Best star trackers for astrophotography 2024
The best star trackers mean you can shoot super long exposures by tracking the Earth's rotation — resulting in sharp, detailed and trail-free astro shots.
Investing in one of the best star trackers is a smart purchase for anyone keen on taking clear, long-exposure photos of the night sky without blurry star trails ruining the image.
These clever devices typically attach between your tripod and camera. They move with the Earth's rotation, so your camera stays steady while the night sky moves. You'll notice a big improvement when you take pictures with exposures longer than about ten seconds. The star tracker helps you capture clear stars and beautiful galaxies accurately
To help you pick the right star tracker, we've collected short reviews for easy comparison. Make sure to check if your gear's weight matches the tracker's capacity. Don't worry—all the trackers listed here have been tested by our expert reviewers, so you can trust their quality and how well they work.
If you're new to astrophotography, check out our guide to astrophotography for beginners. And if you're looking to build or upgrade the rest of your kit, we also have guides to the best cameras for astrophotography, the best lenses for astrophotography and the best tripods.
The quick list
Below we've summarized our top picks of the best star trackers for astrophotography available out there, including their main characteristics. If you want more in-depth information, click the links to read more below.
Best overall
Best overall
The Benro Polaris is our top pick, but it's incredibly expensive. It's waterproof, has a huge-capacity battery and even has a built-in camera interface controller.
Best for deep sky astro
Best for deep sky astro
For deep sky astro, this is the one you want. It can hold high payloads so it's great for the heavier lenses needed for deep sky viewing, or even a small telescope.
Best for mid-weight setups
Best for mid-weight setups
The SAM gives excellent tracking and has a compact and lightweight design, but it's let down by one thing — its poor app.
Best for battery life
Best for battery life
Offers a whopping 24 hours of battery life, ideal for long nights of shooting. It's affordable, compact and lightweight, but it lacks ultimate precision.
Best for small setups
Best for small setups
This lightweight star tracker is best suited to the lighter payloads of up to 5.5 lbs you'll often encounter with mirrorless systems, though it does also have a short battery life.
Best mechanical star tracker
Best mechanical star tracker
No electronics or power here, just a purely mechanical star tracker that you wind up like a clock for 60 minutes of tracking.
Best star trackers for astrophotography we recommend in 2024
Why you can trust Space.com
Best overall
Benro Polaris
Our expert review:
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
✅ You have heavy kit: It can support payloads of up to 15 lbs/7 kg, which is the most on this list — certainly more than enough for most setups.
✅ You want something lightweight: Despite its ability to support heavier payloads, it weighs only 3.3 lbs/1.5 kg, which is unusual for star trackers.
❌ You don't have a big budget: This is incredibly expensive, so only really accessible to those who have big budgets.
🔎 Benro Polaris: The star tracker to end all star trackers, our only criticism is the high price tag, which is to be expected with the amount of tech that this little device has in it. It's lightweight but still carries heavier payloads, and offers excellent star tracking capabilities. ★★★★★
The Benro Polaris is more of an electronic tripod head than a traditional star tracker, but its cutting-edge technology means that it has even more on offer as a result. It's controlled via the Benro Polaris app on your smartphone, which allows you to set up the alignment, adjust photo compositions and operate the shutter remotely. It also features auto-tracking functions, meaning you can set it to take automatic panoramas of the Milky Way, for example.
In addition to its advanced technology, the Benro Polaris boasts the highest payload capacity among the star trackers we've reviewed, supporting up to 15 lbs (7 kg) of camera and lens gear. Unlike many other high-capacity star trackers, you won't need to sacrifice the weight of your equipment in your bag, as the device itself remains lightweight at just 3.3 lbs (1.5 kg).
This star tracker features powerful motors for reliable performance and a large 2500 mAh battery that will see you through those long shooting sessions. It's easy to charge with a USB-C cable and has an impressive waterproof rating (IPX6) for durability in different weather. However, it does come with a high price tag of around $1000, which might be too expensive for many photographers.
It's worth noting that there isn't much availability in the US for the Benro Polaris, it seems many retailers are discontinuing it. There's a small amount of stock in the UK, but it's dwindling.
