SiFo Astro-Landscape Tracker for astro-landscape-photographers

Happy Shooting! Night chasers, welcome to visit. 

I thought you've read the history of my Landscape Tracker. Let's first watch what Alyn've said about the tracker.

To be honest, in the beginning, I'm not confident about my tracker. I just make it as my personal help. So, I reach out to Alyn, he is super passionate about Astro-Landscape Photography. So I need his thoughts on it to make a final decision.

His video teaches me a lot. If you are new to Astro Landscape Photography, strongly recommend you subscribe to his Youtube Channel. Now, let's dive into Alyn's test video.

As a Landscape-Astro Tracker, it's different with the traditional astrophotography tracker which is designed for astrophotographer's heavy equipment.

We have made specific improvement for Astro-landscape photographers:

  1. Small and Less weight, you will know how much it can save your life if you take long walks and would like to try a lot of different compositions and frames. 
  2. Plane friendly, The built-in battery is not that big, so you can take it onto all the airlines of the world.
  3. Quick setup, No need set up on the tracker, For each composition, just point the laser pointer to the polar then you can shoot.

It's not only a Star Tracker! Add motion to your original time-lapse capture. 

I've played with timelapse for several years, in the beginning, just time-lapse, then I play panning time-lapse through photoshop, and finally, I want to play out of the box, I want the genuine moving timelapse.  So, here it comes the timelapse mode of the tracker.

  1. Move Shoot Move Mode.  it works in move shoot move manner. If you've played with the cheap kitchen timer or other motorized rotators, you will understand easily. Move Shoot Move manner can eliminate the motion blur.
  2. 4 angle speed. 0.05°/step, 0.075°/step, 0.1°/step, 0.125°/step, this is the limitation of it, due to there is not enough space for more buttons on the dial knob.
  3. Route replay by clockwise and anti-clockwise.
  4. Some calculation needed, Due to less speed selection, you need to do some calculation to fit all lens. 
  5. Here is the calculation cheat sheet we get from Mr.Aron. Use this sheet you will enjoy the full potential of this rotator.
  6. Below we have Mr.Gunther's review (in Germany). He is the author of LRTimelapse. If you play with timelapse, you should try LRTimelapse, it's so powerful.

It's not only Landscape tracker and panning time lapse rotator - Auto Panorama photography

I usually use this function when I shooting from the top of the mountain or city top.

  1. Again, Move Shoot Move mode, this is exactly the same as what we do manually. Instead of buying a panning head,  I added 2 selection on the knob, one for 35mm lens, one for 200mm lens, for other lenses just choose which one is more close
  2. 75% Overlapping. For standard 35mm and 200mm lens, I design it to give 75% overlapping between 2 photos, so it should be enough for other most used lenses.
  3. Route Replay, then we can have exactly the same frames. Take as many as you want.

HOW HEAVY?  

IF YOU BUY THESE 3 FEATURES SEPARATELY?

HOW EXPENSIVE?

IF YOU BUY THESE 3 FEATURES SEPARATELY?

AND HOW CUMBERSOME WOULD IT BE?

Answer:

More than 3Kg

More than $600

Can't imagine!

How Much Should I Invest to Get one SiFo Landscape Tracker? 

 

Below is the explanation from one of our users, he uses it for time-lapse shooting.

The mechanism for Time-lapse and Panorama: 
It works by adjusting the angle of rotation, not the speed of rotation, with seven options: Star Tracking Mode; Time-lapse & Panorama mode of 0.05, 0.075, 0.1 and 0.125 degrees per picture. Therefore, you control the camera's rotating based upon the angle selected, and the interval set on your timer (you need a separate timer/intervalometer, which is inexpensive). The longer the interval you set, the slower of the rotation. Once you are done taking a picture (which the rotator ‘knows’ through the hot-shoe cable), the rotator will turn the defined angle, which means that the camera is not turning while the picture is being taken.
Check Mr.Gunther's Review from Germany:

    Key Parameters:
      Weightless (450g), Compact (1.7" x 3.15" x 3.9")

        Thanks to its small weight and dimension, it presents your already heavy bag more space and weight.

        One Cable Fits All Your Cameras

        Do not need different cables for your cameras. Check Quick Setup

        Ultra Long Battery Life

          Supports to take 3000 shots. This meets most of the daily usage.

          Passive Motorized Design

            No confliction with your camera's built-in App, compatible with most cameras that has a hot shoe port. Check Why Passive Design

            Innovative Worm Gear System

              Our worm-gear self-lock mechanism presents two key benefits: Top-Level Move Shoot Move performance and Super Long Battery Life. Check Worm Gear SystemCheck Move Shoot Move

              SPECIFICATIONS

              Size: 1.7" x 3.15" x 3.9" (4.3cm x 8cm x 9.9cm)

              Weight: 1.01 lbs (450g)

              Max Load: 3 Kg

              Step Options: Star Tracking Mode (360° in 24hrs) | 0.05°/step, 0.075°/step, 0.1°/step, 0.125°/step | 2°/step(200mm), 9°/step(35mm)

              Input: DC5.0V 1.0A Max

              Battery Life: >= 24 hrs for star tracking / 3000 shots for time-lapse

              Compatibility:  CANON, NIKON, SONY (With Hot-Shoe Model) 

              !ATTENTION! Knob version do not support: FUJIFILM, PANASONIC, OLYMPUS, PHASE ONE, LEICA

              PACKING LIST
              SiFo Rotator         x1

              Charging Cable    x1
              Hot-shoe Cable    x1
              1/4 to 3/8 Adapter x1

                User Manual: User Manual V1.0: English

                Warranty: One Year

                  Check what our users say about SiFo
                  Photographer: Mark Green

                  Photographer: Arun Soman

                  This is brilliant, we never planned to shoot deep sky with our Rotator, but Arun has achieved it with our Rotator, this is amazing, below is his story, enjoy!

                  Photographer:  Mike Ridley