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Mounts

The mount is the camera's tripod, and it has to turn

In astrophotography the mount matters more than the telescope. It has to carry the load without flexing, point its axis at the pole, and turn at exactly the rate of the sky. Payload, polar alignment and tracking error decide the result.

By

Payload, with margin

Makers publish payload for visual use. For imaging, plan on about half. The Celestron Advanced VX is rated at 30 lb; the AZ-EQ6 at 44 lb; the Star Adventurer GTi at 11 lb. A camera and a 300 mm lens fit the last; an 8-inch telescope with a camera needs the first two.

Polar alignment is the foundation

An equatorial mount tracks only if its axis points at the celestial pole. The Star Adventurer GTi has an illuminated polar scope; the Advanced VX uses Celestron’s All-Star routine on any bright star; small trackers use a pointer or a phone. Accurate alignment buys longer exposures than any upgrade.

Periodic error

Every worm gear runs slightly fast and slow once per turn. Few makers publish the figure. OGST’s single-axis tracker does: ±10 arcseconds over 10 minutes, which it says supports 120-second exposures at 300 mm. The Advanced VX and AZ-EQ6 offer periodic error correction instead.

Guiding

A guide scope and guide camera watch a star and correct the mount during long exposures. Plan its weight into the payload.

Balance is free

A balanced mount tracks better and wears less. Balance each axis before every session.

What suits your sky?

You photograph wide field
A compact tracker is enough and costs far less.
You photograph through an instrument
Stated payload is taken with a wide margin.
You travel
The stated weight of the mount becomes the real limit.
You are only starting out
The mount is where the budget goes, before any optics.

Picking by what you want to see

Wide field

A small tracker and a lens: the least demanding entry into the discipline.

Through an instrument

Requirements rise sharply, and stated payload stops being enough.

Fixed installation

Weight ceases to matter and everything else becomes possible.

What decides what you will see

The stated payload
A maker’s figure. For imaging it is taken with a margin this site does not set.
The stated drive
It says what the mount can track. It is the founding specification here.
The stated mount weight
A mount for imaging is heavy, and that is what limits travel.

Which figure for which target

The useWhat is statedWhat is not stated
Wide fieldThe driveThe result
Through an instrumentThe payloadThe margin
TravelThe weightThe comfort
FixedThe dimensionsThe steadiness

What observers get wrong

Loading to the stated payload
For imaging the margin taken is far wider than for visual use. This site sets none.
Buying the tube first
In imaging the mount decides. A good tube on an inadequate mount produces nothing.
Overlooking the total weight
A mount for imaging weighs what it weighs, and that ends travel.

By the observer you are

The beginner
Starts with a tracker and a lens, at a fraction of the cost.
The committed imager
Buys the mount first and waits for everything else.
The traveler
Accepts a lighter mount and the limits that come with it.

Care, storage and working life

A mount used for imaging works all night, in the cold and the damp. Its mechanism suffers more than that of a mount used two hours a month.

  • Dry the mount before storing it, every time.
  • Follow the maker’s instructions for any greasing.
  • Check the tightness of the fittings before a long session.
  • Store the counterweights separately: they mark everything they touch.

Safety

This site publishes stated specifications and guarantees no steadiness.

  • A stated payload is not a safe load.
  • A counterweight badly tightened on a slope falls.
  • Cables running across the ground in the dark are a tripping hazard.
  • An instrument set up all night must be visible to everyone present.

The five, and the reason for the order

  1. Star trackers

    OGST Single-axis tracker (QIO112)

    ±10 arcsec periodic error over 10 min · 1:101.25 gear train · 1.4 kg carrying 4 kg (8.8 lb) · Wi-Fi, open source · three polar alignment methods

    OGST's single-axis tracker: a 1.4 kg mount carrying 4 kg, with a stepper motor and 1:101.25 gear train for ±10 arcseconds of periodic error over 10 minutes, open-source Wi-Fi control and polar scope, phone and star-pointer alignment.

