Omegon MiniTrack LX2 Tracking DSLR Mount

[Mr niall]

No its 100 seconds at 100mm 

edit - yep ignore this its wrong its minutes so 1 minute at 100mm 30 secs at 200 and so on.

Edited April 8, 2019 by Mr niall
terrible terrible maffs

[happy-kat]

Reading a review the 100 time/100mm is 100 minutes by 100 mm so 1 minute for 100 mm focal length

[petevasey]

Straight from the horse's mouth with an additional formula here

Cheers,

Peter

Edited April 8, 2019 by petevasey

[Stub Mandrel]

6 hours ago, Ags said:

It is engraved with "Time 100/Focal (mm)" - does that mean max exposure 1 second at 100mm focal length?

More likely minutes?

That would give 6 seconds at 1000mm, 60 seconds at 100mm.

[petevasey]

2 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

More likely minutes?

That would give 6 seconds at 1000mm, 60 seconds at 100mm.

Definitely minutes - look at the link I give above, information from the designer.

Cheers,

Peter

[petevasey]

10 hours ago, petevasey said:

Straight from the horse's mouth with an additional formula here

Cheers,

Peter

I think the extra formula given there is written and explained in a rather confusing way:

500 / focal length (mm) / √Mpx x L (pixel) = seconds of exposure

I suggest it should be laid out as follows:

(500 * √Mpx * L)/focal length

So for a focal length of 100 mm, a 16 megapixel camera and 3 pixel trailing the result would be:

(500*4*3)/100 = 60 seconds as given by the original formula.  6 pixel allowable trailing would then suggest an exposure of 120 seconds. 

Incidentally the Sky at Night magazine reviewer used a 28 mm lens for 3 minutes, (equivalent to 84 mm fl for 1 minute) with no trailing, so it seems that the claims for the mount are correct.

Cheers,

Peter

Edited April 8, 2019 by petevasey

[groberts]

I'm interested in replacing my Vixen Polarie with one of these - like the no batteries concept + just seems easier to use.  But has anybody got any feedback yet on actually using one please?

Graham

Edited April 23, 2019 by groberts

[Mr niall]

5 hours ago, groberts said:

I'm interested in replacing my Vixen Polarie with one of these - like the no batteries concept + just seems easier to use.  But has anybody got any feedback yet on actually using one please?

Graham

I had one, works fine the maximum exposures are about as advertised. Nice construction. In all honesty though didn't really feel it was any better than a star adventurer or equivalent. Spring tension er on back is a bit of a pain to get to grips with, polar alignment is surprisingly faffy. ultimately the setup times were exactly the same as any other small system, and no matter what setup you're always going to have other things that need batteries anyway! the ticking is a bit of a pain and it had a habit of stopping in the last 20 mins of the spring wind. 

But a quality product, def not a toy, but If you already have a Polarie I think you'd regret changing. 

Edited April 23, 2019 by Mr niall

[groberts]

42 minutes ago, Mr niall said:

I had one, works fine the maximum exposures are about as advertised. Nice construction. In all honesty though didn't really feel it was any better than a star adventurer or equivalent. Spring tension er on back is a bit of a pain to get to grips with, polar alignment is surprisingly faffy. ultimately the setup times were exactly the same as any other small system, and no matter what setup you're always going to have other things that need batteries anyway! the ticking is a bit of a pain and it had a habit of stopping in the last 20 mins of the spring wind. 

But a quality product, def not a toy, but If you already have a Polarie I think you'd regret changing. 

Thanks for the feedback.  The problem with the Polarie is the need for batteries and x2 ball heads - one off the tripod and another off the Vixen Polarie, which gets a bit cumbersome to erect and not quite as portable as I'd hoped.  Notwithstanding, it is a good piece of equipment that once set up works well and I'm likely to heed your advice on changing.

