX3 is the most compact and travel friendly one, but it's a bit finicky. The polar scope is thin, so someone like myself with a bith short sight, it's hard to polar align. It's really good bellow 100mm focal length, and the camera needs to be balanced well, otherwise the clock will get damaged, and will have issues with tracking. Like it will stop tracking like somewhere in the middle. It can track maximum 1 hour long, than it needs to be rewind. So be careful with it. Sure if you look in forums another users őush it with even 200-400mm lenses, but yeah the clock utility, since it's made from plastic it's sensitive to the weight balance. Also the unit mounting is tricky as well. First I tried to use it with my D850+Sigmna 85mm Art, the single screw wasn't able to hold it, it was started to slew due to the weight. I solved it with a small arca plate and some screws wich are holding on sthe holes of the unit. But I need to buy a new clock as I mentioned I damaged it, and now it's stops tracking after 20-30 min. Luckily it can be esily replaced and relatively cheap, just since brought the SA 2i, than the GTi, not used it much. I asked about the clock, and got the information that the LX4 and LX3 has the same clock utitly. Eventually I will replace it, since planning some strennous hike+astro panorama, and the LX3 is gold in this manner.

[@brentnewton7055]

Oooooo this nicely fills a ultralight niche for me

[@UNLKYHNTR]

If the benro ever gets under 900€, imma buy it. I think it has 2 star alignment now and a lot of features were added to it via updates. But 1200€ is just to steep for me.

[@StarlancerAstro]

Now I want to see a tiny strain wave mount so it can be even smaller then these but hold up to say an 80mm scope.

[@bobslfcu773]

Nice video, I just got the GTi a couple days ago and can't get it to track. It will "go to" correctly, at least close, but will not track. Do you have any ideas on what is wrong, probably user error, but frustrating none the less. Thanx for the info,

[@eugennaiman1195]

Easy answer - always GTi :)

[@Mike-qo8nm]

Can you align the benro manually? My concern is if you need the app to do it and don't have a signal or wifi available

[@davegrenier1160]

In the Polaris, does the top mount rotate at all? If not, it should, even if it's only 90 degrees. As-is, it's great for longer lenses that have their own Arca-Swiss compatible mounting foot, but the clamp channel needs to be transverse to accommodate a camera in an L-bracket. (I know it comes with a mounting plate, but to many photographers, that's a kludge compared to the L-bracket they leave on their cameras all the time, as do I.)

[@khaledameer8853]

Why after stacking a number of photos, for example, 30 over a period of 5 minutes, why do the stars not appear as lines, knowing that the shutter speed of 30 seconds makes the stars lines?

[@NebulaPhotos]

The astrophotography stacking software first aligns the photos based on the star patterns before stacking them.

[@Astronurd]

@@NebulaPhotos And here was i thinking it was due to the mount moving at the same speed as the stars(sidereal)

[@NebulaPhotos]

@@Astronurd Yes, but Khaled was asking why if we get trailing at 4 minutes wouldn't that show up in a stack of 2 minutes exposures (for example). You are correct that long exposures are only possible in the first place because of the star tracking. Without it, I'd be limited to 1.6 second exposures with the 85mm lens.

[@SaurabhShukla_22]

has anyone figured out what snap cable to buy to connect the SA GTi to Sony A7X cameras?

[@EVERGREENKR]

What about 200-600mm lens without long exposure but just stacking +100 shots? Would it work for the Benro mount?

[@deathward990]

I was confused with these two. I think I made my descision it will be the GTi. In the price of one Polaris I can get Gti and MSM and work seperately on my landscape and astro needs.

[@marcs9021]

I do not get it. Where is the second camera for guiding? How does the star adventurer GTI or the Benro Polaris guide without a second camera? I am really confused - help XD?

[@NebulaPhotos]

The Benro Polaris doesn't support guiding. For that reason I didn't test it on either. These results show tracking only.

