Merlin vs AllView: Npp, speed?

[kosmarnik]

Merlin vs AllView: Npp, speed?

by kosmarnik » Tue Aug 21, 2012 11:23 am

Hi,
After years of using a manual panohead, I'd like to switch to a robotized solution.
The AllView seems perfect, but is 2.5X the price of Merlin in my country.
Before I commit to buying I'd like to know a few more details for users of both.

I'll be using Nikon D90 (and bigger Nikon/Canon bodies) and various lenses, starting with Sigma 10-20mm, Nikkor 18-105mm.
I'll be shooting high-resolution spherical, gpix partial panos and HDRI spherical panos.

I'm interested in how the Merlin compares in:
NPP setting, AFAIK Merlin can acommodate setting the NPP only on smaller bodies, but would like some hard numbers on both
rotation speed (yaw/pitch) (I will be using the max voltage with li-ion batteries)
nadir footprint (I understand that the AllView has a much bigger footprint, but again, hard numbers would come in handy)

The AllView is nice that it comes with proper brackets
Any other suggestions are welcome.

[klausesser]

by klausesser » Tue Aug 21, 2012 12:30 pm

The AllView is nice that it comes with proper brackets
Any other suggestions are welcome.

"AllView"? What´s that? Could you possibly provide an URL?

best, Klaus

Last edited by klausesser on Tue Aug 21, 2012 12:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[kosmarnik]

by kosmarnik » Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:21 pm

The AllView is nice that it comes with proper brackets
Any other suggestions are welcome.

"AllView"? What´s that? Could you possibly provide an URL?

best, Klaus

It has been discussed here on the forum before, but here it is: http://www.celestron.com/astronomy/mounts/celestron-allview-mount.html

Most of my questions should have been answered in the manual, but alas they're not.

Last edited by kosmarnik on Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[kosmarnik]

by kosmarnik » Fri Aug 24, 2012 5:16 pm

Well, I went and ordered one.
Got it today.
I must say that I'm very dissapointed with Sky-Watcher.
Apparently you don't get any kind of bracket nor camera cable in Europe and you still pay $100 more then in the US.
I'm currently trying to see if it's possible to order the AllView bracket in Europe at all.

OTOH, the AllView is really sturdy and seems like a proper piece of equipment.

[claudevh]

by claudevh » Fri Aug 24, 2012 5:28 pm

Where do you order the All View?

I believe that the next L bracket is compatible:
http://www.teleskop-austria.at/shop/index.php?lng=de&m=2&kod=mont-sin-fot-nn&om=Natur-Fotografie

[kosmarnik]

by kosmarnik » Fri Aug 24, 2012 11:38 pm

Where do you order the All View?

I contacted the the distributor for this part of Europe, http://www.tavcso.hu and they pointed me to a their local distributor for my country. Both of them sell the AllView without the mounting brackets.

I believe that the next L bracket is compatible:
http://www.teleskop-austria.at/shop/index.php?lng=de&m=2&kod=mont-sin-fot-nn&om=Natur-Fotografie

It's 12eur cheaper here: http://www.tavcso.hu/index.php?o=termek&te=PLATL&n=en
The platl is just a regular L bracket, whereas the AllView bracekt can mount the camera in landscape and portrait and has adjustment on 3 axis (very important for aliging the camera on the NPP). You can take a look manual http://www.celestron.com/c3/support3/index.php?_m=downloads&_a=downloadfile&downloaditemid=732.
It really seems as a decent pano bracket.

I feel ripped off, as all the info pointed to the bracekt being included (the manual and the official product page). I know I'm going to pay more cause I'm i Europe, but they don't even let buy the damn bracket.

From the manual:

Code: Select all

The mount is conveniently packaged
in one reusable shipping carton that contains all of the following accessories:
• AllView mount
• SynScan hand control
• Mounting bracket (in 4 pieces)
• Steel tripod
• Tripod accessory tray
• Camera shutter cable (for most Canon Rebel cameras)
• RS-232 cable

Last edited by kosmarnik on Sat Aug 25, 2012 10:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

[RobSherratt]

by RobSherratt » Thu Oct 25, 2012 1:31 pm

Thank you for the warning about the European distribution channel. For that reason (even though I live in Greece) I ordered from Hands On Optics in the USA. Everything I expected was delivered in the box, camera mounting rails, shutter release cable etc. I don't know how to advise you about the shortfall in your delivery, but my advice to other potential customers in Europe would be to specify at the time of purchase that the camera mount brackets and shutter release cable MUST be included. I think Celestron must attend to their distribution channel in Europe or they will get a very bad reputation.