A note for those buying this tracker with the laser pointer When I purchased this I was not getting very good results with it at a bit longer focal lengths 50mm to 135mm and I couldn't figure out why. so on a hunch I used a higher end polemaster to polar align the tracker an the problem was solved come to find out the laser pointer that came with my unit was not accurate and had to be adjusted mine was way off and was the reason my polar alignment was way off when using the laser pointer for polar alignment To check and correct this I had to put the laser pointer in the mounting bracket and losely tighten it down but not so tight that you can't still spin the laser pointer in the bracket in a 360 degree circle as stable as you can you do need to use a good stable tripod to do this I pointed it at something land based I used my backyard fence about 25 or 30 yards away from it I then spun the laser pointer 360 degrees if the laser dot doesn't stay in the same place when spinning the pointer then you know your laser pointer is not aligned and will need to be adjusted with the alignment screws until the dot remains in the same place when spinning the pointer 360 degree at the 25 yards I tested mine at mine was way off almost 2 foot circle and was the reason I was not getting a good polar alignment with the laser and star trails once i got the pointer adjusted i was then getting the same results as when I polar aligned with the polemaster just a heads up for something you may need to check if you are not getting good results when going a bit longer on focal lengths I hope this info is useful
Have you found there to be any difference in quality of alignment based on where along the tracker you attach the pointer? Should it be as close to the center? It can't be aligned with the center of the rotating plate because the clamp won't fit there.
Thanks for the great review on the MSM tracker. I just got mine last week, and you'll be happy to know that the screw they sent me has a raised kind of stopper in the middle of the thread to keep it from sinking into either the tracker or the head.
Thank you for this video I cannot tell you how helpful it was. I am a science teacher and budding astronomer who has been struggling with getting what I'm seeing from the eyepiece into a usable photograph to share with my students and family. I've been shopping and trying to find the right mount without breaking the bank; this seems like just the ticket. I have the complete kit on the way but I'm sure I only need about half of what's in there to get started but I didn't want to go back in a la carte the other items after I figured out that I needed them. Thanks again for your great channel and the information that you share with us. On a side note you might have the most pleasant voice I've ever heard. If you're looking for a side gig, I could use you a few nights a week to read to my kids lol. Clear skies.
Thanks for the review, Peter. I just ordered my MSM Start Tracker for my upcoming trip to a dark sky zone in my neck of the world. Can't wait to play around with it.
Late to the party but... Great video, great review straight to the point. This review, along with Alyn Wallaces made me order the MSM as my first star-tracker.
Good review, Peter. Looks like they have significantly improved the design from the original MSM of a couple years ago. I use a laser with a barn-door tracker and agree that it is quick, easy and accurate. I would caution folks however to be careful not to use it if there are airplanes in the area or if you are near an airport. My rule of thumb is if I can see or hear a plane I wait until it leaves the area. Also, do you counter-weight your tripod? I've found that I need to hang my camera bag on the tripod so that it hangs opposite the camera/lens otherwise the whole rigs tips slightly (polar align AFTER hanging the bag).
For those concerned with aviation, Up to 5mW Laser is legal in the US, the MSM pointer is 1mW. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lasers_and_aviation_safety shows an example and you have to be within 1500 feet with a 5mW & pointed horizontally to really cause problems.
I have imported lasers before you just have to have a good reason to have a laser over 1 mw such as astronomy www.police.nsw.gov.au/services/firearms/permits/prohibited_weapon_permits?a=136099
Azonic you should be fine I’ve imported lasers before, plus you have a legitimate reason to posses a laser, it comes with the kit so I d order it nothing to worry about
@@matty74123 THanks for the response, good to know! Though come to think of it I dont know how useful this laser would actually be in the southern hemisphere as we need to use Sigma octans to work out polar alignment. Could it be done do you think?
@@grayfoxv In the user manual, the laser method is shown only for northern hemisphere. For Southern Hemisphere, it says you'll need to mount your smartphone into the MSM tracker and use an app with night AR mode.
It's nice to see another company getting into the tracker market. Astro has quickly become very accessible with the tech in today's cameras. While not critical to wide-angle landscape astro work, it's great that an affordable option is now out there for a tracker.