[@akkarparkiamopas3401]

The automated Panorama is like they can do track-pano ie. Milky Way Arch ? Thanks

[@ahmedwaddah9391]

Gonna make a purchase decision after this video 😂

[@TonyGardnerRC]

In the UK the Skywatcher is sadly out of stock until some point next year. I will get one eventually as a direct replacement for a Skyguider Pro, but in the meantime I was forced to accelerate plans for a bigger mount and ended up with an EQ6 R Pro!! Massive upgrade but I really wanted a full tracking mount for this winter, even if my current scopes are slightly dwarfed by it 😂

[@Matt_10203]

Better to get a big mount early and not have to worry about payload limits for a long time than go too small and regret it.

[@badmatt4227]

Smart phone apps are not reliable, do they have dedicated device for operation?

[@gillyvean]

I know this is probably a little "Heath Robinson" for serious astrophotography but have you done anything with the Nexstar Alt-Az mount at all? I have 3d printed a bracket to allow my DSLR to fit the mount from my 8SE and am just waiting for some clear sky (I'm based in SW England so it is a rare treat) in order to see how it works...

[@NebulaPhotos]

I haven’t, but I’ve seen others use it successfully for deep sky with short exposures and bright objects (Messier)

[@kanedafx1]

Aloha everyone, can anyone tell me if the Nikkon D3200 is good for start, I only have the kit lenses, no sure if buy another lenses or buy a better camera more suitable to AP, my question is so I don't waste money, planing to buy a tracker in a near future. thank you, and thank you Nico for your tutos.

[@RetiredFE]

Adam, great video. I'm new to this and am looking at getting the Benro Polaris. My question is I have a good but older camera system. It's is an Olympus E620 system. However, it is a 4/3 camera system. I have a Sigma 105 mm f2.8 lens and an Olympus 40-15-0 f4-5.6. Is it possible to use this system for astrophotography? I'm having trouble finding an answer on the internet. Probably not going to the correct place. I also have a Nikon D5000 but do not have a lens to use for astrophotography. Can you help me? Thanks

[@alandyer910]

Excellent test, the first I’ve seen of the Polaris done by someone who actually has experience with using astronomy mounts and understands the alignment processes, and how the Polaris compares to those. The Polaris looks like a good choice for automated tracked panoramas, and time-lapses and motion control. But as per your summary list, the GTi will be better, as I’ve found in my own testing, for more serious deep sky imaging with small 60 to 80mm scopes (that are typically f/4 to f/6, so slower than short telephotos), and with filters, both of which then demand longer exposures, and thus autoguiding and dithering, neither of which the Polaris can do. But for widefield shots and panoramas the Polaris might be sufficient and easier to use. But … What’s the tracking like over the field of a wide angle lens. Does it track only the centre of the field well, but have trailing at the edges due to field rotation? After all, it isn’t rotating around the same point - the celestial pole - that the sky is turning around. Cheers!

[@hatman50]

Are there sample images?

[@AMPhotography]

Thank you for the review. Great information. How did you do star alignment in Benro Polaris without the camera attached to the app? I thought the only way to do star alignment with Benro Polaris is by fine tuning the star in the center. How do you know the star you are pointing is in center without having the camera connected!

[@NebulaPhotos]

Live view on the camera screen. The app doesn’t plate solve so it’s fine to center the star any way you want. You can even use an eyepiece or finder scope.

[@AMPhotography]

@@NebulaPhotos Thank you for your response. Basically the app gives a little circle where we need to put the target star. Without the live view, how would you layer that circle of the app vs the camera? Or are you using just the center point of the camera live view to do the alignment?

[@NebulaPhotos]

Center point of the camera screen. On most cameras you can turn on grid lines as a visual aid like you are talking about with the app

[@AMPhotography]

@@NebulaPhotos Thank you. Indeed, that does make a big difference.

