Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Pro Pack review might sound like a review of specialist astrophotography equipment, but this little tracker is actually one of the pieces of equipment that helped me move from simple photographs of the Moon into more serious night-sky photography.

I have used my Star Adventurer for several years. During that time I’ve made mistakes with it, learnt how to polar align it, discovered why camera balance matters, replaced a tripod that wasn’t strong enough and gradually learnt how to get better results from it.

So this isn’t just a list of specifications.

This is what I have found from actually using the Star Adventurer 2i Pro Pack with my Canon 550D DSLR and lenses ranging from 25mm to 800mm.

Why I Bought the Star Adventurer

I wanted to get into astrophotography in a bigger way.

I had already photographed the Moon several times, sometimes with Mercury or Venus nearby, and I felt that buying a star tracker would be the logical next step.

I researched the Star Adventurer online and found a number of astronomy and astrophotography channels giving it favourable reviews.

What appealed to me was that I didn’t immediately have to make the jump to a large, complicated equatorial GoTo mount.

The Star Adventurer sits somewhere between a fixed photographic tripod and a full astronomical equatorial mount.

That makes it an interesting stepping stone for somebody who already owns a camera and wants to start taking longer exposures of the night sky.

What Is the Star Adventurer?

The Star Adventurer is a portable equatorial tracking mount.

When properly polar aligned, its motor slowly rotates the camera to compensate for Earth’s rotation.

Without tracking, stars gradually move across the camera sensor during a long exposure and eventually appear as trails rather than points.

By following the movement of the sky, the Star Adventurer allows the camera shutter to remain open considerably longer before that trailing becomes apparent.

That gives the camera sensor more time to collect the faint light from stars, nebulae and galaxies.

Under suitable conditions, with careful polar alignment, good balance and an appropriate focal length, exposures can be considerably longer than would be practical from a fixed tripod.

Don’t regard a particular exposure length as guaranteed, however. The longer the focal length of your lens, the more accurately everything needs to be aligned.

What Comes in the Pro Pack?

My version is the Star Adventurer 2i Pro Pack.

The package provides most of the principal hardware needed to start tracking a camera:

• Star Adventurer 2i tracking mount
• Ball-head adaptor
• Built-in illuminated polar scope
• Declination bracket / dovetail mounting assembly
• Equatorial wedge
• Counterweight shaft
• 1kg counterweight

The Star Adventurer Console application can be downloaded for compatible phones and tablets.

You will still need a suitable tripod, camera and lens.

Setting It Up for the First Time

I found the instructions supplied with the Star Adventurer reasonably easy to understand, and physically assembling the equipment was straightforward.

The more difficult part wasn’t putting it together.

It was learning how to set it up accurately.

There are two things a beginner needs to understand early: polar alignment and balance.

Ignore either one and you may wonder why your stars are still trailing despite owning a tracking mount.

Learning Polar Alignment

Polar alignment was difficult for me at first.

The idea is simple: the rotational axis of the tracker has to be aligned with Earth’s rotational axis. For UK observers, that means aligning the mount close to the north celestial pole using Polaris as the reference.

The built-in polar scope contains a reticle that helps you position Polaris correctly.

My problem initially was more basic: I wasn’t always confident I had identified Polaris correctly through the polar scope.

After several attempts it became much easier.

The Star Adventurer software/app can help show where Polaris should be positioned on the polar-scope reticle at a particular date and time.

Like many things in astronomy, polar alignment looks much more complicated when you first read about it than it does after you’ve actually done it several times.

Attaching and Balancing the Camera

This was another lesson I initially learnt the hard way.

Balancing the camera seemed difficult, so at first I decided not to bother.

The result was star trailing.

I went back online and watched astronomy tutorials showing how to balance the camera and counterweight correctly.

Once I understood the procedure, it became much easier.

I have balanced and used the mount with my Canon 550D and several lenses, including:

• 25mm lens
• 70–210mm telephoto lens
• Generic 210–800mm telephoto lens

As the lens becomes larger and heavier, correct balance becomes increasingly important.

And always remember that Sky-Watcher’s stated maximum payload is 5kg (11lb). Payload capacity isn’t a target you have to reach; a lighter, well-balanced setup is often easier for a beginner to learn with.

My First Tracked Photographs

My first tracked astrophotography subject was Orion.

I took around ten exposures of approximately 30 seconds each and later stacked them using free image-stacking software.

That was an important moment because I was no longer simply taking one photograph of the night sky.

I was beginning to use the techniques involved in astrophotography: tracking, repeated exposures and eventually stacking.

We’ll cover stacking properly in a later article.

What I Got Wrong

The short answer is: quite a few things.

And that is worth saying because a beginner shouldn’t expect every first attempt to work perfectly.

Some of my early mistakes included:

• Not recognising Polaris correctly in the polar scope
• Not balancing the camera properly
• Going outside without planning the observing session
• Wasting time and battery power while deciding what to photograph
• Using a tripod that wasn’t substantial enough for the complete setup

That final mistake produced one of my more memorable lessons.

I initially used a sturdy photographic tripod that I had previously used for photographing the Moon.

I soon discovered that what had been perfectly adequate for a camera alone was not necessarily adequate for the additional weight of the Star Adventurer, wedge, counterweight, camera and lens.

One night the tripod broke.

That was the end of that night’s astrophotography.