I would have just dropped a BB or a .177 lead pellet down in there to effectively stop the screw from just going deeper. Ordered mine several hours ago so I'm glad to hear of the upgrades. TC in Georgia
Thanks Peter, good honest review, I am starting out with the MSM tracker and seem to get hit and miss results. When it has worked it has been really good but in some shots I seem to still get trails. I think it may come down to some element in my 2 ball head and star-tracker arca plate loosening. It is light but you do need another ball head mount as well compared with someone that simply stacks 8 images in starry landscape stacker /sequator, so there is that extra weight to carry. Also the polar alignment laser can run out of battery easily and is not easy to recharge in the field. keep up the informative tutorials.
Totally agree about the weight being great for hiking purposes and would probably consider getting one for that too, but I've been using the laser method with all my ioptron trackers to date. It's not only coming into play because of the MSM. Looks like a handy kit overall but wouldn't put anything more than a 50mm lens on it with a full frame camera.
I've had one of these for a few months now. Short of using a hammer and pliers to tighten things down this thing is wobbly in various areas. Only tried it with a Nikon D810 and 14-24mm Nikkor lens. Going back to my Adventurer 2i.
Great review, thank you! I have my copy about 2 month ago. This screw thing is suck indeed. It came with 2 screws and I just put both of them in to the ball head and it's all good now.
Hahaha Mt. Jo!!! Awesome! An hour from where I live. This might be a good budget/ weight option for me for shooting in the ADKs in remote locations. Thanks for this dude
Looks like MoveShootMove fixed the screw attachment issue that you mentioned. Product shots now show a slightly different screw attachment piece that has a center flange that ensures the screw is inserted evenly into the device and your ballhead.
I recently created a tool similar to that used to polar align this tracker. I use a Starguider Pro with the Williams base.Rubber band it to the clamp, then pick up and move the feet to where the laser is pretty close. Then finish the adjustment with the base. (Sorry for the non MSM intrusion. They had a good idea.)
Peter you're a MSM Ambassador. Just that fact alone, I really don't see how you can have a neutral opinion on this product. You also need to say you're an MSM ambassador in your video.
with the laser pointer you have to be really careful in areas with a lot of airplane activity in the area.. people have been imprisoned for shining laser pointer at aircrafts, as it does distract pilots and can be pretty dangerous, so be really careful of the surrounding when pointing a laser-pointer into the sky
@@john-okc450 thanks, that's good to know.. this might then be more affecting when travelling to other countries (especially given its size), or for buyers outside the US.
Great video, Peter. For us in the southern hemisphere, however, its laser pointer is useless. No pole star, only the 5th magnitude star sigma octantis :(
Thanks for the review! I'm considering this product for its portability and robustness. I have a Sky Watcher tracker that allows me to do 60 second exposures at 600mm with no trails, but it's incredibly fiddly to align, and requires Wifi just to start and stop. A laser sight is not going to be precise enough for exposures like that. I need to align to the precise offset of Polaris for my local time. I would love to see a review of this product at those kinds of focal lengths using an aligning scope.
Just spent some time researching this device. The range of temps that it is operational is between 32 and 104F. If it's freezing cold the batteries start acting funny and that's where your errors happen.
I have been using this tracker with twelve months and I think having a removable screw is to keep the profile of the unit a square a possible for packing in your bag.
You can use a screwdriver to keep the screw from rotating. I don't know if the new version has the hole in the back, where you can access the screw from behind.. the old version does :) By the way, I don't think the tracker lasts for 5 hours. As far as I remember - after about 2 hours of use, the tracker started to not track reliably. I assume this is battery related since it didn't get out of alignment and everything was screwed tightly together.
You should also take a look at the Omegon MiniTrack LX2, it's a beautifully made, entirely mechanical star tracker that's also very lightweight and portable!It's also way more inexpensive than even this one, I think it's another great option for backpackers and travellers on a budget, especially considering it'll never run out of batteries.
The LX2 looked promising but it turned out to be a lot more expensive than I originally thought it was going to be. One one site, it was selling for about AU$400.
It looks cool! Just two thoughts: 1) I don't think it's easy to polar align in the southern hemisphere. 2) pointing at Polaris is just an approximation, I guess, since Polaris is not located exactly at the North Celestial Pole, but only very close.