- Benro also produces some of the Best tripods
Attributes | Notes |
---|---|
Design | Excellent build quality. |
Performance | Can adjust photo compositions remotely. |
Functionality | Cutting-edge tech with auto-tracking functions. |
Best for deep sky astro
iOptron SkyGuider Pro
Our expert review:
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
✅ You do a lot of deep sky astrophotography: This star tracker is specifically designed for bigger payloads and longer exposures that come with photographing far-away objects.
❌ You want something lightweight: It weighs 3.2 lbs/1.45 kg by itself, and as it requires a counterweight, that adds an additional 3 lbs/1.35 kg.
🔎 iOptron SkyGuider Pro: The perfect star tracker for shooting deep sky objects, this option is specifically designed for heavy payloads — you could even use a small telescope with it. However, it's expensive and not particularly lightweight. ★★★★½
If your focus is on capturing deep-sky objects using big telephoto lenses, the iOptron SkyGuider Pro is an excellent choice. It's specially made to handle heavier gear, supporting up to 11 lbs (5kg) of equipment. With this impressive load capacity, you can even mount a small telescope to it.
We think this star tracker offers great value for the price. It includes a detachable alt-azimuth base with a bubble level and degree markings, plus, it features a quick slew mode (144x) that moves both forward and backward, making it easy to adjust your shots quickly when needed.
Using the electronic polar finderscope is easy with the iOptron Polar Scope app on your smartphone. Plus, it offers four tracking speeds (full-speed, half-speed, Moon and Sun tracking) for both the northern and southern hemispheres.
Our only minor concerns were that the wedge occasionally lacks precision, and you'll need to utilize the Declination mount to attach a counterweight to achieve the highest payload levels. However, considering the price, this would still be a solid option for anyone requiring a mount for heavier equipment.
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Attributes | Notes |
---|---|
Design | Designed for bigger payloads. |
Performance | Best for deep sky objects. |
Functionality | Requires counterweight. |
Best for mid-weight setups
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
✅ You want exposures up to 4 minutes: For those long nights of shooting long exposures, SAM is a great choice.
✅ You don't have a super heavy setup: The SAM can support up to 3kg, which is more than enough for most mirrorless setups.
❌ You want a reliable app: We noted in our review that the app would often crash and was overall quite bad.
🔎 Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Mini It's easy to use and one of the most accurate, most versatile and best value star trackers on the market. However, it's got one major weakness — its poor app. ★★★★
The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Mini, also known as 'SAM', offers great value as a star tracker. It combines portability with high accuracy, supporting up to 6.6 lbs (3 kg) of equipment. It's lightweight and compact enough to carry in your camera backpack, perfect for taking to darker, less light-polluted areas for your astrophotography shoots.
In our Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Mini review, we found this star tracker fairly easy to set up and it produced great results once it was up and running, giving us pin-sharp stars during tracks of up to four minutes.
The 'Pro Pack' we tested comes with extra accessories such as an equatorial wedge, a ball-head adapter, and a polar scope for alignment. You'll need to have your own camera ball-head, though. It runs on two AA batteries, but they only lasted for about three nights of continuous shooting, so we'd say it's better to connect it to a portable battery using the micro-USB port when you want to shoot longer sessions.
The biggest downside of this star tracker is its SA Console app. It tended to disconnect frequently and sometimes stopped working completely, which was frustrating considering how much it cost. Despite this app problem, the SAM is still one of the top star trackers you can get
Attributes | Notes |
---|---|
Design | Compact and lightweight. |
Performance | Reliable tracking, but app is very bad. |
Functionality | 3kg payload. |
Best for battery life
iOptron SkyTracker Pro
Our expert review:
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
✅ You're on a budget: While it isn't cheap by any stretch, for what it is, we think it's a very reasonable and affordable price.
✅ You do long shooting sessions: The internal battery boasts an impressive 24-hour runtime, perfect for long nights of shooting.
❌ You focus on deep sky nightscapes: Wide-angle nightscapes is where this star tracker excels, so if your main interest is deep sky objects, there are better star trackers suited for that.
