Search  for anything...
Sky Watcher

Sky Watcher Star Adventurer Mini – Motorized DSLR Night Sky Tracking Mount For Nightscapes, Time-lapse, and Panoramas

  • Based on 104 reviews
Condition: New
Checking for product changes
$236.47 Why this price?
Memorial Day Sale · 29% off was $335.00

Buy Now, Pay Later

As low as $39.41 / mo
  • – 6-month term
  • – No impact on credit
  • – Instant approval decision
  • – Secure and straightforward checkout

Ready to go? Add this product to your cart and select a plan during checkout.

Payment plans are offered through our trusted finance partners Klarna, PayTomorrow, Affirm, Afterpay, Apple Pay, and PayPal. No-credit-needed leasing options through Acima may also be available at checkout.

Learn more about financing & leasing here.

Selected Option

Free shipping on this product

This item is eligible for return within 30 days of receipt

To qualify for a full refund, items must be returned in their original, unused condition. If an item is returned in a used, damaged, or materially different state, you may be granted a partial refund.

To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.

View our full returns policy here.

Availability: 18 left in stock
Fulfilled by Amazon
Arrives Tuesday, May 27
Order within 52 minutes
Available payment plans shown during checkout

Recently Viewed

Style: Star Adventurer Mini


Features

  • PORTABLE NIGHTSCAPE TRACKING PLATFORM: Motorized portable nightscape tracking platform perfect for capturing incredible detail of the Milky Way, eclipses and other astronomical objects.
  • WIFI ENABLED SMARTPHONE CONTROL: Wife enabled allowing for smartphone control using Sky-Watcher Minis free SynScan app, compatible with Android and iOD devices.
  • ATTACH ANY BALL HEAD: Easily mount any ball-head using the included ball-head adapter.
  • WIDE-FIELD ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY: The unique, modular design allows for integration with existing photographic tripods. Wide-field astrophotography as well as time lapse video are all possible with the Star Adventurer Mini (Sam).
  • INCLUDED POLAR SCOPE: Included polar scope with illuminator allows for easy and accurate alignment with Polaris.
  • RUGGED BRASS AND ALUMINUM GEARS: Rugged brass and aluminum gears provide smooth, motorized, night sky tracking for easy, portable nightscape and eclipse photography.
  • BUILT-IN AA BATTERY COMPARTMENT: Built-in AA battery compartment provides reliable mobile power for up to 24 hours and an additional 5v mini-USB input allows for external power source using a cell phone charger or other device.
  • LIGHTWEIGHT AND SUPER PORTABLE: Weighing just 1. 5 lbs., the star Adventurer Mini is lightweight and portable enough to pack in a camera bag or backpack for astrophotography on the go.
  • SUPPORTS MOST DSLR AND MIRRORLESS CAMERAS: 6. 6 pound payload capacity.

Description

Whether you’re looking for a tracking platform to capture wide-field images of the Milky way, or seeking a compact travel mount, SAM is a necessity for astrophotography's of every skill level. This high precision, portable celestial tracking platform can transform almost any tripod into an equatorial mount, assisting photographers with long exposures of the night sky. Sam breaks from the mold of traditional equatorial mounts with an abundance of add-on accessories to complement wide-field astrophotography, nightscape images, eclipses, panoramas or time-lapse photography. With the free SAM console app (for iOS Android) you can customize your tracking speeds, photographers can choose between sidereal, solar and lunar, or other custom presets, useful for time-lapse videos. Even for users with no Polar alignment experience, the Star Adventurer Mini is easy to setup using the included illuminated Polar finder scope. Once aligned, users can attach their camera and activate sidereal tracking to start photographing the Milky way.

Brand: Sky Watcher


Model Name: Star Adventurer mini


Telescope Mount Description: Equatorial Mount


Focus Type: Manual Focus


Power Source: Solar Powered, Battery Powered


Finderscope: Reflex


Item Weight: 1.5 Pounds


Compatible Devices: Cameras, Smartphone


Product Dimensions: 6 x 6 x 5 inches


Item Weight: 1.5 pounds


Item model number: S20580


Is Discontinued By Manufacturer: No


Date First Available: July 13, 2017


Manufacturer: Sky-Watcher


Country of Origin: China


Frequently asked questions

If you place your order now, the estimated arrival date for this product is: Tuesday, May 27

Yes, absolutely! You may return this product for a full refund within 30 days of receiving it.

To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.

View our full returns policy here.

  • Klarna Financing
  • Affirm Pay in 4
  • Affirm Financing
  • Afterpay Financing
  • PayTomorrow Financing
  • Financing through Apple Pay
Leasing options through Acima may also be available during checkout.

Learn more about financing & leasing here.

