Great video, I love your sense of humour. You did the best explanation I have seen in any video of alt-az vs equatorial thanks to your space mustard! I also have never seen a Seestar video cover the comparison of FOV between it and a C11. That alone along with your ending on who is it for, would convince many to buy it. Note: Can't wait for your full tutorial/review where you could cover the latest firmware including station mode and the ability to specify up to 30 second exposures and set focus manually. Great Job!
one 'disadvantage' of the Seestar's field of view that he didn't really cover is that the FoV is 'portrait' mode (taller than it is wide), which makes capturing larger objects, like the Andromeda galaxy, problematic. Also, the Seestar isn't so good for planetary astronomy---moon is good, and you'll be able to barely see Jupiter and Saturn, but not in great detail---the C11 is much better suitable for this.
Bought one for my wife and I for Christmas ! This thing is so fun to use that it almost bega to be taken outdoors. Your review touched on all the major points ! Well done !
A friend of mine has one and it is so simple to use and impressive I said to him a few months ago that some people would dismantle it and improve it and now they are they are putting in far better sensors and producing incredible images. For the price this is a game changer in Astro photography. Buy one
@@CatholicSoldierXto my knowledge you can’t unfortunately. you’re pretty much stuck with the small crappy sensor they have in there already. it may be possible to replace it yourself but it could be extremely risky
This thing got me laid. Was just minding my own business in the forest taking pics when a girl comes walking through. She was interested in what I was doing. So we talked and showed her the pics I had taken. She was very interested, we exchanged numbers. Met up a few other times to star gaze and hang out. We started dating a little later on and here we are. 😂
That thing helped you build a relationship. But it was you she was interested in, not the stars. And as Mae West famously said, " A man is always more interested in a woman who is interested in them, than a woman with great legs."
I don’t have this device but I do have a telescope and there’s not a single woman I’ve talked to that doesn’t find it cool. I’m starting to see someone and she wants to go out with me next time I take my telescope out
I just got mine yesterday and decided to try to get the orion nebula. I was really surprised by now much it got after two minutes! Unfortunately I couldn't get any more because the clouds and fog rolled in but you can definitely tell it's the orion nebula. I really appreciate that you went over every aspect of this telescope and how long you spent imaging with it. Unfortunately the fog and clouds will be in my area for the next two months at least but I'm very excited to see what I get. So far for me it's worth the hype. And it's not too cumbersome to bring out to show friends who wouldn't be into all the technical mumbo jumbo of my usual set up. And I love the idea of being able to take it out spur of the moment since I get off work at 11pm. ❤
That was an awesome review, i know nothing about telescopes or photography and this was all so easy for me to follow. Ive been looking at this for a while and im convinced i wanna get 1
Hi , great review, thanks . i bought mine a couple of weeks ago at the London Astrofest (European astrofest really!) 2024. Carried it home on the London Underground and a short bus ride as well! That in itself is brilliant and it does everything you described so eloquently ! I am primarily a visual amateur astronomer using a push to Dobsonian.My refractor telescope and the Go to mount are parked indoors as I have not really learnt their use well. ZWO Seestar s50 has made me an Imager. The simplicity of use is incredible. I have imaged M42 with ease and also the Sun. Waiting for Clerer skies now.
I love your show, very informitive, lots of fun humor, I love it. I am getting closer to buying a Telescope now and reallize I can buy the smart scope and , a 16 inch dob. Both are very easy to stow away with out taking up much room in my future camper. I would get the DOB first. These are super special custom DOBS and can be calapseable even though they are big and around 10.000$ for a 20 inch. They are over a hundred pounds or close to it and, very bulky but no step ladder is nessacary. thank god.
Thanks so much for the review. I wake up a lot at night and have been looking at the night sky with my Wyze outdoor camera (yeah I know) so I want to go to the next level without having to spend thousands. Your review has made up my mind. Thanks again.
Wow! This seems what i have been waiting for at a price i was dreaming. I would definitely use it much much much more than my current setup of: skyguiderpro + guiderscope + zwo asiair plus + ff camera + lens. Thanks for the review!
I've used it in -12 C without any problems (iphone), so maybe a faulty device. Also remember to turn on the lens heater when using it in cold/damp environments.