Yeah, I don't have any experience in the Southern Hemisphere yet. I'll be headed down in 2020, so I can create some specific tutorials. As for Polaris, good point. I cover that in the written review. We can't easily see where the NCP is with the naked eye, and aligning to Polaris still allows for plenty of exposure time. That is the advantage of using a polar scope and app, you can align to the actual NCP or SCP for a more accurate alignment. It's really not necessary for a wide angle lens though, which is what this tracker is designed for
@@PeterZelinka That's true. You can get away with a rough polar alignment. The big issue with using a laser to polar align is aircraft. You must be absolutely careful not to point a laser in the path of an aircraft less you blind the pilot. I wanted to use a laser for polar alignment but I live near an airport.
@@CrossoverManiac I would hope that would be obvious to people... especially astrophotographers. Then again, people love shining their bright lights everywhere without any consideration for others.
@@CrossoverManiac - If the airplane is moving at 200 mph that's 10 m/sec so the laser flash would last 0.1 msec even if the pilot happened to be looking directly where the laser is located. In addition the solid angle of the laser at 1 mile distance would be infinitesimal. So unless you actually track the plane with your milliwatt laser (not easy to do) I think it would be safe (at least compared to danger of a lightening strike or flock of birds).
So I'm guessing that in the Southern Hemisphere, polar alignment with this device is going to be much, much harder. I could see that a laser pointer would be useless over here on this part of the world (for alignment.) I think the best I could do is use a compass for the rotation and then work out the required amount of tilt. That would give me very rough polar alignment so likely, I wouldn't get anywhere near the exposure times that your getting.
Hi Peter! I was on a fence between "SkyGuider" and "Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer" but both of them have some funny stuff... In SkyGuider later you have to invest some money to replace a Equatorial Wedge Base and buy a ball head for wide shooting and Sky-Watcher kind of clumsy with cover of battery and mode dial...So at the end they are looking big for me and me as a beginner to shoot stars I'm looking for something smaller with mine mirrorless camera Z6 ... MSM!? hmm but again investment to the ball head and Equatorial Base and etc. What about that semi Japanese/German star tracker like "Slik ECH 630 Astro Tracker"/"Bresser Startracker PM-100" which I actually order ) and almost no review in RU-vid at all for it... I'll open my youtube channel with it )))) hehe
Hey Peter! Is a counterweight needed for this? I just ordered mine and will be using with a Canon 6D and Samyang 135mm lens? Or is a counterweight not necessary? Thank you for solid review and making it very easy to understand!
Thanks for the Review. I am not sure if the old MSM "Knob" is better.. still available in their Shop -To fix the problem with the screw, You could use some Loctite or maybe superglue (one sided) on the ballhead or MSM :-)
I have been using this tracker with twelve months and I think having a removable screw is to keep the profile of the unit a square a possible for packing in your bag.
A small dot of nail polish works well also. Just a dot will hold it, while allowing it to be removed if necessary. Just don’t use a lot or it’s stuck on forever.
I received my MSM a few days ago and the screw for mounting the ball head onto the tracker now has a collar at the middle so it can’t screw in too far.
@@jhtrkhgvtkuyejh It also comes with a star cap which is kinds cool that screws in to laser side, it just makes a bunch of shapes. It ships from California too which is nice. Link Below: www.ebay.com/itm/Tactical-GD851-10-Miles-532nm-Green-Laser-Pointer-Pen-Visible-Beam-Star-Cap/161871748885
How is this more compact than a staradventurer mini? When mounted on the tripod, both are essentially the same size. And then you need an external power pack for the MSM because 5 hours of shooting is really nothing. For the SAM, just carry 4 AA's and you've got at least 72 hours worth of shooting. All-in, I'm pretty sure the SAM is more compact. And a green laser? Just put one in your camera's hotshoe to align if you don't want to use the polar scope. And which would you rather have - copper or brass gears? I would prefer brass because it's tougher and more corrosion resistant. The SAM is only 76x70x103mm, while the MSM is 100x80x43 - only marginally smaller for the tracking motor.
Good review. I just received my MSM unit and have not used it yet. Trying to figure what other equipment I need. Looks like an Intervalometer is a necessity. My question: Seeing as the intervalometer controls the camera, don't you have to connect the included sync cord from the camera hotshoe to the MSM unit to trigger that? Your setup doesn't show that. Thanks.
Thanks for the info, I just ordered my MSM, and can't wait to go out to the desert east of San Diego, CA where there is hardly any light pollution at all. I'll be using a Nikon DF with some AF-D primes. Cheers!
