Link to Telescope: store.seestar.com/DAMON I'm really enjoying this little telescope and I've already shot another video in which I'm using it to capture something pretty special! (Stay tuned🌟) Let me know how you get on with this telescope if you do decide to purchase it! I have a strong feeling that smart telescopes like this are going to make astronomy a lot more accessible for 1000's more people, which is veryyy exciting!🤩 Clear skies - Damon
I am curious what you think its negatives may be in comparison to say a more expensive telescope setup. Obvious pieces aside such as the actual attachment to the experience or seeing our hard work finally take shape. Another possibly being that the resolution or contrast may be better with the more expensive setup. Do you have anything you would point out that this can't do in comparison to say a $1500+ setup? Kind of curious where the next price bracket would be, in your opinion, before getting much better results with an over all setup.
Did Seestar provide you with this telescope for review? If so .. then I think you should state that upfront. I'm not implying that the review is biased, and many channels make unbiased and fair reviews of products they were given. But, not letting the viewer know is sketchy.
Brilliant presentation Damon. I've watched scores of these S50 reviews. Yours is one of the very best. My S50 just arrived yesterday. Waiting for the clouds to clear. Can't wait to start photographing and experimenting. I subscribed to your channel. I was in my late 40s when I began my adventures in astronomy and then astrophotography. I am now 73 and this new technology involving smart telescopes is giving me hope that I can continue this hobby for many more years. I'm selling my heavy CEM40 in order to afford the much lighter AM5 to use with my other scopes. This Seestar S50 is going to make it so much easier to share the night sky with my children and grandchildren. Again brilliant presentation. Love your style.
You,astrobiscuit,astro backyard,nebula photos,astrokobi etc are the one who really make everyone watching engaged in astronomy,physics and Astrophotography.I actually started this hobby because of all of the names above.Good job man keep it up and never give up.
That can compare to the same feeling when SLR film cameras were replaced by digital , and that unbelievable moment of seeing an image on a screen taken just seconds ago instead of waiting a few days to get it back from the developers . The rewards of a great photo back then are unmatched.
I cannot wait for Santa to bring my S50. I bought the Dwarf 2 telescope using your promo code back in September and I've been out capturing images every clear night since. I've had 47 imaging sessions so far since getting the Dwarf. I've been struggling with astrophotography for a decade. I've spent many nights spending hours getting alignment and positioning perfect and then as soon as I start imaging, weather rolls in. I dont want to struggle with trying to take pictures. I want to start doing projects like my own sky survey. Document entire orbits. Animate long term change over time. These little smart telescopes are absolutely amazing. I'm hooked and decided to start a little youtube channel to document the journey. So far I've been coding some utilities to help manage some of the Dwarf 2 quirks. Thanks for everything Damon!
Seestar S50 is very clearly the best telescope that Generation X, Y, and Z can buy right now. They're used to using their cell phones. They want small, simple, integrated systems. ZWO really hit it out of the park with this little scope. And the people who catch the astronomy bug can ramp up to larger, more powerful scopes.
This is really impressive. I do understand the claim that using smart telescopes is not “real” astrophotography, but ever since I’ve been out of college I haven’t had time to deal with all that equipment. This looks like a really convenient way to get back into it (and image a lot more things than I ever could back then!). I’ll try to pick one up soon, thanks for showing this!
I think the thing that sets real astrophotography from most smart telescopes is the processing not data acquisition. Astrophotography as an art comes mostly from the skills of the person processing the image not the gear, but with a smart telescope, it's all automatic and takes that part of it out entirely. Of course, this can be remedied by saving all the data and reprocessing yourself
I believe that using an Smart telescope, from your places, is far better, and real astrophotography, than buying data sets ready to use from remote telescopes located in top places with bortle 1 sky. This particular model allows you to process the images at your will with the software you do prefer.
I do full astrophotography with my own rig built from components and manual processing. Saying that using a SeeStar isn’t “real astrophotography” is like saying using a digital camera isn’t real photography unless you shoot on film AND develop it yourself because the real art in photography is in the film development. I disagree with that sentiment and agree it’s just mud-slinging from the old practitioners that are upset to see their black-art getting democratized.
the thing that sets apart is the smart scopes are not really for gathering 48 hrs of data or even more Ill say these are 95% EAA and around 50% AP thats just my guess though.
I really love my SeeStar S50! I have a couple of very high end astrophotography setups, but this unit is so extremely portable it can be taken everywhere you go! I pre-ordered in April and paid only $399
Only 399 dollars 😅 i am from India and i also interested in astronomy so i made a homemade telescope 50mm lens 399 dollar is very expensive in India you are lucky to buy such things i can only see the videos and become happy
This is a brilliant and very enjoyable and very substantive presentation and review. Nice going. I absolutely love my Seestar S50. I'm going to be selling back thousands of dollars worth of equipment that I have amassed over the last 25 years. The Seestar does everything all of my old equipment does as good or better. And it only takes minutes to set up instead of an hour or more. You don't even need to get sucked into all of the post-processing made possible by Siril and Pixinsight. Simple editing in the phone photo app and Gimp or Photoshop is all you need to do. I'm 74 years old. And I'm lucky to have lived long enough to see this. Because it means I'll be able to continue for many more years doing astrophotography with the Seestar S50 and my Move Shoot Move and camera combination setup. I'll hang on to my ZWO AM5 and my ZWO planetary camera for the planets. Clear skies everybody. Do yourself a favor and get the Seestar S50.
Two questions: 1) What format are the output images? Is there any kind of RAW output? 2) Could you do any testing to make sure there’s no AI trickery going on in improving the images, as in the Samsung-Moon story a little while back?
The SeeStar s50 telescope captures images in jpeg and TIFF formats and record videos in MP4 or AVI formats. It saves raw ina fit format, if I remember correctly. Another channel -Cuiv the lazy geek- looked into your 2nd question and found that it is not using trickery.
Yes it is worth collecting the individual fit files. Seestar does a great job of stacking that I find hard to beat but twice it has stacked a poor shot so being able to stack yourself and remove the rogue shot is very useful. I use Siril for processing it's free but there is a learning curve and I have a way to go!
You have done the most excellent job of presenting both The Dwarf 2 (in your previous video) and now The Seestar S50. If I were to make a video explaining these smart telescopes to the public, I wouldn't change a word! Absolutely perfectly said! To be honest, I'm supposed to do a little video on each scope myself - but I don't see how the explanation could be any better. You've really set the bar high mate! I feel compelled to share both your Dwarf 2 video, and this one, on my blog, via social media; and to my friends...
When I saw the final images you produced.. I kept shouting WOWOWOW! I am blown away. I ordered my Seestar back in June, and it's supposed to be delivered either this month [Nov] or Dec. I CANNOT WAIT! I used to own a very nice 10" DOB, with explore Scientific's best EP's and more. I always wanted to do astro-photos. Considering I'm on a small income, and cannot afford a huge and expensive setup, the Seestar is perfect! I also read from ZWO that they are working on adding a Mozaic mode. Thank you for IMHO is the best review and examples of any video highlighting the Seestar I've seen so far!!!