Mine will be here Tuesday I'm very excited. For the last year I rebuilt a broken telescope I got for free and have been using that for lunar photography only. I've noticed the seestar gets alot of hate for not being a "real" astrophotography setup but I have several different hobbies and if I dumped several thousand into a rig I couldn't do my other hobbies, so $500 is perfect for the quality of images you can get from the little star toaster
Thank you for an excellent review. My Seestar was delivered yesterday and so I was a little nervous anticipating how you would comment on this scope! I have a 10" Meade in my backyard but need a lightweight to take (as hand luggage) on holiday. The standard price here in the UK is £539 - as always everything is £s for $s. Grrr!
Ha! Yeah living out in the country is nice but you have to deal with all sorts of creatures jumping out in front of you at night. I got tired of spending $800 on new bumpers so I just used zip ties and DUCT TAPE until I get a new vehicle 😂 One of my nearest neighbors has hit two deer just this month also. The front of his car is looking a lot like mine now 😬😂
@@deltaastrophotography I live out in the country myself. I'm on a 56 acre "farm". We don't farm but that's what we call our properties. I actually have a piece of wire tied up on the bumper of my truck lol. Lost a bolt and all I had was some wire. Can't say that country folk aren't resourceful! I'd trade a lot of things to have your knowledge when it comes to astrophotography!!!! I've also noticed you're a musician, I am as well. I'm 43 and been playing since I was 7 so 36 years lol. Hell I'm still getting the gear together to start deep sky which SUUUUCKS. So far I've done Milky Way and some simple stuff.
I started doing astro around 2 years ago with my phone and DSLR. When I started looking for a tracking mount, it looked so like there's a huge monopoly going on; I just couldn't understand why a basic tracker costs $500. With smart scopes coming out, there's no point for a casual person to buy a tracker when you can have all in one tool for astrophotography for around the same price. Of course, it's not the same learning curve and quality as a dedicated setup, but it gets close. And the existing smart telescopes look very worthy of the prize, and with improvements in the future (an EQ mount would be amazing, but you have to manually align maybe that's why it's not implemented, but some existing ones can be aligned to the polar axis, which will reduce field rotation.), it will be the most economical way for starters to explore the sky (other than planets ig).
Not really it is a different tool. S50 sensor size is 5.6 x 3.2mm / 1920x1080 pixel / 2 mega pixel. APS-C sensor = 22.1 X 14.8 mm ( almost 4X) and can do 24 mega pixel Seestar S50 is a point and shoot beginning astrophotography tool. but can't be upgraded latter. BTW i have seetar and other astro photo gear too.
@@sofjanmustopoh7232 Indeed, more than a point and shoot i think is like a phone camera vs dslr. However regardless of the enormous difference in the results quality, the phone camera is the one tha is always with you and more used.
If you already have a DSLR your argument does not make much sense, a small tracker that cost something aroud 400 euros Will enable you depending the lens you have, to do milkyway widefield until something like a 200mm lens with long exposure if you nail polar alignment, the seestar os a gimick with no room to expand, makes sense on a extremely narrow sense
@@joseribeiro9564 It is true what you say, tracker like SkyGuider + DSLR with zoom lens definitely better than current smart scopes. But it is still much easier to have an all in one cheap setup for a casual observer who just want to see what's in the sky without hassle, nothing serious (All automated, don't have to worry about settings, polar allignment, locating DSOs etc). I am optimisitc that price to performance will increase in these small scopes and it will be ideal for people who just want something that just works and takes pictures (Works pretty well for a 'gimmick' 😂).
@@joseribeiro9564 no, as the time to set up align etc a more complex gear is considerable, vs the 2 minutes it takes to set up the seetstar. So, yes a tracker is way more versatile, Seestar is extremely practical at least to me. Of course you have the limitations you mentioned regarding widefield and possibilities to expand (ZWO could add some feature via software maybe ). But apples to apples. Seestar is not a gimick.
I’ve been wondering the same thing. I’ve asked several users, and they all agree 100% that these are real images because you can see imperfections and view the images individually. However, I still find it fascinating how a small telescope can capture these images and stack them so beautifully.
