I tried out the Vista Starstepper...

I kind of just rigged it up on our outside table by lightly clamping it in place as my hubby has not, and probably will not, have time to build me a mount for it. I played with it for about 30 minutes until I could have 30 second shots without it drifting. I am quite excited about using it now, as I took 4 30 second shots of Orion as it rose above our house tonight and stacked them in DSS. I *think* I can see beginnings of the HH and Flame. However, I have come across something that is very frustrating.... My lens does not hold its focus, and tends to come unfocused while in the process of an exposure. This means that I am losing almost 90% of my shots due to vibrations and out of focus shots. What can I do about this? I believe I would have had close to 30-40 shots I could have stacked had this not been an issue. I've had numerous problems in the past, but I finally nailed down what was causing the issue. Anyway, I'm VERY proud of this shot, as it is the first time I have aligned my own mount (albeit haphazardly) and tracked for longer images. 4-5 minutes, here I come..... as soon as I get a remote LOL.

Very pretty shots Elizabeth. Great to see you making progress. It won't be long 'til you get those longer exposures, you're off to an awesome start.

Great shots. Love the way M42 is making it's presence felt in the sword, and the redness of Betelgeuse showing through.

Thanks so much for the encouragement, guys. I can't wait to eventually get something that looks half as good as some ofthe shots I see here. So you think if I were to stack more exposures, I may be able to get more detail of some of the other nebula? Even at 30 seconds? I was shooting at f/5.6, 3200 ISO, and 52 mm. I still wish I could figure out how to stop the focus from slipping. The only thing I can think of would be to slip it back to auto focus once I get it focused. But I'm not even that sure it would work.

Very nicely done!
2 things:
I've heard of people using a small piece of tape to keep the focus set although I haven't tried it myself.
For an inexpensive but GREAT remote take a look at this https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=618371
I bought one and it's very easy to use and works very well.

drevilsmom wrote in post #6984413
The only thing I can think of would be to slip it back to auto focus once I get it focused. But I'm not even that sure it would work.

I don't know if this'll help, but I've used a rubber band around a push-pull zoom to keep the zoom from creeping, dunno if it would help with focus. If you put it back into AF, it's just going to try to focus, and (most likely) fail, and you won't be able to take shots.

An alternative to a remote is a laptop and USB cable, and the EOS Utility - not necessarily the best alternative, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

David

I asked in the lens section, and it happened to be that my IS was on. I tried it out last night, and was able to get 7 shots in before the clouds rolled in. Never slipped one time. If only I'd had it decently aligned....

Nice shots there, can you really see the Horse Head starting to appear? Wow.

Good advice on the lens slippage, it happens really badly on my 50mm f/1.8. I'll try an elastic band next time!

Ehhhhh.. heck with it. This is the exposure that I got last night. 7 stacks at 30 seconds each. I noticed that the stars are just slightly oval. But I was watching the clouds roll in, and I think the last two shots I took had clouds slightly obscuring the stars, lending the glow. After I keep looking at it, I actually kind of like it better than the first. Really makes me want to get out even more!!! I'm gonna get the Barnard's Loop yet!

WOW Elizabeth ! Great shots ! Keep them coming !