❤ That's it. Period. I gave up with my new Astrophotography setup; only my desired William Optics Zenithstar 61 would cost £580. + mount, + guide scope + guide cam... Even if I own a DSLR / M4/3 cam, how much will be the end? Around £1500-2000? No way! Seestar S50 for 500 bucks. Period 🎉 For those professional Astrophotographers, who are worried about "lack of learning curve" - Dude, post processing (Siril, PixInsight, etc.) is still a learning journey! Like YOU did, right? 😂 Period.
I have really enjoyed your channel. I ordered my SeeStar S50 from High Point Scientific about 3 weeks ago. It arrived today. I didn’t expect it until the end of December. I’ve watched this video 10 times since ordering my scope.
Remarkable gadget. I just wonder if the thrill would diminish quickly. After many telescopes I eventually got into imaging but got a little fed up with all the setting up. The S50 seems to solve many of the problems I faced. Might get one after the rush for Christmas!
I feel like it would for me. I just don't get the point. Literally anyone with this scope can take these photos so you're not doing anything that takes skill and at the end of the day your photos won't match up to the pros so... Why? It's not like picking up a DSLR and taking photos because those at least can be unique to you.
I know very little about telescopes and so i had no idea telescopes like this existed, im completely blown away by this and the images it can capture. Amazing🤯
YESS !!! Finally someone with a genius idea for beginners !!! Thank you sir !!! Since three months i searched for a super telescope to see stars, planets nebula etc... the only ones that fit with what i need was 2000-5000$ telescope :( This one change the game...thank you
Astrophotography is art as well as science. As an artist, if I had a robotic painter holding the brush, and all I did was say "Paint a cloud", yes the cloud was painted, with real oil paint, but was it still me learning to paint? Putting more and more automation between the Astronomer and his/her target, removes the creative options and learning curve. BUT!!! I'm so excited to get this! Because my young, very smart, grandchildren will mentally soak up astrophysics like a sponge to water. This is an amazing learning tool for both physics and mechanical automation! I wish every young person had access to this. As they grow, let them decide how to pursue science. Wonderful video, thank you and cheers all.
Insane, right? ❤ Love it. That's it. Period. I gave up with my new Astrophotography setup; only my desired William Optics Zenithstar 61 would cost £580. + mount, + guide scope + guide cam... Even if I own a DSLR / M4/3 cam, how much will be the end? Around £1500-2000? No way! Seestar S50 for 500 bucks. Period 🎉 For those professional Astrophotographers, who are worried about "lack of learning curve" - Dude, post processing (Siril, PixInsight, etc.) is still a learning journey! Like YOU did, right? 😂 Period.
I don't know why some people disagree on smart telescopes, despite that they make astrophotography more accessible. And to be honest astrophotography process is more like taking photos, and usually you are seeing the celestial object through camera screen no matter you're using a traditional setup or smart telescope. This is different from "looking up at the night sky through telescope", as this is more like visual observing. These 2 are different experiences that can be enjoyed simultaneously. For example, you can have a seestar set outside for astrophotography, while at the same time, you set up a telescope which you can look at the night sky through it using eyepieces. However, I would say the major disadvantage of Seestar is the narrow field of view which makes it not quite suitable for large, wide field targets aka some nebulae and star clusters. Very suitable for galaxy season though.
The problem with buying one is that they have literally NO information about expected production and delivery times. You essentially have to buy one and hope that you get it sometime by next summer... maybe... but who knows? Will I wait a year? And there is literally no one to ask about this. I would buy one today if I had reliable information about this. edit: I just checked their product page, and they updated some information yesterday. Apparently, it looks like they have a 3-4 month backlog, so at least that's something.
Yeah, I bought mine last week and had no idea how long it was going to be before they shipped. I thought it would be january. But now it appears it is going to be at least 5 months and probably.
Love this!! Thank you for this awesome review!! It’s on my wish list now…also, I’m still noticing a ring-less hand-any chance you foresee yourself in America any time soon? 😏😉😅 haha
Mine arrived last week, just in time for the southern hemisphere holiday season. With our clear night skies and much less light pollution in rural areas, I am looking forward playing around with this. Greetings from South Africa
I pre-ordered the SeeStar S50 on the pre-launch special for $399. And while I did Love that sale price, I paid my dues... Ordered in July and it arrived in November. I have an 8 inch SC and have been observing for quite a while. But this little S50 has blown me away. My first week I had solar, moon and Orion Nebula pictures that were astounding. Aside from it's very well designed GoTo system and communications suite. It weighs 6lbs and this is great. My only downside has been the very short Tripod and very finicky leveling setup since the leveling bubble is covered once the scope is on the tripod, then trying to get the legs shorter or longer to reach level. The one thing I would recommend to anyone who finds this frustrating is to get a micro leveler that attaches in between the tripod and scope. But that is the only thing that I had any problems with...on a 400 dollar scope that does such great things and gives such good results. I give it a 9.5 out of 10.
Age 64, since age 10 loved astronomy but difficult here in cloudy cold Manchester UK, and that photo of the Orion nebula is the most incredible thing I ever did see, more impressive than when at the time I saw Damien Peaches images of the planets! Unbelievable.
Thanks for the heads-up on this. Not what I was expecting in terms of looks for a telescope, where you normally expect a tube shaped object. Good that it seems so small, light and portable.
With the very unpredictable Welsh weather. Seestar S50 is the next best thing. Easy set up, come and go. I received mine today ! but it came with clouds and rain, now its a bit of a wait!
Can't wait to get mine, It's been 2 1/2 months now without a shipping notification. I bought a Dwarf II in the meantime but I think the Seestar S50 will be better.
Just ordered the seestar after your informative video and subscribed, as a beginner into astronomy and astrophtography it will be ideal forme,i am also looking to buy SkyWatcher Explorer 150P EQ3 PRO in the near future so i can use my Canon dslr cameras and learn more,seeming i have retired and have lots of free time for astronomy.
I love taking out my 10 inch telescope, using my hands to follow a target as I watch. Still, that seestar is a very amazing product I can see opening up the field of astronomy for many more people
Very nice instrument. Mine is on the way and will be here Monday. I’ll have this guy taking photos of my favorites while I use my 12” LX200 and the old mark 1 eyeball!
This thing is really cool, the only downside for me personally is the low resolution sensor of 2.1 MP. If they manage to put in a higher resolution sensor for a similar price point in the future I might be tempted to buy one.
I can't believe that little scope took that photo of M42. Incredible! I thought you were just showing another Hubble image, until I played back the video and saw that it was taken by the S50.