Seeing how this can also be used for non astrophotography purposes like landscape photography proves the optics are very much so real and not taking photos from a database, ZWO would’ve already been called out for BS like Samsung was when it got caught faking moon photos using AI It’s pretty hard to conceal this all it takes is for one person to bust the floodgates open
Thanks for the info about the Seestar S50. I've followed your link to the manufacturer and will consider it. Bummer about the no connect in cold weather though as where I live we do get freezing temps and snow. I still have my Canon 5d which is also full frame digital but haven't even charged the batteries in 3 years or more. Been in kind of a funk. 😞 Thumb up here. 🙂
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere. I’m waiting for the pro model with the interchangeable focal lengths.. Is there such an item. No.. but they should come out with one very soon.
I just received an S 50 for Christmas. I am a complete noob however so far I love it. I wanted it to shoot SpaceX launches, since the launchpad is only about 5 miles away. I just wish that the compass mode that is available in the celestial mode Would also be available in the scenery mode. That way I could use the iPhone to spot the target and have the S 50 move to the Target. I can’t wait until the next launch to see how well it works.
@@jamesdavies3223 Not hard. Mine was on order for over a month. Then one day I got to the motel and the front desk called to tell me I had a package. Oh yea I guess that thing finally showed up. Had kinda forgot about it after I ordered it.
Grat video. However, when simulating the field of view, I think you should also put the aperture at 50 mm, for the S50 is an F5. Or it doesn't matter? Cheers and clear skies!
The low 2k resolution is my concern. I guess you could you topaz to enhance the resolution but that may create artifacts. I still am tempted. If they came out with a better sensor and longer exposures, I would happily pay twice the price. I feel like the longer I wait, the better this already amazing tech is going to get.
I filmed so many scenes for this video that got left of the cutting room floor. I can't remember if I included this or not, but I have called this the Tiktok telescope. The photos come out in vertical format and look fine on Instagram and Tiktok. I wouldn't print them out and hang them on the wall though. I still like my DSLRs and cooled astronomy camera for high res.
I own a Seestar since one week now and it's just amazing. What puzzles me isn't the overall quality of the all-in-one smartscope, it's its price. The product isn't "crazy good" by itself, you'll do better with a classical astrophotography set-up... but relatively to its cost ? It's in-sane ! For that amount of money, let's be honest, you can barely get an APN camera and its main basic standard lens. To get a 50mm APO triplet, a tracking mount, a camera, a good dual-band filter, the soft and the computer to process your images for 500 dollars or so, in an instrument compact enough to enter in your small luggage, It's unbelievable. Now, I confirm about what you said : the Seestar doesn't like the cold. I had malfunction problems too, under 0°C (when it started to freeze). It's a bit frustrating, considering that we are in... winter ! ... BTW, did you notice about Godzilla, just sitting in your lounge ??
Thanks for this information. About to order a Seestar and was a bit worried about the freezing conditions. I live in the middle of Kansas and winter is running around freezing at night.
I received mine a month ago. Works on landscape and the moon, but can't focus on DSO'S! Only had 2 clear? , nights since I got it😮. As always your videos are hilarious. If this ends up okay, your review will be the one I show my friends, to sway them toward buying one.
I’m glad your link lead to highpoint scientific. They’ve been good to work with for me. Also I noticed a lot of seasoned astronomers are having fun with this scope. That’s what sold me.
Ohh your M42 images is much better that what I got from 20' exposure in a city center. Now, the fun begins, I must increase the exposure and take the car to a dark place. Oh, I think the critics on alt-az mount might be too much, many people have to get up early the next day, and one hour under the sky is all what we can afford.
Thanks for the info about connecting in the cold. I’m looking at temps in the teens and lower twenties over the next two weeks and even lower typically this time of year. It would be a plus to be able to sit in the warm house and have no worries about using this smart-scope. This is making me reconsider. Should I buy this?
Wonderful review i just bought the S50 early morning and can’t wait to see the result! I had 130eq still have it and love it, what rig would you also recommend for planetary and even deep sky ? I was thinking about 12’ Dobsonian but i dunno anything about what DSLR camera to use or what tool for good pics
I was thinking about getting a telescope for astrophotography. The smart telescope option was an option but I want to use an e-mount t2 adapter on a full frame ultimately. Celestron seems to be popular although the different configurations and where to use a startracker has added complexity. Also when do you use colour filters to highlight and boost the images captured. This I need to research. Entertaining video.
