Had to pick between a $30 telescope kit or a $600 star tracker mount and I chose wrong

So last week I got it in my head I wanted to take real deep space photos from my backyard in Austin. I was bouncing between two options. Cheap setup: a used telescope with a phone adapter kit for $30 off Facebook Marketplace. Fancy route: a star tracker mount that costs $600 to keep the camera steady for long exposures. I went cheap because I figured, hey, start small right? First night out I pointed the thing at Orion and tried to get a picture. The phone adapter slipped off after 3 minutes and the stars looked like blurry smudges anyway. My neighbor came over and laughed saying it looked like I photographed a flashlight through a jar of mayonnaise. Has anyone else wasted money on a junk beginner setup before biting the bullet on the real gear?

3 comments

3 Comments

sean_green4414d agoMost Upvoted

That neighbor probably knew exactly what he was doing.

the_hayden14d ago

Photographed a flashlight through a jar of mayonnaise" that is absolutely brutal (and also, sadly, kind of accurate). I can't believe the phone adapter slipped off after three minutes though, that's some next-level bad luck. I went the opposite route and bought a $30 ring light for my phone first, and my pictures of the moon just looked like a glowing gumball. You definitely made the right call for the long run, even if it stings right now. Plus, now you have a funny story about your neighbor roasting you while you stare at blurry light smudges.

aaronsullivan12d ago

The neighbor comment is the real dagger though, right? Did you ever find out if he was just being a jerk or if that was actually supposed to be some kind of weird kitchen hack he tried before? I bet he's got a whole cabinet of failed astrophotography attempts behind him, like a jar of pickles he thought would work as a telephoto lens. The mayonnaise comparison is so specific it almost sounds like he's been sitting on that one waiting for the right moment.