This is mindboggling. Until a few years back I had an 8inch Newtonian on a motorised mount. Nothing very special but I loved using it and had some great nights out with it. Except I didn't have enough nights out with it because it took time to set it up. It took time to do a lot of things before actually getting to use it. It was bulky. I won't claim you needed two people to set it up, but it honestly felt safer to do so that way. Even storage was a bit of a pain. I'd love to use it again but I just don't get the time. This thing honestly changes things and I'd be really interested in seeing where they might go with this technology. I love deep sky object but also feel a 'need' to check in on the neighbours. Add that to this or something like it, and I'd be sold. I mean, at this weight, or even an extra kg if they made something a tiny bit larger, you can take it hiking and camping, which I'd love to do.
Exact same problem. I have an 8-inch Newtonian and as a pain to set up when I just want to capture some photos. Just don't have the time just pull it out set it up get everything in line take photos for, put it away and go to bed. I ordered my s50 waiting for it to come in and I'm super excited because I miss taking photos just don't have the time to get ready. This will help with that.
Great video! Just got mine a few days ago. I’ve been doing astrophotography for about four years now and will be using this as a portable travel rig and hopefully some outreach.
Thats a great review of an amazing telescope! Yes, it’s very impressive and great fun but I’m curious as to what apps, software, or how the final images were processed with. I’ve owned mine for about 5 weeks now, but as you say we don’t really get those long, stable atmosphere clear nights very often here in the UK. Can’t wait to see more of this little scope as time allows.
Most of the complaining is from guys with 4K rigs not getting images as good as the Seestar. I do planetary imaging with my 8" Edge. I ordered a Seestar to get my toes wet with astrophotography to see if I like it. I'll also use it for outreach at club events.
I want to install a filter to block a particular color of light, or take the shot on a cloudy night. Then I can be sure if it's really amazing or just AI generating pictures
Damon, great video and thank you! I’m now a subscriber. My question! Di you do much post processing with this scope? If so how? It’s only that these seem to be the best images I have seen so far. Appreciate your work. Daren
Great and honest review. Very informative. You kept me engaged the whole way. So, what's the next step up from the 500$ range of. smart-scopes? what does 750$ get you - something 50% better, or only 10% better if any improvement?
@ 14:00 min. The sky atlas is easily the best feature. The fact that you can see your framing projected on the night sky is insanely convenient. I bought a Unistellar equinox and I have to say it pretty good, but seeing what this one can do blows it out of the water. In particular I was annoyed with the data downloading process, I am curious to see how it works with this one. With the equinox you have to upload the data to Unistellar then request a link and it takes ages in my experience.
I just got an email that mine will arrive on Saturday. I’m very excited. My first telescope is a “hobby killer” so it’s been frustrating so far. I’m looking forward to this.
Same problem here. Have a "hobby killer" but still enjoying the hobby, just not using the telescope that much tbh. My SeeStar is going to arrive in February
Great video Damon, thank you. I agree with everything you’ve demonstrated, but you can get some surface features of planets. With Jupiter, for example, go into Planetary mode and turn the exposure way down until it shows the cloud bands.
Is it really capturing that image or is it using AI to assist? I had heard something about smart phone companies using AI to improve/modify images so what you see is not actually what it captured. I don't know how all that works but I am wondering if that level of quality is physically achievable with the lens onboard (my dumbed down nontechnical talk about cameras and lenses).
Seems too good to be true. I think you are right. Maybe a more critical review might reveal it isn't possible to do what it appears to do. I wonder how well someone like Damon could shoot one of those objects on the same night with his own gear and expertise. Surely his skill would produce better but this device seems to make Hubble like pictures given time, surely impossible.
@@nickwilliams1953 I suppose the real test would be 1) can I aim the camera at any point in the sky, or is it a preselect list (that may/may not have an image repository to pull from) 2) will the camera pick up unique one time events in the sky, like maybe there is a comet in the area I did a quick search and others are asking the same question.
@@nickwilliams1953people have tested it rigorously, not just yt-ers but normal people, people have gotten branches, clouds, wind, drones, planes, all sorts of stuff because it is taking images. Y'all really have no idea what you're talking about, this thing is basically a goto mount that you dont need a pc to use. Astrophotography is all about exposure and exposure time, and this thing is entirely focused on it. The glass is bad but it is enough to do deepspace, the sensor is mid but it has enough mpx to get enough photons and to stack. And thats all you need, there is no fancy trickery here, it's just tracking and taking a bunch of pics. Plus, it saves the raw so you can just check and process/stack it yourself if you want
Guys, from where I am, Sarasota Florida I can see Jupiter and its moons with no aid. It seems it is titillating and I can see red and green lights like if it was a huge plane. What telescope do you recommend to photograph it?
The irony of the Seestar S50 is that while other setups might be over all better..they are also a lot more complicated to set up and use. Its like ordering a $50 steak that tastes great, and feeling like you got the McDonalds dollar menu experience and atmosphere at the restaurant. Whereas the Seestar might be a $20 steak, but its so easy to setup and use, it feels like you are eating at Spago.
I have been looking for a telescope like this for a long time. Because a very long time ago I knew a guy who had a 20" double refractor, in its own building, in a very dark place in New Zealand. He invited me to watch Shoemaker-Levy hit Jupiter, and with the eyepiece at maximum magnification, we could only see about 10% of the planet - in stunning detail. But the amount of work required to set it up, and the time it took, and the limited technology associated with it was disappointing. Anyway - you sold me! Asked my wonderful wife to order one as a late Christmas present. Normally I ask for Icebreaker Merino socks, so this is a bit of an upgrade. I hope it can take time lapse scenery videos, and that I can program it to pan slowly during a time lapse scenery video. I think I am going to have quite a bit of fun with this in Twizel, the Night Sky Zone! :)
In all seriousness though, you mentioned that you edit the photos on your mobile device. Which application do you use? And is it available on iOS? Thank you in advance. Great video. My Seestar arrived but its been raining the last few day. I am eager to use it.
Can’t wait for mine, looks like it’s going to be another month or two according to the retailer. I understand that the Seestar does its own internal processing and stacking, but will it save the individual raw files and let me do my own stacking and aligning and processing? Edit: NM, It does. I rewatched a vid by Cuiv where he spelled it out.
The SeeStar s50 and other smart telescopes will have more people collecting more data more often and bring more people to the hobby. This will make even more products available to us through the capitalist system that makes a profit available to companies that create even better products. hell yeah! The SeeStar will work even better in an array of 4. 4 - SeeStars on 4 different targets 4 - SeeStars on the same target 2 - SeeStars on the same target using 1 filter the other no filter remaining doing the same on another target. 4 - SeeStars on one target slightly offset from each other for a mosaic 4 - SeeStars shared by 4 different family members and friends
I have one ordered (ordered last week); as of then, from their website: 'all orders placed after August should ship early December', The one thing this thing can't do, which you briefly indirectly mentioned, is that it can't take detail pics of the planets. Unfortunate, but considering how much stuff it does do, esp i regards to astrophotography, i'm not too bothered.
