Where do you point the camera after polar aligment? Say tracker pointer north, but Milky Way rises from south east. Camera is almost 90 degree to the tracker. I’m new to MSM, if this sounds like a stupid question.
No worries and not a stupid question! Make sure you have a ball head on your MSM so you can mount your camera to it. Then you can orient the camera however you'd like. If the Milky Way is your target, then the camera should be facing the S / ESE /SE (depending on the time of year). Your ball head likely has a notch in it that will allow you to position the camera and level it. I hope this helps!
Cool video, and thank you for putting it together. I must be missing a basic concept, though.. I understand the whole alignment of the tracker, etc, but then afterwards how would you align your camera to point at the composition of the subject/milky way without throwing the alignment of the MSM tracker off..?? As I said, I'm sure it's pretty easy, but I'm just not grasping that concept of how to compose your camera without throwing off the tracker.. Cheers from Canada
Hey there! The laser pointer is accurate and works just fine for wide field astro (Milky way imaging). The laser is faster and less hassle than the polar scope. For DSO, as much as one can photograph DSO with the MSM, use the polar scope.
@Kowalski K. "wide field" in this context is any wide angle image of the night sky that captured a large section of the night sky. For example, I often use a 20mm lens to track the Milky Way and the stars. If I were to say use a 400mm lens to capture a DSO, for example, that would not be "wide field" astrophotography.
I see you swapped where the Dec adapter is ie on the short end of the bracket. Do you polar align again with the bracket on afterwards? I've seen a few other videos that do this... but is it necessary?
Thanks for the explanation! I just received the MSM and tried using it last night on my roof. Ofc I pointed it at the wrong star and it didn't work. The night was pretty clear but I live in a dense city so it was hard to spot Polaris. Anyway you said the MSM is dead silence when it's going, but I can hear a faint kind of beeping sound coming out of it, is that normal?
Hot Damn - I have been out taking landscapes and had this crazy thought - could I shoot multiple images in rows and merge them together in LRc and capture the detail? So I find this vid and now I know that I wasn't so crazy after all - THANKS for showing us how to make that happen and your final image is spot-on incredible.
@@319Photography How do you identify those images you shoot for each row? I have only done one row and I shot a black frame when I start and then a black frame when I am done so when I download it into LR I see that black frame and know that the following images are to be merged until I reach the next black frame.
Just came across this at the right time, great content. I'm heading to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park this weekend and plan to try some telephoto panorama's there!!
Honestly, yes. You could. However, it would be ideal to visually align to Polaris. I'm not saying it's not impossible to use a compass and angle gauge, but it would be difficult.
That's exactly correct, Aaron. I'd suggest orienting your camera in the general direction you intend to shoot then aligning the MSM. That way you minimize the amount of movement needed to compose your camera and reduce the chance you disturb alignment! Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@319Photography thanks for the reply, and thanks for the video very simple to understand for setting up a MSM tracker. Now I need some clear weather to go and practise, but I’m in England 🌧
Hey bud, thanks for being a great resource for this awesome little budget tracker. As you know, their documentation is real sketchy. Your videos tho? Aces! 😺 Thanks so much.
Neil, many thanks sir! I'm elated that you enjoyed the video and found it useful! I wish you all the clear skies, my friend! Happy shooting and enjoy the MSM!
How do I capture the Milky Way arching from one horizon to another horizon, using my 14mm lens. I have to take 6-8 different frames when not using any skytracker.
Great video! I noticed that the tripod is not fully extend. Is it not extended for filming the video? Or it is better to fully extend a sturdy tripod and make easier to align Polaris, instead bending the knees?
@@319Photography i have a question… can i screw MSM directly on tripod and Then use ballhead on The tracking side? Thank you for reply! Appriciate it❤️
@@jurajpiskorik1796 Absolutely, you *can* screw the MSM directly to the tripod base (with an adapter for the thread), however, doing so will make alignment near, if not fully, impossible. You could attach the MSM directly to a tripod base and use if for the purposes of doing time-lapse video, but for wide field astro it will not work. In the video, I showed using the "Z" brackets that MSM makes. There is an alternative way where you would connect the MSM via a ball-head to the tripod and then connect the camera to the MSM via another ball head. I am not the biggest fan of that method because when you release the locks on the ball head, the movement of the ball head is too free and will not allow for precise movement during alignment. A second option would be to use a "alt-azimuth base" or sometimes referred to as a "wedge" base to connect the camera to the tripod. A wedge base is geared and allows for extremely precise movement both vertically and laterally. These bases are slower in movement and a bit bulky. But, they really are a great investment. I hope this helps! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask! Have an awesome day!
You don't mention the tricky part - actually pointing the camera to the object you are interested in (and can see with the naked eye). The difficulty is that the camera which is mounted on the ballhead which is mounted on the rotator can only be moved 90 degrees and with the rotator axis polar aligned this means that anything in the northern sky higher than Polaris cannot be reached. I think one needs a V-plate in addition.
