AstroTrac TT320X-AG Kit With the D600 and 16-35

jdeg

^ broke something
Staff member
I don't see why it wouldn't work well! I can't comment on using either personally, but the D600 and 16-35mm would be an excellent combo.

Do you already have other gear picked out like a tripod and shutter remote?
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
I can attest to the combination of camera and glass, but have no experience with kit.

I'm curious, only because I haven't done any research into the product, but what does something like this give you that you can't get with a compass and a star mapping app, particularly with a wide angle like that? I can see using one with a telephoto to, say, track the moon and do a time lapse during an eclipse. But it seems awful pricey as a pointing system for wide angle night shooting.
 

jdeg

^ broke something
Staff member
I can attest to the combination of camera and glass, but have no experience with kit.

I'm curious, only because I haven't done any research into the product, but what does something like this give you that you can't get with a compass and a star mapping app, particularly with a wide angle like that? I can see using one with a telephoto to, say, track the moon and do a time lapse during an eclipse. But it seems awful pricey as a pointing system for wide angle night shooting.

The astrotrac is for very long exposures. It compensates for the earth rotating so you can get very clear pictures without trails.

see http://www.astrofilm.com/Shop/AstroTrac/Beispielbilder.html
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
The astrotrac is for very long exposures. It compensates for the earth rotating so you can get very clear pictures without trails.

see AstroTrac-Beispielbilder

Which is sort of my point about the wide angle lens. Sure you can get long exposures without star tracks, but I've seen some amazing 20 sec exposures at f4 and 16mm with ISO at 1200-1600, so you should see no movement. Now with something longer then absolutely since you'll get star movement much faster than 20 seconds.
 

NVSteve

Senior Member
Which is sort of my point about the wide angle lens. Sure you can get long exposures without star tracks, but I've seen some amazing 20 sec exposures at f4 and 16mm with ISO at 1200-1600, so you should see no movement. Now with something longer then absolutely since you'll get star movement much faster than 20 seconds.

Most of the really good photos out there are either with some sort of tracking mount, and oftentimes they are shorter (and longer) exposures that get stacked. It's a bit of a PITA taking really good sky shots without showing star trails. To the OP-why not just get a true motorized EQ mount, along with a beefy tripod base? Or even that along with a scope and run a piggyback mount? I have to admit that Skytracker looks like a good piece of equipment for the job though.
 
Top