Astrophotographers understand that without one of the best star trackers, any attempts to capture the night sky will result in streaky, blurry star trails.
In the past, taking a long exposure image with an exposure longer than ten seconds always produced sloppy results. Thankfully, star trackers come in meaning this is no longer the case. These nifty gadgets are essentially shrunken equatorial mounts made especially for cameras (instead of telescopes).
In order to work, star trackers need to be aligned with Polaris (essentially, the north celestial pole) in the northern hemisphere and with the south celestial pole in the southern hemisphere. The tracker then moves at the right pace to maintain your camera's alignment with Earth's rotation, keeping the target item in the composition and ensuring that your photographs are trail-free.
To go along with your star tracker, you'll need one of the best cameras for astrophotography equipped with one of the best lenses for astrophotography to get the best possible astro shots. But if you'd rather shoot on a more generalist camera, discover our guide to the best cameras for photos and videos and pair it with either the best tripods or travel tripods to keep your images steady.
Best star trackers for astrophotography 2023
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Best star trackers for astrophotography 2023 ranked
The Benro Polaris is an exception to the rule of most star trackers, which typically have to compromise between their own weight and the weight of their payload. Weighing only 3.3 lbs (1.5 kg), it is incredibly lightweight and extremely supportive, taking 15 lbs (7 kg) of gear—the most of any star tracker mount so far.
It has a waterproof IPX6 grade and utilizes precise high torque motors to produce the best star tracking results. It is also the first star tracker to offer built-in DSLR control which allows you to adjust the composition of your photo remotely, and a built-in micro SD card slot. Remarkably, the Benro Polaris can even be controlled via the cellphone network.
The Polaris' huge 2500 mAh battery can be recharged via USB-C while alignment is via any subject from a choice presented on a smartphone app. Regardless of how sophisticated the best star trackers appear to be, this electric tripod head shows that their days are numbered. All of this top-quality tech does come at a high price though, sitting around $1200.
- Benro also produces some of the Best tripods
The priciest yet one of the best star trackers around for astrophotographers is the iOptron SkyGuider Pro. Many star trackers are designed for landscape photographers who want to reduce their weight when out in the field looking for wide-angle compositions that include the night sky, but there are many astrophotographers who only want to use telephoto lenses to capture light from distant deep-sky objects. That means bigger payloads and longer exposures, which is what the iOptron SkyGuider Pro is designed for.
This product behaves somewhat more like a motorized equatorial mount in certain aspects thanks to its weight capacity of roughly 11lbs/ 5kg, which can handle long lenses or even a small telescope, even though its wedge lacks some precision. Another downside is its use of a counterweight to reach that higher capacity than average, which adds a further 3 lbs/1.35kg to the product (and therefore your camera bag).
Aligning using its electronic polar finderscope and iOptron Polar Scope app is simple, and like most of its rivals, it also tracks the sun, moon and allows 1/2-speed motion time lapses at night.
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The incessant creep of light pollution means it's now almost inevitable that you'll need to travel to a dark sky site in order to find the darkest night skies possible. Even if you don't travel overseas, finding dark skies frequently requires hiking into remote backcountry areas away from towns and other humans. That necessitates a star tracker that strikes the right balance between its own weight (because you'll need to carry it) and what it can support.
Cue the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Mini, affectionately known as SAM, which can take a payload of 3kg yet it is relatively easy to squeeze into a camera bag. It's not the sleekest device ever, and nor is its SA Console app up to much. However, as we found during our Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Mini review, once you get used to its minor niggles, SAM is reliable and relatively easy to use. SAM is a fantastic option when weight and money are limited because it can deliver accurate long-exposure photos for up to around four minutes. Accessories include a counterweight and declination bracket to increase the payload.
While iOptron's SkyGuider Pro is aimed at deep sky photography, the pared-down, and more compact iOptron SkyTracker Pro is aimed more at wide-angle nightscapes. Its payload capacity, at 6.6lbs/3kg, is much less than its stablemate and at 2.5lbs/1.1kg, it is also lighter than the SkyGuider. As such, it's more suitable for those wanting to carry a star tracker in their camera bag while they travel.
In addition to tracking objects in the night sky, it can also follow the Sun and Moon and has a half speed for taking time-lapse photos, so its appeal extends beyond only nightscapes. As a bonus, its internal battery can run for 24 hours. It is reasonably priced and comes with extras like a counterweight and a declination bracket to boost the payload.
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Even smaller and nimble than the Star Adventurer Mini is the excellent value Move Shoot Move, a star tracker suitable only for wide-angle lenses. That's partly because of its limited payload of 6.6lbs / 3kg and also, as we discovered in our Move Shoot Move star tracker review because it's not the most accurate star tracker around.
That could seem like a deal-breaker, but if all you want to do is take wide-angle images of the Milky Way and starfields, it's an advantage. For such photos, a rough alignment with Polaris is all you need, something that can be done easily and quickly using an included green laser pointer.
Polaris isn't going to be accurately tracked by the Move Shoot Move for more than two to three minutes, though this time can be extended by using a wider and lighter lens. But none of that will matter much if you have a reasonably fast wide-angle lens. If you have a telephoto lens though, look elsewhere.
- Read our full Move Shoot Move star tracker review
In the world of star trackers, there's always a trade-off between size and versatility, and the Polarie compact size means it can support a payload of just 2kg. Because of this, it works best with very lightweight models and wide-angle lenses; using a mirrorless camera body will give you more options.
Alignment is done via a supplied compass, a built-in latitude meter and a polar sight hole, so you will have to know how to locate Polaris and/or the south celestial pole. On hand to help are both red light illumination and the Vixen PF-L Assist app for smartphones, and you can have a look at our handy guide on how to find the north star, too.
The Polarie can follow the Moon and Sun in addition to long exposure astrophotography (the latter useful for solar eclipses), and its half-speed feature allows motion time-lapses at night.
Its short two-hour battery life can be augmented by instead attaching a power bank to its micro USB slot. The payload can be increased to 6.5 kg with the help of a counterweight, polar axis scope, and time-lapse adapter, all of which are optional extras.
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Best star trackers for astrophotography 2023: 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 as an imaging instrument and its performance 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 telescopes, whether you should purchase an instrument or not, making our buying guides and reviews reliable and transparent.