Great video!!!, I had mine a few days ago but I'm getting a lot of errors even with clear sky on Orion nebula. " the image gets star trails and is discarded". It has been updated, leveled. any help will be appreciated
I want to buy one😮, but Please excuse my ignorance So to fix the “altitude azimuth mount to equatorial mount, if the manufacturer made in the future version 2, is it possible to install a motor inside camera body to rotate only the inside camera to achieve the required image, still i might buy this one but hoping for V2
Best review of the S50 I've seen. No one cares to explain the difference between Alt AZ and Equatorial and even the field of view. Great job! Question, what tripod do you recommend to use it at a higher position?
Manfrotto 055 or Vanguard alta pro. They are stable and can be adjusted to max height of around 170cm (around not exactly 170), so for astrophotgraphy they can do really well
Regarding cold environments . . have you considered an electric blanket? I know they work for standard cameras in freezing circumstances, as do home-made rigs using pocket warmers or even battery powered warming jackets. Just keep them clear of the tracking mechanism and I'd think you'd be okay. At the very least, set up a wireframe makeshift "tent" (for lack of a better word) around the S50 and drape the electric blanket over it. That way you're not interfering with the device at all
Has SeeStar come up with a way to allow it to work in Canada in the winter? I live in Saskatchewan where night temperatures drop below 0 celcius (32 F), from anytime during September, until late April or early May. (In Saskatchewan, where we have great night skies, the December to Feb. night time temperatures are usually between -20 and -35 C). Based on your review the SeeStar will not wrok here for 1/4 to 1/3rd of the year. Any thoughts?
@@donaldmackinnon5587 That seems to just be a problem with my unit. Most others haven't experienced it. But also I can put a portable heater next to mine and be fine!
Telescopius and Stellarium are much better with better visualisations and a way to change the angle, but I needed to use that FOV calculator to show the overlapping field of view boxes. It's pretty good for just that purpose!
The only reason I won't be buying one of these is I already have a Red Cat 51 set up controlled by an ASIAir mini which does the same thing but costs considerably more. The only difference is I have to do a polar alignment and I can change the camera. To be honest most set ups are easy to use these days when controlled by something like an ASIAir anyway. The Seestar 50 just puts all the elements into one package at a very reasonable price, I just wish they had brought this out four years ago, I could have saved myself a lot of money. There are already 3D printed accessories available for this scope such as filter holders and dew shields and I wouldn't be surprised if ZWO improved the design to permit the use of different sensors, perhaps even mono ones over the coming years. I'm sure many people will get hours of pleasure using these scopes and some will undoubtedly go on to buy more traditional scopes later on. Some traditionalists don't seem to like these scopes because they are fully automated so their argument is that people will never learn their way around the night sky and will get bored and give up. But I don't believe this, I think it will get more people interested in astronomy and maintain that interest.
Great video! With the vertical view how have you been at capturing say the Milky Way? How about non-night sky like say birds, off in the distance action etc. how does it compare to the Dwarf unit?
Interesting discussion on the field of view. Based on this I’d estimate it will have limited use during eclipse totality as the corona will extend well beyond the field of view, thoughts?
So the photos you get from it, are you expected to post process them in photoshop (or at least can you)? Like, do we get RAWs/TIFFs to work with? I’d love to see some of the shots you managed to get from it. Great video as always 👌🏽!
Yeah pretty much. You can get an hour a night on the same target for multiple nights in a row as long as you shoot at the same time each night. But I definitely don't recommend going over an hour on a single target. Now if you want to shoot a tiny galaxy where you have plenty of room to crop, then you can go longer.
I just find out when I outside doing astrophotography with the Celestron SE 6, I miss out of looking at other objects in the sky. Also, I thinking get the SeeStar over the AWO camera for the telescope, but because I am MAC users, the software for stacking is hard to find.
Thanks for the review! I am thinking about buying the SeeStar S50, but how would it work on the Milky Way and taking a photo of the Milky Way with a lighthouse, or a building, or a mountain in the foreground? Thanks!
I bought a seestar s50 , but honestly not really expecting it to blow me away. I have a Vespera and Vespera Passengers already , but passengers has been kinda like an Alpha testing program for Vespera Pro , but we had to pay 2 grand to join! If it’s anywhere near as good as the normal Vespera that’s a huge win for ZWO as it’s three times cheaper than its competitor. I’m anxious to try it, but not expecting it to blow me away , but I will be surprised if it holds up well against my Vespera’s! The passengers, it’s not a real fair competition. Passengers has an IMX 585 in place of the IMX 462 , but we’re having problems with vignetting and battery life is abysmal. Don’t recommend any purchase one until the updates come out and patch everything
I still can't find an explanation of what the final digital image is and where it resides. Is the end product a bunch of unstacked photos (FITS) that you will need to remove from the Seestar and use stacking software to reproduce? Or are simple already stacked photos saved as jpgs/tiffs (or some other common format) on your phone? Or is it both - already stacked jpgs to easily share with your friends and a series of photos you can stack yourself if you so desire? Thanks. I'm just not finding a clear explanation.
Oh man! I actually filmed that scene and cut it to keep the video from being 45 minutes long. I was going to make a tutorial and put it in that video. You get a single .fit and a single JPEG. The JPEG is very low res. If you turn on the "save individual frames" option there will be a separate folder with all of your light frames which are .fit files.
@@deltaastrophotography Thanks! I'm assuming the low res jpgs aren't worth sending to non-astronomy friends? I have GIMP so I assume I can stack in that program or some other free stacking program? Sorry to pester you but I'm new to this whole stacking process. I'm thinking about getting a Seestar S50 but if I have to get additional software or spend hours in post processing will it be worth it? Thanks again.
Yes all of them except when the video is fading out with end cards. That's just a photo of a Galaxy I put up while the video was fading out. In hindsight I shouldn't have done that.
How does it know that from which part of earth it is being used? I mean does it use some location input or we have to find one night sky object in-order for it to start finding other objects? I live in a city with lot of light pollution, will it manage everything on its own?
I'm pretty sure it uses GPS. It has no problems finding the sun on it's own. I haven't tested the strength of the light pollution filter in a city, but that's supposed to be what it's designed to do!
Sometimes... I don't work too well either when the temperature drops either! Here in NE, it does drop to down to the high 20's at this time of year.@@deltaastrophotography
@@hangerbird Yeah the night the Seestar's Wifi froze up it was 27°F outside. We don't get that kinda cold all the time here . Usually just a few weeks in January and February.
If you kept a larger battery hooked up to the USB power input it might work better in cold conditions. Also it will keep saving and stacking even if you loose WiFi connection, until it stops with battery discharge
I wouldn't say a lot, but yes they are color corrected, saturated, and have noise reduction on them. Some of them were re-stacked in DSS because the stacked photo from the SeeStar had planes and satellites.
Weird, my S50 has red power light and charge indicator lights. Or maybe the camera you used has weird color rendition. :) Also I recommend for easy leveling to get one of those $25-30 tripod leveling bases, they have 2 baseplates connected by 3 adjustable wheels. Slip one between the S50 and the tripod and it makes leveling far less frustrating.Unfortunately I'm in the north of New England and weather hasn't been cooperating with me wanting to use it more. Hopefully by March it will get better.
Thanks for the review. Your comparison of alt-az to equatorial was the clearest simplest one I have seen. Thanks.
Great video, I love your sense of humour. You did the best explanation I have seen in any video of alt-az vs equatorial thanks to your space mustard! I also have never seen a Seestar video cover the comparison of FOV between it and a C11. That alone along with your ending on who is it for, would convince many to buy it. Note: Can't wait for your full tutorial/review where you could cover the latest firmware including station mode and the ability to specify up to 30 second exposures and set focus manually. Great Job!
one 'disadvantage' of the Seestar's field of view that he didn't really cover is that the FoV is 'portrait' mode (taller than it is wide), which makes capturing larger objects, like the Andromeda galaxy, problematic. Also, the Seestar isn't so good for planetary astronomy---moon is good, and you'll be able to barely see Jupiter and Saturn, but not in great detail---the C11 is much better suitable for this.
True, but for the price, it can't be beat. Hopefully a future software update will allow for mosaics.
@@mikewarkentin8736 I don't mean to criticize it, I have one and it's awesome, just wanted to point those things out 🙂
No problem Void, it was a good catch. Happy New Year and Clear Skies!
Bought one for my wife and I for Christmas ! This thing is so fun to use that it almost bega to be taken outdoors. Your review touched on all the major points ! Well done !
Did exactly the same
A friend of mine has one and it is so simple to use and impressive I said to him a few months ago that some people would dismantle it and improve it and now they are they are putting in far better sensors and producing incredible images. For the price this is a game changer in Astro photography. Buy one
How can you upgrade it with better sensors?
@@CatholicSoldierXto my knowledge you can’t unfortunately. you’re pretty much stuck with the small crappy sensor they have in there already. it may be possible to replace it yourself but it could be extremely risky
Well that’s some bogus BS right there! You can’t swap out the sensor on this
Get the Dwarf Lab 3 instead. Supposed to be better
@@edaviss._ it is now effectively an 8mp sensor since a recent firmware update
This thing got me laid. Was just minding my own business in the forest taking pics when a girl comes walking through. She was interested in what I was doing. So we talked and showed her the pics I had taken. She was very interested, we exchanged numbers. Met up a few other times to star gaze and hang out. We started dating a little later on and here we are. 😂
That thing helped you build a relationship.
But it was you she was interested in, not the stars.
And as Mae West famously said, " A man is always more interested in a woman who is interested in them, than a woman with great legs."
she was starstruck!
@thewrongaccount608 😂😂😂🎉🎉
I don’t have this device but I do have a telescope and there’s not a single woman I’ve talked to that doesn’t find it cool. I’m starting to see someone and she wants to go out with me next time I take my telescope out
My S50 comes on Friday 😂
This was one of the best reviews videos I have ever seen! Appreciate all the good info.
Yay! I’ve been waiting for this video!!! I just received mine last Thursday. All clouds of course!!!!
Walt, your videos are always fun and entertaining. Keep up the great work!
Thank you! I can't believe how much hate the SeeStar is getting from the astro community. It's such an easy and fun unit!
Fun video Walt. You did I a great job. I believe these smart telescopes are here to stay and will get larger.
Best review on the Seestar yet, and great explanation of the equatorial mount.
Thanks!
Than YOU! That means a ton!
I just got mine yesterday and decided to try to get the orion nebula. I was really surprised by now much it got after two minutes! Unfortunately I couldn't get any more because the clouds and fog rolled in but you can definitely tell it's the orion nebula.
I really appreciate that you went over every aspect of this telescope and how long you spent imaging with it. Unfortunately the fog and clouds will be in my area for the next two months at least but I'm very excited to see what I get. So far for me it's worth the hype. And it's not too cumbersome to bring out to show friends who wouldn't be into all the technical mumbo jumbo of my usual set up. And I love the idea of being able to take it out spur of the moment since I get off work at 11pm. ❤
I'm adding this to my collection! Great review.
I really like how you explain everything with easy way, it's so much easier for me to understand. thanks a lot, you already got one sub!
Same for me
I just ordered this and it’ll be here next week. I’m super excited. It’s so hard to take good pics with your phone through a telescope lens
Thanks Walt for another great video - can't wait to see what you have planned!
That was an awesome review, i know nothing about telescopes or photography and this was all so easy for me to follow. Ive been looking at this for a while and im convinced i wanna get 1
Hi , great review, thanks . i bought mine a couple of weeks ago at the London Astrofest (European astrofest really!) 2024. Carried it home on the London Underground and a short bus ride as well!
That in itself is brilliant and it does everything you described so eloquently ! I am primarily a visual amateur astronomer using a push to Dobsonian.My refractor telescope and the Go to mount are parked indoors as I have not really learnt their use well.
ZWO Seestar s50 has made me an Imager. The simplicity of use is incredible.
I have imaged M42 with ease and also the Sun.
Waiting for Clerer skies now.
I love your show, very informitive, lots of fun humor, I love it. I am getting closer to buying a Telescope now and reallize I can buy the smart scope and , a 16 inch dob. Both are very easy to stow away with out taking up much room in my future camper. I would get the DOB first. These are super special custom DOBS and can be calapseable even though they are big and around 10.000$ for a 20 inch. They are over a hundred pounds or close to it and, very bulky but no step ladder is nessacary. thank god.