I remember when I first went to Idaho from New Jersey how much the difference you can see the stars😮 no City Lights no Town lights just in the middle of no man's land😁
Smart telescopes are like mobile phone cameras, easy to use and they produce decent images. My guess is that some people who buy these will become very bored after a few months and end up storing it away or selling on. Plenty of others will however be inspired to take up astro photography and will want to acquire something more powerful and traditional, for others it will be the only scope they will ever need. When GoTo mounts first appeared some traditionalists decried their use as well, but I think they actually led to more people taking up astronomy, especially in cloudy countries like the UK where time under clear skies can be very limited. This looks like a great grab and go set up or for travelling abroad with. Some traditional scopes and mounts can be very daunting for newcomers to astronomy causing a lot of frustration which ultimately leads to some giving up.
When they come out with a 90mm or a 100mm, 200mm astrograph version, better camera EQ mount etc. I will get rid of all my other telescopes because all they seem to do is collect dust in my closet, smart scopes are the future of Astrophotography.
❤ That's it. Period. I gave up with my new Astrophotography setup; only my desired William Optics Zenithstar 61 would cost £580. + mount, + guide scope + guide cam... Even if I own a DSLR / M4/3 cam, how much will be the end? Around £1500-2000? No way! Seestar S50 for 500 bucks. Period 🎉 For those professional Astrophotographers, who are worried about "lack of learning curve" - Dude, post processing (Siril, PixInsight, etc.) is still a learning journey! Like YOU did, right? 😂 Period.
If actually placing your MK1 eyeball on things is not important to users, the next logical progression is a dirt-cheap networking unit with just a basic optic to find the north star and get fed images from a database curated with Hubble and Webb imagery for whatever point in space the device is pointed.
I can understand it's appeal to those who just want the results to post of social media etc but it's not for me, there's noting like successfully locating and imaging for yourself and sometimes swapping the camera out for an eyepiece to view an object live instead of digitally, it's like the difference between seeing an image of the Northern Lights and actually being there to see it. To each their own.
I wouldn’t claim that it isn’t real astrophotography, and I dislike gate keeping when it comes to hobbies. But instead I’ll say this, the money could be much better spent on a starter set up that’s modular, upgradable, and will get you much better results than this unit will. These smart telescopes don’t even polar align. Unless you’re doing milky way astrophotography or something incredibly wide field, Polar alignment is a pretty essential necessity in astrophotography. What this is is really an EAA device, which is a niche within astrophotography itself. It can’t actually take long exposures without the effects of field rotation. So instead it’s taking something like 6 second exposures, derotating them, and live stacking them. That’s it. Your money would be much better spent on something that can actually take long exposures, polar align, something that’s upgradable and more versatile. For example a Used dslr body and a lens, and a star adventurer 2i. Simple. If you know you never want to get involved any deeper in the hobby than this, and you don’t want to do ANY work to get a better result, sure. Spend $500 on one of these. It’s your money after all.
You forgot to mention about local import taxes etc which means it’s not really 499 dollars I ordered one months ago still waiting but cost £540 in the uk
Got your DAMON discount for D2 but it’s tempting to buy the S50. Hopefully with the new app release of the D2 it will close te gap with the more refined S50. But up till now I’am still satisfied with the results of the D2. Don’t understand the complaints about smartcopes…..typical Statler&Waldorf mentality….
Being new to this what worries me when looking to buy a telesope is the 'Extra' editing you talk about, What do you use for editing? What i dont want to do is spend $500 and find out my images are no comparison
Holly shit! I sold my heq5pro setup because of that time so set it up every time you want to take some pictures. I can't believe how good the quality was of that M42 pic you took!
I have had my Seestar now for 3 weeks and the pictures it takes are amazing. I have 3 telescopes ranging from 8 inch up to 12. The setup for these is quite cumbersome, cables for cameras etc can be quite daunting at times. My Seestar can be setup and taking pictures in about 10 minutes. I do get raised eyebrows when I show people the pictures, but thus scepticism has been nipped in the bud.
I'm not pleased with mine. I received it a week ago (after months) , in a heavy downpour. When it stopped raining, I took it out and tested the landscape mode. Great picture, auto focus worked fantastic. Was able to read the rating plate on a phase correction capacitor (power pole)150 feet away! Last night it cleared enough to try DSO's. It took forever ( more than 5 minutes hunting, even though I knew it was found). Than it couldn't focus. Everything was super blurry. Once I started a sequence, it never solved one run, zero images. Okay I figured it was a bit cloudy. Later, it was clear enough to see orion nebula in bottle 9! Still didn't work. WTF! Supposed to be clear in a few days. Will try again 😢 I know my real imaging rig would have pulled some usable subs last night.
Link to Telescope: store.seestar.com/DAMON
I'm really enjoying this little telescope and I've already shot another video in which I'm using it to capture something pretty special! (Stay tuned🌟)
Let me know how you get on with this telescope if you do decide to purchase it!
I have a strong feeling that smart telescopes like this are going to make astronomy a lot more accessible for 1000's more people, which is veryyy exciting!🤩
Clear skies
- Damon
Hey Damon! what happened to your 42 wonders of the night sky series?
easier and cheeper
I am curious what you think its negatives may be in comparison to say a more expensive telescope setup. Obvious pieces aside such as the actual attachment to the experience or seeing our hard work finally take shape. Another possibly being that the resolution or contrast may be better with the more expensive setup. Do you have anything you would point out that this can't do in comparison to say a $1500+ setup? Kind of curious where the next price bracket would be, in your opinion, before getting much better results with an over all setup.
Did Seestar provide you with this telescope for review?
If so .. then I think you should state that upfront.
I'm not implying that the review is biased, and many channels make unbiased and fair reviews of products they were given. But, not letting the viewer know is sketchy.
So- this is “Vapor View?” OK, I’m out….
Brilliant presentation Damon. I've watched scores of these S50 reviews. Yours is one of the very best. My S50 just arrived yesterday. Waiting for the clouds to clear. Can't wait to start photographing and experimenting. I subscribed to your channel. I was in my late 40s when I began my adventures in astronomy and then astrophotography. I am now 73 and this new technology involving smart telescopes is giving me hope that I can continue this hobby for many more years. I'm selling my heavy CEM40 in order to afford the much lighter AM5 to use with my other scopes. This Seestar S50 is going to make it so much easier to share the night sky with my children and grandchildren. Again brilliant presentation. Love your style.
Thank you, very happy to hear it! I'm very envious of you for getting an AM5, looks like a beautiful mount from what I've read. Thanks 😁👍
You,astrobiscuit,astro backyard,nebula photos,astrokobi etc are the one who really make everyone watching engaged in astronomy,physics and Astrophotography.I actually started this hobby because of all of the names above.Good job man keep it up and never give up.
Exactly!
Here's some more: The digitalized astronomer, Late night astronomy, Chucks Astrophotography, Rami Astro
Sir Patrick Moore got me into it 30 years ago 😂
But these guys are okay too 😊
That can compare to the same feeling when SLR film cameras were replaced by digital , and that unbelievable moment of seeing an image on a screen taken just seconds ago instead of waiting a few days to get it back from the developers . The rewards of a great photo back then are unmatched.
