couldnt help myself - got a polarie

[h0ughy]

i got my polarie today from myastroshop via my shippment controller (Al) and tried it out tonight. it seems well worth it. had a 60D with the sigma 18-200IS lens and a battery pack so it wasnt lightweight. it seems to go quite well. i roughtly pointed it to the south pole and took some 45 second shots. focus may have been off but this is a little ripper of a setup which can be deployed at a moments notice. i got the polarie, tripod and the polar finder scope (havent used that bit yet) and a bag.

so pointed at the dogs to see if they would lead me astray, siruis, castor and pupis et al

[troypiggo]

Dumb question. What's a polarie?

[h0ughy]

Here it tis

[troypiggo]

Ah, cool. So you use a normal tripod and it tracks in RA for you?

[Adelastro1]

Thanks for posting this! It looks interesting. I wonder how it compares to the Astrotrac (besides price). The Astrotrac has the limitation of only being able to track for 2 hours before you have to wind the worm gear back to the start which isn't good for time lapses, but I assume that the Polarie has no limitation??

[h0ughy]

yes

[h0ughy]

i will be honest - the astrotrac is better for weight handling and tracking but this unit is a real pack and go job. well worth having it on the shelf..

[iceman]

Wow, does it work on a normal tripod?

How much was it?

[iceman]

Looks great.

I guess you can point it in 'any' direction if you want to use it for timelapse and not to track in RA?

Did you get the package (http://www.myastroshop.com.au/products/details.asp?id=SI-105)or just the unit (http://www.myastroshop.com.au/products/details.asp?id=MAS-022A)?

[iceman]

What are the pros/cons vs the AstroTrac?

[Octane]

Bugger, it supports up to 2 kg load. With a lot of our big cameras, equipped with grip and fast chunky primes, we're looking at 3+ kg at a minimum. D'oh!

I was thinking this might be a perfect lightweight solution to take to NZ with me. Guess not. It was just the right amount of money, too. D'oh!

H

[h0ughy]

will call and discuss

[h0ughy]

it seemed to work with what i had on which would have been about 2.5kg but it needs to weigh down the tripod with sand or a weight. it needs bigger ball joints but will work well with most normal:rofl: cameras

[iceman]

:whistle: ordered :)

Will be good out in the Kimberley's :)

[h0ughy]

:rofl: :rofl: we expect some great shots now ;)

[h0ughy]

oh Mike did you get the package or just the unit?

[iceman]

Just the unit.

[alan meehan]

Nice shots Dave ,this unit has a lot of potential ,gave mine a try last night as well just getting the hang of how to use it ,i will try again tonight,you were right could use a larger ball mount, perfect for some solar work.
AL

[brian nordstrom]

:question: Looks like one of these might be comming my way for my birthday :).
Such a simple design that looks to work very well .
Brian.

[naskies]

Very interesting! I look forward to seeing your results. I think the Polarie may be preferable to an Astrotrac for landscape and casual photographers who just want to capture a "nice" wide field Milky Way without getting too serious into astro?

[JB80]

I'm having no issue getting a good 2 or 3 minute exposures with mine on Crete at the moment with no polarscope, it's just the Moon is a pain right now.

It is quite capable of more than just widefield landscapes.
http://www.vixenoptics.co.uk/Pages/image_gallery.htm

[acropolite]

You're a bad man Dave.... I think I'll have to get one, I'll most likely need a new tripod as well, I'll tell HRH it's all your fault.

[h0ughy]

LOL well i didnt force you to....:P

[byronpaul]

There is a write up on these in this months AS&T ..... interesting read !!!!

[gregbradley]

I'd love to hear a review of this little unit.

I wonder if it could handle the Nikon D800E and a 14-24mm lens?

Greg.

[h0ughy]

yes see my shot above with the 60D battery pack and the 18-200sigma is lens

[iceman]

Mine arrived last week. I've taken it out of its box but not figured out how to hook a camera up to it yet :)

Will try once this weather clears.

Will also be happy to write a review of it once I come back from the Kimberley's.

[acropolite]

A quick google for specs brings up a total weight of around 2KG (969 lens 1000g camera with battery) for that combination, Vixen list the maximum loading weight at 4.4 lbs = 2Kg.

Assuming that figure includes a ball head you're over the limit, they list 2 ball heads as accessories one at 158g, you wouldn;t be much over the maximum in that case. Most of the ball head's mass is balanced, just the shaft would be unbalanced so you could probably ignore the ballhead weight.