Graham   

[MN66User]

Hi all, I have one and am just getting to grips with it. In doing so - and it's probably quite obvious anyway - that the supplied 'polarscope' tube is not great. However, by carefully unhinging the tension spring it is possible to sandwich a thin metal plate around the locking nut in such a way as to mount a proper polarscope. You just need a plastic spacer ring to lock the plate in place around the driveshaft. This looks a bit like the polarscope mounting of another type of tracking mount [you know the one!] - actually I got the idea from that other mount - but if you can get hold of some 1/16" gauge - or similar - steel sheet and some 3mm thick PTFE or polyeythylene sheet [I used a food cutting board] - that is stiff enough to hold the polarscope, this mod or upgrade is a doddle to do. I am surprised Omegon never thought of it in the first place.

[Space Oddities]

11 hours ago, MN66User said:

Hi all, I have one and am just getting to grips with it. In doing so - and it's probably quite obvious anyway - that the supplied 'polarscope' tube is not great. However, by carefully unhinging the tension spring it is possible to sandwich a thin metal plate around the locking nut in such a way as to mount a proper polarscope. You just need a plastic spacer ring to lock the plate in place around the driveshaft. This looks a bit like the polarscope mounting of another type of tracking mount [you know the one!] - actually I got the idea from that other mount - but if you can get hold of some 1/16" gauge - or similar - steel sheet and some 3mm thick PTFE or polyeythylene sheet [I used a food cutting board] - that is stiff enough to hold the polarscope, this mod or upgrade is a doddle to do. I am surprised Omegon never thought of it in the first place.

Actually, they released recently an adapter that can hold a polar scope or a laser

The new version (LX3) also includes a polar scope  

Looks like they're listening to their customer! There's a pretty active Facebook group where people share their ideas.

[Space Oddities]

12 hours ago, groberts said:

Thanks for the feedback.  The problem with the Polarie is the need for batteries and x2 ball heads - one off the tripod and another off the Vixen Polarie, which gets a bit cumbersome to erect and not quite as portable as I'd hoped.  Notwithstanding, it is a good piece of equipment that once set up works well and I'm likely to heed your advice on changing.

Graham   

I'm afraid the Minitrack also needs 2 ballheads to work. I'm not sure it will be an upgrade, unless you're specifically looking for something that doesn't require any battery ? 

[groberts]

43 minutes ago, Space Oddities said:

I'm afraid the Minitrack also needs 2 ballheads to work. I'm not sure it will be an upgrade, unless you're specifically looking for something that doesn't require any battery ? 

Ah that wasn't clear to me at all! Thanks. 

[Space Oddities]

Here's a picture of my setup, to give you an idea. I'm not sure it's bigger than the Polarie, globally speaking, but that's one less battery to take care of   When travelling or hiking, that's a plus!

 

[groberts]

Unless there's something wrong with my eyesight, I only see one ball head in those pictures?  

[Space Oddities]

Oh yes, the one between the Minitrack and the tripod isn't really a ball head, it's a tilt head   I find it easier to use than a ball head for polar alignment

[petevasey]

3 hours ago, Space Oddities said:

Oh yes, the one between the Minitrack and the tripod isn't really a ball head, it's a tilt head   I find it easier to use than a ball head for polar alignment

But of course if the tripod has a pan/tilt head - often the case if already being used for photography, that will also do the job.  Like the one to which I posted a link earlier in this thread.  Personally, and particularly if using an accurate polar scope, I would prefer a head which has fine adjustments in both Alt and Az.  There is a Manfrotto unit. but it's expensive, as are most look alikes.  It's possible to buy separately the geared wedge for the Star Adventurer.  Strong, stable and good value.  The only problem there might be the fixing to the short dovetail if that comes with the wedge - it has a 3/8" bolt, but I think the Minitrack only has a 1/4" thread.  Relatively easy to sort with a bit of ingenuity.  A pity the LX3 doesn't have the larger 3/8" thread with a 1/4" insert - even more adaptable to a variety of mountings.

A little later just to mention again the Andoer ball head which is good quality (I have one) and a substantial saving over the one supplied with the Minitrack.

Peter

Edited April 24, 2019 by petevasey
Added text

[Space Oddities]

The wedge from the SA could work well, indeed! And much easier to polar align.