This is what "bringing astronomy and astrophotography to the masses is all about". Great Find. Gonna keep my eye on this one! Thanks! :)
I cannot wait for Santa to bring my S50. I bought the Dwarf 2 telescope using your promo code back in September and I've been out capturing images every clear night since. I've had 47 imaging sessions so far since getting the Dwarf. I've been struggling with astrophotography for a decade. I've spent many nights spending hours getting alignment and positioning perfect and then as soon as I start imaging, weather rolls in. I dont want to struggle with trying to take pictures. I want to start doing projects like my own sky survey. Document entire orbits. Animate long term change over time. These little smart telescopes are absolutely amazing. I'm hooked and decided to start a little youtube channel to document the journey. So far I've been coding some utilities to help manage some of the Dwarf 2 quirks. Thanks for everything Damon!
What is your channel?
Seestar S50 is very clearly the best telescope that Generation X, Y, and Z can buy right now. They're used to using their cell phones. They want small, simple, integrated systems. ZWO really hit it out of the park with this little scope. And the people who catch the astronomy bug can ramp up to larger, more powerful scopes.
Only thing I liked about the Unistellar EV2 was the nikon eyepiece but definitely not a keeper.
This is really impressive. I do understand the claim that using smart telescopes is not “real” astrophotography, but ever since I’ve been out of college I haven’t had time to deal with all that equipment. This looks like a really convenient way to get back into it (and image a lot more things than I ever could back then!). I’ll try to pick one up soon, thanks for showing this!
I think the thing that sets real astrophotography from most smart telescopes is the processing not data acquisition. Astrophotography as an art comes mostly from the skills of the person processing the image not the gear, but with a smart telescope, it's all automatic and takes that part of it out entirely. Of course, this can be remedied by saving all the data and reprocessing yourself
I believe that using an Smart telescope, from your places, is far better, and real astrophotography, than buying data sets ready to use from remote telescopes located in top places with bortle 1 sky. This particular model allows you to process the images at your will with the software you do prefer.
The only people that say it’s not “real” astrophotography are gatekeepers. You find these folks in every hobby.
I do full astrophotography with my own rig built from components and manual processing. Saying that using a SeeStar isn’t “real astrophotography” is like saying using a digital camera isn’t real photography unless you shoot on film AND develop it yourself because the real art in photography is in the film development. I disagree with that sentiment and agree it’s just mud-slinging from the old practitioners that are upset to see their black-art getting democratized.
the thing that sets apart is the smart scopes are not really for gathering 48 hrs of data or even more
Ill say these are 95% EAA and around 50% AP thats just my guess though.
I really love my SeeStar S50! I have a couple of very high end astrophotography setups, but this unit is so extremely portable it can be taken everywhere you go!
I pre-ordered in April and paid only $399
Only 399 dollars 😅 i am from India and i also interested in astronomy so i made a homemade telescope 50mm lens 399 dollar is very expensive in India you are lucky to buy such things i can only see the videos and become happy
This is a brilliant and very enjoyable and very substantive presentation and review. Nice going. I absolutely love my Seestar S50. I'm going to be selling back thousands of dollars worth of equipment that I have amassed over the last 25 years. The Seestar does everything all of my old equipment does as good or better. And it only takes minutes to set up instead of an hour or more. You don't even need to get sucked into all of the post-processing made possible by Siril and Pixinsight. Simple editing in the phone photo app and Gimp or Photoshop is all you need to do. I'm 74 years old. And I'm lucky to have lived long enough to see this. Because it means I'll be able to continue for many more years doing astrophotography with the Seestar S50 and my Move Shoot Move and camera combination setup. I'll hang on to my ZWO AM5 and my ZWO planetary camera for the planets. Clear skies everybody. Do yourself a favor and get the Seestar S50.
Two questions:
1) What format are the output images? Is there any kind of RAW output?
2) Could you do any testing to make sure there’s no AI trickery going on in improving the images, as in the Samsung-Moon story a little while back?
The SeeStar s50 telescope captures images in jpeg and TIFF formats and record videos in MP4 or AVI formats. It saves raw ina fit format, if I remember correctly. Another channel -Cuiv the lazy geek- looked into your 2nd question and found that it is not using trickery.
Nice, cheers!
Yes it is worth collecting the individual fit files. Seestar does a great job of stacking that I find hard to beat but twice it has stacked a poor shot so being able to stack yourself and remove the rogue shot is very useful. I use Siril for processing it's free but there is a learning curve and I have a way to go!
It might interest me, can it be mounted on another tripod? Thank you very much.
You have done the most excellent job of presenting both The Dwarf 2 (in your previous video) and now The Seestar S50. If I were to make a video explaining these smart telescopes to the public, I wouldn't change a word! Absolutely perfectly said!
To be honest, I'm supposed to do a little video on each scope myself - but I don't see how the explanation could be any better. You've really set the bar high mate! I feel compelled to share both your Dwarf 2 video, and this one, on my blog, via social media; and to my friends...
When I saw the final images you produced.. I kept shouting WOWOWOW! I am blown away. I ordered my Seestar back in June, and it's supposed to be delivered either this month [Nov] or Dec. I CANNOT WAIT! I used to own a very nice 10" DOB, with explore Scientific's best EP's and more. I always wanted to do astro-photos. Considering I'm on a small income, and cannot afford a huge and expensive setup, the Seestar is perfect! I also read from ZWO that they are working on adding a Mozaic mode. Thank you for IMHO is the best review and examples of any video highlighting the Seestar I've seen so far!!!
❤ That's it. Period.
I gave up with my new Astrophotography setup;
only my desired William Optics Zenithstar 61 would cost £580.
+ mount, + guide scope + guide cam... Even if I own a DSLR / M4/3 cam, how much will be the end? Around £1500-2000?
No way!
Seestar S50 for 500 bucks. Period 🎉 For those professional Astrophotographers, who are worried about "lack of learning curve" - Dude, post processing (Siril, PixInsight, etc.) is still a learning journey! Like YOU did, right? 😂 Period.
I have really enjoyed your channel. I ordered my SeeStar S50 from High Point Scientific about 3 weeks ago. It arrived today. I didn’t expect it until the end of December. I’ve watched this video 10 times since ordering my scope.
I ordered mine just today, Im so hyped did you get some nice images?
Remarkable gadget. I just wonder if the thrill would diminish quickly. After many telescopes I eventually got into imaging but got a little fed up with all the setting up. The S50 seems to solve many of the problems I faced. Might get one after the rush for Christmas!
I feel like it would for me. I just don't get the point. Literally anyone with this scope can take these photos so you're not doing anything that takes skill and at the end of the day your photos won't match up to the pros so... Why? It's not like picking up a DSLR and taking photos because those at least can be unique to you.
I know very little about telescopes and so i had no idea telescopes like this existed, im completely blown away by this and the images it can capture. Amazing🤯
YESS !!! Finally someone with a genius idea for beginners !!! Thank you sir !!! Since three months i searched for a super telescope to see stars, planets nebula etc... the only ones that fit with what i need was 2000-5000$ telescope :(
This one change the game...thank you
Astrophotography is art as well as science. As an artist, if I had a robotic painter holding the brush, and all I did was say "Paint a cloud", yes the cloud was painted, with real oil paint, but was it still me learning to paint? Putting more and more automation between the Astronomer and his/her target, removes the creative options and learning curve.