I subsequently bought a Sky-Watcher tripod specifically to support the Star Adventurer.

What Can You Photograph With It?

The Star Adventurer opens up a wide range of possible subjects.

With suitable lenses and realistic expectations, targets can include:

• Wide star fields
• Constellations
• The Milky Way
• Star clusters
• Large bright nebulae
• The Andromeda Galaxy and other suitable large deep-sky targets
• Night landscapes
• Time-lapse sequences

The particular subjects available depend strongly on the lens being used.

A short lens is much more forgiving of small tracking errors. Long telephoto lenses magnify those errors as well as the astronomical target.

For somebody learning the mount, I would recommend starting relatively wide and gradually increasing the focal length as your polar alignment and balancing improve.

Useful Add-ons and Accessories

One advantage of the Pro Pack is that most of the main Star Adventurer hardware is already supplied.

Many of the extras you eventually buy will therefore be related to the camera rather than the tracker itself.

Filters, lenses, intervalometers and other camera accessories can all become useful as your astrophotography develops.

There are two relatively simple accessories I have found particularly worth considering.

A Smartphone Holder

A mobile-phone holder attached securely to a tripod is useful even when you’re not doing tracked astrophotography.

It can be used for photographing the Moon, planets in the twilight or simply recording the evening sky.

Holding a phone in your hand is convenient, but a secure mount gives you a much steadier platform.

A Power Bank

A suitable USB power bank can also be extremely useful.

The Star Adventurer 2i can run from AA batteries or an external 5V USB power supply.

Using a power bank means you don’t have to rely entirely on disposable batteries during a long session.

I still recommend carrying spare batteries.

Astrophotography has a remarkable ability to discover the one piece of equipment you forgot to charge.

Depending on your camera and suitable power adaptor, a sufficiently capable power bank may also be able to help power other equipment.

What I Like About the Star Adventurer 2i

The first thing I like is its portability.

It is relatively easy to transport, set up and take down.

Once you understand what the different positions on the control dial do, operation is straightforward.

The Star Adventurer Console app also adds useful control functions. The 2i creates its own Wi-Fi connection, allowing a compatible phone or tablet to communicate with the mount.

With a compatible camera connected to the mount’s SNAP shutter-control port, programmed imaging sequences can be controlled without repeatedly touching the camera.

There is also one surprisingly useful part of the package that people may overlook: the original foam packing.

Keep it.

The shaped foam supplied in the original box already fits the equipment. A suitable hard case may accommodate that foam, giving you a ready-made protective storage solution without having to buy and cut replacement foam yourself.

What Don’t I Like?

No piece of equipment is perfect, and there are several things about the Star Adventurer that took me time to understand.

The original style of Star Adventurer does not provide the sort of full Right Ascension and Declination positioning system that you find on a conventional GoTo equatorial mount.

That means finding and framing faint objects can involve more manual work.

Later Star Adventurer models, particularly the GTi, move considerably further towards the features of a conventional astronomical mount by adding full GoTo capability.

I also found the markings and dial associated with the polar-alignment system confusing when I first started.

Once you understand what they are doing, the system makes more sense, but I don’t think every beginner will find it immediately obvious.

There are also limitations to camera control through the Star Adventurer Console system.

For short exposures such as lunar or solar photography, I would normally control the camera directly, use its timer or use an intervalometer rather than expect the tracker to do everything.

Is the Star Adventurer Suitable for a Beginner?

In my view, yes.

It is a very useful piece of equipment for somebody who has begun taking night-sky photographs and wants to move into tracked astrophotography without immediately buying a large equatorial mount.

But there is a difference between being suitable for a beginner and requiring no learning.

You will have to learn:

• How to identify Polaris
• How to polar align accurately
• How to balance the camera and counterweight
• How much weight your tripod can safely support
• How exposure time and focal length affect tracking accuracy

Those aren’t disadvantages.

They are useful skills that will still matter if you later progress to a larger astrophotography mount.

The Star Adventurer 2i and Newer Models

The Star Adventurer family has developed considerably.

My own experience is with the Star Adventurer 2i Pro Pack, and that is the equipment this review is based upon.

Newer models such as the Star Adventurer GTi add features including full GoTo control.

That doesn’t make the 2i suddenly useless.

For somebody whose priority is a relatively simple and portable camera tracker, the 2i remains a very capable piece of equipment.

In fact, learning to find and frame targets manually can teach you a great deal about the night sky.

My Final Verdict

Overall, I have found the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Pro Pack to be a versatile and useful piece of astrophotography equipment.

It is reasonably easy to assemble and take apart, and its basic operation is straightforward once you understand the controls.

The important skills are learning to use the polar scope correctly and learning to balance your camera setup.

Once those two things begin to fall into place, the Star Adventurer becomes much more rewarding to use.

It also gives you room to progress. There is provision for external power and single-axis autoguiding, both of which can become useful as you move further into astrophotography.

I’ve used mine for a number of years now.

Perhaps the most telling part of this review is that, despite newer versions becoming available, I haven’t yet felt a compelling need to replace it.

For somebody beginning tracked astrophotography with a DSLR or mirrorless camera, I would certainly consider the Star Adventurer 2i worthy of a place on the shortlist.

Review note: This review is based on my own experience using the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Pro Pack over several years. Product specifications and packages can change, so check the current seller’s listing before purchasing.