CGEM II vs. EQ6-R

[Wire]

I am looking to purchasing an EQ mount so I can put my 8se OTA on it to start photographing. Would like some feedback from some of you on which one of these is more dependable. Have read tons on reviews on these two mounts and I'm a bit unsure if one is better than the other.

[newbie alert]

I'd look at both..if you know someone that has either one go and have a look..

I got a second hand cgem and would of been hugely disappointed if I'd bought it new..i deffo would of taken it back..its nearly gone in the bin a few times..certainly not worth Its £1600 price tag..

[Rob63]

I have an EQ6_R and have to say it's an excellent mount at the price, it's quite new so there are not that many reviews as yet.

See the following thread for some comments on it

I cant say anything about the CGEMII as I have no experience with it however, after my Celestron AVX I was not keen to buy celestron again.

Rob.

[newbie alert]

21 hours ago, Rob63 said:

I have an EQ6_R and have to say it's an excellent mount at the price, it's quite new so there are not that many reviews as yet.

See the following thread for some comments on it

I cant say anything about the CGEMII as I have no experience with it however, after my Celestron AVX I was not keen to buy celestron again.

Rob.

I loved my AVX...not feeling it with my cgem thou

[jeffmar]

I have had a CGEM for about 4 years and it has been utterly dependable. I have used it for my 80mm ED apo, my C8, and my C11. I have even done some astrophotography at F/10 with my C11 on that mount. I would rate the tracking at 4 out of 5 and the goto function at 5 out of 5. It has a bit of backlash which does not come into play as long as I keep just a tiny bit of weight bias to the east. I now have a CGX mount which is an improvement in most areas but I find the CGEM is easier to set up and polar align. I am not getting rid of my CGEM any time soon. As far as I can tell the changes on the new CGEM ll are just cosmetic.