Showerthought: That Orion photo I took last week would have blown my mind 3 years ago but now it feels average

3 years ago I spent $400 on a used DSLR and a tripod to get a blurry blob of the Andromeda galaxy, but last week my phone mounted to a $50 tracker pulled out way more detail than that old setup ever could, what little piece of gear made the biggest jump for you?

3 comments

3 Comments

wade_kelly773d ago

The tracking mount is the single biggest game changer I ever bought. I got the iOptron SkyTracker Pro used for $200 a few years back and it turned my 50mm lens into something that can pull out faint nebula detail I couldn't even see before. You don't need a fancy telescope, just a solid tracker and a decent lens, and suddenly your phone shots look like they came from a real setup. I still use my old DSLR body with that tracker and get results that would have cost me a grand to get three years ago. It's wild how a little motor and some basic alignment can make everything click.

kai_chen23d ago

Wait, you're telling me a $200 used tracker pulled nebula detail out of a 50mm lens? Ngl that sounds almost too good to be true.

fionafoster3d ago

Are you saying you haven't tried stacking with a tracker yet, @kai_chen2? Because honestly, I was the biggest skeptic too until I borrowed a friend's SkyWatcher Star Adventurer and threw my old 50mm 1.8 on it. The first time I stacked 30 second subs of Orion, I literally sat there staring at the screen like "wait, that can't be my lens." The tracker (and a good alignment, which I still mess up half the time) just unlocks so much you couldn't see before.