Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi REVIEW!
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- čas přidán 23. 07. 2024
- Star Adventurer Mount Head: bit.ly/43B5F4j
The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi is a highly portable star tracker that was designed for astrophotography. It allows you to take long-exposure images of space by tracking the apparent movement of the night sky.
Unlike the original Star Adventurer, the GTi model also has the ability to find deep-sky objects in the night sky using the SynScan GoTo system.
FULL POST: bit.ly/sagtifirstlook
Final Image Details:
• Total Exposure: 70 x 60-seconds at ISO 800 (1 hour, 10 minutes)
• Sky Conditions: High Clouds, Bortle 7
• Camera: Canon EOS Ra
• Filter: None
• Telescope/Lens: Canon EF 300mm F/4L (at F/4)
• Mount: Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi
Best Used For:
• Milky Way Photography
• Deep-Sky Astrophotography
• Nightscape Photography
What I Like:
• Overall Design and Function
• Robust wedge and Counterweight
• SynScan Pro Mobile App
• Built-in Illuminated Reticle
What I Don't Like:
• Only 11-lb Payload Capacity
• Polar Scope Cover (pops off way too easy)
• Tiny Azimuth Adjustment Knobs
I was not compensated in any way to review this product, nor did Sky-Watcher have any say in my review. - Věda a technologie
Thanks Trevor. This really looks awesome, being able to adjust and guide the Dec axis is such a huge step up. Can’t wait to upgrade to this version!
Thank for the review Trevor - always enjoyable. I just pre-ordered the GTi on April 28 and am looking forward to my very first star tracker mount. Up until now, I have been using the motor drive that came with my Celestron PowerSeeker 80EQ. It is a very basic motor drive, but it did help me get into astrophotography. I recently upgraded to a 70mmED doublet scope, so I am very pumped up and waiting for this mount so I can increase my exposure times and collect more data. I hope the shipping is not too delayed !
This is a birth of a new generation in astrophotography!
Thanks Trevor! I always enjoy watching your channel and glad you did this short review on the new GTi. I just ordered mine, will be upgrading from the 2i.
Thanks for the review Trevor, this looks like a very promising mount. I feel like I have made it my mission in life to find the ultimate portable EQ mount, and this one definitely ticks a lot of my boxes.
This one is pretty close to perfect in my books. As I said in the vid - I've been waiting for something like this for a LONNNGG time :)
Thanks Trevor, your work is wonderful and because of guys like you, there are a lot of fans of astrophotography (me included). I´ve been a frequent user of the Star Adventurer 2i, and today I received my brand new Star Adventurer GTI. A portable GoTo mount is a dream come true. Greetings from Colombia (South America)
Great video Travor of the SA GTI goto mount , I enjoyed it , clear skies 🙂🌠
I love that SkyWatcher is adding more mounts to their collection ( :
Glad to see you back! Great video!
I just wanna say thankyou for inspiring me to get into Astro photography, although I have an 11 year old dslr that’s really all I need and although it’s not the best I manages to stumble apon the Orion Nebula aboit a week ago and the amount of joy I felt when I zoomed in on the image and realised it was the Orion Nebula like you really have to do it yourself to feel how good it is to find something like that as a starter astrophotographer. I cannot Thankyou enough cause this is the best thing I’ve ever done. Thankyou, I absolutely love your videos, I hope I can get to your level one day.
Thanks for a great review. Very excited to buy one of these as soon as they become available. It will be a nice upgrade from the Az-Gti in EQ mode I am currently taking on my travels.
I have just pre-ordered mine. Can't wait to try it out.
I just received this mount a few days ago and got it all set up with my mini-PC, Canon RP camera and Samyang 135mm f/2.0 lens. Your review helped make up my mind awhile back and I also have an AZ-GTi version which gave me fits when I 'converted' it to EQ mode. This GTi mount makes things so much easier. I can't wait foe the 2023 Okie-Tex Star Party coming up next week to use it in the dark skies!