🔎 iOptron SkyTracker Pro: An affordable star tracker with impressive battery life, a compact and lightweight design and it can track a variety of celestial objects. ★★★★
The iOptron SkyTracker Pro is a great option for beginners or those on a budget since it's cost-effective and quick to set up, while still offering everything you need from a basic star tracker.
This tracker has a lower payload than the iOptron SkyGuider Pro, handling up to 6.6 lbs (3kg) of gear. It's ideal for wide-angle night scenes rather than deep space shots with heavier telephoto lenses. However, being lighter at just 2.5 lbs (1.1kg), it's extremely portable and doesn't take up much space in your camera bag.
This star tracker has a half-speed mode, handy for time-lapse photography, and it can track the Moon and Sun individually. It's quick and easy to set up, great for impromptu shooting when the weather clears up suddenly.
We were pleasantly surprised by the battery's performance, delivering up to 24 hours of usage on a single charge. This ensures you can shoot throughout the night without worrying about battery life. Additionally, it comes with useful accessories such as a counterweight and declination bracket, enabling you to increase its payload capacity when using heavier gear.
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Attributes | Notes |
---|---|
Design | Compact and lightweight. |
Performance | Impressive 24 hour battery life. |
Functionality | Offers Sun and Moon tracking. |
Best for small setups
Vixen Polarie Star Tracker
Our expert review:
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
✅ You have a lightweight setup: It can only hold loads of up to 5.5 lbs/2.5 kg, so lighter setups are ideal here.
❌ You want to do a lot of long exposures: It only has a short two-hour battery life, which will be fine for many circumstances, but if you plan on long nights of shooting you'd need a separate power bank.
🔎 Vixen Polarie Star Tracker For astrophotographers who only have a lightweight setup and don't need to use it for hours at a time, it's a decent option. ★★★
The Vixen Polarie is among the lightest star trackers available, making it perfect for photographers who value portability. It can handle up to 5.5 lbs (2.5 kg), suitable for most mirrorless or DSLR cameras with wide-angle lenses, but might struggle with larger telephoto lenses. However, there's an upgrade kit that boosts its capacity to 14.3 lbs (6.5 kg) and includes useful extras like a counterweight, mounting block, slide bar and an improved polarscope.
The Vixen Polarie can track the Sun and the Moon, as well as offering a half-speed option for capturing timelapses at night. The battery life is relatively short at only two hours, so we'd recommend connecting it to a portable power bank via the micro-USB if you're planning a longer shooting session.
One thing to note is that you'll need to align this start tracker manually using the supplied compass, built-in latitude meter and polar sight hole. This means that you'll need to be confident in locating Polaris and/or the south celestial pole, although there is a red light and a Vixen PF-L Assist app to help you with this. Check out our guide to locating the North Star if you need any further tips and pointers.
- Check out the Zendure SuperTank Pro power bank which is perfect for power-hungry astronomers
Attributes | Notes |
---|---|
Design | Compact size. |
Performance | Small payload and battery life. |
Functionality | Tracks Sun and Moon. |
Best mechanical star tracker
Omegon LX3
Our expert review:
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
✅ You shoot in cold temperatures: There are no electronics or batteries, so it can handle colder climates.
❌ You're a beginner: Alignment will be easier on electronic star trackers.
🔎 Omegon LX3: A mechanical star tracker with a clockwork heart that tracks for 60 minutes at a time, requiring no power, batteries or electronics. It's also small, lightweight and perfect for travel to colder climates. ★★★★
For something a little different, the Omegron LX3 star tracker doesn't actually have any power or electronics — instead, it's mechanical. It has a 'clockwork heart' that ticks at 130-135 times per minute for 60 minutes, meaning you'll never need to charge it or fear running out of batteries. You just wind it up using its cord, like an analog clock, and it will start tracking immediately.
Since there are no electronics to protect, this also means it can operate in extreme cold, which is ideal if you're shooting during winter or in particularly cold parts of the world and don't want it to conk out. They state it can operate in temperatures of '-20 - 60', although they don't specify whether that's Fahrenheit or Celcius.