BUT!!! I'm so excited to get this! Because my young, very smart, grandchildren will mentally soak up astrophysics like a sponge to water. This is an amazing learning tool for both physics and mechanical automation! I wish every young person had access to this. As they grow, let them decide how to pursue science. Wonderful video, thank you and cheers all.
I thought your post was beautifully stated. Identifying this devices true utility and yet stating all points of view positively.
@@jeffminor1583 Thank you and all the best Jeff.
Damon I love astronomy and astrophotography in general and your channel is the best for astrophotographers. Amazing video as always.
Thanks mate, happy to hear it! 😌🙏
That's absolutely incredible
Insane, right? ❤
Love it. That's it. Period.
I gave up with my new Astrophotography setup;
only my desired William Optics Zenithstar 61 would cost £580.
+ mount, + guide scope + guide cam... Even if I own a DSLR / M4/3 cam, how much will be the end? Around £1500-2000?
No way!
Seestar S50 for 500 bucks. Period 🎉 For those professional Astrophotographers, who are worried about "lack of learning curve" - Dude, post processing (Siril, PixInsight, etc.) is still a learning journey! Like YOU did, right? 😂 Period.
Not sure if that was meant as a response to my comment or another 😂
@@SmithBeatZ1
Do you think so? 😂
Why? Is it about climate changing?
Or Blaise Pascal? 😂
@Petrusss8 I have absolutely no idea what the fuck you're talking about. That's why 😅 Maybe get some sleep?
I don't know why some people disagree on smart telescopes, despite that they make astrophotography more accessible. And to be honest astrophotography process is more like taking photos, and usually you are seeing the celestial object through camera screen no matter you're using a traditional setup or smart telescope. This is different from "looking up at the night sky through telescope", as this is more like visual observing. These 2 are different experiences that can be enjoyed simultaneously. For example, you can have a seestar set outside for astrophotography, while at the same time, you set up a telescope which you can look at the night sky through it using eyepieces. However, I would say the major disadvantage of Seestar is the narrow field of view which makes it not quite suitable for large, wide field targets aka some nebulae and star clusters. Very suitable for galaxy season though.
The problem with buying one is that they have literally NO information about expected production and delivery times. You essentially have to buy one and hope that you get it sometime by next summer... maybe... but who knows? Will I wait a year? And there is literally no one to ask about this. I would buy one today if I had reliable information about this.
edit: I just checked their product page, and they updated some information yesterday. Apparently, it looks like they have a 3-4 month backlog, so at least that's something.
Yeah, I bought mine last week and had no idea how long it was going to be before they shipped. I thought it would be january. But now it appears it is going to be at least 5 months and probably.
I'm in the UK I ordered end of September from first light optics. It arrived end of October! Just wish we had more clear skies!
@gomcse how is everyone else says 2 weeks to one month and your saying 5 months?
Love this!! Thank you for this awesome review!! It’s on my wish list now…also, I’m still noticing a ring-less hand-any chance you foresee yourself in America any time soon? 😏😉😅 haha
Mine arrived last week, just in time for the southern hemisphere holiday season. With our clear night skies and much less light pollution in rural areas, I am looking forward playing around with this. Greetings from South Africa
I pre-ordered the SeeStar S50 on the pre-launch special for $399. And while I did Love that sale price, I paid my dues...
Ordered in July and it arrived in November. I have an 8 inch SC and have been observing for quite a while.
But this little S50 has blown me away. My first week I had solar, moon and Orion Nebula pictures that were astounding.
Aside from it's very well designed GoTo system and communications suite.
It weighs 6lbs and this is great. My only downside has been the very short Tripod and very finicky leveling setup since the leveling bubble is covered once the scope is on the tripod,
then trying to get the legs shorter or longer to reach level. The one thing I would recommend to anyone who finds this frustrating is to get a micro leveler that attaches in between the tripod and scope. But that is the only thing that I had any problems with...on a 400 dollar scope that does such great things and gives such good results. I give it a 9.5 out of 10.
So is it actually taking images or is it downloading internal file’s because it knows what your aiming at 🤔
That was my question too 😅
That would suck so bad haha. You could probably test by putting something in front of the lens though right?
Samsung does that with moon. It's nothing new
Just stick your finger to the field of view to find out
thats why i hate tech that babies you like this
Age 64, since age 10 loved astronomy but difficult here in cloudy cold Manchester UK, and that photo of the Orion nebula is the most incredible thing I ever did see, more impressive than when at the time I saw Damien Peaches images of the planets! Unbelievable.
Thanks for the heads-up on this. Not what I was expecting in terms of looks for a telescope, where you normally expect a tube shaped object. Good that it seems so small, light and portable.
With the very unpredictable Welsh weather.
Seestar S50 is the next best thing. Easy set up, come and go.
I received mine today ! but it came with clouds and rain, now its a bit of a wait!
Great review on the Seestar mate that's a cracka ! well done (Mine arrived 2 weeks ago here down under). Keep up the great content.
Can't wait to get mine, It's been 2 1/2 months now without a shipping notification. I bought a Dwarf II in the meantime but I think the Seestar S50 will be better.
Beware of import duty
I am blown away with the quality of the pictures.
That’s because they are AI enhanced.
@@alternative3d87 lol, and what do you think all other post processing tools eg Adobe, Pixinsight, etc. do 😂
Just ordered the seestar after your informative video and subscribed, as a beginner into astronomy and astrophtography it will be ideal forme,i am also looking to buy SkyWatcher Explorer 150P EQ3 PRO in the near future so i can use my Canon dslr cameras and learn more,seeming i have retired and have lots of free time for astronomy.
I just got one recently. I recommend the NGC varieties. The colours are so good. I'm currently imaging NGC 6960 with it as we speak with cygnus
I love taking out my 10 inch telescope, using my hands to follow a target as I watch.
Still, that seestar is a very amazing product I can see opening up the field of astronomy for many more people
Very nice instrument. Mine is on the way and will be here Monday. I’ll have this guy taking photos of my favorites while I use my 12” LX200 and the old mark 1 eyeball!
Bought it right now because of this video. Hope it doesn’t disappoint
This thing is really cool, the only downside for me personally is the low resolution sensor of 2.1 MP. If they manage to put in a higher resolution sensor for a similar price point in the future I might be tempted to buy one.
I can't believe that little scope took that photo of M42. Incredible! I thought you were just showing another Hubble image, until I played back the video and saw that it was taken by the S50.
This is mindboggling.
Until a few years back I had an 8inch Newtonian on a motorised mount. Nothing very special but I loved using it and had some great nights out with it. Except I didn't have enough nights out with it because it took time to set it up. It took time to do a lot of things before actually getting to use it. It was bulky. I won't claim you needed two people to set it up, but it honestly felt safer to do so that way. Even storage was a bit of a pain. I'd love to use it again but I just don't get the time.