Cool Peter, one question though, does it always rely on Polaris? Because I am in the Southern Hemisphere, and I don't think we could see Polaris. Thanks
@@kalef1234 I researched more and I believe it does support Southern Hemisphere tracking, just that there's no "south star", instead have to rely on its neighbouring star to get the centre, quite faint too. Not as straight forward as North Star. Will check it out when I receive mine. :)
I don't think my Star Adventurer is too heavy to hike with, its my tripod that would kill me. LOL! I am looking for a solution with a lighter yet still sturdy enough way o use the tracker. Battery wise, is there a way to use an external battery through the charging port? I use an external rechargeable for the Star Adventurer and basically have unlimited tracking. Cheers
Hello Peter, thank you for the informative review. I am thinking of purchasing this item. Can you confirm for me, that with the use of this laser pointer, I would not need the use of any apps to adjust the tracker. Thank you.
Another great informative video added to your arsenal of great work. A quick question: Why not just mount a laser pointer on the top of the Skyguider Pro before attaching a camera? Would that work just as well to get polar alignment?
I'm a little confused. Never did a tracker. So once you align the tracker to Polaris, you can then aim the camera anywhere in the sky to start shooting ? Milky way, any star formation ? I am correct in assuming that ?
Would be illegal in Australia then! In NSW a laser pointer is a prohibited weapon that carries jail time (along with a catapult, spud gun, or peashooter).
Yeah bummer, just checked the MSM site and saw that.. no laser pointer for us Aussies! Will make me think twice about buying this item, SCP aint that easy to find (though have done so in the past).
@@youngmers technically yes, but it wouldn't be that helpful. Check out Lincoln Harrison and his Southern Hemisphere polar alignment tutorial on his blog. It will give you a good idea of what's required for a polar alignment
Hii Great video! I just bought the MSM and had a cullman nanomax 400t tripod. The payload capacity is just 2-2.5kg so maybe it’s not sturdy enough. I have tested the msm and with my 10mm i’m not getting more than 2 mins without getting moved stars. I guess it’s due to the tripod cause I calibrated my laser pointer and also used it to point polaris, as well as balance the tripod. Should I get a more sturdy tripod like the benro go plus? Thanks
An interesting looking option, although Peter you mention you wouldn't recommend using a 70-200 lens with this tracker? It has a max recommended weight of 3kg, and I have an old Minolta 80-200/2.8 which combined with my Sony A7S + battery grip + A-mount adaptor + ball heads would weigh approx 2.4kg all up. I also have a Sony 135mm STF (a ridiculously sharp lens) which I wish to try sometime, and the total weight with that on the A7S would be around 1.8kg. If the manufacturer is going to recommend 3kg maximum, then I would hope that 3kg is well within the capability of the tracker without stressing the motor etc.
It's mainly due to the fact that there's no counterweight system. You'd also want to get the polar scope so you have an accurate enough polar alignment (the laser is mainly good for wide angle). I've seen people use big lenses with this tracker, like a 70-200mm, but I would rather be safe than sorry.
@@PeterZelinka if a counterweight could be added that would reduce the max weight of camera/lens carried, so has its own disadvantages. Perhaps if the MSM is a success its designers will consider a similar but larger version capable of carrying heavier payloads and with counterweight. All a moot point for now until the covid-19 crisis eases, hoping everyone is keeping safe and well.
Thanks for the review. I just revised my blog review of the MSM based on findings this week testing a new unit they sent me to replace the one I bought in June and tested. However, I found the new MSM with what I was told was a new more powerful motor did not have any better tracking accuracy than the old model. Even with a 35mm lens a lot of frames were trailed due to gear errors and mechanical wobbling internally. My test is at amazingsky.net/2019/08/22/testing-the-msm-tracker/ And as you say, forget shooting with telephoto lenses. Also, I had my laser pointer tested professionally and it measured as being 45 milliwatts! It is labeled as being 1 MW. Anything over 5 MW is now illegal to import let alone use in Canada. In Australia, as the MSM website and another viewer comments, all green lasers are illegal. You have to buy the optical polar scope. They really are very easy to use. And more accurate. Unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere - then they can be tough! Cheers!