My Sirui head does a fair enough job, it's very smooth. Not as good as a dedicated wedge, but well, the point of this mount is precisely that you don't need very precise polar alignment (the polar scope being a straw...)

[asset189]

When calculation max exposure before star trailing becomes an issue , is the crop factor relevant for  Aps-c sensor ?

[Mr niall]

1 hour ago, asset189 said:

When calculation max exposure before star trailing becomes an issue , is the crop factor relevant for  Aps-c sensor ?

No Crop factor isn't an issue, 90% of DSLR's are APS-C these days anyway, but it doesn't matter massively at the intended focal lengths anyway. Good polar alignment is the trick.

There's a really good review on a german website that goes into quite a lot of detail.

https://sternenhimmel-fotografieren.de/test-erfahrungsbericht-beschreibung-omegon-mini-track-lx2/

[asset189]

6 hours ago, Mr niall said:

No Crop factor isn't an issue, 90% of DSLR's are APS-C these days anyway, but it doesn't matter massively at the intended focal lengths anyway. Good polar alignment is the trick.

There's a really good review on a german website that goes into quite a lot of detail.

https://sternenhimmel-fotografieren.de/test-erfahrungsbericht-beschreibung-omegon-mini-track-lx2/

Thanks , I'll give it a read . An other daft question - the blurb boasts 60min tracking time yet based on the 100/focal length equation only around 2 minutes tracking is recommend which is a fair difference , or have I got this wrong ?

[Mr niall]

34 minutes ago, asset189 said:

Thanks , I'll give it a read . An other daft question - the blurb boasts 60min tracking time yet based on the 100/focal length equation only around 2 minutes tracking is recommend which is a fair difference , or have I got this wrong ?

It means you wind it up and it runs for an hour. 

Recommended exposure length for 100mm is 1 min. I was getting 90 secs at 100mm easily enough.

Formula is 100/focal length gives you recommended exposure length in minutes. 

[asset189]

48 minutes ago, Mr niall said:

It means you wind it up and it runs for an hour. 

Recommended exposure length for 100mm is 1 min. I was getting 90 secs at 100mm easily enough.

Formula is 100/focal length gives you recommended exposure length in minutes. 

7 hours ago, Mr niall said:

No Crop factor isn't an issue, 90% of DSLR's are APS-C these days anyway, but it doesn't matter massively at the intended focal lengths anyway. Good polar alignment is the trick.

There's a really good review on a german website that goes into quite a lot of detail.

https://sternenhimmel-fotografieren.de/test-erfahrungsbericht-beschreibung-omegon-mini-track-lx2/

Thanks , I'll give it a read . An other daft question - the blurb boasts 60min tracking time yet based on the 100/focal length equation only around 2 minutes tracking is recommend which is a fair difference , or have I got this wrong ?

 

So do I have to adjust track every 90sec or simply shoot next exposure and align with software , ta

[Mr niall]

4 minutes ago, asset189 said:

So do I have to adjust track every 90sec or simply shoot next exposure and align with software , ta

No just let it run, keep snapping until the timer runs out then wind it up and start again! 

[Nigella Bryant]

Using one as we speak on a camping trip in the southwest of England. I'm keeping to two mins sub's which I'd say is about right with my modded 1000d Canon at iso800. First time I've really used the mini mount, I've found polar alignment fairly difficult or should I say fidly. Last night messed up 6x2min sub's as I realised I wasn't polar aligned properly, got star trails. Second lot of 15x2min sub's seem good, I'll see when I'm home and able to process then. I captured m16 and m17 quite by accident as I was trying to aim for the lagoon nebula, lol. I'm using around 100mm telephoto. 

I found when the drive runs out turning the winder takes the camera off target and you have to realign. Fine if you've finished that shoot on that object but a pain if you want more subs. Moral of that story is rewind and align with each new object you wish to image, that will give probably 40 to 50mins of subs, which is plenty. My brief take on it, seems good but proof of the pudding will be what comes out of my images when home.