Thanks for sharing Trevor!! Really considering this mount
Thanks for posting videos for us newbies ✌️
Thanks! Great video introduction to what looks like a very promising portable sky tracker WITH GoTo. I am very interested in it now.
Thanks Timm! It is truly an amazing little tracker.
Ich habe es soeben ausgepackt und drehe fast durch wie grossartig das Ding ist. Vielen Dank für Deine Überzeugung von dieser Montierung. :-) Roger von der Schweiz
I have both the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer and SAM with all the mounting accessories. I use ASI for polar alignment and tracking. I spent more time aiming at my target. This will definitely cut the time on set-up and more time getting more frames.
it looks more sturdy than the non-goto earlier trackers congratulations sky-watcher on the first goto tracker looking forward to seeing how it performs another high quality video trevor . great info cheers
The wedge design is much sturdier (like a mini EQ mount) Thank you for the kind words!
Great video. Looking forward to more as you continue to use this mount. Thanks for clarifying that it can be easily attached to a regular tripod. Nico touched on it in his review, but didn't really say specifically, so I wasn't sure if it required additional hardware to adapt to a standard tripod.
Yeah, no problem! Since the video, I've mounted it to a nice carbon fiber tripod that's a bit lighter and much taller! Works great :)
@@AstroBackyard the Sky-Watcher video cautioned to not use a standard tripod, but I assumed they meant cheap ones that are mostly plastic. I have two video tripods for my SA 2i that are each about 4-5kg, so even heavier than the one the SA GTI comes with. I can safely assume I'll be okay.
Oh my God. I've been using the star adventurer for 2 years and I've been looking for a goto for me for a year. This will be it I think. Let the research begin!
missed the stream! is it really go to? I have the star Adventurer too and it's a real pain to manually find the target 🥲
@@priteshpardeshi5842 you can watch the Video now. ;)
@@drtools9226 thanks! just watched it 🤓
This is a product I wish existed 35 years ago when I used to do time lapse photography on film... I recently bought a telescope for my wife who loves looking at the moon, but I'm sure adding this to my wish list since I still prefer my SLR even though it is now a DSLR.
Also cool to see review and immediately see a brick bungalow that just has to be in southern ontario and to hear the reviewer's ontario accent. Makes the review more trustworthy to me.
The bearings and structure of this design are very tough. Properly balanced you can easily extend the weight load beyond the 11 lbs to at least one-third more. The key is good balance and a very sturdy tripod. Do a thorough test of balance in the range of mount movement the photograph will be taken. Take nothing for granted, do the tests. Your biggest threat to doing this is wind, chose low wind nights.
Extra or larger weight will be needed, this will enable you to keep the weight closer to the mount which limits axial inertia.
Weight in this position acts like a stabilizer to the mount.
Hi there, im curios to find someone using over the payload with an ED80 and how it goes. Have you tried it at all with larger, how's the balance? I want to swap the RedCat51 for a skywater ed80 (4.1kg) with small guide and scope and dslr
Great review! I was just trying out my new SA 2i this last week and thinking how much better of an experience it would be with dec control and goto capability. I should have waited and bought this instead!
Can't wait to check this one out. I have been using the AZ-GTi in EQ for travel purposes and while it does the job ok it requires a lot of fiddling and tuning to get stable tracking. This looks a lot less janky.
I want to be an astronaut when I grow up
Good for u
Do u have a telescope
🔭
All d best ❤
And I want the McRib to be available year round! We don’t always get what we want…
Thanks ❤❤ i wait her with impatience❤❤
Awesome vid and image at the end, good to finally see a new video from you. Oh yes I’m definitely getting one of these! I do a lot of holidays in the uk, lugging my heq5 setup I can just about fit everything in the car but this is going to be a game changer! What sort of battery time can you get from the 8 battery’s? Also I assume the asiair can be plugged In like the laptop?