    Best for: A camera and a 300 mm lens under a dark sky, for someone who wants the tracking error on paper

    ≈ $326

    Check price on Amazon Read the review: OGST Single-axis tracker (QIO112)
  2. GoTo mounts

    Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi (S20590)

    11 lb payload · full GoTo equatorial head · built-in illuminated polar scope · Wi-Fi · USB and autoguider ports

    Sky-Watcher's Star Adventurer GTi head kit: a full GoTo equatorial tracker with an 11 lb payload, built-in illuminated polar scope, Wi-Fi, USB and autoguider ports, SNAP shutter control and a dual-position counterweight.

    Best for: A camera and lens or a small astrograph under a dark sky

    ≈ $579

    Check price on Amazon Read the review: Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi (S20590)
  3. GoTo mounts

    Celestron Advanced VX (91519)

    30 lb payload · 7° to 77° latitude · 2 in stainless steel legs · 47 lb kit · NexStar+ with 40,000+ objects · PEC

    Celestron's Advanced VX: a computerized German equatorial GoTo mount with a 30 lb payload, 2-inch stainless steel tripod legs, a 7 to 77-degree latitude range, permanently programmable PEC and a NexStar+ hand control with 40,000+ objects.

    Best for: Imaging from a site where the mount matters more than the tube

    8.4/10

    ≈ $1,099

    Check price on Amazon Read the review: Celestron Advanced VX (91519)
  4. GoTo mounts

    Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 (S30330)

    44 lb payload · belt drive · PPEC · equatorial, alt-azimuth and dual-telescope modes · dual encoders

    Sky-Watcher's AZ-EQ6: a 44 lb-payload GoTo mount that works as a German equatorial, an alt-azimuth or a carrier for two telescopes, with belt drive, permanent periodic error correction and Freedom Find encoders.

    Best for: One mount for visual work and long-exposure imaging, at a fixed or semi-fixed site

    ≈ $2,299

    Check price on Amazon Read the review: Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 (S30330)
  5. Guide scopes

    A ALSTAR Guide Scope 50 mm (GS50A)

    50 mm (1.97 in) · 200 mm (7.87 in) focal length · helical focuser with brass compression ring · 40 mm focus range

    Alstar's 50 mm guide scope: 200 mm focal length, fully multi-coated, a double helical focuser with brass compression ring and 40 mm of focus range, a male T-thread, rings and a Synta-style plate.

    Best for: Guiding a main telescope of moderate focal length, and doubling as a wide finder

    7.2/10

    ≈ $78

    Check price on Amazon Read the review: A ALSTAR Guide Scope 50 mm (GS50A)

What gets asked before buying

How much payload do I need?

Add up camera, lens or telescope, guide scope and accessories, then roughly double it. A mount loaded near its visual rating will not track smoothly enough for long exposures.

Do I need a guide scope?

For exposures of a few minutes at long focal lengths, usually yes. A guide scope and camera correct the mount's small errors as it tracks.

Can an alt-azimuth mount do astrophotography?

Short exposures and planetary video, yes. Long exposures show field rotation unless the mount is tilted onto a wedge.

Each pick, and what it was chosen for

What each band of spending shows you

Entry level

$78 – $98

5 models

Mid range

$122 – $440

5 models

Upper range

$469 – $2 299

5 models

The short sight

Pairings worth reading first

Model against model, where the comparison is already published.

What this selection is drawn from

The models above are taken from the catalog of this site. Specifications are the ones the maker publishes and the ones on the Amazon page; prices are the Keepa reading for the date shown, and both change. Ranking uses declared specifications, the weight of stated strengths against stated limits, and price. Nothing here has been pointed at the sky by us, and the page makes no such claim.

Last checked on

Any figure written into the body of this page was true on the day it was written. The amount shown next to each instrument is requested from the retailer as the page loads, and it is that amount, not the text, that stands.