Move Shoot Move Rotator Star Tracker review

The Move Shoot Move Rotator star tracker for astrophotography is portable and easy to align

(Image: © Jamie Carter/Digital Camera World)

Digital Camera World Verdict

Lightweight and portable, easy to use and with accurate star-tracking, this little rotator is ideal for those wanting more from their wide-angle Milky Way and star-field photography, though battery life is relatively short.

Pros

  • +

    Easy laser-guided polar alignment

  • +

    Accurate for 60 seconds+ long exposures

  • +

    Lightweight but sturdy build

  • +

    Also does motion timelapses

Cons

  • -

    Some fiddly screws (to lose)

  • -

    Wide-angle lenses work best

  • -

    Tricky to set-up in daylight

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Can you find Polaris, the North Star? If you can, a whole world of nightscape photography is open to you. Either way, a rotating star tracker like the updated Move Shoot Move (MSM) is a fine upgrade for night photographers (and time-lapsers). 

The Earth rotates so stars are not stationary relative to us. In fact, our planet rotates once every 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds. That means that stars blur after a long exposure – with exposures of 25-30 seconds or more when using a wide-angle lens. However, Earth’s rotational axis goes almost through Polaris, so if you can align a moving platform with it, you can then expose for much longer because your camera is now moving in sync with the Earth’s rotation. 

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Jamie Carter
Astrophotography expert

Jamie has been writing about all aspects of technology for over 14 years, producing content for sites like TechRadar, T3, Forbes, Mashable, MSN, South China Morning Post, and BBC Wildlife, BBC Focus and BBC Sky At Night magazines. 

As the editor for www.WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com, he has a wealth of enthusiasm and expertise for all things astrophotography, from capturing the Perseid Meteor Shower, lunar eclipses and ring of fire eclipses, photographing the moon and blood moon and more.

He also brings a great deal of knowledge on action cameras, 360 cameras, AI cameras, camera backpacks, telescopes, gimbals, tripods and all manner of photography equipment.