It's lightweight and compact making it ideal for travel, aided by the fact that it doesn't have a counterweight, instead featuring a suspension system that works like one. It weighs 1.43 lbs / 650g and has a payload of 6.61 lbs / 3kg — over 4.5 times its own weight. They claim you can use longer lenses, but we haven't had the chance to get our hands on it so we can't confirm or dispute this.
Attributes | Notes |
---|---|
Design | Small and lightweight. |
Performance | Can track for 60 minutes. |
Functionality | No electronics — all mechanical. |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a star tracker in photography?
A star tracker is a small, motorized mount that sits between a camera and a tripod. The star tracker rotates the camera in synchronous with the Earth. This prevents star trails that would otherwise be captured during long exposures of the night sky.
Star trackers are useful for a variety of scenarios. Whether taking astrophotographs of the Milky Way with a wide-angle lens or using a telephoto lens to image deep sky objects such as nebulas, galaxies, star clusters and more.
What should I look for in a camera star tracker?
Not all star trackers are built the same. While they all sit between your tripod and camera, most vary in size, weight and design.
The most important implication of this is that different star trackers can handle different payloads (in other words, the weight of your combined kit), so depending on how heavy your camera and lens are, you'll want to choose your tracker wisely.
Additionally, some star trackers work well for telephoto lenses pointed at specific targets, while others are best suited for shorter wide-angle lenses (used for capturing the Milky Way, for example).
As well as the payload capacity, star trackers' accuracy varies between models and brands. More premium models will cost you more but will also deliver much more accurate images.
What is the best star tracker I can buy?
We think the Benro Polaris is the best star tracker overall because it's easy to align, has a camera interface controller and has excellent build quality. However, it is also the most expensive.
For those with a tighter budget, we'd recommend the iOptron SkyGuider Pro, which can accommodate a heavy payload of up to 5 kg, is suitable for deep sky astrophotography, and will be more than powerful enough to cope with long, telephoto lenses.
Do I need any other camera accessories before using my star tracker?
Before taking your first astrophotograph with a star tracker you will need: A camera, lens, tripod and tripod head. Ideally, you'd also use a remote shutter release or intervalometer to trigger the camera without having to touch it, as this will prevent camera shake blur. There may also be other camera accessories like a headlamp or power bank that can help.
What is a star tracker's maximum payload?
The maximum payload of a star tracker is how much weight it can reliably support. This would be the combined maximum weight of your camera, lens and any camera accessories in use like a tripod head.
However, you'll also want to assess the load-bearing ability of your tripod, to check if it can cope with the weight of all the gear plus the star tracker. If in doubt, go for bigger capacity mounts because as a rule of thumb, it's best to have your rig's total weight about half the capacity of the mount.
How we test the best star trackers for astrophotography
To guarantee you're getting honest, up-to-date recommendations on the best star trackers for astrophotography to buy here at Space.com we make sure to put every star tracker through a rigorous review to fully test each instrument. Each star tracker is reviewed based on a multitude of aspects, from its construction and design, to how well it functions in the field.
Each star tracker is carefully tested by expert staff or knowledgeable freelance contributors who know their subject areas in depth. This ensures fair reviewing is backed by personal, hands-on experience with each star tracker and is judged based on its price point, class and destined use.
We look at how easy it is to set up, whether the star tracker mounts are reliable and quiet, if a star tracker comes with appropriate accessories and also make suggestions if a particular star tracker would benefit from any additional kit to give you the best astrophotography experience possible.
With complete editorial independence, Space.com are here to ensure you get the best buying advice on star trackers, whether you should purchase an instrument or not, making our buying guides and reviews reliable and transparent.
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Jamie is an experienced science, technology and travel journalist and stargazer who writes about exploring the night sky, solar and lunar eclipses, moon-gazing, astro-travel, astronomy and space exploration. He is the editor of WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com and author of A Stargazing Program For Beginners, and is a senior contributor at Forbes. His special skill is turning tech-babble into plain English.
- Kimberley LaneContributing writer