The Best Cheap Guide Scope Setup for Astrophotography ( SvBony 30mm and ZWO ASI120MM Mini )

A quick review of the SvBony 30mm guide scope and the ZWO ASI 120MM Mini monochrome camera. There might not be a cheaper guiding combination out there.
( I have this paired up with my Sky-Watcher EvoStar 72ED telescope and my Sky-Watcher EQM-35 mount )

[@horizonbrave1533]

Damn dude thanks so much. You're logic is spot on and yes, I just ordered my svbony and zwo !

[@chickenfeather]

Thanks for the video, I like your delivery. Sound reasoning.

[@arielarias9074]

Thanks for the video I just got this setup and I'm more than happy with it

[@Westlake]

Great job Bruce on your videos, both in production and information! Watched a couple so far.👍🏻👍🏻 Well done!

[@brucetracyphotography9879]

Thanks man ... I appreciate the nice comments!

[@michaelmerrigan4761]

Great review. I ordered both.

[@rcpattaya230]

You are absolutely right.

[@djphild]

Thanks for the info. Looking at this as a light weigh guider on my 72ED when I use it on a star tracker. Question: Does the guide scope mount to the 72ED with the rings/shoe that is provided or does it need some adaptation?

[@astroadventures3559]

That's funny, this is my exsact same set up! And I'm looking at this guide set up. But I just got the eq6 r pro and I want to get straight to guiding. So I'm happy to see its a good set up for my 72ed. Id like to see some work you've done with this set up.

[@ballashoes]

I found the zwo guide scope for $70 and 120mini for $110, can't wait to try them out!

[@patrickshea7073]

Great advice. I'm a newbie (1 year on a alt-az goto mount with an inexpensive 102 refractor and 127 reflector) to the hobby and although I don't want to move forward with cheap equipment, I don't want to dump $5000 into equipment only to be frustated and end up selling it all on ebay. I don't mind spending $250 to dabble. If I need to upgrade at a later date, that's fine. Your explanation makes a lot of sense regarding the functionality and mechanism of action involved in guiding.

[@christianadelatour850]

Add a few more $$ for the Field Flattner and u r good to go. I enjoy mines a lot on an Az Gti mount or the Star Adventurer

[@robertdewar1752]

I buy second hand. There's loads of good deals out there, and i've ended up spending a fraction of new prices, for kit that is barely used in some cases.

[@entropytango5348]

A good little guider, I have one

[@southernexposure123]

I just started researching gude scopes. Thanks for your thoughts.

[@AntPDC]

The Star-Watcher Evoguide ED is a fabulous little APO refractor disguised as a guidescope. With the Starizona EvoFF v2 field flattener, it's known as the "Redcat51 killer". And with good reason: look at its images alongside the Redcat51. Boom - $500 saved.

[@marcofeature]

I did some research and found that although imaging with 50ED is indeed an interesting option and fun to play with, it's not designed for imaging means you need to know what you're doing and find the right accessory, know how to bypass the limitation, and fine tune it properly, in order to get comparable image to the Redcat. It's definitely something fun if you enjoy debugging/researching/fine tuning like many astroimagers do, and even adding all the accessory you likely ends up with lower total cost comparing to the Redcat due to Redcat's steep price. I think it's more suitable for experienced photographer who know what they're doing as a side project and showcase their skills by turning this guiding scope to a high fidelity imaging scope. It's less suitable for beginners looking for their first budget scopes to start the hobby.

[@AntPDC]

@@marcofeature I don't understand much of what you said there Bruce, to be honest. The ED50 is just a little refractor, like any other. I'm a beginner, and I got it to get into basic EAA. But then I looked at the stacked images via SharpCap and I was astonished at what it pulled in after a mere 10 minutes of integration. Here's what I got from a $250 scope with a $120 flattener: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKu2doSLf5d7rJI

[@entropytango5348]

Or you could just buy a Pentax 200mm F4 l;ens for $100-

[@curlingdan]

P.S. You have a great presentation ! Keep it up, need to checkout your other videos

[@Groosome128]

As someone approaching from normal photography I was thinking about buying a smallish telescope for direct observation which could then be a guide scope if I get into it and buy a bigger telescope but this vid makes me think I should get a medium telescope then just sell it down the track if I want to upgrade to a larger one.

[@brucetracyphotography9879]

I came to this from regular photography as well. Any way you decide to go, astrophotography gets expensive in a hurry. The good news is that there is a strong secondary market for when you decide to sell and upgrade.

[@nikanj]

Also keep in mind that with a tina 1/3" sensor 120mm ends up being a equilvaltent focal lenght on 864mm.

[@BrianFraser]

Given the limited adjustment on the bracket does the big FOV make uo for this? Thanks

[@mwales2112]

I have been using this setup for 8 month's and it does work very well. Oh and it's so damn sexy....

[@patrickshea7073]

Like the avatar and the handle. Clear skies and Fly By Night.

[@Sidecontrol1234]

I have the ZWo mini guide scope and the same guide camera. Really struggling to get it focused lol. We have the same mount, do you have any issues with backlash when guiding?

[@PafMedic]

I Have The 6se On The Eqm35Pro,After 3 Months Of Homework,I Went With The Evoguide For Solo Widefiled,That I Cant Get With The 6”,❤️🙏🏼🔭✨🌏Clear Skies

[@Sailor5116]

I use the SVBony 30mm to guide my Sky-Watcher EVO guide 50 used as a 242mm ED doublet scope on my Star Adventurer S2 i. Works great.😢

[@breaktime1615]

Hola, gracias! Podría usarse para visual añadiendo un simple ocular plossl?