[@dalehollenbaugh6084]

Interesting. Never heard of the Benro Polaris before. I think a much closer competitor for the Star Adventurer GTi is the iOptron SkyHunter. Do you think you could get iOptron to send you one of those for a head to head test? I'd love to get your take on those two.

[@wooddogg8]

Is the SkyHunter new? Just looked it up.. It looks very compact. Cool

[@dalehollenbaugh6084]

@@wooddogg8 yes, just came out. I think the Star Adventurer GTi has been out a few weeks/months longer, but both are new, but there is far less information about the SkyHunter out there at this point.

[@samofsiam]

They've been around for a while no? How does the ES iExos-100 compare to these two in terms of tracking?

[@NebulaPhotos]

Haven't had a chance to try it yet.

[@BRAVEN32m12]

Omg bro I am so Jealous ☺️ that is a Beautiful star tracker👍👍👍

[@marcusa3177]

Hi, I'm a brand new owner of the GTi but I have an ASIAir already and an unsupported (ie I have to manually set up exposures and dither) mirrorless camera. Do I still have to do the 2 or 3 star alignment with the Skywatcher app, and which should I use for finding targets, the ASIAir's or Skywatcher's? Thanks!

[@NebulaPhotos]

In that case I would do 3 star align with the Skywatcher SynScan app and also issue Go Tos with it.

[@MiguelJuanez]

I'm curious if they would handle a Canonr6 with a 400mm f5.6 lens!

[@NebulaPhotos]

The weight would be fine, but I wouldn't expect great results at that focal length unguided. So if you want to go that route, I'd go for the GTi and plan to add an autoguider and something to run the autoguiding like an ASIair or other computer.

[@MiguelJuanez]

@Nebula Photos oh neat, that makes sense. I should maybe just get the 135mm you referenced in the video of a $2k kit.

[@NebulaPhotos]

@@MiguelJuanez Yes, great lens, and would work well on either of these without guiding (just tracking)

[@MiguelJuanez]

@@NebulaPhotos thank you so much for your help. I can't wait to get my nieces inspired by the night sky when they get a little older lol

[@nelsongonzalez6898]

Hi Nico, or anyone, Can I use the Benro POlaris 3 axis version with a 500mm telescope?

[@NebulaPhotos]

No, I wouldn’t. It doesn’t have a counterweight system and isn’t really designed to work with telescopes

[@charliezicolillo]

Hi Niko can I use my Nikon P1000 125zoom 3000mm on either one of these.

[@NebulaPhotos]

For lunar/planetary, yes. For deep sky, no.

[@perfpix]

Do you think the Sky-Watcher can handle a 10lb dSLR & Lens combo? I see its rated to 13lbs but does it start loosing accuracy as it gets close to that rating?

[@NebulaPhotos]

It's rated at 11 lb. What is the 10lb. DSLR and lens combo you are thinking of? A lot depends on focal length and how well you can balance a big lens.

[@perfpix]

@@NebulaPhotos Hi Nico, my setup would be an R3 (2.2lbs) or 1DX2 (3.4lbs) with a 200mm f/1.8 lens (6.6lbs) (the setup I've messaged you about recently). The lens has a Arca-style replacement foot which is about 6" long. I also have lighter lenses that I'd like to try like the 135 f/2 and 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 that would be much less taxing on the mount, but at a minimum I want it to work with my best lens. I also have access to longer lenses like the 400mm f/2.8 which is actually lighter than my 200mm supertele, but have no idea if those are viable for Astrophotography. Thanks, John

[@NebulaPhotos]

I'm confident that the GTi would handle that setup (200mm f/1.8) well for at least 30 second exposures (assuming good polar alignment and balance). At 400mm, I'd recommend adding auto-guiding.

[@interiordronesCA]

@@NebulaPhotos I'm running a 9.5lb imaging train (W.O Z73 430mm scope, ASI2600MC Pro and autoguider) and the GTI has no problem doing 5 minute subs with guiding. The stated weight seems to differ from the general rule of 40% payload capacity for imaging.