Similar Products

Top Amazon Reviews

    • Seriously High Quality Product
Style: Star Adventurer Mini
To be fair, I haven't tested every aspect of this product, but here's what I know: I bought this after researching on Amazon for a few weeks. I was looking for a device that I could use to make panning, time-lapse videos. I wanted to use my GoPro, but I also wanted to use my Nikon D500 with an 18-200mm lens mounted. Many of the cheaper panning devices were reporting that they either couldn't handle the weight of the Nikon or they had issues with being smooth when they panned. Truthfully, they all looked like they were the same unit, but rebranded by various companies. I couldn't see how one would be different from the other when they all looked exactly the same. I already own a Sky Watcher Adventurer from this company so I'm already fully accessorized with a wedge and so on, and am familiar with setting up the mount for astrophotography. But that's not what I've done with this mount. I've used this one to make panning time-lapse images. The mount uses a phone app for control. What it does is broadcast a WiFi signal that you link up to with your phone or tablet and the app allows you to control the mount. You can start, stop, set a particular profile to run, and configure just about anything you could imagine. When you're panning, you can set the mount to pan left or right and set the rate of pan by several different criteria. I'm not sure how fast the mount will pan, but it wasn't fast enough to do, say, a non-time-lapse smooth pan on a video. I usually do a 15-minute shoot at one frame per second or a 30-minute shoot at one shot per 2 seconds. The only issue with this mount, and it's not a big one is that the manual is pretty lacking, leaving you to just figure it out. And the phone app is kind of complicated, primarily because it does a bunch of stuff. For that reason, it's a good idea to spend some time getting familiar with its use before you head out into the field and end up missing your shot. I use it when I'm traveling and don't want to take the larger and heavier Star Adventurer in my bag. I power it with a USB phone charger (which I always carry anyway) so I don't have to mess with batteries. The polar aligner seems to be of really high quality and I can't wait to get to a spot where I can try some wide field astrophotography. For Time-lapse panning videos, this thing is ready to go. For astrophotography, I would recommend buying a wedge which makes polar alignment a lot easier. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2019 by Bonnie Fink
    • It works well once you understand how to use it.
Style: Star Adventurer Mini Pro Pack
Review Image by Eric Eric
Review Image by Eric Eric
At first, when I attempted to use this Tracker I was disappointed because I kept having issues with connecting via WIFI or the app being unresponsive. The app via the Google play store did not work & I had to download an app from their website. This all was frustrating. After some reading online, I found that the manufacturer offers a firmware upgrade on their website. After performing the update the Tracker performs much better. Once aligned, with a proper tripod, star trails disappear. I believe after the firmware upgrade this Tracker is well worth the money. Make sure you have a sturdy Tripod. The first picture is an f/2 10-minute exposure from my house in the city. The second picture is 10 stacked f/2 1.5min exposures in a dark location. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2021 by Eric Eric
    • Works great@
Style: Star Adventurer Mini
When polar aligned, it tracks amazingly. 1 to 2 minute exposure is right on!
Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2023 by Donald D Riffner
    • Really wanted to like this product
Style: Star Adventurer Mini Pro Pack
Review Image by Caitlin Brown Caitlin Brown
Review Image by Caitlin Brown Caitlin Brown
The review i didn't want to make. I really wanted to like this product, it is a great little mount with just enough features to make it a fun mount to use with decent results with a small astrophotography setup. Downside is that this mount stopped working after just 3 uses, i really do not like writing negative reviews as i always try to look at the positives. I am giving this mount 3 stars as it was very functional when it did work, but now i am going to be without a mount for some time. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2020 by Caitlin Brown Caitlin Brown
    • Great Tracker but not so much!
Style: Star Adventurer Mini Pro Pack
The app works totally fine. I use iPhone . I had no issue for connecting and running the tracker. It was my first time using a tracker and it was kinda hard to do polar alignment so I did roughly. Because it was dark and cold in IL and didn't want to waste more time. I was able get 8 mins with 14 mm, 2 mins with 85mm lens. I think that's very good for my first try with really bad polar alignment. I studied a bit and I hope it'll be easy to find the Polaris next time lol However, I got this tracker for light weight compared to the bigger model. When you pack everything like eq base , Declination bracket, polar scope will be really heavy. It'll be just 600gr less than the bigger model in the field. My thought is either go with the star adventurer pro model or just sam mini and use with ball head for light weight. But this is a great gadget I really enjoyed it and not that difficult to use this thing. Have fun and Clear Sky! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2021 by Hs
    • Doesn't work!
Style: Star Adventurer Mini Pro Pack
Unfortunately for me this product is past it's return period. I purchased it in Aug for a trip I was supposed to take. The trip got canceled so it stayed untouched in the box until this week. When I was able to make up for the trip. I took it out, got it all hooked up, aligned, fresh high quality batteries. my lens / telescope mounted (made sure it was under the weight limit) ... and ... nothing. I finally got the power to come on, but it would not connect to my phone or iPad and if it doesn't connect, it's useless. The light would randomly go on or off. I tried an android device. At least it would connect to the WiFi but the app didn't work. I tried literally everything I could think of to get this to work, and the app was just garbage as well. So I was left just screwing around in the dark, with nothing to show for it. No way to get support now that I'm back and can't get a refund for an unused faulty product. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2021 by RDJ

Can't find a product?

Find it on Amazon first, then paste the link below.