Customer Reviews
Comming from old MSM I found Nomad great to track also with no wide lens {100 / 200 mm) and also very really very stable when mount tha camara in it.
I’m not a tech person, and having said that, the MSM was incredibly easy to use. I’m actually really impressed.
For astrophotography with a wide angle lens, it’s perfect. And to make it even better, it’s super compact, which makes it the ideal travel companion.
I purchased the MSM nomad together with the Z-plate, panoramic panning base, and phone clamp with arca Swiss plate (based on Richard Tatti’s review and tutorial). So far I’ve only tested in my backyard, which is a bortle5/6 site, but worked like a charm. Polar aligning with the phone allowed me a minimum of 30sec exposures without trailing on aps-c camera with 14mm and 135mm. I can probably go longer with the 14mm, but haven’t tried yet. It was all easy to align like that, set everything up and start shooting. Only thing I didn’t consider, is that I planned to use a bigger tripod with a wide base (for a proper astrophotography harmonic mount), but the panning base doesn’t fit on there, as the knob of the panning base gets in the way. So I had to use a standard photography tripod. Even though it’s less sturdy, I was still able to get my shots. Can’t wait to take all this to a proper dark site!
I bought the MSM Nomad to complete a lightweight travel setup for wide-field astrophotography. It's the perfect solution for my lightweight mirrorless camera with 10mm, 35mm, and 50mm lenses. The MSM EQ wedge is one of the best designs I've ever used. Unfortunately, due to bad weather, I didn't have the opportunity to test it in practice, and for now, I'm practicing my setup. This little guy seems like he'll be really useful. While I have no complaints about the Nomad and the EQ wedge, the V-bracket needs improvement. Ensuring a stable connection requires too much force when tightening the screw. I'd also make a modification to the MSM Phone Clamp with Arca Swiss Rails for Polar Alignment. To make it comfortable to use in the Northern Hemisphere, I'd add another Arca Swiss rail. I have a few ideas, but I need to test them in real-world conditions. If my solutions prove successful, I'll gladly share them with MSM.
I have had my Nomad for short time and done only few dozen photos with it but I absolutely love this piece of gear. It's small, portable and actually affordable for its capabilities. I mean, I have seen many reviews of this star tracker and many of them pointed out that it is not suitable for longer focal lenghts. However as it is joy to shoot some wide shots with Nomad, I found it capable of extending my exposure times considerably even at 200 to 250mm. Just put some effort in polar allignment (I have got me laser pointer, but just alligning with your phone pushed to the side of Nomad can work) and you can get some absolutely stunning results. Quality of build is also great, feels sturdy and solid in your hand. Setting it up is easy, however I've had couple fights with provided ballhead (which is also excellent quality) as I was mounting it for first time, but managed to get used to it rather quickly. And all that for around 200 bucks? That's a steal. I will be recommending it to my friends who are also into astrophotography and I can't really wait for summer to get most of it. Best regards, Tomáš Hytka, Czech Republic
Great quality, extremely well made. I recommend!
NOMAD Grab & Go for Beginner and Experienced Photographers, 🎁 Holiday Sale is ON!
Very happy with the product
The Nomad is a great compact star tracker, well made and looks robust enough to handle even a 300mm zoom lens. Simple to set up and align with ot without the laser. Fits inside my lowerpro camera rucksack without too much space taken up. I have not noticed any great weight increase in my camera bag with the Nomad and wedge plus the laser and scope.
I picked the MSM Nomad up last month along with a few accessories and have been taking amazing tracked photos since. I was able to shoot hassle free on my second outing after a shakedown run to work everything out. Highly recommend the Nomad.