iOptronSkyGuider Pro Camera Mount Full Package

Normally I do my imaging with a very elaborate, expensive, heavy, and bulky setup. I wanted an ultra small/light setup for travel and fast setup. I have another Ioptron mount and it works great so thought this would be a good choice.I have used it with my Nikon D800 DSLR and lens ranging from 20mm to 300mm. Even with the 300 the sharps remain dots with exposures up to 3 minutes or more. The attached wide field shot of the Milky Way was shot with a 20mm lens and 6 minute exposure on the DSLR.My normal setup is a ATIK 940 EX cooled astro camera with the same Nikon lens. on the SkyGuider. I use a Bogen crutch leg tripod or a surveyors tripods. A heavy sturdy tripod is mandatory!The mount can take up to 11# of camera and lens via a setup that uses a counterweight. There is a version with just the mount and another one with the equatorial mount bracket, counter weight shaft and counter weight, and a attachment that lets you set it up in several configurations.That is the setup I have. I went with the photo kit which only adds a few bucks to the cost. The included polar alignment scope is very accurate and fast to setup. It takes just a couple of minutes to polar align.it very accurately using a free app for Android or Iphones that matches the observing location, time and date to where Polaris is in relation to the true North Celestial Pole. That information is used to locate Polaris on the circum polar circle in the finder scope.The guider itself hasa good sized gear with a brass worm drive. The transission from the motor is via a toothed rubber drive belt which will eliminate jitter. In short the drive is very smooth and accurate. The mount has siderial, lunar, and solar tracking rates as well as 1/2 siderial which is used when imaging the sky with landscape in the forground.The mount is unique in that it includes a autoguide port. I haven't used that yet although I do have a small autogfuider setup that would work with it. However, the mount is so good you may not need it.....I am trying to keep from adding a bunch of additional gear...so may never use that guider port. Note thouigh that since the mount tracks only is RA....the guider would only move in RA also. Since DEC shouldn 't be an issue with a good polar alignment you really won't need DEC guiding. I included a photo of the setup I use with the ATIK camera.Note that while this is a tracking mount there is no provision for GOTO or finding stars. You will have to find them yourself but if you know enough about astronomy that won't be a problem. The software I have allows me to focus and continually see where my ATIK camera is aimed. My Nidon was a little bit more difficult but I found a device that plugs into the camera hot shoe what can hold either a red dot finder or a green laser pointer to help you aim it.The only issue I had was the first one arrived with a bad battery that would not take or hold a charge. Adorama promtoply issued a RA and sent another one which has worked flawlessly. I have bought a lot of gear over the years from Adorama so can vouch for their company and service. By the way the internal battery is rechageable and lasts for up to 20 hours but you can also plug an external power supply to run the mount as well as recharge the battery. That connection also let you upload firmware updates when they come out. THere is a port to have a camera cable release on some cameras, but in my case it was redundant for what I alread have.In short this is an amazing device for astrophotography. It is easy to use, a qality product and well engineered. I will not give uip my more elaborate setup but this makes it easy to take great astrophotos......but it helps to have dark skies of course!

Update (12/13/24) -- the USB cable was faulty and the unit wasn't receiving power consistently and not charging. I tried a different micro USB cable and everything is working as expected. So far, with the new cable, I have only gone through the motor reset procedure, but even that wasn't working with the old cable. I still need to retest the SkyGuider in the field, but things are looking good again. When I used it before, it was great, so I assume it will continue to perform now that I have replaced the cable.Original Review:This was great when I first used it, but now it doesn’t track.I’ve used this tracking mount three times. The first two times it was great. The third time, the mount didn’t rotate. I set it up in my office on a charger and left it overnight. The next day, it was still in the same position. I contacted Amazon support since they were the shipper (and that’s where online help directed my concern) but they couldn’t help and told me to contact the manufacturer. That’s what I’ll try today.

I use this to track the moon during the recent lunar eclipse and it worked beautifully on my tripod using a full size DSLR. It was complicated to initially setup and the instructions are basic but there are several great YouTube videos available. Comes with all the necessary pieces and the construction is very solid. It will take some practice to master. Plan to use this unit to do more wide field astrophotography this spring.

