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Good value tripod recommendations.

DeepThought

By DeepThought
in Getting Started With Imaging

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DeepThought

DeepThought

Posted
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Hi

Having been successfully put off the idea of imaging DSOs through a telescope (by the fact I've been told it's not even worth turning up unless I lay down £1500+ for "basic" equipment) I have decided to try some DSLR imaging up to about 200mm.

I haven't decided on a device for tracking yet, (possibly a Vixen Polarie or iOptron Skytracker, I don't have Astrotrac money to spare) but I am curious which tripod to get.

I'm not fussed about weight as I'm not going to be carrying it far but it does have to be sturdy, Ideally at least sturdy enough to hold polar alignment while I swivel a DSLR about on a ball head.

Could anyone suggest something effective but not jaw-droppingly expensive?

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Langy

Langy

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Just a different thought. As you are looking at doing straight photography but needing to have some form of tracking for the longer exposures, have you not thought of actually using the telescope mount (piggy back) and a motor on the RA?

I've had a go at the Orion Nebula with a 300mm lens (some pics on my first attempt in my gallery) where I took several 1.6s exposures without tracking and then stacked them.

Now I have the Astromaster 130EQ and for the sake of £30 can buy the RA motor which would in my option (to be corrected by an expert on here) allow me to take much longer exposures at 300mm and thus increasing the data stored on the DSLR without trailing. Even increasing my exposures to 10+ seconds would have a great impact on what is being recorded and there should be very little trailing. The benefit of piggy backing the scope is that you can use the scope for lining up on the subject and check to see how much out the tracking is, just watching the item for 2-3 minutes should allow enough adjustment on the RA motor to be fairly accurate with tracking.

My thoughts, so I wait to be shot down!

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DeepThought

DeepThought

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Just a different thought. As you are looking at doing straight photography but needing to have some form of tracking for the longer exposures, have you not thought of actually using the telescope mount (piggy back) and a motor on the RA?

I've had a go at the Orion Nebula with a 300mm lens (some pics on my first attempt in my gallery) where I took several 1.6s exposures without tracking and then stacked them.

Now I have the Astromaster 130EQ and for the sake of £30 can buy the RA motor which would in my option (to be corrected by an expert on here) allow me to take much longer exposures at 300mm and thus increasing the data stored on the DSLR without trailing. Even increasing my exposures to 10+ seconds would have a great impact on what is being recorded and there should be very little trailing. The benefit of piggy backing the scope is that you can use the scope for lining up on the subject and check to see how much out the tracking is, just watching the item for 2-3 minutes should allow enough adjustment on the RA motor to be fairly accurate with tracking.

My thoughts, so I wait to be shot down!

I had considered it, but with an Alt/Az mount i'm going to be quite limited with exposure times, and by the time I'd bought a motorised EQ mount and a means of mounting a DSLR on it I may as well look to getting something purpose built.

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jgs001

jgs001

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Whilst you would be limited in altaz, if budget is an issue, you could be up and running for less than £50. You'll be surprised what can be achieved and is still good practice for setting up and processing.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

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Langy

Langy

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If you are willing to spend a few hundred can't you then get a complete scope with tracking?

The tracking should be good enough to piggy back a camera on if you only wanted to image from camera and lens only.

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DeepThought

DeepThought

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If you are willing to spend a few hundred can't you then get a complete scope with tracking?

The tracking should be good enough to piggy back a camera on if you only wanted to image from camera and lens only.

You make a valid point, if I got something like an EQ3 Pro then it'd still cope with my maksutov for visual use and double as a portable DSLR mount for widefield... presumably.

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Psychobilly

Psychobilly

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Manfrotto 055XPROB is nice - over 100 pounds though.

NigelM

I have got one and am not a big fan of it... 

IMHO they threw the baby out with the bath water with the column adjustment mechanism...  I'm surprised they supply it with the Astrotrac Kit as its the single biggest contributor to any flex in the system...

For general photography it's a half decent tripod and the ability to have the column horizontal has it's uses...

Peter...

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iksobarg

iksobarg

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Hello,

I'm piggybacking off the OP here. Hi o/ OP

I heard enough good about the manfrotto that I've been looking for a used though I had some reservations as to how stable it is at higher settings, which is expected really, however I'm interested in just how strongly you non-manfrotto guys feel about your tripods. Hmmm?

Thanks!

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Stu

Stu

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I have been delighted with my Induro. I was looking for something very solid, yet still portable and able to extend high enough to make viewing at the zenith comfortable. It fits all those bills, and is very stable.

I've not tried a Manfrotto but am sure the are very good, however I had heard a lot about Redsnapper tripods and bought a carbon fibre one, the RS-324b before the Induro. When I tried it, I was disappointed with the stability, it felt quite wobbly toe and vibrations to quite a long time to damp down. The Induro is far more stable and I returned the Redsnapper for a refund.

Stu

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iksobarg

iksobarg

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Well, it's often a case of, "you get what you pay for."

Induro is approx. 2/3 more the price of the Manfrotto. I'm not complaining but if budget is a factor, not necessarily, in my  case, it will likely be for some.

I haven't yet looked at the details but what's the main difference between the 3 and -4 series Induros?

Anyway, I'll look for a used one :)

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PeteC

PeteC

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+1 for the Horizon 8115. Very sturdy and good value at £90, if heavy. I use that in the garden with my Polarie and 1100d with up to 200mm lens, no problem. I use a lighter weight Velbon Sherpa  if I'm heading into the hills in search of dark skies with my astro setup - Polarie, camera, lenses etc. all go in a small rucksack.

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jgs001

jgs001

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My redsnapper with 50mm, is good for 5 minute exposures with the Astrotrac, which is the same exposure length as my unguided HEQ5 (I've not pushed the limits of tracking on either with a 50mm). I've also used it with my 80ED with a 2XTC to shoot the moon at 1200mm, and it's handled that pretty well, the imaging settling within a couple of seconds. It's not as light as I'd like, but then a lightweight tripod is not gonna be as sturdy. I've bolted a manfrotto 323 adapter on top of the stock QR plate on the 3 way head, as I wanted the same fittings on all my mounts, saves constantly removing and adding different QR plates.

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Stu

Stu

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I guess imaging and visual requirements may be different?

I am purely visual, and regular re focussing shows up wobbles fairly harshly so I went for something as stable as possible. I guess with imaging once the rig is setup you don't need to touch as often so you can leave it to settle?

Stu

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Stu

Stu

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Well, it's often a case of, "you get what you pay for."

Induro is approx. 2/3 more the price of the Manfrotto. I'm not complaining but if budget is a factor, not necessarily, in my case, it will likely be for some.

I haven't yet looked at the details but what's the main difference between the 3 and -4 series Induros?

Anyway, I'll look for a used one :)

The 413 has a 20kg load capacity vs 15 for the 3. It also goes a little higher, 184cm vs 175cm so a little better at the zenith.

Stu

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Stu

Stu

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Lots of people upgrade EQ mounts to piers, leaving plenty of hefty EQ tripods going for a song. It might be worth trying a wanted ad, maybe?

You'd need to contrive the fitment but that shouldn't be too difficult.

Olly

That's what I did with my EQ6 Olly (thanks Emad!) they are still pretty chunky though. The AT413 is still far more portable, not as rigid obviously, you can't have everything :-)

Stu

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