Mount a Guide Scope or Finder to your camera. ( Idea Engineering ) Version 4
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- čas přidán 24. 12. 2020
- This is a review of Idea Engineering’s DSLR version 4 bracket. It’s a bracket that attaches directly to the hot shoe of your camera, allowing for the use of finder scopes, solar scopes, or mini guide scopes. It’s a great addition to your astro equipment if you’re running a lens only setup. It should appeal to folks who are making the leap to astrophotography or for those with existing lenses. It will allow you to place finder scopes useful for night photos. It is a great combination with a solar finder ( of course with a proper solar filter on the lens ). It’s also a practical approach to adding a mini guidescope to your camera allowing longer exposures ( especially useful for telephoto lenses ). It’s a quality design that has been improved upon multiple times. I recommend it over using an L bracket because it allows for more refined balance in declination. I made a previous review of an older version of this bracket and have found that version 4 satisfies all the problems I experienced with the previous model. I was contacted by Sean League, owner of Idea Engineering, to review this newer version. I am not endorsed to provide this information. I have evaluated this product and am very comfortable recommending it to users. Thanks for watching and clear skies.
You can find Idea Engineering website here:
www.ideaengineering.us - Věda a technologie
Great video as always Garnett.. thumbs up to the company for listening and updating the product!
Merry Christmas. I enjoyed your live videos this morning with coffee. Thanks for sharing and for stopping by.
@@GarnettLeary Thanks Garnett.. Merry Christmas!! 🌲🌲🌲
Great video Garnett. Looks like a great product. Hope you and your family had a Merry Christmas! Stay safe and clear skies.
Hey man I hope the same for you. Look forward to your next post. Clear skies and happy new year friend.
Just Ordered one! thier customer service is awesome
They’re awesome
I recently purchased. Super!
Nice Tutorial Garnet👍🔭🌒☄..Merry Christmas and Clear Skies
Ty. Merry Christmas to you and yours as well.
Thanks for another nice video. Eventually someone will make a more sturdy hot shoe adapter for DSLRs.
This one is pretty good. Totally usable. I personally envision a cage type myself with a top mount. I expect the transition from daytime photography with a lens to astrophotography is either short lived or forever life changing. The latter leads to the purchase of a scope. It’s an interesting pivot point but then there’s absolutely no reason to buy a scope if you have quality glass and prefer wide targets. That’s in disagreement with the masses but perfectly sound advice. I don’t buy the “scopes are tuned to infinity” bit. Certainly high quality lenses are sharp at infinity also. Speed is overrated too. I’m rambling. Ha ha. Thanks for watching and Merry Christmas. I appreciate your continued support and feedback. Happy new year to you and yours.
@@GarnettLeary Your ramblings are OK with me. They're on the topic of astrophotography and related gear. ((-:
I have iOptron's EQ3200 and just started concentrated on using it recently. I can see advantages to the model you picked.
The theory on a cage is more appropriate. That will be more sturdy and give greater confidence in use.
As long as you're getting your desired results from your glass there's no need to fix something that's not broken.
I appreciate the time you spend making reviews and sharing your thoughts and experiences.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family.
Nice Video Garnett ! Merry Christmas and happy new year ! I was thinking to use finderscope attached on my dsl also, it has better balance, than placed side by side by side.
So true. Offset is a problem. This works. It’s worth the investment. Merry Christmas to you as well.
@@GarnettLeary Thank you !
Very helpful. I've bookmarked the product. Very reasonable price.
QUESTION: Have you done a video on how you built the optical chain in front of the DSLR? I'm very curious as to how you get the auto-focuser in there, who makes the big mounting bracket, etc.
Thanks for sharing. I find your videos quite helpful as a beginner. They are practical and useful.
No I have not but that’s a great idea. Thank you for watching. I try to touch subjects on common issues and beginner equipment. I appreciate the feedback. I hope you have a happy holiday and stay safe. Clear skies.
Did you find that mounting the Orion 50 mm with this adapter gave good guiding for the DSLR?