[@shinyy187]

I don’t have a tracker and need one, so now I’m deciding between the sky watcher star adventurer 2i pro pack ($429) and the sky watcher GTi ($640). Is the GTi worth the extra $210 over the 2i pro pack?

[@NebulaPhotos]

It depends on what you are planning to do with it. If mounting a small telescope, I'd say absolutely. If just doing work with wide angle lenses, likely not.

[@shinyy187]

@@NebulaPhotos I plan to mainly use my 5lb refractor telescope with it in addition to my dslr. Shortly after posting this I remembered the auto-guiding feature on the GTi which would probably be better for heavier loads. I’ll probably go with the GTi. Btw your walkthrough videos of using GIMP with tracked and untracked photos kept me going in astrophotography, so thanks. I would have never been able to teach myself that stuff

[@NebulaPhotos]

@@shinyy187 The 2i has autoguiding too, but only ST4 and only on the RA axis. In my experience autoguiding works a lot better on the Gti where both axes are motorized, but the biggest benefit if using with a refractor is platesolving. With platesolving, if down the road you connect it to a computer, you can have the mount automatically correct it's pointing which save a lot of time in finding objects and getting on to the imaging.

[@shinyy187]

@@NebulaPhotos Interesting, I will look more into that. Which platesolving software would you suggest? And thank you for taking the time to reply

[@NebulaPhotos]

@@shinyy187 The combo of NINA (control software) ASTAP (platesolving software), with ANSVR (local instance of astrometry.net) is free and seems to work well for most. You will have to check if your DSLR is supported and works with that software.

[@deejay1964]

I have a 55mm, 200mm and 300mm lens, which would be best for astrophotography?

[@cerimorganphotography]

can you run the GTi from a power bank?

[@NebulaPhotos]

Yes, but not over USB like the Benro. You need a power bank that has a 12v output

[@cerimorganphotography]

@@NebulaPhotos that's what I thought. Thank you

[@mihailssisovs6983]

Skywatcher wins undisputed

[@Astronurd]

Using your phone up against any metal or electrical equipment throws all of its sensors awry. I don’t like this idea at all.

[@NebulaPhotos]

You'd think so, but I can't argue with the results. The 1 star align with Altair and the Go-Tos after that were just as accurate as the GTi.

[@mastersupercapacitor699]

Bro looks like Jesus really!

[@txemari100]

The biggest difference is that the Polaris works very poorly, it is a hoax

[@DLMVegas]

Thanks for this video. However, after 1 night of using the Sky-Watcher GTI though I sent it back. I have been using a Adventurer 2i for over a year now. I do mostly landscape photography. I have no intentions of getting into telescopes or anything else past my Nikon D810 and 150-600mm lens. During a conversation with someone at Sky-Watcher I found out a couple of things. Items that I think should be said for those just getting into using a GO TO mount. Something I haven't seen mentioned on any KZbin videos. You not only need to align Polaris but 1-3 stars as well. I was told that GO TO trackers are dumb. Until you provide the locations by centering the 1-3 stars in your viewfinder, the tracker has no idea where it is. It was also mentioned that 2 stars would be good enough. I used Live View in Stellarium if I didn't know where the 2 objects I was looking for were at. Moving the tracker to the 2 objects, it is was not very close to even having an object on my viewfinder. The time I spent getting the additional objects centered I could have been almost done photographing the object I initially came to photograph. My Polaris alignment takes me 30-60 seconds to do. After that I've located and I'm photographing the object I came for. For the money you do get more with the Sky-Watcher GTI. The turnoff for me with the Benro was the software not being fully complete. I spent 30 years in Silicon Valley writing software for major corporations. Incomplete applications would never be released to the public.

[@czechmark0]

I also backed the Benro-Polaris project 612 days ago. Patience is a virtue that can be tested in crowd funding😊. I hope to receive it soon - it looks like it may be worth the wait!