This thing honestly changes things and I'd be really interested in seeing where they might go with this technology. I love deep sky object but also feel a 'need' to check in on the neighbours. Add that to this or something like it, and I'd be sold.
I mean, at this weight, or even an extra kg if they made something a tiny bit larger, you can take it hiking and camping, which I'd love to do.
Exact same problem. I have an 8-inch Newtonian and as a pain to set up when I just want to capture some photos. Just don't have the time just pull it out set it up get everything in line take photos for, put it away and go to bed. I ordered my s50 waiting for it to come in and I'm super excited because I miss taking photos just don't have the time to get ready. This will help with that.
Great video! Just got mine a few days ago. I’ve been doing astrophotography for about four years now and will be using this as a portable travel rig and hopefully some outreach.
Thats a great review of an amazing telescope! Yes, it’s very impressive and great fun but I’m curious as to what apps, software, or how the final images were processed with. I’ve owned mine for about 5 weeks now, but as you say we don’t really get those long, stable atmosphere clear nights very often here in the UK. Can’t wait to see more of this little scope as time allows.
Love your videos so much Damon! Love your enthusiasm and your humility. You always put a smile on my face! ❤
Most of the complaining is from guys with 4K rigs not getting images as good as the Seestar. I do planetary imaging with my 8" Edge. I ordered a Seestar to get my toes wet with astrophotography to see if I like it. I'll also use it for outreach at club events.
Yoo I feel like the constellation of Orion is so good. And this period of time is so good for star gazing. Thx for the good video damon!
Pardon my ignorance. How much postprocessing was done on the final image of the Orion nebula and the horse head?
I want to install a filter to block a particular color of light, or take the shot on a cloudy night. Then I can be sure if it's really amazing or just AI generating pictures
Put your finger on it then hold it until the 1st stacked frame pops up.
I’ve been wanting a telescope so bad but never knew what to get. I’m definitely getting a Seester s50!! It looks amazing!!!
We love our seestar 50. Amazing and fun especially for outreach. A another super video again, clear skies… ur an us 😂😂
11:09 i love this shot
Love Mine! So much better than squinting over an eyepiece!👏🏻💯
As you say, this is just the beginning, heaven knows what will be available in the future.
Damon, great video and thank you! I’m now a subscriber. My question! Di you do much post processing with this scope? If so how? It’s only that these seem to be the best images I have seen so far. Appreciate your work.
Daren
your uploads make my day 😭 well, night but still 🔥
Great and honest review. Very informative. You kept me engaged the whole way. So, what's the next step up from the 500$ range of. smart-scopes? what does 750$ get you - something 50% better, or only 10% better if any improvement?
Incredible video! Very informational and well edited, perfect!
@ 14:00 min. The sky atlas is easily the best feature. The fact that you can see your framing projected on the night sky is insanely convenient. I bought a Unistellar equinox and I have to say it pretty good, but seeing what this one can do blows it out of the water. In particular I was annoyed with the data downloading process, I am curious to see how it works with this one. With the equinox you have to upload the data to Unistellar then request a link and it takes ages in my experience.
I just got an email that mine will arrive on Saturday. I’m very excited. My first telescope is a “hobby killer” so it’s been frustrating so far. I’m looking forward to this.
Same problem here. Have a "hobby killer" but still enjoying the hobby, just not using the telescope that much tbh.
My SeeStar is going to arrive in February
I have it since September and it’s amazing 🤩 thank you for your videos ✌️🔭
LSD and the night sky go together like chocolate and peanut butter. AMAZING
Great video Damon, thank you. I agree with everything you’ve demonstrated, but you can get some surface features of planets. With Jupiter, for example, go into Planetary mode and turn the exposure way down until it shows the cloud bands.
How about the best/recommended telescope under €500 for those who already own a high quality camera they want to use with it?
Is it really capturing that image or is it using AI to assist? I had heard something about smart phone companies using AI to improve/modify images so what you see is not actually what it captured. I don't know how all that works but I am wondering if that level of quality is physically achievable with the lens onboard (my dumbed down nontechnical talk about cameras and lenses).
Seems too good to be true. I think you are right. Maybe a more critical review might reveal it isn't possible to do what it appears to do. I wonder how well someone like Damon could shoot one of those objects on the same night with his own gear and expertise. Surely his skill would produce better but this device seems to make Hubble like pictures given time, surely impossible.
@@nickwilliams1953 I suppose the real test would be 1) can I aim the camera at any point in the sky, or is it a preselect list (that may/may not have an image repository to pull from) 2) will the camera pick up unique one time events in the sky, like maybe there is a comet in the area
I did a quick search and others are asking the same question.
@@nickwilliams1953people have tested it rigorously, not just yt-ers but normal people, people have gotten branches, clouds, wind, drones, planes, all sorts of stuff because it is taking images. Y'all really have no idea what you're talking about, this thing is basically a goto mount that you dont need a pc to use. Astrophotography is all about exposure and exposure time, and this thing is entirely focused on it. The glass is bad but it is enough to do deepspace, the sensor is mid but it has enough mpx to get enough photons and to stack. And thats all you need, there is no fancy trickery here, it's just tracking and taking a bunch of pics. Plus, it saves the raw so you can just check and process/stack it yourself if you want
Absolutely amazing! Great video.
Just ordered from Amazon. Total price 596.00 Will be here March 6th.
Guys, from where I am, Sarasota Florida I can see Jupiter and its moons with no aid. It seems it is titillating and I can see red and green lights like if it was a huge plane. What telescope do you recommend to photograph it?
Thank you! I was planning to purchase Vespera but this seems like a better deal 🥰
The irony of the Seestar S50 is that while other setups might be over all better..they are also a lot more complicated to set up and use. Its like ordering a $50 steak that tastes great, and feeling like you got the McDonalds dollar menu experience and atmosphere at the restaurant. Whereas the Seestar might be a $20 steak, but its so easy to setup and use, it feels like you are eating at Spago.
I have been looking for a telescope like this for a long time. Because a very long time ago I knew a guy who had a 20" double refractor, in its own building, in a very dark place in New Zealand. He invited me to watch Shoemaker-Levy hit Jupiter, and with the eyepiece at maximum magnification, we could only see about 10% of the planet - in stunning detail. But the amount of work required to set it up, and the time it took, and the limited technology associated with it was disappointing.
Anyway - you sold me!
Asked my wonderful wife to order one as a late Christmas present. Normally I ask for Icebreaker Merino socks, so this is a bit of an upgrade.
I hope it can take time lapse scenery videos, and that I can program it to pan slowly during a time lapse scenery video.
I think I am going to have quite a bit of fun with this in Twizel, the Night Sky Zone! :)
I might buy this now.
Yeah, I feel the same way. I do get tired of staring at Uranus. Uranus is so huge!
In all seriousness though, you mentioned that you edit the photos on your mobile device. Which application do you use? And is it available on iOS? Thank you in advance. Great video. My Seestar arrived but its been raining the last few day. I am eager to use it.