Unfortunately no. It’s too bulky. The problem is the weight combined with the height of it. Hot shoe mounts have a little flex to to them. As the scope tracks, changes orientation, there’s flexure from the Guidescope laying to one side. This model hot shoe bracket is superior to the previous version. The weakness is the camera. I believe any low profile mini guide scope will work. The QHY in the version 4 video pairs excellent. Cable management is all you have to consider. I really want to run a video example of this in the field. I’ve been waiting on OPT to send my mount since September unfortunately. I’m really surprised you don’t see more folks talking about the bracket. The creator, Sean League, is a brilliant innovator. Recently I discovered a Vixen Optics video where He’s demonstrating a Porta Mount. I had no idea He had ties to Vixen. From my experience there’s three solid options. Piggyback and use the scope as a guider, dual mount a side by side, or use this bracket. The bracket wins in portability by far and for weight. Overall piggybacking a camera system on a primary rig is the best but it doesn’t solve the portability travel issue. It doesn’t help the camera-only folks either. This brackets limitations only exist in medium to large, especially tall offset guide scopes. Sean suggested using a toothpick as a wedge in the hot shoe to prevent flexure but I’ve found it unnecessary with setups like the QHY Mini. I’ll post in depth field results once I get my mount back. I plan to run them against an Atlas 2. It’s just a black, Orion branded, version of a SW EQ6-R Pro. Consistent 3” subs are easy combined with the Sigma lens at 600mm. Hopefully they’ll ship soon because this product deserves a lot of attention. I may send one to a couple popular wide field guys to review. I just realized I rambled. Sorry lol. It’s just a really exciting product and project for me. I’m eager to get real time data up and I will include results with the Orion guide scope as well. Clear skies.
@@GarnettLeary thank you for your reply...but unfortunately I have already bought the Orion 50 mm Guide-scope to set atop of my DSLR....if I can glue the bolt so it does not turn and cause flexure of guidescope from side to side and use something like a tooth pic wedged to stop the up and down movement would I at least be able to get away with imaging with a DSLR and lens of focal length of say 200 to 250 mm?....and if not would 2 holding rings around the guide-scope do the trick?
Definitely. That guide scope is rated for up to 1500mm focal length. Combined with a well known guide camera it should serve you well. Definitely you will need to secure it.
@@GarnettLeary I’ve successfully used this product with a 50mm/200 FL William Optics guide scope with a small ZWO camera attached (290 mini) to my Nikon D7500 with the 200-500mm Nikon lens extended fully (500 mm). After viewing your videos about it, I purchased it to solve my problem with regards to a way to guide using a camera-only setup. (By the way, thanks much for the info!) Initially I struggled a lot and didn’t have much success. But the problem was one of my brackets holding the guide scope to the plate attached to this bracket was slightly loose, causing the focus ring (if that’s what it’s called) on the front part of the guide scope to be loose and shaky at any focus but all the way screwed into the scope. After correcting that problem, I finally started getting decent guiding. In fact, I was even able to get some decent 3, 4, and 6 minute subs of M51. It’s nowhere near perfect, and takes some messing with to get right, but in the end I’m pretty happy with how it’s worked out. I use the ASI Air Pro and my iPad to control everything. It’s likewise a great product. (Note, I’ve recently purchased and received a Skywatcher Evostar 120, and as soon as I get the reducer/corrector will be on a new adventure of imaging through a telescope as well, lol.)
Can’t find this on idea engineering website
Try their eBay store:
www.ebay.com/str/i2engineering
Can i make a 6x24 Crosshair Finderscope into a guide scope?
If you mean you want to use a standard crosshair finder yes it will fit. This bracket accommodates any major brands dovetail style base.
@@GarnettLeary nice 👍🏻
I’ve used a crosshair in combination with a DSLR/lens. The benefit is as you expect. Pointing accuracy greatly improves acquisition time. Without it requires short exposures for target framing. I can confirm it’s usefulness. Laser sights are illegal where I live so I typically run that setup.
@@GarnettLeary laser sights ? U mean Red dot Finderscope ?
No. I’m not a big fan of red dot. I’m talking about mounted laser pointers. I absolutely love those. I’m within 15 miles of an airport and 25 of a military airfield so I can’t use them. I’m not sure if it’s an option where you’re located but that’s also an effective solution. Here’s a link to a product that shows one:
www.ebay.com/itm/Adjustable-Laser-Pointer-Finder-Scope-Bracket-Accessory-f-Astronomical-Telescope-/153976690373?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292