Having GoTo on this mount is an absolute game changer! I started out with the Adventurer 2i last year and trying to find certain targets in the sky without the ability to plate solve along with dim stars made for a frustrating experience.
GoTo is HUGE when you want to photograph anything other than the really big, bright nebulae! Ever tried to find and line up the Helix Nebula on a star tracker?
Thanks Trevor, awesome review. Hopefully this will push Ioptron into offering something similar.
Im glad it is here
Hi Trevor! Love the video! Quick question: does the GTI do automatic meridian flip? Thank you for your help!
Nice video!
Hi I was just wanted to ask if you could make a video on how you store your astrophotography gear like your mount and good practices thanks
Hey Trevor, have you ever set up a permanent allsky camera? I just built one and it runs on a local web server. It automates a lot of stuff that would otherwise be a hassle. I built mine specifically to capture meteors nightly. When meteor showers happen it’s nice to just leave a camera recording and not have to worry about missing anything or worry about weather. If you don’t have one, I recommend it.
Excellent review. Do you have an idea of how it would perform with a Canon 5Dmk4 and a Sigma 150-600 Contemporary lens?
Awesome videoand great content, quick question since the gti with the tripod isn't available anywhere neither the tripod by itself, can I use the ioptron tripod from the skyguider pro for the GTI head?
Incredible…I’m getting one!
Still waiting for fulfillment…appears to be very popular!
My next astro purchase!! :) I can see my ZS61 sitting on that, for sure!!.
Hi, Trevor. Thanks for the great video. How do you compare the new Star Adventurer to iOptron SkyGuider Pro? Which one do you recommend getting? I do not care about the go to function as I love finding subjects in the sky by myself.
Thank you Travor! Amazing video! Does anyone know if there's some sort of adapter for the polemaster as well? I've been using it on my star adventurer for a long time and i'm pretty sure I can no longer give up 😬....
Great vid! Would the usb allow connection to an ASIAIR in the same way you’d connect one to a go to mount via an RS232? That would mean you could plate solve and control the goto on ASIAIR. Clear skies!
Hey Trevor. Do you think this would hold my Meade 70mm Petzval ok with my DSLR or 533 camera? Great video and thanks!
Excellent video, as I’m thinking about getting a tracker. What canon camera is the best for Astro in your opinion?
I wonder can you use a dedicated astro camera attached to a lens with this setup? I am thinking a Rokinon 132 and a Mono ASI1600.
Hi! Great fan of your videos! I’ve been slowly collecting stuff I need for starting the astrophotography. Heard about announcement of the new GTI and watched this video, the go-to feature had me sold!! Problem on the OPT site the tripod package is sold out. Should I wait for it to restock? Or just get the mount only and then buy own carbon fiber tripod separately? Let me know what you think!
Hey Trevor, thanks for all the videos, they help a lot. I am very new astrophotographer and am struggling. I don’t have a clear line to do polar alignment. I’ve tried different places but no help.I am looking at the star adventure git, but it doesn’t auto Aline- does it. What would you suggest. Keep up the great work, I for one watch all your videos and sometimes several times. Thanks. Brent
I’ve been watching your videos for a while, and love your content. I’ve been looking at getting into the hobby and buying the 2i for a while and was just about to pull the trigger until I saw this. I’m glad I didn’t. This looks so much more robust for not much more. I have a standard carbon fiber tripod I use for normal photography. Any idea if a standard tripod for regular photography would be sturdy enough for this?
I used a feisol carbon fiber tripod with the 2i and approx 5.5kg of gear. It worked fine for 12 months and then the metal base suddenly broke in the middle of the night. Luckily i was stranding next to my rig so I could catch it. If you use a carbon fiber tripod, don't stretch out thr legs all the way and don't use it, the tripod to help yourself back up after polar alignment. Not that I did that everytime, but I did sometimes catch myself doing it. So make sure you don't, I'm certain that it accelerated the demise of my tripod. (It's payload capacity was 38lb)
It should be fine, yes. But when it comes to taking a 3-minute, tracked exposure - the more stable the tripod, the better!
