Review on Movo Photo MTP-11: Ultimate Motorized Panoramic Time Lapse Tripod Head for DSLR Cameras, GoPro and Smartphones – Variable Speed, Direction, and Timer with Rechargeable Battery by Paul Hyde

Good workmanship, although a little fine-tuning could be useful. So more precise gearing and bearings would make this an issue, but it should be fine for simple time-lapse work. If you're hoping to use it as a star tracker, you'll need to push its limits. Read on to learn more about the internals of the device. The heart of the device is an inexpensive geared stepper motor (probably made in China) driven by an LV8729 (low noise 1/128 microstepping driver) and a PIC16F1937. control it. The power switch controls the motor/PIC circuits directly, so no stray power is drawn from the battery when the power switch is off. I can't say that about the charging circuitry, but it should be designed for very low power consumption. I mention this because the manual says something about "50 hours of standby" battery life. "wait" can be interpreted as a switched off switch. I think they mean turn on but don't move. The battery itself appears to be a 2-cell lithium battery, although I couldn't find any markings on the packaging for more specific detail. controls the player your camera is connected to. The turntable has an extra pair of ball bearings to support the camera's weight (more on that in a moment), but the motor shaft simply slides into the bottom of the table. The gearbox has an output shaft backlash of 3-5° - that much you can turn the table without turning the motor. It also means that the motor has to compensate for this sag at the start of a run and also if the camera is bumped or otherwise dislodged during the run. Not a big deal for the fastest settings as the slack is filled in a matter of seconds. On the slowest setting, the table can stand still for a good 15 minutes before the engine starts. The table bearings are also slightly loose, which allows the table to wobble slightly from side to side. There is a spacer between the bearings which can be gently ground to pull the bearings against each other to eliminate play. You will need a wrench that reaches inside the body to unscrew the inside of the hub. They used epoxy as thread lock so a good tool is required to remove it. I used this: Andoer DSLR Camera Tool The body is cast aluminum with several machined areas. The camera thread on top is a steel screw (epoxy thread lock again) that breaks at the corners of the hex before the thread lock breaks, but there's no reason to remove it other than pull it out. The tripod hole below is a steel insert with the same thread as above. It looks like the designers put effort into making the whole device quiet and durable. Not only does it have a large rubber pad on top of the device, but another, softer one, just below the table that also doubles as a dust cover for the grommet. Inside the unit, the battery has a gasket all the way around and the motor has its own foam gasket where it bolts on. The low-noise motor driver turns the normal hum of the stepper motor into static white noise, although you have to hold the device to your ear to hear it.