Very thorough review Alan! In regards to the random errors of the tracker, I've noticed the same problem with my SkyGuider Pro and SkyTracker Pro over the years. I've had a lot of photos ruined by internal tracking problems. As for the laser pointer, I think most of the ones you can buy online are overpowered. I remember reading many reviews on B&H and Amazon that the laser pointers were much stronger than they are rated for. I'm sure they're all being produced from a few factories in China, and they are lying about the rating so they can ship them more easily to various countries, as you mentioned. If someone has good eyes, and really knows what they are doing, they can probably have an accurate alignment in 2 minutes or less with the polar scope. However, I've worked with plenty of students who had a very hard time using the polar scope. It's hard to tell which star is Polaris, (if they can even get Polaris in the scope), and then they have to use an app and make the precise adjustments. It could take 10 minutes or longer to get a decent polar alignment with a polar scope. And if you have a Star Adventurer or SkyGuider Pro, and are using the standard camera mount, you cannot double check the alignment after you attach your camera (which may throw off the alignment.) Point being, a laser pointer is definitely the way to go for beginners. As long as they know to only turn it on when pointed up near Polaris, and verify no planes are flying nearby. (Too bad we can't put a bright satellite at the South Celestial Pole to help with alignment haha. Well, maybe Elon Musk can divert one of his hundreds of satellites he plans to pollute the night sky with...)
i wonder if the lazer pointer will work well in the southern hemisphere since the polar south is much more fainter and harder to find then the bright Polaris.
It would not be ideal, most likely. I believe I mentioned that in the written review, that it might be better to opt for the polar scope if you live in the Southern Hemisphere. Regardless which method you go with though, you're in for a more difficult time due to the lack of a bright pole star. I'd recommend reading this helpful article from Lincoln Harrison, who illustrates a good way to find the SCP: www.lincolnharrison.com/blog-index/southern-hemisphere-polar-alignment
Gotta watch out because many laser pointers beam axis aren’t aligned with the barrel. And need I say it...Polaris is pretty far from the celestial North Pole. Of course if you just want a way to reduce star trailing it’s fine
As so often on YT videos you skip over the tricky parts. In particular, you don't show how to point the camera at what you want when the tracker is already aligned. At least in my case, when the tracking axis is pointing to the north star, then the camera mounted on the ball head which is mounted on the tracker cannot be pointed to a large area of the sky. Specifically, the ball-head can only be moved over less than 180 degrees, but when the ball head is in the central,90 degree, position the camera is pointing downwards. So the camera cannot be pointed up more than 45 degrees! You never actually illustrate that the tracking axis is pointed to the North Star while the camera is pointed towards the zenith.
One can gain a bit more flexibility and freedom by also rotating the ball head around the axis of the rotator, but it's still limited, counterintuitive and clunky. I think for someone who is just doing long exposures on a single object this initial clunkiness would be tolerable (though accurate PA would be critical). For someone who wants to shoot (or film) a series of bright objects in quick succession this repeated clunky pointing becomes tiresome or even impossible.,though PA is less critical. This is compounded by the difficulty in accurately pointing the camera by swiveling the ball head. I now got a fluid head which helps but I still have the problem that the pointing drifts after clamping down. Apparently a geared head would solve the latter problem though not the former. Please be wary of thinking that tracking is a cinch - tracking is,but pointing isn't (and of course I'm assuming you know and can see exactly where the object you want is located).
Great review Peter. Just one question regarding alignment. I understand that the laser alignment is great for wide lenses, but what about for 200\300mm lenses? - As we are zooming in, is the laser alignment good enough or we should use the polar scope for a more accurate alignment? Thank you
You would definitely want to use a polar scope at that focal length. Also, if the lens is heavy enough to require a tripod collar, I would be cautious using it with the MSM tracker.
Peter, thank you very much for this. I'm going to snag this right away. Two questions - the first is very lame/basic/newbie... 1) After you have completed Polar Alignment - you attach your camera and then can compose your shot anywhere you like, correct? I'm just trying to envision how you get the composition you want. I think that's correct anyway. 2) I have a Batis 135 2.8 that comes in really lightweight at just over 600 grams. Any issues using something like that for deeper sky objects?