[@patrickshea7073]

This is a definite "Subscribe" channel. Just another 252,787 subscribers and you'll be right up there with Trevor Jones at Astrobackyard. It's nice to have a goto channel such as yours with someone with a practical perspective and who is paying for all of the equipment themself to counterbalance the advice from a professional "amateur" who seemingly has an enormous astrophotography budget with several manufacturers "lending" equipment to him for evaluation.

[@brucetracyphotography9879]

Sadly, I have a very limited astrophotography budget. Right now I am feeling the pinch as I try to take photos of galaxies with very short telescopes. If Trevor wants to lend me a big telescope and a mount to shoot some Galaxies, I wouldn't complain. Thanks for subscribing.

[@patrickshea7073]

@@brucetracyphotography9879 Your photos are fantastic and give me hope as I believe my budget is most likely similar to yours and equipment is comparable. Although, my Photoshop and Lightroom skills are beginner level, which I have determined is at least 50% of the game in the astrophotography hobby after a year of watching videos. Keep up the good work. Your videos are informative and a pleasure to watch.

[@Dudleydogg]

That EVO is on amazon now for $275 It's Nice but overkill and was too much weight for my Clutch on my LX200 Taking your Advise

[@curlingdan]

I am about to give up on even getting an image with my asi120mm-s and the ASI 30F4 MiniScope - Let alone focusing.....would it be possible to go thru all the steps necessary to get camera and scope working together to get an image ? I have my camera almost all the way out and the front barrel almost all the way unscrewed....totally frustrated. I'd buy this scope if I thought it would work better.

[@Oxizee]

Will this work with an Sky-Watcher Adventurer 2I with an 72ED Evostar + Canon 60D + Svbony 30mm and ZWO ASI120mm Mini?

[@deeber35]

I have the Sky Watcher AZ-GTi mount in EQ mode. Can it track with a 400mm lens on a crop sensor without auto-guiding? I've had success at 300mm.

[@mikebennett1301]

Did you consider using an off axis guider? If so what put you off?

[@daviddahlke3293]

I followed your advice and bought this setup. I was just curious about how many inches of the camera are hanging out the back and how many inches of thread you have in the front. Great video . I subscribed

[@brucetracyphotography9879]

It comes out of the back quite a bit. You just have to play around with it until you get the right focus.

[@miketiedemann3578]

I‘m assembling the same setup (Evostar72, EQM35-Pro, SVBony Guidescope with ZWO ASI 120) and have trouble balancing as the scope is heavily weighted towards the DSLR. Did you switch to a longer rail? If so, what kind of rail did you get?

[@brucetracyphotography9879]

I did switch to a longer rail to move everything forward a bit. It was a dovetail bar that I already had, but they do sell them on Amazon.

[@christopherj5090]

@@brucetracyphotography9879 Do you have an Amazon link that you can share?

[@dr.mainakchakraborty9297]

Hi Bruce..I have also this, I use it with my redcat....but can I use this with my ES ED 127 mm APO Refractor?

[@brucetracyphotography9879]

It should work. It can't hurt to take it out and give it a try.

[@jesuschrist2284]

How could i attach this to my dslr/lens?

[@patrickshea7073]

How far back did you have to set the camera from the scope? It looks like you have it extended nearly as far as possible.

[@brucetracyphotography9879]

It is a lot of trial and error. I do have the camera pretty far back, but there is still room to move back a little farther.

[@dobsonsky9056]

I have a doubt will it fit into Vixen bracet or finder scope bracet or both ? thanks

[@Astronurd]

Yes. That's how I use mine.

[@jeff5163]

Can you provide a link?

[@christianadelatour850]

I’m looking to buy the Same setup to guide My EvoGuide50 ..... for wide field AP .... or I also use the EVOGuide on my 100ED ..... Mr Tracy I got refunded my $$$ from the Waiting for my Skywatcher 35 mount. I got the Celestron AVX instead as I couldn’t wait another 2-3 months for it to be available

[@PafMedic]

Im Loving My Evoguide,and Not Regretting Buying It,But I Didnt Pay $400 For It From HP Scientific,Was Like $375

[@christianadelatour850]

I got a nice mount for the EvoGuide 50 from Astrokraken ...it allows u to put the Svbony or any small guide/finderscope

[@christianadelatour850]

The Svbony guidescope is lite sharp anda great value. Only con would be focusing but once u get hang of it. It’s ALL good !

[@adamfilip]

can you use this for polar alignment?

[@OZZIEBOER]

Yes

[@Dudleydogg]

so how do you line this guy up does not have the standard mount screws to adjust ?

[@danbrown586]

n00b here, so I could be wrong, but I don't think it matters whether it's aligned with the axis of the imaging scope, as long as it doesn't move. The guiding software just needs to pick a star; it doesn't have to be part of what you're trying to image.

[@skye7690]

What about WO 32mm?

[@mateusz6012]

will work with Newton 150/750 and ASI 120?

[@brucetracyphotography9879]

Not sure ... but I don't see why it wouldn't.

[@gubigm]

Did you know that the F-number has nothing to do with how bright the stars are?

[@gregferland6701]

big bass must live in Fl...lol

[@petertrahan9785]

On that note, why not use the SvBony SV105 for a guide camera? $60. Wouldn't the same logic apply? It's job is not to image. Why spend more than 2x the money on an ASI camera? I am not being sarcastic. I am really curious. Is there a good reason not to basically buy the cheapest guide scope and the cheapest guide camera you can find?

[@brucetracyphotography9879]

It can't hurt to give it a try. If you do, come back and let us know how it works.

[@phreakmode]

Sky-Watcher explained why their guide scope has ED glass: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZamqKiuiMeYiNE