I am a rank amateur, but I have been watching your videos for a couple of years. Your timing on this most incredible tutorial on Astrography using the Dwarf II is remarkable. I should be receiving my own Dwarf Lab Dwarf II Telescope this month. I purchased mine with the filters et al. I have been a 20+ year old Meade 4" with auto-guiding go to capability. Outside of the moon and a few other things, I have never tried taking any photos. At 71 years old, not much excites me, lol, but waiting for the Dwarf II and having seen what you have done with it makes shake with anticipation. My wife is glad I am excited, but thinks I am nuts,lol. Your videos have given me a level of confidence in anticipation of the Dwarf II's arrival. I can talk to you about medicine all day long, but Astrophotography, well that is another animal. Thanks you so much for all of your hard work and great videos.
I am so happy the videos have been helping you do the jump! There will still be a learning curve but hopefully it will have been made smoother with this
Hi Ciuv, Dwarf 2 owner here! Thanks a lot this was very usefull and informative. Just a minor note. During capturing the dark images you can switch off the lights of Dwarf 2 for a better result. Astro dark mode do this automatically if you have the latest firmware and also you can do it manually from the app. Both power and led lights can be switched off.
Thank you for showing the entire process, as I have the Dwarf ii on pre-order. Highly informative, detailed and easy to follow, even for a noob like me!
You have excelled yourself this time Cuiv. What a great tutorial. I feel you have inspired many many people with this , to get potential results like that from an affordable starter scope is truly amazing. I'm sure people will thank you for the time and effort that has undoubtedly gone in to producing this.
Cuiv - Thanks. I just unboxed my Dwarf. I watched your entire video, to get an overview of the process. I will be referring back to it, step by step. I like your presentation style! Clear skies.
I am an old amateur. I love your youtubes. I received my Dwarf 2 May 2nd. It has been cloudy and rainy every night since. I have created a step by step workflow for setup, prep, capture and post processing. One friend called it a circus toy. I am absolutly in awe of it. the final image pixinsight was phenomenal. Could photoshop have been as good????? Excited!!! I also spent 2 years collecting traditional gear at great expense and `1 year studying. This is such a better thing.
Did you enjoy this tutorial, and going through the whole process of amateur astrophotography? If you want to try your hand at it, all of the links are in the description! Support me on Patreon!: www.patreon.com/cuivlazygeek Dwarf 2 Smart Telescope: bit.ly/3SyChXu
Cuiv, always great to see a new video from you! I can only imagine how much time it takes to produce these tutorials. Appreciate all you do for the hobby. You inspired me a couple of years ago to take the plunge with a OSC camera from a Bortle 8 zone. Cheers from the perpetually windy central USA!🌪️
I am an absolute novice, and you have talked me through the taking pictures with the Dwarf II and the use of Siril - MAGNIFICENTLY!! I will study more of this video in the future. Well Done Sir
Your presentation here is your best, yet. Hands down. Outstanding! Thank you very much! I have enjoyed your channel very much for a couple of years, now, and plan to become a Patreon, soon. Bravo!
Absolutely awesome my dwarflab 2 just being shipped and your video on using and post processing absolutely brilliant ...now downloaded siril and started to play with it ( scripts installed ) waiting for the telescope to arrive ..to see the results u achieved from this small device nothing short of miraculous and the difference in the post production software amazing 👏
Wow even a reply from u !! Amazing ... if you coukd show us astrophotography newbies some more basic processing videos using siril it would be amazing its a very steep learning curve and any further help would b amazing
Cuiv, I enjoy your videos so much. You have outdone yourself with this one. For the first time, there is a video that has taught this newbie how to process data. I feel MUCH more comfortable going down the astrophotography rabbit hole. I'll now start to add more new equipment. The wife is going to love this!
Fabulous video. This is what I was hoping for a while now. My Dwarf II hasn’t shipped yet and I am so happy to see yourself and the other beta testers present such useful information. Plus the huge benefit of discovering problems and relaying that back to Dwarf Lab to be fixed. Kudos to Dwarf Lab for listening and being proactive. I am a beginner and will also be using Siril as a post processing software so this was very informative and helpful. Thank you and keep up the good work!!
I can't tell you how much you have helped me in this arcane post-processing palaver Cuiv, but heck, I can't believe my eyes with each iteration of improvement in one's image starting from the SAME data in the file just waiting to be uncovered. It is really quite amazing what lies beneath the apparent murk!
Thank you for taking the time to do this. I'm slowly working my way through it, hopefully to get similar results with M101. I've been a visual guy for many years with a celestron 9.25 cpc, which I love. I saw your early videos on the D2 and saw it as a no-brainer way to try out Astro photography, and tbh, for the price, I'm blown away 🤯 (I bought one after watching your videos.) Please keep up the great work and keep passing on any updates and news re the Dwarf 2. I'm very sure you will get many new followers because of your fantastic and informative videos. Many thanks 😀
Cuiv, for some years I have been passionate about astrophotography also because you never stop learning and improving and thanks to your advice and teachings everything becomes easier. Thank you
Thank you for all your amazing efforts to produce this video! I hope I can utilize your step-by-step tutorial to get images with as much detail and clarity as you have produced. I can't believe how far we have come in the last 50 years regarding the acquisition of deep sky object.
