Vixen very portable tracking mount

[lacad01]

Just stumbled across this which looks quite interesting. Could be useful for grab'n'go wide fields or an upgrade path from a barn door mount. :question:
http://www.vixenoptics.com/mounts/polarie.html

[naskies]

Interesting! The max loading weight (1.98 kg) doesn't allow for big cameras/lenses though - a Canon 5DmkII + kit lens together weighs about 1.6 kg. The size makes it very appealing for travel, obviously.

[skysurfer]

A 5d or 7d with smaller lens (e.g. 85/1.8) will fit.

No Genesis or other APO scopes supported.

So I'll stick to my 20 years old Vixen SP which weighs altogether 11kg gross at most: tripod 2kg + mount 4kg + Genesis 4kg (+ 7d body 1kg) which is sturdy and has metal gears (the iOptron has plastic gears...).

[luigi]

I got to play with one.

It's really portable, looks like a strange camera.

The tracking is very good to excellent, really surprising. It has lunar, solar and sidereal rates as well as a half-sidereal mode that can be used for nightscapes using a wide lens avoiding excessive blurring in the landscape.

That's on the good side.

On the minus side the two AA batteries only last about 1.5 to 2 hours of tracking.
The load capacity is small and good ballheads are heavy so the combo ballhead+camera+lens may be too much.
Pointing the camera can be problematic if you use a light/small ballhead.

In my case it is a nice mount to carry around "just in case" but I wouldn't use it as my default mount. I prefer to use my Astrotrac instead.