Hey Nervenerd! Thanks so much for watching the video and for your comment. When I produced this video, my goal was to illustrate the setup of the MSM rotator for the purposes of Milky Way photography. In that case, orienting the camera is not an issue whatsoever. I don't think I made that extremely clear. As for the points you made, you are correct about the difficulty of photographing objects higher than Polaris in the night sky. With the MSM "Z" brackets that I showed in the video, you could orient the camera to the north easily. The "Z" brackets allow for full horizontal and vertical tilting of the camera. They really are pretty useful. I find them to be a bit easier to use versus a ball head because you can adjust each axis separately. Therefore, the "Z" brackets allow for a bit more control than what a ball head will allow. I hope this information helps. I'd love to hear more of your thoughts. Thanks again for the comment! Have an awesome day!
I didnt know pointing to zenith is not possible (unless you buy a second Z bracket (?)) Thanks for that information. However, mostly we keep shooting the milkyway WITH foreground like a see, mountains or a building etc. therefore you dont need to point the lens towards zenith. And Orion and Andromeda are also not that high (depending on the season). And for deep sky objects anyway a wide lens is too wide.. And a telescope too heavy for the MSM.
So this is basically for wide sky only? I can't use 135mm or the 100 to 300 and get even stackable images of Andromeda Galaxy? or Orion's nebula? Or other clusters? Just large wide open shots? I ask you because you are the most recent upload on this, and actually show the 2 speed settings. And on your other video of the ioptron, it's basically the same, 1 speed. I don't plan on getting a longer lens, and am used to stacking. Was hoping this would work to get bigger pics to stack. A 50mm just doesn't have the same detail once it's cropped down. Thanks~
Hey! So, good news - to a degree. The MSM can support telephoto lenses up to 300mm. BUT, the caveat is two fold: 1) the MSM rotator has a payload capacity of 6.6lbs and 2) MSM says that when used with a telephoto lens, the optimal focal length is 135mm. All of that said, if you use a 300mm lens (or below) that fits within the weight capacity, you're golden. I hope that helps!
Funny that, I appreciated that you had it out in a real-world scenario as all too often they show the system at home or during the day and I found your approach more informative.
A real world approach with a neutral color background/shirt would be great! A little black rectangular device held next to a dark shirt is difficult to see, especially on YT.
So glad I stumbled on to your channel! This was very straightforward and informative, thank you for taking the time to put this out there. Awesome video
Hey there! Thank you so much for the kind words! I am very happy that you enjoyed the video! If you haven't done so already, mind subscribing to our channel?
Hey Daniel! I'm sorry it took you 12829 videos to get to mine! But I'm super happy that you enjoyed the video and took something from it! Thank you for taking the time to leave an awesome comment. Hope you have an awesome day!
Hello, and thanks for this tutorial. I have ordered my MSM and should get it soon. A few questions: 1. Have you ever used the MSM "wedge base"? If so, is one better than the other? (wedge v Z mount). 2. Have you ever used the tracker with the broad flat side secured to your Z base (similar to the way you have it connected to demo the settings)? 3. What focal length do you normally use for your milky way photos? Thanks again.
Hey David! Thanks for taking the time to comment! I'll gladly answer your questions. 1. I have used an MSM wedge base and do own one. I find it very easy to use. Much more useful than using a ball head. I used the Z platform in the video, but really the wedge base works just as well! 2. I have not use my tracker in that manner, but it can certainly be done. Advantages for doing so would likely be more stability, but I would imagine alignment and subsequent composition for the image would be difficult. 3. My go to focal length is 20mm with my Sigma 20mm 1.4 lens, however, I have shot (tracked with the MSM) the Milky Way at 35mm, 50mm, and 70mm. More times than not, it's the 20mm. I hope that helps! If you have more questions, feel free to ask!
@@319Photography Hello Keith can you please expand on question #2, you stated that "I would imagine alignment and subsequent composition for the image would be difficult." Why? I am just curious. I own the MSM and Z bracket and looking for the best setup.
Thanks for the simple explanation. I did find that the Williams Optics base made alignment a whole lot easier ..of course it's a couple hundred bucks extra but I truly think it's worth it.
Hi Tony, you have shown the horizontal alignment process (RA direction) do you also have to align it for declination? Because you balance it based on your initial camera position, but then you move the ballhead, which means the center of gravity has changed. Any feedback is appreciated. Thank you.
Hey! Great question. The general answer is no when speaking about wide field astrophotography with wide angle (lighter and shorter) lenses. As long as you don't alter alignment when attaching your camera, you should be good. When you add longer, heavier lenses and the center of gravity is really affected, then you have to have a precise alignment. I hope that helps!
I have seen many other tutorials and I must admit that yours was one of the most simplified and detailed so far.. great going. I plan on buying a tracker soon..Wish you all the luck..
I am incredibly happy that you enjoyed the video! Thank you for your kind words! Trackers are wonderful devices and can allow you to create some incredible images! I'll be shooting another tracker video on a different brand tracker next week. Look for that video soon!
Hey there! I wouldn't say that star trail images are more difficult, rather they simply require a lot of time in-field and in post. This unit is designed to do the opposite of creating star trails. With a tracker, like this one, you can expose for multiple minutes without star trailing. The motor inside the tracker is calibrated to move with the rotation of the Earth. So, the result is pinpoint stars!
@@319Photography Thank you for the reply. I'm still trying to get all of my gear together. I think with my Tripod purchase that should be the last item.