Yeah, although I recommend double checking the polar alignment after you've attached your camera gear. It's possible things can move around a bit, and throw off the alignment. Once everything is attached, I move the camera around and take test photos until I get a good composition. Then I begin taking my photos. That lens should work, but there will be a few problems with using a telephoto focal length. First, the laser pointer polar alignment isn't as accurate as a polar scope. Therefore, you will notice star trails sooner. Instead of shooting 2 minutes, you might only be able to get 1 minute exposures. Not a big deal, but you'll want to stack photos together to reduce noise. Also, as Alan commented on this video, you may see some occasional tracking errors. I've noticed the same problems with much larger and more expensive trackers. Basically, some of your photos might be blurry for no obvious reason. This is because the internal gears and things aren't precisely built and occasionally run into "hiccups". So, if you notice that 3 of 10 photos are randomly blurry, that could be the culprit. This problem is much more noticable at telephoto focal lengths. Hope that helps! I'd also recommend checking out my Patreon which goes into a lot more depth on my shooting process. Should save you some headaches in the field and on the computer.
I think "anywhere you like" is an exaggeration, since the ball head can only be moved over less than a 180 degree range - and much of that range is below the horizon because the tracker is tilted.You can gain more room by also rotating the ball around the tracker axis, but the combination of movements needed (and coordinating the loosening of the 2 required screws without the camera flopping) is rather tricky. You'll note that the video doesn't actually show the most difficult step -actually pointing the camera where you want it, in the dark and possibly with multiple cables attached.
No, I've only used the Polarie once. I will say that I was not impressed, it was lacking a lot of the features that virtually every other tracker has, and all the accessories seemed very overpriced.
@@PeterZelinka I'd like to see your review of the Omegon LX3. I notice you have ignored most of the comments on that model, is there a reason for this?
Awaiting for the delivery of the one I just bought. I was wondering if it would be possible to attach the laser and the polar scope at the same time to the unit if I get a second attachment? It may facilitate further the polar alignment by making Polaris more visible in the scope?
I’m looking at getting into astrophotography and this product. However I live in Australia. Can I use it in the Southern Hemisphere and how would you polar align.
I rarely shoot from home, since there's a lot of light pollution. If I do shoot around here, it's usually deep space astro with a big telephoto lens. Therefore, I'd use the SkyGuider Pro.
i see that in your video you use the narrow side of the tracker on the tripod mount and the flat side to mount your camera. I just got mine delivered yesterday. I was planning on using the wedge onto the tripod and the RRS BC-18 Micro Ball to mount the camera onto the Move Shoot Move. But it comes with the smaller screw so was hoping it will work by putting the camera on the narrow side and then mounting the MSM flat onto the wedge. do you think this will work? I am a bit confused that there are multiple ways of doing things
What is the maximum weight of the camera? I have the Nikon D850 with the MB18 batterygrip and a Sigma 24-70 Art lens. The total weight will be about 2,5 kg. Will the MSM be able to work with it?
You'd really be pushing it to the limits, and I doubt you'd get good results. I always recommend removing battery grips when using star trackers though. They are unnecessary and cause more problems than anything.
I have been using this tracker with twelve months and I think having a removable screw is to keep the profile of the unit a square a possible for packing in your bag.
I just purchased the move shoot move tracker and had a question. After I purchased it I got a notification that I actually need a 2nd ball head. You said something about needing an Swiss plate. I don’t even have a tripod yet, so it there a tripod/ball head that you would recommend and one that has a Swiss plate?
Really considering getting this tracker to step up my landscape astro shots. Do you think it wouldn't be possible to mount a Canon EOS R with EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS (total weight 3,7 lbs) if I wanna try deep space? I have a tripod bracket for this lens so the center of mass of the setup is very close to the tripod mounting point.
You can give it a shot. That setup sounds like it should work okay. You may notice star trails relatively quickly (30 seconds at 300mm). I get star trails with my bigger SkyGuider Pro after about 30 seconds at 400mm+ You should still be able to get some great shots though, especially with that EOS R
@@kamilkp Yeah, that will work too! I used the SkyTracker Pro for a few years. It never gave me any trouble with a D750 and 14-24mm lens. Don't buy the counterweight kit for the SkyTracker Pro though. It's a bad design and a pain in the butt to use.
No one invented a polar alignment with a laser because it's impossible to do this precisely. North pole is like 1 degree from polar star, for that we need a map or a scale on a polar scope.
For wide angle shooting it really doesn't matter (14-35mm). I can get 4 minute exposures just by pointing the star tracker roughly up at Polaris But yeah, if you want a precise polar alignment a polar scope is the way to go
