iOptron CEM70 - The perfect astrophotography mount? - Full Review

Back in march 2022 I got myself the iOptron CEM70 as a mount specifically for astrophotography. Almost exactly one year later it is time to look back and check whether this mount fulfills that purpose or not. Exactly that is what we're doing in this video!
My first light video from 2022:
kzbin.info/www/bejne/h4WqpJegfLGMgJo
More astrophotography gear:
kzbin.info/aero/PL4QKClDP9_TeJaeO8cIQraNVfPe0eUn8p
Shot on Sony A7iii/A7iv, edited in Davinci Resolve Studio
#CEM70 #iOptron #astrophotography

[@dasimcoes]

Thanks for the 1 year review. This is one of the mounts I have been looking at.

[@scotiaastro]

Great review, mate! Glad to hear that you're having fun with the CEM70...take care and best wishes from Scotland! :)

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Thank you! 🙌🏻 Best wishes back from 🇩🇪 and clear night skies! (or rather day skies concerning your solar scope😉)

[@Seafox0011]

Nice intro riff on 'Money' how appropriate to this hobby/interest lol! Great update also.

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Good catch, hahaha! Initially just for fun, but it does fit 😂 Thank you! Clear skies :)

[@LogansAstro]

Interesting to hear your experience with the CEM70. I have the CEM60 and CEM120 and both are working flawlessly. Those little screws at the top of the pier can come loose sometimes (as I have have found) so pays to definitely check those are nice and tight at regular intervals.

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Thank you! With the CEM120 you have the "big brother" of mine, nice! Initially I thought about this mount too, but it was a bit too expensive and heavy as my next upgrade so I went with the 70 😄 Happy to hear that you enjoy both of yours!

[@Ben_Stewart]

Do you perfectly balance the weights or do you keep it slightly CW heavy?

[@zbnmth]

Vielen dank für die ausgezeichnete review! Sehr informativ und nicht zu lang. Hat viele fragen von mir geantwortet. If you read this and have the time; What was your method of guiding (off-axis, or else what scope/camera-combination?) Groeten en heldere nachten uit Utrecht!

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Hey, danke für den Kommentar! ☺️ My guiding was on-axis with an additional guiding scope. I mainly use these two combinations: 1) WO GT71 420mm Refractor with 120mm Uniguide Scope 2) TS N200 800mm Newton with 240mm Artesky guidescope Camera: Mostly ASI183MCPro OSC on both scopes; Or on the GT71 lately: a Sony A7iii with h alpha mod with Uniguide 120mm. Hope that helps! Beste Grüße aus Bayern! :)

[@robertwissing1713]

Does the CEM 70 require 2 cables to the hand controller to plate solve

[@old_school_death_metal]

Hi Chris, Grüßle aus Schwabing

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Schöne Grüße zurück! ☺️

[@anata5127]

Any mount of IOptron is good at ratio 1:1. Buying it is total lottery. I return my for refund. So, reviewing any Chinese mount is meaningless. You have mentioned this. How often do you get below 0.3” rms? How long does it last ? 0.3” average for whole night? Sorry, but I don’t believe in that number.

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Hi! I dont exactly know what you mean by ratio 1:1, but sure, I only got one mount and not a couple to base my review, but of course I can just give my opinion on the exact one I have. I also mentioned quality issues from others, so people can see what might be. For me, this mount is definetely an upgrade from my Celestron AVX, if you want higher quality you need to look for Avalon mounts etc. which are a different price range. The 0,3" RMS error is stated as the best value I have achieved with this mount so far (like a peak value), not the average for all my sessions. I believe it was 0,3" RMS for that whole night where I noted it down with 0,3". I'd say depending on the payload and conditions I get 0,5-1" RMS on average here, but I dont think the mount plays the biggest role there, the seeing conditions also need to be perfect/good enough for you to achieve good guiding values. For my site its pretty average. Sorry to hear the mount didnt work out for you. Maybe I was a bit lucky with my purchase. May I ask what alternative you are looking into? Anyway, wishing clear skies!

[@anata5127]

@@ChrizzlyUniverse Yes, I agree completely now. Guiding accuracy is usually close to 1/3 of seeing. 0.5-1” rms is most realistic. Yes, it could be sometime 0.3” rms as well . Very rear. 1:1 ratio means that on every 2 sold mounts, one is good and one is sheeit. These companies are desperate to get good impression. They sending perfect mounts to bloggers and KZbinrs to get good reviews. However, sell a lot of poor mounts and they know it. This is a reason price is lower. Labor is not cheap in China anymore.

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

@@anata5127 Ok I see what you mean now. And maybe that helps: I bought this mount by myself with my own money and no sponsoring was involved whatsoever, so it was a "real"/unprepared version and my honest astrophotography-as-hobby opinion. Mine also had this problem with the unlit LED panel on the hand controller and the coating peeling off. If you are frustrated and encountered big issues with the mount then I think its good to talk about this publicly (as we do here), so others can also see. At the same time I've also heard quite some good stuff about the device, but as you say => 50/50 chance 😄

[@bronco_fv]

Curious, what is that LED box in front?