@@AstroBackyard thanks for the reply! I just went ahead and pre-ordered the kit with the tripod from OPT. Can’t wait for it to start shipping!
Trevor, Thus far I have bene focussed on nightcap photography but want to get my get wet with deep sky stuff with existing lenses. Can you tell me what dovetail you used to connect the cannon lenses with? Any recommendations for connecting camera/lenses without tripod collars? Probably naive questions but trying to sort the gear requirements out! Thanks!
I know its hard but can you please upload videos more frequently cuz they're just too good!!
Thank you for the review. My husband just got me the GTI for my birthday and I am just getting started with this new hobby. I was wondering what size plate you are using to connect your canon lens to the mount?
That's an impressive piece of kit. In the UK. The release date is Summer. I will be replacing my SA with this advanced model. Having GOTO functionality will certianly make the hobby more enjoyable
Do you need to use a guide scope/camera with this set up?
What are the flashing lights next to stars, if your only halfway zoomed and in focus?
Would this pair well with the William Optics Triplet APO Refractor and the William Optics 50mm Guiding Scope piggybacked? The OTA and guide scope only weighs 6.05 lbs combined. But I also have to consider my camera, autoguider, etc.
A very good review Trevor. I was planning to purchase HEQ5 Pro to enter into the astrophotography world. Now there is this new product. I have watched your review with great interest. I am now in a dilemma and it would be a great help to have your advice on the differences between the Staradventurer GTi and HEQ5 Pro. Are these in payload capacity, price and portability only or the Staradventurer GTi is a better product in its performance?
Any idea on the RA periodic error? What about the DEC backlash? I usually use PHD2 guiding and dither then imaging.
Excellent overview , thank you.
Do you think there should be a munimum sensor requirement to the camera for such pics as you have taken?
You do want a decent mid range camera sensor to now have large pixels pop up
i have a question does this mount require alignment before go-to or is it similar to the AZ-GTI
Going to make this my 1st tracker. Now if I can find 1.
I'm new to Astro Photography. I do have Canon 100-200mm, 300mm and 600mm excited to purchase my new Sky-Watcher.
Trevor, thanks for the review. Could you tell me where you got your short dovetail, please? I'm not having any luck on Amazon.
Greetings Trevor. Do you know if Pole Master makes an adapter for the GTI as yet? Love the videos, always learning something from you. Thank you so very much and
God bless.
Great video as always. I recently bought the GTi for my wife. Am struggling with how to implement "Go To". In your video it looked like you were using a phone app and instructing the mount to go to Sirius. The footage looks like there is the mount and just a camera body and lens. Do you need a tracking scope and a Pc to implement GO TO, or does the mount simply go to the Dec and RA coordinates?
Hi Seems like a very good product. The explanation is easy to understand. What is the outside diameter of the weight shaft, 20 mm?
i love!!!!
want this!!!
Thank you for the useful content. I have a question. Do you think that this would work for a 102 mm svbony 503 (9lbs) for VIEWING only as a goto and tracker without breaking?
I need some help please! I'm trying to use my startracker with a DSLR camera in my backyard but it never seems to have the polar allining done right. I also cannot see any stars through the polar scope and it might be that polaris is covered by a tree. Whenever I "go to" it points at a completely wrong spot
Thanks the Video... super! .. have you try out to work with PHD2 ?
Been waiting for this. I have put off buying a new mount because of how primitive the controls were and have been selling. Those Celestron controler look like something from the DOS age.
Thanks for this informative video. I think it has swayed me to this product. I'll be using a Canon Mirrorless APS-C camera. I haven't seen a video yet utilising a mirrorless thought. Any problems that you know of? With the App that you use, is that supported on iPhone and what was the name of it please, I missed it in the video. Thank you!