Great work, as ever Cuiv! Your infectious enthusiasm and knowledge inspired me a year ago to take up astrophotography and watching this new video reminded me why. 😊👍👍
Hi Cuvi, wow I'm just blown away how mighty Pixinsight is. I couldn't belive that there is such a difference! Thank you for your as always honest and well made videos. Cheers
WHOA! Thanks so much for sharing this! My anxiety about processing images are greatly reduced! Can’t wait for my DwarfII to be delivered Much, much appreciated Thanks Cuiv.
So many quirks and oddities with my Dwarf2 to work around....but I'm loving every second it. Such a great camera for daytime also. I went to a small airport, and the tracking worked amazing...stayed with the airplanes for entire Touch-n-Go landing and take-off loops pilots were practicing. Haven't had much luck tracking birds in flight, but birds swimming, otters, and beavers were all good targets if you are always ready to reset tracking manually. Wide-angle lens manual settings are a little finicky, and turning it to auto will achieve exposure times that are unavailable with manual mode. All in all, if anyone is still waiting for theirs to arrive...it has been worth the wait and I'm loving mine. Hopefully they continue to fix the bugs...and offer an API like they mentioned. There's so much that could be done with this hardware with an open API. Dwarf is too busy fulfilling orders, but I would be super excited to see what people can accomplish with an ooen API. A tutorial on a workflow of capturing audio and then adding it to video so it's synced properly would be very helpful...as this is great for daytime video, but no audio is a real bummer for nature shots.
Cuiv, thank you for being so thorough, clear, funny, knowledgeable, and a delight to learn from. I have been so disappointed when someone with all the right equipment and knowledge does not convey their message clearly. It becomes so difficult to follow the content. You are a professional and it is a pleasure to subscribe to your channel. I’m really considering this option to give astrophotography a try. Thanks again.
Thanks Cuiv..I got my D2 yesterday and luckily there were relatively clear ( bortle 6) skies last night. I managed to image M51 and process with Siril and my Samsung A71 only because of your tutorial...
My DwarfII will finally arrive on a slow boat from China on the 14th of April, so a bit of a wait from my January order. Thanks for the inspiration with this video Cuiv, I can’t wait to use it in anger.
I hope the post-processing for the Seestar S50 is less complicated than this, because this process is daunting and discouraging for a beginner.The more the smartscope can perform the steps that are reepeated every time on the computer, the better.
This is an advanced processing tutorial to get the most out of the scope - it's optional, the scope has in-body stacking! It's the same for the Seestar S50, you can just use the scope in-body stacking and call it a day, process the stacked frame, or stack from scratch
Cuiv! Ah you made me feel better spending my hard earned money on PI and Russ's tools 🙂 This was a nice tutorial that will become valuable to Dwarf II customers and people new to image processing. Well done as always my friend! Clear Skies!
Thank you for a very informative video. Best video out there on the Dwarf telescope and post processing images. Can't wait for mine to arrive it's been shipped. Thank you again.
I want to thank you for this amazing video and the detailed walkthrough all the steps from a to z… a must video for all beginners … can’t wait to do all the steps and see what i can get
Considering the low cost and the limitations of a telescope with a small diameter lens, the processing has yielded a really acceptable result. Thanks Cuiv. 🙂👍
Superb tutorial as ever. Hopefully you will be able to make another video tutorial that shows how to carry out a Polar Alignment with the actual Dwarf 2.
What an amazing image for this super inexpensive scope when processed with PixInsight. I guess with even a crude polar alignment you should get a wider field for integration? It would be interesting to see how this scope works on a less bright nebula. Great work as always.
Yep, it would provide a much wider field over a long integration time with even crude polar alignment! I'm waiting for a good faint nebula + new moon to test it at a dark site! Maybe Rho Ophiuchi!
I own the eVscope and Vespera telescopes (I am an original investor on these) and just purchased the Seestar S50 & Dwarf II. Great video, thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Fantastic video. Extremely useful for beginners. Not sure I would bother with Pixinsight/Gimp as I thought the image was just fine straight out of Siril.
@55:44 where you said you kept 461 of the frames...are you sure you weren't just on frame #461? I'm currently trying to follow this tutorial as a first time Siril user...and I'm not getting that number to change or show how many I've rejected or kept. It just shows which frame I'm currently looking at for me. Another thing that might help first timers...and maybe it's explained and I missed it, or it's coming up in the video later...is I wasn't recognizing any of my images in Siril (compared to the stacked picture Dwarf 2 automatically makes). For me Siril has flipped the pictures vertically. Not rotated, but flipped along the horizontal axis from what you see in the night sky, while shooting, and the final stacked version on Dwarf2. This really threw me off for hours...because unless you're a long time astrophotographer and very familiar with all these star layouts...a random upside down flip is very disorienting as to what you're looking at...making you think you opened the wrong folder if you have dozens upon dozens of folders of similar targets. Wish me luck on finishing this Siril tutorial!
Great video! I have been at my wits end trying to figure out how to do this stuff on my own. My computer is full of different pieces of software all touting that they are great and easy to use, some free, many relatively costly all to no avail. I am sure that they all work on some level and it is just an issue of my not understanding the total process and how it all works together. Your video had been a big help in my understanding of what it takes to make good photos. For now I will stick with Siril and Gimp for a while.
Great walkthrough, Cuiv. I'm considering one of these for travel use. I travel at least 2 weeks a month for work. The optics make it unlikely though. If I could find a more airline friendly mount I'd be on the way with the rest of my setup. Regarding "pay to win" with the software....paying a couple hundred dollars for better software beats paying to win by spend thousands for a better scope, thousands more for a better camera, etc. THAT is paying to win...lol.
Wow thank you so much! I was wondering why I was having so many blue pixel streaks on my stacked image until you showed us how to process it on Sirl, it fixed all the hot pixel issues! Wow thank you so much, subscribed!
Indeed a greatly helpful video - especially for those who want to enter into this hobby. IMO, I think it makes sense to have Dwarf II for those who want to start into this hobby - instead of purchasing the star tracker. I think so because this approach allows one to get started with the entire workflow including processing - which is the most important step. One can of course later buy an EQ mount, and other goodies like telescope, camera etc. to upgrade to the next level. Do you agree?
I recieved my Dwarf2 this week but the weather asn't played along yet. Hoping to get some photography one next week when I visit my daughter where the bortle is about 3, much better tan here. In the meantime this tutorial has been invaluable, fantastic amount of help and advice. Bring on the clear , dark nights
Thank you Cuiv. Just goes to show how one can turn a sow's ear into a silk purse with processing skills like yours, along with a considerable amount of time (and $350 for the pay-to-win astro software).
I have just ordered a Dwarf 2 and this video has made me so excited!! I wondered if you have Photoshop, and could demonstrate how to edit the picture using it?
Thank you for your excellent tutorial! I'm waiting for my Dwarf II to be shipped, and can't wait to try this. I also use mostly FOSS software, so the instruction in Siril and GIMP is just what I needed. You are an excellent teacher.
Hey Cuiv! Would love to see an in-depth tutorial on Polar aligning the Dwarf II. I am still waiting on my unit, but Id love to be able to avoid field rotation issues once I receive my device! Also, do you know if Deepsky stacker is still having issues with creating a black and white image with the Dwarf? Is that related to the depayer GBRG you showed in Siril? Thanks for the great content. I have learned copious amounts from your videos. Good luck and clear skies!
When you created the "mask" of the Orion nebula in Pixinsight near the end of the video, did you also include the stars in the mask ? Maybe if you had a starless image or made a mask of the starts, then the curves saturation change would not affect the stars as well ?? Thanks.
a spectacular tutorial. A question about the black squares. In several tutorials they mention that before capturing any image (you can even do it before taking the telescope out) you should make an astro dark capture of the black squares and it seems that this would improve the process and stack results of the telescope itself, so I didn't understand very well why you do it after the capture.
The goal is to take the dark frames at roughly the same temperature as the lights. I find that taking them after, once the sensor has warmed up but the night cooled down, works great, but before will work just as well
@@CuivTheLazyGeek also i see that when using the paid software you choose the file result of the stacking with the free software, so, can't the paid software do the stacking and the whole process or you have to use 2 different software?
Thanks for the great video. I'm looking forward to processing images once I receive my SeeStar S50 (November/December) which I learned about from one of your videos, yesterday. Had to buy. Looks like PixInsight and the Blur/Noise XTerminators may damage the wallet some more. I'll give the free tools a try along with Luminar Neo for noise reduction and structure enhancement as it has some good AI extensions. If that's a no go, then I'll be paying to win as that image looked awesome. I'll be shooting mostly from light polluted areas in the Inland Empire east of Los Angeles (Bortle 8).
You sir, are the man. Thank you so much for all the time and detail you put into your videos .I too am waiting on dwarf to ship my order. Was supposed to ship in Feb but i guess it'll be March. In the mean time I'll be studying your vids.
Thanks for the workflow. I cannot tell from the video if you have a good amount of exposure to the sky without many obstructions in left and right directions. How did you get to calibrate successfully with such limited exposure to the sky only in one direction...again I cannot tell from the video the amount of sky exposure you have. I've been having a tough time calibrating my dwarf2 even with a good amount of sky exposure.
Ah this is the review I was looking for. I think you’re the only one to get decent results from the dwarf data by using decent software. At least now i know the data is not bad. I have a few pro rigs but some nights (like tonight) I just don’t want to drag all the gear outside. This compact gizmo will be great for these lazy times haha
Haha no problem. My dwarf arrived the other day but I had to return the uhc filter as blue/defective! I presume I wouldn't need this for say andromeda anyway? Thanks
Hi Cuiv, I just received my Dwarf II. My first target was the Rosette Nebula, I was just going for the open star cluster, black and white. It went well. Last night I attempted the same target, this time with an exposure time of 8, gain of 80 and IR on Pass. 399 photos. I ran into issues with not getting the exposure time and gain for the TELE lens to "stick". I selected the appropriate parameters and as soon as I started the capture, the exposure and gain reverted back to the lowest values. The device used with the GUI was a Pixel Slate running android. The second device was my phone, a Pixel 6A .. same issue. I tried my old Android phone with is a Motorola Zforce 2 running Android 9. I was able to set the exposure and gain parameters but there were several menus that were overlaid by the record button, the parameters in the pull down list were not accessible. What device are you using to run the GUI ?
That sounds like a bug... I haven't had this issue although at the end of a live stacking session the exp length gets reset to one second. Maybe report this to Dwarflab? I use a Pixel 6A
WOAW !!!!!!! astonished. I did not thought we could get something like that with the Dwarf II (even with the post production you did). Pixlnsight seems to be very vert powerfull !!! Thanks for the sharing. Now the 2 objects I mainly saw captured with the dwarf II were M31 and M42. is it beacause of their size, their brightness or their popularity?
First of all, congratulations on your great video and on your new telescope. I have had several astrographs of the same style with very similar configurations and I really lost a lot of valuable time with the issue of collimation and unwanted reflections. I finally ended up with an Evostar 120ED and the truth is that it is a great telescope in terms of quality/price. I wish you good luck with all the adjustment tasks... Greetings from Spain...!!!
Still waiting for my Dwarf II, but Dwarf Labs have kept me informed and discussed the issue with the light pollution filter being off-band. They are replacing that, before shipping. Initially it was going to be shipped to me in February, I ordered in early November. Looking forward to it. I have other systems, I will be donating the Dwarf to one of my nieces.
Thank you ! for this free resource/video Cuiv. I have a question (i have not searched all the comments) : how do you work out the symmetry point for GHS in Siril? I could not work out exactly how you knew the point as the change in direction of the slope - 1 on the left and 1 on the right. Also is there an email address to contact you at all ? Many thanks. Bill
Am interested in starting with astrophotography and am looking for the right entry hardware. Thank you for illustrating what is possible with the images of dwarf2 combined with the rigth choice of software for post processing. Already looked some other pixinsight tutorials. But yours is the one which lets me decide to start with Hardware like dwarf2 + spending some more effort in post processing. Will try to apply your step by step explanation when i have the hardware available. Thank you so much for this valuable video
What a great tutorial. I've been looking at the Dwarf II because of its ease of use. And I would certainly classify myself as a hobbyist who wants to dabble in this occasionally. Pretty amazing what you were able to get out of it using the paid software. Seems like an amazing little device. Are you still enjoying it?
@@CuivTheLazyGeek awesome! Thank you! I saw your video about building your own smart telescope. Not in my budget just yet but really helpful. Glad I found your channel. Thanks for the reply!
Hi Cuiv, After watching you video,I ordered Dwarf2 in March 1. I plan to use this tool when I feel tired to set up the telescope, but the sky is clear. Anyway,this is the third time I have bought the tools you recommend. The 1st one was “HyperStar” for Celestron C6,and the 2nd one was IDAS filter for HyperStar. I am looking forward to watch your next video. Ganbatte kuda sai.
I am a rank amateur, but I have been watching your videos for a couple of years. Your timing on this most incredible tutorial on Astrography using the Dwarf II is remarkable. I should be receiving my own Dwarf Lab Dwarf II Telescope this month. I purchased mine with the filters et al. I have been a 20+ year old Meade 4" with auto-guiding go to capability. Outside of the moon and a few other things, I have never tried taking any photos. At 71 years old, not much excites me, lol, but waiting for the Dwarf II and having seen what you have done with it makes shake with anticipation. My wife is glad I am excited, but thinks I am nuts,lol. Your videos have given me a level of confidence in anticipation of the Dwarf II's arrival. I can talk to you about medicine all day long, but Astrophotography, well that is another animal. Thanks you so much for all of your hard work and great videos.
Snap - Sounds like me, and my wife's discussions. I also wait for shipping.
I am so happy the videos have been helping you do the jump! There will still be a learning curve but hopefully it will have been made smoother with this
@@CuivTheLazyGeek I definitely understand the learning curve, but I think you've helped us all flatten it a bit. Again, thank you so much.
am 77 and still tinking about ap. excellent teaching!!!
Same here I just got mine yesterday, great video for somebody looking to get into the hobby
Hi Ciuv, Dwarf 2 owner here! Thanks a lot this was very usefull and informative. Just a minor note. During capturing the dark images you can switch off the lights of Dwarf 2 for a better result. Astro dark mode do this automatically if you have the latest firmware and also you can do it manually from the app. Both power and led lights can be switched off.
Thank you for showing the entire process, as I have the Dwarf ii on pre-order. Highly informative, detailed and easy to follow, even for a noob like me!
Glad it was helpful, and hope you get the Dwarf Ii soon!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek I thought that as well. I should have saved my money.
You have excelled yourself this time Cuiv. What a great tutorial. I feel you have inspired many many people with this , to get potential results like that from an affordable starter scope is truly amazing. I'm sure people will thank you for the time and effort that has undoubtedly gone in to producing this.
Thank you! That was the objective and hopefully this will keep being useful for a while!
Cuiv - Thanks. I just unboxed my Dwarf. I watched your entire video, to get an overview of the process. I will be referring back to it, step by step. I like your presentation style! Clear skies.
I am an old amateur. I love your youtubes. I received my Dwarf 2 May 2nd. It has been cloudy and rainy every night since. I have created a step by step workflow for setup, prep, capture and post processing. One friend called it a circus toy. I am absolutly in awe of
it. the final image pixinsight was phenomenal. Could photoshop have been as good????? Excited!!! I also spent 2 years collecting traditional gear at great expense and `1 year studying. This is such a better thing.
54:30 - Thank you, Cuiv! I was just trying to figure out how to review and reject individual images, so this hugely helpful!
Glad it was helpful!
Did you enjoy this tutorial, and going through the whole process of amateur astrophotography? If you want to try your hand at it, all of the links are in the description!
Support me on Patreon!: www.patreon.com/cuivlazygeek
Dwarf 2 Smart Telescope: bit.ly/3SyChXu
Superb. I was completely lost when it came to Siril, Gimp and Pixinsight but it all makes sense now. Fantastic
Glad this is helpful!!
Cuiv, always great to see a new video from you! I can only imagine how much time it takes to produce these tutorials. Appreciate all you do for the hobby. You inspired me a couple of years ago to take the plunge with a OSC camera from a Bortle 8 zone. Cheers from the perpetually windy central USA!🌪️
Thank you so much, that means a lot! Hope you're having fun with your gear in the wind ;)
I am an absolute novice, and you have talked me through the taking pictures with the Dwarf II and the use of Siril - MAGNIFICENTLY!! I will study more of this video in the future. Well Done Sir
The best Dwarf tutorial yet,thanks so much
Glad it was helpful!
Great Siril and Gimp tutorial, Thanks !
Thanks Ryley, glad this is useful!!!
Your presentation here is your best, yet. Hands down. Outstanding! Thank you very much! I have enjoyed your channel very much for a couple of years, now, and plan to become a Patreon, soon. Bravo!
I'm so glad this is helpful Jonathan! And thank you for your support!
Absolutely awesome my dwarflab 2 just being shipped and your video on using and post processing absolutely brilliant ...now downloaded siril and started to play with it ( scripts installed ) waiting for the telescope to arrive ..to see the results u achieved from this small device nothing short of miraculous and the difference in the post production software amazing 👏
Great to hear! You'll definitely have a lot of fun once it arrives!
Wow even a reply from u !! Amazing ... if you coukd show us astrophotography newbies some more basic processing videos using siril it would be amazing its a very steep learning curve and any further help would b amazing
Cuiv, I enjoy your videos so much. You have outdone yourself with this one. For the first time, there is a video that has taught this newbie how to process data. I feel MUCH more comfortable going down the astrophotography rabbit hole. I'll now start to add more new equipment. The wife is going to love this!
Thanks so much Clarence, this means a lot! I'm sure your wife will be ecstatic indeed :D Just put the blame on me ;)
Fabulous video. This is what I was hoping for a while now. My Dwarf II hasn’t shipped yet and I am so happy to see yourself and the other beta testers present such useful information. Plus the huge benefit of discovering problems and relaying that back to Dwarf Lab to be fixed. Kudos to Dwarf Lab for listening and being proactive. I am a beginner and will also be using Siril as a post processing software so this was very informative and helpful. Thank you and keep up the good work!!
Thank you, hope you get your Dwarf 2 soon!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek I forgot to ask that during your video when you shot the dark frames, why did you not use the Astro dark function of the app?
I can't tell you how much you have helped me in this arcane post-processing palaver Cuiv, but heck, I can't believe my eyes with each iteration of improvement in one's image starting from the SAME data in the file just waiting to be uncovered. It is really quite amazing what lies beneath the apparent murk!
Thank you. I've finally had a successful edit with Siril. I'll be watching this more than a few times until I get the hang of it. Thanks again.
Thank you for taking the time to do this. I'm slowly working my way through it, hopefully to get similar results with M101.
I've been a visual guy for many years with a celestron 9.25 cpc, which I love. I saw your early videos on the D2 and saw it as a no-brainer way to try out Astro photography, and tbh, for the price, I'm blown away 🤯
(I bought one after watching your videos.)
Please keep up the great work and keep passing on any updates and news re the Dwarf 2. I'm very sure you will get many new followers because of your fantastic and informative videos.
Many thanks 😀
Bravo... La vidéo que j'attendais...Un tutoriel de A à Z pour un rookie.
C'était le but!
Cuiv, for some years I have been passionate about astrophotography also because you never stop learning and improving and thanks to your advice and teachings everything becomes easier. Thank you
It truly is my pleasure and honor, thanks for this feedback!
This is highly underrated video, it answers and covers all questions, thank you
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you for showing the entire process, with lots of clarity.
Thank you for all your amazing efforts to produce this video! I hope I can utilize your step-by-step tutorial to get images with as much detail and clarity as you have produced. I can't believe how far we have come in the last 50 years regarding the acquisition of deep sky object.
A superb review and tutorial , excellent in every way.
Great work, as ever Cuiv! Your infectious enthusiasm and knowledge inspired me a year ago to take up astrophotography and watching this new video reminded me why. 😊👍👍
Excellent Barry! Glad I could help propagate the astrophotography virus :D
Just unboxed my Dwarf2 today...and clear skies tonight. Gotta go give this a shot. Great tips on the layering and adjustments!
I hope everything goes well!
Hi Cuvi, wow I'm just blown away how mighty Pixinsight is. I couldn't belive that there is such a difference!
Thank you for your as always honest and well made videos.
Cheers
Thanks so much! Yes, PixInsight with those tools is amazing
WHOA!
Thanks so much for sharing this! My anxiety about processing images are greatly reduced!
Can’t wait for my DwarfII to be delivered
Much, much appreciated
Thanks Cuiv.
Happy it helped! Enjoy the scope once it's delivered!
Wow, what an incredible tutorial Cuiv, thank you so much for producing this and its also a great run through of the little scope.
So many quirks and oddities with my Dwarf2 to work around....but I'm loving every second it.
Such a great camera for daytime also. I went to a small airport, and the tracking worked amazing...stayed with the airplanes for entire Touch-n-Go landing and take-off loops pilots were practicing.
Haven't had much luck tracking birds in flight, but birds swimming, otters, and beavers were all good targets if you are always ready to reset tracking manually.
Wide-angle lens manual settings are a little finicky, and turning it to auto will achieve exposure times that are unavailable with manual mode.
All in all, if anyone is still waiting for theirs to arrive...it has been worth the wait and I'm loving mine. Hopefully they continue to fix the bugs...and offer an API like they mentioned.
There's so much that could be done with this hardware with an open API. Dwarf is too busy fulfilling orders, but I would be super excited to see what people can accomplish with an ooen API.
A tutorial on a workflow of capturing audio and then adding it to video so it's synced properly would be very helpful...as this is great for daytime video, but no audio is a real bummer for nature shots.
Now I want to go to Haneda airport and track planes :)
Cuiv, thank you for being so thorough, clear, funny, knowledgeable, and a delight to learn from. I have been so disappointed when someone with all the right equipment and knowledge does not convey their message clearly. It becomes so difficult to follow the content. You are a professional and it is a pleasure to subscribe to your channel. I’m really considering this option to give astrophotography a try. Thanks again.
Glad this is helpful, and thank you for your feedback! Welcome to the channel!
I'm waiting for my Dwarf II, thank you so much for this tutorial!
Hope you get it soon!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek ordered in december, still "unfulfilled". I'll take my time to learn better how I'll use it :-)
I've been considering this telescope so this video was very informative. Excellent explaination.
Thank you!
A great tutorial for us beginners! Thank's. I liked the interactive dig image prosessing.
Glad you enjoyed!
Thanks Cuiv..I got my D2 yesterday and luckily there were relatively clear ( bortle 6) skies last night. I managed to image M51 and process with Siril and my Samsung A71 only because of your tutorial...
Awesome!! I'm so glad this helped!!
My DwarfII will finally arrive on a slow boat from China on the 14th of April, so a bit of a wait from my January order. Thanks for the inspiration with this video Cuiv, I can’t wait to use it in anger.
Hope you enjoy it!
I hope the post-processing for the Seestar S50 is less complicated than this, because this process is daunting and discouraging for a beginner.The more the smartscope can perform the steps that are reepeated every time on the computer, the better.
This is an advanced processing tutorial to get the most out of the scope - it's optional, the scope has in-body stacking! It's the same for the Seestar S50, you can just use the scope in-body stacking and call it a day, process the stacked frame, or stack from scratch
Cuiv! Ah you made me feel better spending my hard earned money on PI and Russ's tools 🙂 This was a nice tutorial that will become valuable to Dwarf II customers and people new to image processing. Well done as always my friend! Clear Skies!
Glad I could help psychologically :p
Thank you for a very informative video. Best video out there on the Dwarf telescope and post processing images. Can't wait for mine to arrive it's been shipped. Thank you again.
Glad you enjoyed it! And I hope you receive your Dwarf 2 soon!
I want to thank you for this amazing video and the detailed walkthrough all the steps from a to z… a must video for all beginners … can’t wait to do all the steps and see what i can get
Considering the low cost and the limitations of a telescope with a small diameter lens, the processing has yielded a really acceptable result. Thanks Cuiv. 🙂👍
Brilliant, absolutely Brilliant!...so grateful I found your channel.
Thanks Cuiv, great video.I just got first light with my Dwarf on M51. Siril and gimp gave me a better than expected result.
Excellent to hear! I'm glad this video helped!
Superb tutorial as ever. Hopefully you will be able to make another video tutorial that shows how to carry out a Polar Alignment with the actual Dwarf 2.
On the Todo list :)
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Great stuff - keep them coming 🙂
What an amazing image for this super inexpensive scope when processed with PixInsight. I guess with even a crude polar alignment you should get a wider field for integration? It would be interesting to see how this scope works on a less bright nebula. Great work as always.
Yep, it would provide a much wider field over a long integration time with even crude polar alignment!
I'm waiting for a good faint nebula + new moon to test it at a dark site! Maybe Rho Ophiuchi!
Grazie.
Wow, thank you so much for your support!!
Thanks for the great video, My Dwarf2 is due to be shipped in March, I'm anxiously waiting, Clear skies from Germany.
Hope you get it soon!
I ordered a Dwarf II today based on this video alone. WAY better results than I get on my Celestron C6 with my Canon T3i.
I'm super happy to hear that! The C6 "naked" with a DSLR is an incredibly difficult beast!
Cuiv, thanks a lot!! best tutorial i've seen for D2
I own the eVscope and Vespera telescopes (I am an original investor on these) and just purchased the Seestar S50 & Dwarf II. Great video, thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Thank you sir. I am awaiting mine and have been following you for sometime hoping for this video. You are greatly appreciated by so many. ❤
Thanks Matthew, hope you get it soon!
This is a great tutorial
Fantastic video. Extremely useful for beginners. Not sure I would bother with Pixinsight/Gimp as I thought the image was just fine straight out of Siril.
Thanks Dave! Completely agree, it depends on each user!
This is a truly remarkable video tutorial - a thousand thanks would not be enough!
Glad it was helpful!
@55:44 where you said you kept 461 of the frames...are you sure you weren't just on frame #461?
I'm currently trying to follow this tutorial as a first time Siril user...and I'm not getting that number to change or show how many I've rejected or kept. It just shows which frame I'm currently looking at for me.
Another thing that might help first timers...and maybe it's explained and I missed it, or it's coming up in the video later...is I wasn't recognizing any of my images in Siril (compared to the stacked picture Dwarf 2 automatically makes). For me Siril has flipped the pictures vertically. Not rotated, but flipped along the horizontal axis from what you see in the night sky, while shooting, and the final stacked version on Dwarf2. This really threw me off for hours...because unless you're a long time astrophotographer and very familiar with all these star layouts...a random upside down flip is very disorienting as to what you're looking at...making you think you opened the wrong folder if you have dozens upon dozens of folders of similar targets.
Wish me luck on finishing this Siril tutorial!
Fantastic tutorial, I'm waiting to see more of the seestar to choose which one to buy.
WOW WOW what a GREAT tutorial makes me want a Dwarf 2 ( Start Saving as of now )
It's a really cool little device :-)
Thanks
Thank you for your support!!
Wow Cuiv, great review, I watched it all😀 Super image of Orion! This new technology is changing the game!
Clear skies
Thanks Simon!!
Great video! I have been at my wits end trying to figure out how to do this stuff on my own. My computer is full of different pieces of software all touting that they are great and easy to use, some free, many relatively costly all to no avail. I am sure that they all work on some level and it is just an issue of my not understanding the total process and how it all works together. Your video had been a big help in my understanding of what it takes to make good photos. For now I will stick with Siril and Gimp for a while.
Great walkthrough, Cuiv. I'm considering one of these for travel use. I travel at least 2 weeks a month for work. The optics make it unlikely though. If I could find a more airline friendly mount I'd be on the way with the rest of my setup. Regarding "pay to win" with the software....paying a couple hundred dollars for better software beats paying to win by spend thousands for a better scope, thousands more for a better camera, etc. THAT is paying to win...lol.
Thank you Cuiv! This review/tutorial helped me so much!
Wow thank you so much! I was wondering why I was having so many blue pixel streaks on my stacked image until you showed us how to process it on Sirl, it fixed all the hot pixel issues! Wow thank you so much, subscribed!
Glad I could help!
Thanks for the great comparison between Pixinsight and Siri; very educational
Thanks!
Thank you!
i think that comparison of pixinsight vs siril is a great ad, really shows the power of it
Great video Cuiv - Thanks!
Glad you liked it!
Indeed a greatly helpful video - especially for those who want to enter into this hobby. IMO, I think it makes sense to have Dwarf II for those who want to start into this hobby - instead of purchasing the star tracker. I think so because this approach allows one to get started with the entire workflow including processing - which is the most important step. One can of course later buy an EQ mount, and other goodies like telescope, camera etc. to upgrade to the next level. Do you agree?
I agree it's a great and cheap way to get into the hobby!
I recieved my Dwarf2 this week but the weather asn't played along yet. Hoping to get some photography one next week when I visit my daughter where the bortle is about 3, much better tan here. In the meantime this tutorial has been invaluable, fantastic amount of help and advice. Bring on the clear , dark nights
Bortle 3 will be awesome! Enjoy!
Thank you Cuiv. Just goes to show how one can turn a sow's ear into a silk purse with processing skills like yours, along with a considerable amount of time (and $350 for the pay-to-win astro software).
I have just ordered a Dwarf 2 and this video has made me so excited!! I wondered if you have Photoshop, and could demonstrate how to edit the picture using it?
Unfortunately I've never used Photoshop, and don't own it :(
Much thanks for this great workflow. What an amazing result!
Best wishes an clear skies!🙌🏼✨💫
Thank you! You too!
Thank you for your excellent tutorial! I'm waiting for my Dwarf II to be shipped, and can't wait to try this. I also use mostly FOSS software, so the instruction in Siril and GIMP is just what I needed. You are an excellent teacher.
Glad it was helpful!
Hey Cuiv! Would love to see an in-depth tutorial on Polar aligning the Dwarf II. I am still waiting on my unit, but Id love to be able to avoid field rotation issues once I receive my device! Also, do you know if Deepsky stacker is still having issues with creating a black and white image with the Dwarf? Is that related to the depayer GBRG you showed in Siril?
Thanks for the great content. I have learned copious amounts from your videos. Good luck and clear skies!
Thanks Miguel, I can certainly do such a tutorial! I have no idea about DSS though...
Both processes are incredible to me! Thanks, Cuiv! 👍
Excellent video, I’ve learnt so much. Many thanks👍
When you created the "mask" of the Orion nebula in Pixinsight near the end of the video, did you also include the stars in the mask ? Maybe if you had a starless image or made a mask of the starts, then the curves saturation change would not affect the stars as well ?? Thanks.
a spectacular tutorial. A question about the black squares. In several tutorials they mention that before capturing any image (you can even do it before taking the telescope out) you should make an astro dark capture of the black squares and it seems that this would improve the process and stack results of the telescope itself, so I didn't understand very well why you do it after the capture.
The goal is to take the dark frames at roughly the same temperature as the lights. I find that taking them after, once the sensor has warmed up but the night cooled down, works great, but before will work just as well
@@CuivTheLazyGeek also i see that when using the paid software you choose the file result of the stacking with the free software, so, can't the paid software do the stacking and the whole process or you have to use 2 different software?
Thanks for the lesson! Ill be using this when my Dwarf2 finally arrives.
Hope you enjoy!
Thanks for the great video. I'm looking forward to processing images once I receive my SeeStar S50 (November/December) which I learned about from one of your videos, yesterday. Had to buy. Looks like PixInsight and the Blur/Noise XTerminators may damage the wallet some more. I'll give the free tools a try along with Luminar Neo for noise reduction and structure enhancement as it has some good AI extensions. If that's a no go, then I'll be paying to win as that image looked awesome. I'll be shooting mostly from light polluted areas in the Inland Empire east of Los Angeles (Bortle 8).
You sir, are the man. Thank you so much for all the time and detail you put into your videos .I too am waiting on dwarf to ship my order. Was supposed to ship in Feb but i guess it'll be March. In the mean time I'll be studying your vids.