[@FunBideo]

Thank you so much for all the work you have put in to making your highly informative videos. Though I have done photography for over fifty years, I never did any astrophotography, other than an occasional photo of the moon. You mainly surprised me when you got into teaching about light coming in from the stars arriving in packets of photons and was one of the reasons for shooting so many “lights”. So, I have coined a new word and it is my gift to you. The word is “astrophotonography”. Enjoy! Hope it catches on…

[@krystlih]

The Benro Polaris is neat, but, seems that Astro was a tacked-on feature. I suppose if you're a photographer that does a lot more than astro it may be worth it. If you primarily do Astro I'd stick with the Star Adventurer. I do like the way the Benro aligned though it would be neat if more astro companies could incorporate something like that into their mounts (I know most mounts don't have 3-axis, but maybe it could calculate how far off polar alignment and help you get a close alignment without a polar scope).

[@bjnslc]

Unfortunately, Benro's software development has treated Astro as the main feature. Other features, aside from the limited panorama mode, are poorly designed and buggy. I want a nice, smooth path lapse mode that doesn't yet exist, and the promise "holy grail" exposure control is nowhere to be seen.

[@Flaxworx]

Literally just got the Polaris today (New Zealand) and hoping it will help me with my constant issues with polar aligning in the Southern Hemisphere...but.. time will tell. This definitely helped

[@OMGTapioca]

I am the backer for Polaris and been using it for 3~4 months, previously a skyguider pro user. For my situation, not able to see North at all from patio, not able to travel far or even just go out during the night because of family and kid… Polaris is a perfect fit for me. In the 3 months, I have captured more than using Skyguider pro in the last 3 years combined. Pretty much everything I can capture in southern sky. Since the setup process is SO fast and no additional laptop needed. Tracking accuracy and drifting over time are still known issues but if Benro can get it improved by 2 star alignment and even adding guiding ability, this might be a game changer :)

[@greygoose3936]

Not having to do a polar alignment is a pretty big deal for me because Polaris is only visible through the trees of my backyard during the winter. I'll definitely consider replacing my Star Adventurer 2 with this.

[@FerdinandTerreros]

Do comment if there are any updates on the benro.

[@alejandroromo6577]

how is it going so far??

[@gregy.]

Your sound quality is really great in this video!

[@Andros_Gaming]

Great video! Newbie at deep sky astrophotography just started a few weeks ago my next purchase is a sky tracker rather than a new lens I have the (18-200mm kit lense). What is the big difference between the GTI and the 2i pro is the auto guiding with the gti vs the regular star tracking with the 2i pro worth the extra cost?

[@csimet]

I'm a backer of the Benro project (backer 680) and have had cell/astro version for about a month now. The software is still going through changes/updates, so I expect things will improve, as well as see more options. For me it is a perfect fit... I'm *not* a deep sky photographer, rather a landscape and wide field person and like your take on its use for deep sky. It is a perfect fit for me so far and I'm very pleased with its operation, even though the software is not yet matured.

[@NebulaPhotos]

Great! I definitely see lots of potential for improvement through the software side. The hardware was very impressive. What is the benefit of the cellular version?

[@csimet]

@@NebulaPhotos Remote control/access when you and your phone are out of WiFi range of the Polaris (>150 feet roughly). It requires a SIM card, cell data plan and that you be in the carrier's cell network range.

[@NebulaPhotos]

@@csimet Sweet! Have you tested it to see if it works?

[@csimet]

@@NebulaPhotos Not yet (I'm battling my carrier for a plan right now). Others I know of have said it works good... but some have also stated they had issues. I think it is more related to the carrier used than the hardware. I travel to national parks and wanted the option... but also knowing many locations are not in cell coverage. ;) Direct WiFi is always my first choice.

[@alejandroromo6577]

8 months later, how is it going so far?