Hi! I have a question. I would love to be able to do more with astrophotography, but I can not polar align my setup, I have a balcony facing west, and polaris is not to be seen next to the flat, So would this still be feasible with this setup??
Hi, sorry if I missed it but what's that orange piece between the lens mount and the tracker?
Could you tell me where you got that specific short dovetail and what is the brand? Cheers.
Does it make sense to upgrade from the star adventurer to this? Or since the payload limit is the same there isn’t that many benefits? Would it help me get longer exposures? or am i just better of trying to auto guide with the settup I already have.
I've had my eye on a star tracker so I can go somewhere dark and not worry about lugging my main rig about. This is now the obvious choice!
well just ordered the head unit from OPT. been waiting for this for a while now.
Well I was just notified they shipped it. 4 months later. I figured it would take longer than that. Hope it works well with the Askar FRA 300 pro.
Do you use 2 screws to secure the lens collar to the dovetail plate?
First, I would like to say I do enjoy watching your videos, thank you for posting them. I purchased the 2i when it first came out and must admit the biggest issue for me is finding the target. I placed an order for the GTi when it was first available for pre-order as I real want a GOTO mount. Can't wait for its arrival to play with it. The only concern I have in my mind, which you didn't touch on in the video is calibrating the aiming of the camera to the mount. I "assume" you have to choose to aim at multiple stars / DSO's and do one at a time until you are calibrated. How difficult is this to do, finding the multiple stars / DSO's? I am sure after that it is cake.
Hey did you manage to find that snap cable. Do you know what snap cable to buy to use with Sony A7C camera (type c port). It seems nobody is able to make it work. I cannot find a cable in first place.
How long are the sides of the triangle legs of the mount are forming as a base when it is set up?
Hi, i was looking to buy the samyang 135mm f2 lens and found the samyang 135 t2.2. Is there a difference between these two lenses or are they the same?
Hey Trevor, have you tried it with your ASIAIR Plus?
Hi, I was wondering why the manual states to not carry the whole assembly (mount + tracker without telescope)? Is there a real reason or are they just cautious?
I just received a GTi. I'd like to know how you are mounting your camera? I have a Fuji XT-3 that I'd like to pair with a Fujifilm 70-300mm for the April 8th eclipse. Any links would be appreciated.
Thanks for this very informative video. As an amateur radio operator, I was wondering if in addition to tracking stars it could track the International Space Station and other various satellites?
Thanks Trevor.
This looks promising i believe.
So if I tell it to look at the Orion nebula, does it just automatically track or do I have to select something like on the previous model?
Can this skywatcher AZ GTi handle the Willams Optics 73 and a Canon dslr?
Hopefully they come out with a polar alignment camera that works with the app. I'm surprised they went with a standard polar scope. Definitely on my wishlist tho
Good video. Any chance you could push the weight limit a bit and see what it's capable of at 5kg/11lb?
Hi Trevor 👋, what lens and camera are you using?
Hello my friend
At night we see stars so even without a polar star we can align the starwatcher gti and generally every tracker.
What do we do on the day we would like to track the sun?
Since the only object we see is the sun.
How to setup ?
Thank you
How does this compare to the eqm-35? They seem fairly similarly priced.
I am kind of considering one of these two but it is like 2x the price of the 2i pro pack so I might just go back to that.
Trevor, what is the tripod you have in this video?
Could I use a 127mm maksutov-cassegrain (around 8lbs) with this mount?
I'm totally new to this. I'm trying to confirm the function of a couple of knobs. Is the "ALT Lock" supposed to be locked after adjusting? What does the "AZ adjustment" do?
Did you ever find the correct cable to connect your camera to the mount?
Nice video, do you know what the battery life is? Thanx for the info.
Thanks. Especially since it looks like you were using an EOS R, RF-EF adapter, and the 300mm f/4.. I HAVE all that already! 🙂 Ordered the mount w/tripod for $740 today.