Hope it arrives soon!
Thanks for the workflow. I cannot tell from the video if you have a good amount of exposure to the sky without many obstructions in left and right directions. How did you get to calibrate successfully with such limited exposure to the sky only in one direction...again I cannot tell from the video the amount of sky exposure you have. I've been having a tough time calibrating my dwarf2 even with a good amount of sky exposure.
Ah this is the review I was looking for. I think you’re the only one to get decent results from the dwarf data by using decent software. At least now i know the data is not bad. I have a few pro rigs but some nights (like tonight) I just don’t want to drag all the gear outside. This compact gizmo will be great for these lazy times haha
Fab video!! Wow. So impressed
Thanks Graeme!
Haha no problem. My dwarf arrived the other day but I had to return the uhc filter as blue/defective! I presume I wouldn't need this for say andromeda anyway? Thanks
Another great vid Cuiv - mine is on the way so thanks!
Hope you enjoy it!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Thanks as yes looking forward to getting my hands on it for sure! 👍
A great video tutorial Cuiv.. I hope that this inspires many people to have a go at budget Astrophotography!
Thanks Martyn! That is definitely my hope!
Hi Cuiv, I just received my Dwarf II. My first target was the Rosette Nebula, I was just going for the open star cluster, black and white. It went well. Last night I attempted the same target, this time with an exposure time of 8, gain of 80 and IR on Pass. 399 photos. I ran into issues with not getting the exposure time and gain for the TELE lens to "stick". I selected the appropriate parameters and as soon as I started the capture, the exposure and gain reverted back to the lowest values.
The device used with the GUI was a Pixel Slate running android. The second device was my phone, a Pixel 6A .. same issue. I tried my old Android phone with is a Motorola Zforce 2 running Android 9. I was able to set the exposure and gain parameters but there were several menus that were overlaid by the record button, the parameters in the pull down list were not accessible. What device are you using to run the GUI ?
That sounds like a bug... I haven't had this issue although at the end of a live stacking session the exp length gets reset to one second. Maybe report this to Dwarflab?
I use a Pixel 6A
Thanks for this very informative video. Oh my got it is a complete training instruction. PERFECT ..THANK YOU!!!!
WOAW !!!!!!! astonished. I did not thought we could get something like that with the Dwarf II (even with the post production you did). Pixlnsight seems to be very vert powerfull !!! Thanks for the sharing. Now the 2 objects I mainly saw captured with the dwarf II were M31 and M42. is it beacause of their size, their brightness or their popularity?
They are big and bright. That helps a lot when imaging them with a setup like the Dwarf II.
Thanks! And yes these are bright objects so it's easy to demonstrate the Dwarf 2 with them - but others are definitely possible as well!
Great video really helped in understanding Siril and difference to pixinsight Thanks
Great to hear, thanks for the feedback!
Very nice review. I just got mine, is it better to leave IR to pass to take pictures of galaxies and nebulae?
Very very good review of the Dwaf ll scope
Thanks 👍!
First of all, congratulations on your great video and on your new telescope.
I have had several astrographs of the same style with very similar configurations and I really lost a lot of valuable time with the issue of collimation and unwanted reflections. I finally ended up with an Evostar 120ED and the truth is that it is a great telescope in terms of quality/price. I wish you good luck with all the adjustment tasks... Greetings from Spain...!!!
Still waiting for my Dwarf II, but Dwarf Labs have kept me informed and discussed the issue with the light pollution filter being off-band. They are replacing that, before shipping. Initially it was going to be shipped to me in February, I ordered in early November. Looking forward to it. I have other systems, I will be donating the Dwarf to one of my nieces.
Thank you ! for this free resource/video Cuiv. I have a question (i have not searched all the comments) : how do you work out the symmetry point for GHS in Siril? I could not work out exactly how you knew the point as the change in direction of the slope - 1 on the left and 1 on the right. Also is there an email address to contact you at all ? Many thanks. Bill
Am interested in starting with astrophotography and am looking for the right entry hardware. Thank you for illustrating what is possible with the images of dwarf2 combined with the rigth choice of software for post processing. Already looked some other pixinsight tutorials. But yours is the one which lets me decide to start with Hardware like dwarf2 + spending some more effort in post processing. Will try to apply your step by step explanation when i have the hardware available. Thank you so much for this valuable video
Good luck and have fun!
What a great tutorial. I've been looking at the Dwarf II because of its ease of use. And I would certainly classify myself as a hobbyist who wants to dabble in this occasionally. Pretty amazing what you were able to get out of it using the paid software.
Seems like an amazing little device. Are you still enjoying it?
Oh yes I'm still enjoying it! That's what I recommend to beginners these days because it's a really good way to get started
@@CuivTheLazyGeek awesome! Thank you!
I saw your video about building your own smart telescope. Not in my budget just yet but really helpful. Glad I found your channel. Thanks for the reply!
Hi Cuiv, After watching you video,I ordered Dwarf2 in March 1. I plan to use this tool when I feel tired to set up the telescope, but the sky is clear. Anyway,this is the third time I have bought the tools you recommend. The 1st one was “HyperStar” for Celestron C6,and the 2nd one was IDAS filter for HyperStar. I am looking forward to watch your next video. Ganbatte kuda sai.
Thank you! I hope you enjoy the Dwarf 29 once you receive it!
It is always important to read the agreement "Carefully".
VERY carefully :)