Had to choose between a star tracker and a better lens for my astrophotography rig

I spent three weeks going back and forth on this. Ended up picking the star tracker, a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer, over a Sigma 14mm f/1.8 lens. First night out with it in Joshua Tree last month was a mess trying to polar align in the dark. But once I got it dialed in, my 5-minute exposures of the Milky Way came out way sharper than any wide lens could have done handheld. Anyone else wrestle with that same gear choice and regret going one way or the other?

2 comments

2 Comments

lucaslee25d ago

Sort of related but the Star Adventurer isn’t great for 5 minute exposures unless you’re shooting really wide. You probably got lucky with good polar alignment or were shooting under 50mm. 5 minutes with any real focal length and that mount will start trailing.

gavinw4525d ago

Ha yeah a buddy of mine tried 5 minute subs at 135mm and got weird wavy stars every time.