Love this. Have tried different mounts. Came back to this one. Easy, polar alignment.

I'll try to be as constructive with my criticism as possible.First off, Im very new at astrophotography. Ive only stacked the moon, because, well, I dont have a tracker. Without spending thousands of dollars, which I plan to do AFTER I get more acquainted with astrophotography in general. So I chose this route and Ive seen that its very capable with a DSLR and telephoto lens.Disclaimer, I havent used it yet, just setting it up.First: I already knew I would either A. need more weight, which can't be found at the moment OR cost around $60. The weight itself is $25, thats pretty steep, and the only place I found it wanted $35 shipping. Or B. plan ahead and find parts DIY to make a longer counter weight bar.Why is the counter weight bar so short (8")!?iOptron sells extensions for $25. I can make a 12" counter weight bar for $11.50.Why not just include a 12" bar?I say this because theres youtube reviews stating you WILL NEED more weight if using DSLR+Telephoto lens AND it was demonstrated.The point behind this is the mount itself is only designed to accommodate 11lbs payload. My D850 weighs 2.5lbs and my Nikkor 200-500 weighs 4.5lbs, plus the counter weight 3.3lbs. Im already at max load. Why would I want to add weight!?I cant find the extension bars anywhere. Everything from iOptron seems to be on back order!? That being said, the 8" bar that comes with the kit weighs about 1lb. I cant add weight. So Im making a 12" bar out of some 3/8-16 all thread, two coupling nuts and a 12" 20mm OD x 17mm ID aluminum tubing. Furthermore this kit was on backorder since January.Secondly: The polar scope (seems everyone has this problem) is not collimated to Right Ascension Axis (RA). How do you ship a product thats not ready for use? I understand it could get bumped out of alignment during shipping, but if its that delicate, the design is flawed. Or possibly just ship it separate from the mount since we, the consumer, would have to align it anyways. On top of that, they include a 2mm allen(hex) key, but NOT a 1.5mm. You need both to collimate the scope.Third: While adjusting the scope, the eye piece loosely fits into the scope. Making it to where if touched, it wobbles the alignment reticle optically. Luckily I have some rubber O-rings that did the trick. Why was there not an O-ring OR why was the threaded eye piece so loose!?As far as construction materials, its decent, partial metal, partial plastic. The chuck could be aluminum. I can foresee it breaking.I really want to get into astrophotography and Im not sure this mount was the way to start. I mean, its on the cheap, just to learn the basics and get use to the process before progressing to advanced equipment.Considering how cheap this mount is and what can be done with it, these flaws are minor, but flaws non the less.I'll update my review in the future, but in the meantime, iOptron should resolve these issues to get better reviews, thus sell more of your product. I understand this is a niche market, but all the more reason to either listen to your customers or do it right the first time.iOptron:Include a 1.5mm allen(hex) keyInclude an O-ring for polar eye pieceInclude a 12" counter weight barNot everyone uses IOS (Apple), please include Android App for polar alignment.Please advise consumer its mandatory to check and collimate the polar scope with Right Ascension Axis (RA). Either with an advertisement before purchase and or with a note in package stating to do so. No where in the paper manual does it state to do this or that it may be required to be done. Its absolutely necessary.Overall, Im content with my purchase, because its needed for what I want to do and it was the cheapest, fastest, easiest and most portable way to start Astrophotography.I chose the Sky Guider Pro over other portable trackers because of Peter Zelinka reviews. The main points are how small it is and the rechargeable battery.Update: After all the "issues" that I remedied, I can get 2 minute subs with 500mm. Weather hasnt been the best, but I was able to get some data. 22 minutes Lights, 30 Darks, 50 Flats, 100 Bias. M81/M82 pictured (cropped 1:2). Its not a lot of data, but its only my second attempt. I havent tried for longer subs due to weather. I'll update when I get the chance. For the price, this cant be beat, even with all the somewhat minor issues.