[@axford696969]

Hey, I don’t often leave comments on videos, but I’d just like to say thanks, your videos are always very informative, big thumbs up Nico…

[@VRzichtbaar]

I liked the review but what you failed to point out is the massive weight and size difference between the two. The Benro Polaris is so much smaller and weighs only 1/4th of the SW-GTi. So this is where the Benro as a travel kit really shines in my opinion.

[@NebulaPhotos]

Good point! Wish I'd included that. I wouldn't call it a massive size difference if using the GTi without counterweights as I did here. It does fit in the same bag that the GTi comes in for example. The weight difference is substantial as you say: measuring just the trackers with no counterweights or accessories, the GTi is about 5lb and the Polaris is 2lb so 40% the weight of the GTi in the configuration I presented in the video.

[@linuxastro]

Alas, as much as I would like to complain that the Benro is as pricey as a standard goto equatorial mount I recently purchased, there is much to be said for the interoperability of mounts with smart phones, tablets and the like. Good job as always with the comparison!

[@kobiorama]

Nico, a TERRIBLE review. just terrible. My credit card hates you. I'm now in the process of convincing myself I don't need to replace my skyguider pro with the benro.. Please tell us that you tested it with the rokinon 135mm and the setup was way too heavy. PLEASE.. Goto mount + tracked Astro-pano + everything else it can do...

[@rdallas81]

Lol. Hate (love) when that happens!

[@ignaciofontes4845]

Hi Nico Carver ,like your astro videos

[@icyxxxxx]

I just got the sky watcher one can’t wait for the tripod to come so I can use it with my Nikon p950!

[@Kita.Ada.C.H.l]

Woww🥰🥰🤩🤩🤩🤩

[@huexley]

I think the results will be those ones : the SA will have a better tracking in the end *but* Benro really paved the way to new clever mounts were you’ll not have to bother align or have a laptop to do the tracking, tons of cables and tens on minutes to install. It’s really a game changer for astro enthousiasts. The GoTo mount really needed a kick in the butt to up their game and tech. Can’t wait to see this one !

[@sunngifuwetzel1197]

No. You would 100%always sacrifise anything to get better tracking.

[@eugennaiman1195]

Yes, Polaris marks the begining of a new type of mounts but it is far from a dedicated mount. I don't have one, I knew about their Kickstarter campaign from the beginning and pledged $1 just to get updates. I always had some reservations about what it can do and I was waiting to be proved wrong (I wasn't) As sophisticated as it may be it is still an Alt-Az mount limited by the field rotation and mechanical move limits (it cannot point to the zenith - it is unable to ho higher than 80 degrees). Considering it was made for short FL fast lenses and cameras able to bump up the ISO it will work very well for short exposure times but if you plan to get namy of them you will run into field rotation. Personally I like the idea but I consider it to be a very expensive device - dedicated mounts will involve a little bit more work to set up and align abut it will cost a fraction of Polaris price

[@huexley]

@@eugennaiman1195 Pretty sure we will have some nice hardware to come in few years.

[@kindjalkazad]

I've been using my Polaris for multi row panorama...it's really a game changer :)

[@edwarddebruyn8717]

Hi nice review, thank you !!! Was waiting for such a review because I've the Polaris and was thinking the that the GTi was much better and was even considering it. But meanly busy with landscape-astrophotography so will definitively stay with it. By the way also the Polaris can perform dithering and it worked for me. There is also a possibility to do tracked pano's (even with the number of images for each part of the sky you choose). But the setup is rather difficult (easy for normal pano's). An update please Benro !

[@NebulaPhotos]

Hi Edward, Which camera do you use? I wanted to try the features that only worked with the camera connected, but my Canon Ra was very buggy and the phone display was too low-res/ dim to really work, and the live view was black when connected (limitation of Canon cameras as I understand it). Cheers, Nico

[@edwarddebruyn8717]

Forgot to mention indeed, like Adam Poll I work with Sony. And indeed live view works very well. Can imagine that without live view it must be difficult. Didn't know other brands presented this problem.

[@robeigner4390]

Benro's are compact but damn expensive. I'm actually looking for a star tracker properly sized for my iPhone 14 Pro Max that might or might not use a Sandmarc lens. Would love to try out the 48MP lens shooting Apple ProRAw and see what happens. I'd rather not buy a mount that almost costs the same as my phone.

[@nicholasjasman6550]

phone cameras suck.

[@albertkoscielniak7075]

The fact that the gti can do 2 minute exposures really well whith not the best polar allignment is just amazing to me O_O

[@vivienrajz798]

It can do 2min @200mm, almost 3min as well. It needs to be properly Polaar aligned and balanced. The secret is, that the app's star aligment process makes everything worst.

[@marangogio]

Hi Nico, thanks for the interesting comparison! Do you think the iOptron SkyHunter qualifies as "Hi-Tech GO-TO Star Tracker"? If it does how does it compare to the Polaris and the Star Adventurer GTi? If it doesn't, why? It seems to be a better version of the AZ-GTi. Thanks in advance!

[@PASTrickz]

💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥

[@hornet224]

i think if they could utilize the Celestron StarSsense smart phone dock to their system it would be a breeze for star tracking. It's so simple, convenient and accurate. It has got to happen soon.

[@willbrad21]

@Nebula Photos what hardware did you use to connect your DSLR to the GTI. I can’t seem to find anything good. I have a dovetail bar but nothing to attach the camera to it?

[@NebulaPhotos]

1/4" 20 cap head machine screw. You can get them at any hardware store or in variety packs online like this one: www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1025090-REG/wooden_camera_wc_173800_assortment_of_1_4_20_screws.html/

[@gracepierce1024]

that benro is showing to be over a thousand dollars.. i thought this was a joke at first.. but it wasnt. not sure why anyone would bother with that when you could get a nice star adv 2i pro for 400 or the gti for also a lot less. apparently some folks have money to burn. have you seen the openastrotech project?

[@Roland314]

This is a super helpful video. I am interested in trying to get shots with a 159-600mm lens. The Benro website claims that this is within the limits (the lens is under 5 lbs, the camera is 1.5). However, I am still wary. Can you offer any insight into whether this seems strong enough to handle this much weight?

[@KZgun4hire]

Polar alignment on synscan devices (assuming the help guide is the same for all models, but certainly for the GTi) recommends the Two Star Alignment before doing a Polar Alignment. Three star alignment is not recommended in the help guide!

[@rayjermyn4541]

Perhaps there are lessons for Skywatcher around alignment? Eventually the ease of Benro's setup will appeal, especially since the polar scope can be hard to view as I get older

[@KZgun4hire]

And if your in the s.hemi you can get totally frustrated with the polar alignment because the reticle image for the south pole can only be rotated via the RA 190 degrees so it's only good for 6 months of the year. The reticle image is not independent of the RA position.

[@juanchopolo]

Hey Nico, ive managed to get 60 second subs with a canon f4 300mm lens. Some users in the facebook group have done moon tracking with 150-600 lens. Benro is looking into 2 star alignment to improve tracking accuracy as well. Hopefully then it an get into the 3-4 minute range. Btw there is also USB mode which allows you to regain control of your camera even while plugged in which i use for focusing and checking images on the camera.

[@NebulaPhotos]

Cool! I really want them to add platesolving, but that might take awhile. Where is USB mode in the app? I did not see that.

[@juanchopolo]

@@NebulaPhotos its a little plug icon right under the iso icon in the main window. Clicking on it enables you to access the camera sgain and clicking it again enables polaris again. Also they added dithering in an update a while back so hopefully plate solving along with a bigger catalog is in future updates :)

[@NebulaPhotos]

@@juanchopolo Got it, thanks. Where are you getting news about this mount? I looked on facebook, but only found a page that was very old with no recent updates.

[@EwenBell]

Excellent review and explanation, thankyou!

[@Hal_McKinney]

What brand/size vixen plate do you recommend between gti & Canon R3 with 100-500mm lens?

[@JakeAikens]

If I have to spend $640 to get pictures that bad I'm out of this hobby for good.

[@voederbietels]

thank you for the review. i have q quistion. i only do milkyway shoots . after you do polar alignment how you can turn the camera to to milkyway ? is this by hand or goto . of it is goto what is the name for it in the app.

[@badmatt4227]

Wirestock: is this selling just JPEG's?

[@old_guard2431]

Very good review. I have a 400mm Canon lens I acquired decades ago with a view towards making my fortune with wildlife photography (fail) but have wondered about using it for astrophotography. The Skywatcher is rated for 11 pounds - I imagine the 400mm f/5.6 with a DSLR attached is pushing the limits of the mount a bit hard.

[@mustang5132]

So I don’t have the star adventurer GTI but I do have the AZ-GTI. I do all my Astro with my canon 7Dmkii and my 100-400mm ii canon lens. Since it’s an AZ mount, I cannot take exposures longer than 10 seconds (I usually stick to 6) but it can be carried pretty well. I don’t use a counterweight and I maybe that is what leads to it occasionally drifting too slowly but in general it can carry the weight. It’s also rated up to 5kg and it holds it perfectly well. If it works in AZ mode, I’m sure it will be even more stable in EQ with the star adventurer. I’m also planning on buying a star adventurer GTI for this very setup. Other astrophotographers use their Sony alpha iii and 100-400mm lenses on it too so your payload will work no problem I suspect. Nico has also replied to me before that the star adventurer will definitely be able to carry my setup and others have said I could even add a little more weight. Sorry for the long answer but I wanted to cover everything you might want to know :)

[@nienhuismd]

thanks so much for all your videos! Unrelated question, but which mic do you record these videos with? I see no mic in the frame, but yet it sounds like you're getting the proximity effect with a nice low end to your voice. Just curious!

[@NebulaPhotos]

Thanks. I'm still not fully happy with the audio, but have definitely improved over the years. Let me start by saying, I really enjoy playing around with audio gear, so for anyone reading this, you don't need all this high end stuff to get good audio for KZbin. I always record dual or triple system audio and sync in post. The camera records a scratch track with it's on-camera mic and then I have separate good mics and recorders that I use to sync and replace the scratch audio. I'm always playing around with different setups and mics, but in this video, I was using a Rode NTG2 in a Rode Blimp for the intro. This was on a low tripod below me just out of shot, about 2 feet from my mouth, pointed up directed at my chest. After that first five minutes, I switched to using a Shure SM7B indoors in a semi-treated space (a few blankets up on stands). Both mics were recorded with a Sound Devices Mix-Pre3, 32 bit, low cut filter on. In post, I usually just do a small amount of noise reduction and compression with a limiter.

[@nienhuismd]

@@NebulaPhotos thanks so much for your prompt and detailed response. Very impressive, and much appreciated! Keep up the great work

[@markissboi3583]

The white one looks like the robot dog from Dr Who . woof

[@tubedude54]

All these new fangled gadgets people get! LOL I just recently upgraded my old Edmund Scientific Heavy Duty Equatorial mount with digital setting circles and I can't believe how well it works! 4 second accuracy on each axis which after setup and alignment puts any object in a moderate power eyepiece!

[@bash0774]

Hi Nico great channel 👍🏻 would the redcat 51 with dslr be ok on the benro ? . cheers

[@NebulaPhotos]

I didn't get a chance to test anything but the 85mm lens, but people are reporting using 200mm+ lenses and getting round stars with short-ish exposures (30 seconds). Not sure if I'd want it for my main mount with the redcat, but it may serve you well as a travel mount.