The Omegon Minitrack LX2 is the perfect mount for astrophotography on the move.
If you are a beginner, this is a great way to step into astrophotography and learn its principles in the most affordable.
The Minitrack LX2 In A Nutshell
Here a few reasons why you should consider to buy the Minitrack for your photography:
You are a beginner;
You know your way around astrophotography, but you are constantly on the move;
You a looking for a second astrophotography setup to get the most from your time under the stars;
You are interested in star fields and starry landscapes;
You are looking for an affordable mount;
You want something easy to use;
You want something easy and fast to set up;
You want something for your standard photographic gear.
On the other hand, there are some limitations to consider:
Portability is not an issue for you;
You are not interested in starry landscapes or extremely wide star fields;
You use heavy equipment;
You use equipment with long focal length;
Accessories And Versions
There are different versions of the Minitrack.
Minitrack LX2 And LX2 N/S
This version allows modifying the timer position so that you can track the sky in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. The standard LX2 is only for the Northern Hemisphere.
Minitrack LX3 And LX3 N/S
These are the new versions of the Omegon mechanical mount. The biggest difference is that the maximum payload is now 3kg instead of the 2kg of the previous version. The unit has a white body and some minor improvements.
The mount is a bit more pricey because instead of a simple tube as polar scope, you get a bracket mount for green laser and classic polar scopes. A more sofisticate polar scope is included in this edition.
The bracket mount is available as an accessory for the Minitrack LX2 users.
A transport bag is available, to protect your mount while transporting it. All the Minitrack versions are also available in a bundle with a ball head.
All Minitrack needs to sit on a photographic head in order to be able to get aligned to Polaris (or the Souther celestial pole). The equatorial wedge sold by Skywatcher for their Star Adventurer is a great way to improve your polar alignment.
Image Quality
Here are a couple of images I did with the Minitrack LX2 and my Olympus OM-D EM-5 Mk ii camera. Micro Four Thirds cameras are great for the Minitrack, as both the body and the lenses are lightweight and compact.
A More In-depth Video Review
Before you go, have a look at this video I made, to present this mount more in detail.