Can’t wait for mine, looks like it’s going to be another month or two according to the retailer. I understand that the Seestar does its own internal processing and stacking, but will it save the individual raw files and let me do my own stacking and aligning and processing?
Edit: NM, It does. I rewatched a vid by Cuiv where he spelled it out.
Yes, we can do our own stacking + pp. For 500 bucks. Period ❤
The SeeStar s50 and other smart telescopes will have more people collecting more data more often and bring more people to the hobby. This will make even more products available to us through the capitalist system that makes a profit available to companies that create even better products. hell yeah! The SeeStar will work even better in an array of 4.
4 - SeeStars on 4 different targets
4 - SeeStars on the same target
2 - SeeStars on the same target using 1 filter the other no filter remaining doing the same on another target.
4 - SeeStars on one target slightly offset from each other for a mosaic
4 - SeeStars shared by 4 different family members and friends
Arggg my legs
Totally worth for a seestar
I have one ordered (ordered last week); as of then, from their website: 'all orders placed after August should ship early December',
The one thing this thing can't do, which you briefly indirectly mentioned, is that it can't take detail pics of the planets. Unfortunate, but considering how much stuff it does do, esp i regards to astrophotography, i'm not too bothered.
I watched your video about the Dwarf ll 2 months ago and immediately bought it. I spent all my budget. Now I’m watching this… I want it 😭😭😭
I remember when I first went to Idaho from New Jersey how much the difference you can see the stars😮 no City Lights no Town lights just in the middle of no man's land😁
Smart telescopes are like mobile phone cameras, easy to use and they produce decent images. My guess is that some people who buy these will become very bored after a few months and end up storing it away or selling on. Plenty of others will however be inspired to take up astro photography and will want to acquire something more powerful and traditional, for others it will be the only scope they will ever need. When GoTo mounts first appeared some traditionalists decried their use as well, but I think they actually led to more people taking up astronomy, especially in cloudy countries like the UK where time under clear skies can be very limited. This looks like a great grab and go set up or for travelling abroad with.
Some traditional scopes and mounts can be very daunting for newcomers to astronomy causing a lot of frustration which ultimately leads to some giving up.
I think this amazing little scope will lead more of us to learn the post processing of the images we are taking. It looks like a steep learning curve!
When they come out with a 90mm or a 100mm, 200mm astrograph version, better camera EQ mount etc. I will get rid of all my other telescopes because all they seem to do is collect dust in my closet, smart scopes are the future of Astrophotography.
I've just ordered one. can't wait.
❤ That's it. Period.
I gave up with my new Astrophotography setup;
only my desired William Optics Zenithstar 61 would cost £580.
+ mount, + guide scope + guide cam... Even if I own a DSLR / M4/3 cam, how much will be the end? Around £1500-2000?
No way!
Seestar S50 for 500 bucks. Period 🎉 For those professional Astrophotographers, who are worried about "lack of learning curve" - Dude, post processing (Siril, PixInsight, etc.) is still a learning journey! Like YOU did, right? 😂 Period.
If actually placing your MK1 eyeball on things is not important to users, the next logical progression is a dirt-cheap networking unit with just a basic optic to find the north star and get fed images from a database curated with Hubble and Webb imagery for whatever point in space the device is pointed.
Waiting for mine hope I get it before the Total Solar Eclipse this coming April 8. Great review
I can understand it's appeal to those who just want the results to post of social media etc but it's not for me, there's noting like successfully locating and imaging for yourself and sometimes swapping the camera out for an eyepiece to view an object live instead of digitally, it's like the difference between seeing an image of the Northern Lights and actually being there to see it.
To each their own.
I love your shot of the Horsehead nebula. I live in Quebec City-I would have to live in rural Quebec to get any use out of it.
I wouldn’t claim that it isn’t real astrophotography, and I dislike gate keeping when it comes to hobbies.
But instead I’ll say this, the money could be much better spent on a starter set up that’s modular, upgradable, and will get you much better results than this unit will.
These smart telescopes don’t even polar align. Unless you’re doing milky way astrophotography or something incredibly wide field, Polar alignment is a pretty essential necessity in astrophotography.
What this is is really an EAA device, which is a niche within astrophotography itself. It can’t actually take long exposures without the effects of field rotation. So instead it’s taking something like 6 second exposures, derotating them, and live stacking them. That’s it.
Your money would be much better spent on something that can actually take long exposures, polar align, something that’s upgradable and more versatile. For example a Used dslr body and a lens, and a star adventurer 2i. Simple.
If you know you never want to get involved any deeper in the hobby than this, and you don’t want to do ANY work to get a better result, sure. Spend $500 on one of these. It’s your money after all.
You forgot to mention about local import taxes etc which means it’s not really 499 dollars I ordered one months ago still waiting but cost £540 in the uk
As an astrophotographer I think this is great but will never replace looking through an optical lens at the actual object.
Got your DAMON discount for D2 but it’s tempting to buy the S50. Hopefully with the new app release of the D2 it will close te gap with the more refined S50. But up till now I’am still satisfied with the results of the D2. Don’t understand the complaints about smartcopes…..typical Statler&Waldorf mentality….
I want this! I will have it 😀😀. Thanks for the review
Mine is on the way! Can’t wait!
Being new to this what worries me when looking to buy a telesope is the 'Extra' editing you talk about, What do you use for editing? What i dont want to do is spend $500 and find out my images are no comparison
Holly shit! I sold my heq5pro setup because of that time so set it up every time you want to take some pictures. I can't believe how good the quality was of that M42 pic you took!
I love you Damon
🤩🙏
I have had my Seestar now for 3 weeks and the pictures it takes are amazing. I have 3 telescopes ranging from 8 inch up to 12. The setup for these is quite cumbersome, cables for cameras etc can be quite daunting at times. My Seestar can be setup and taking pictures in about 10 minutes. I do get raised eyebrows when I show people the pictures, but thus scepticism has been nipped in the bud.
Everytime i your vids, why arent you on the tv.. Just,,,,, welll just amazing....
This is how you get people interested in astrophotography! One question! What is the end resolution of let's say a 30 minutes recording / exposure??
Got mine a week ago and of course every night is either rainy or clouded.
Full disclosure, Damon. Did you pay $500 for the Seestar?
I'm not pleased with mine. I received it a week ago (after months) , in a heavy downpour. When it stopped raining, I took it out and tested the landscape mode. Great picture, auto focus worked fantastic. Was able to read the rating plate on a phase correction capacitor (power pole)150 feet away!
Last night it cleared enough to try DSO's. It took forever ( more than 5 minutes hunting, even though I knew it was found). Than it couldn't focus. Everything was super blurry. Once I started a sequence, it never solved one run, zero images. Okay I figured it was a bit cloudy. Later, it was clear enough to see orion nebula in bottle 9! Still didn't work. WTF!
Supposed to be clear in a few days. Will try again 😢
I know my real imaging rig would have pulled some usable subs last night.