Benro Polaris Astro

[wornish]

This Astro “Mount” has been shipping for a while. Anybody got one or tried one?

For portable Astro photography it has some interesting features.

[Icesheet]

I picked one up that was being offered on a deal, still expensive but not the price it’s currently retailing at. I got it primarily to automate widefield milkyway panoramas but haven’t had the chance to use it for that yet, although a brief test showed promise.
 

I actually used it recently with an Askar FMA180 to capture the comet and I’m currently trying to process that. I took 60 30s subs and virtually all were keepers and also took 10 60s sub and 7 or 8 of them look good. Having said that I really don’t think this is suited to much beyond 100mm focal length based on what I’ve seen and the general user experience I’ve found online. It’s very well built though and if the software is improved it has the potential to be great for widefield work and particularly automating panoramas or timelapses, which I think the manufacturer is pitching it for. Not sure it’s worth the price though. If deep sky it’s your aim there definitely better offerings at a lower price point. 

Edited January 31, 2023 by Icesheet

[Icesheet]

Here’s the comet picture from the 30s stack. Quite happy with that.