I spent about 10 hours this weekend turning the 1k photos that my D500 took of the eclipse mounted on the iOptron into a video.

Part of the 10 hours was caused by this being the first time I’ve ever used Motion.  But the other big issue was that the video was really jumpy.  A tracking mount that isn’t tracking well will simply cause the image to stray out of the frame.  That’s not what was happening – the tracking was spot on.  Very well done for the over 2 hours that I left it alone.  I’m not sure what caused the imprecision between frames.  One thing to realize is that the effective focal length of the setup was 1500mm.  That’s a lot of magnification – the total amount of variance was just a fraction of a degree.  It could have been wind, even though it wasn’t really windy.  It could have been shutter vibration – although I set a two second shutter delay after mirror up.  Really don’t know what caused it.  And remember also, I was way up close to the 11 lb. max load for the drive.  And I was using cardboard shims to position the camera because my little monopod head couldn’t handle the weight.

To get the smooth video I linked above, in Motion I first had to do a stabilize on the images, which helped.  Then I put a sticky note on my screen fixed on one of the sunspots and did keyframes when I needed to adjust the image back to the correct location.  That gave me video that I would call jittery, versus jumpy.  It still wasn’t good enough, so then I exported the video at 4K and imported it into FCPX, which was able to finish the needed stabilization, add the audio, and export as an HD video.

So, to answer your question, I’d say the answer is, “It depends.”  🙂

If you’re using extreme focal lengths, it’s definitely not rock steady like the one from your video.  But for shorter focal lengths, it is great.

BTW, if it was, in fact, shutter vibration that made my images move around slightly, the new Nikon D850 offers a “silent shooting” option which can be used with the intervalometer and uses an electronic shutter.  The mirror and shutter stay open the entire time = zero vibration!  That’ll be great for any astro work.  Mine may be here this week!!!