Thanks so much for the review. I wake up a lot at night and have been looking at the night sky with my Wyze outdoor camera (yeah I know) so I want to go to the next level without having to spend thousands. Your review has made up my mind. Thanks again.
Wow! This seems what i have been waiting for at a price i was dreaming.
I would definitely use it much much much more than my current setup of: skyguiderpro + guiderscope + zwo asiair plus + ff camera + lens.
Thanks for the review!
I've used it in -12 C without any problems (iphone), so maybe a faulty device. Also remember to turn on the lens heater when using it in cold/damp environments.
I see those Godzillas and Trendmasters Rodan in the background, I see you're a man of culture as well
Mine will be here Tuesday I'm very excited. For the last year I rebuilt a broken telescope I got for free and have been using that for lunar photography only. I've noticed the seestar gets alot of hate for not being a "real" astrophotography setup but I have several different hobbies and if I dumped several thousand into a rig I couldn't do my other hobbies, so $500 is perfect for the quality of images you can get from the little star toaster
Thank you for an excellent review. My Seestar was delivered yesterday and so I was a little nervous anticipating how you would comment on this scope! I have a 10" Meade in my backyard but need a lightweight to take (as hand luggage) on holiday. The standard price here in the UK is £539 - as always everything is £s for $s. Grrr!
Cheers Walt, I wasn't sure about the SeeStar, now you have me convinced. Great Video. Thanks.
Hey bro..... You've got DUCT TAPE on your car 🤣😆😂 I LOVE your work and your sense of humor! Keep it going brother!
Ha! Yeah living out in the country is nice but you have to deal with all sorts of creatures jumping out in front of you at night. I got tired of spending $800 on new bumpers so I just used zip ties and DUCT TAPE until I get a new vehicle 😂 One of my nearest neighbors has hit two deer just this month also. The front of his car is looking a lot like mine now 😬😂
@@deltaastrophotography I live out in the country myself. I'm on a 56 acre "farm". We don't farm but that's what we call our properties. I actually have a piece of wire tied up on the bumper of my truck lol. Lost a bolt and all I had was some wire. Can't say that country folk aren't resourceful! I'd trade a lot of things to have your knowledge when it comes to astrophotography!!!! I've also noticed you're a musician, I am as well. I'm 43 and been playing since I was 7 so 36 years lol. Hell I'm still getting the gear together to start deep sky which SUUUUCKS. So far I've done Milky Way and some simple stuff.
… did a mention? Your the best! So funny, so much info an entertainment.
14:16 ... FINALLY !! I would have gotten into astrophotography sooner in life but taking the goats to Walmart always got in the way.
Wonderful review, I was thinking about buying one, but decided to go with a SkyWatcher mount and telescope and dont regret it.
Excellent video and content. Extremely helpful & entertaining. I've subscribed to the channel, so keep them coming.
I started doing astro around 2 years ago with my phone and DSLR. When I started looking for a tracking mount, it looked so like there's a huge monopoly going on; I just couldn't understand why a basic tracker costs $500. With smart scopes coming out, there's no point for a casual person to buy a tracker when you can have all in one tool for astrophotography for around the same price. Of course, it's not the same learning curve and quality as a dedicated setup, but it gets close. And the existing smart telescopes look very worthy of the prize, and with improvements in the future (an EQ mount would be amazing, but you have to manually align maybe that's why it's not implemented, but some existing ones can be aligned to the polar axis, which will reduce field rotation.), it will be the most economical way for starters to explore the sky (other than planets ig).
Not really it is a different tool. S50 sensor size is 5.6 x 3.2mm / 1920x1080 pixel / 2 mega pixel. APS-C sensor = 22.1 X 14.8 mm ( almost 4X) and can do 24 mega pixel Seestar S50 is a point and shoot beginning astrophotography tool. but can't be upgraded latter. BTW i have seetar and other astro photo gear too.
@@sofjanmustopoh7232 Indeed, more than a point and shoot i think is like a phone camera vs dslr. However regardless of the enormous difference in the results quality, the phone camera is the one tha is always with you and more used.
If you already have a DSLR your argument does not make much sense, a small tracker that cost something aroud 400 euros Will enable you depending the lens you have, to do milkyway widefield until something like a 200mm lens with long exposure if you nail polar alignment, the seestar os a gimick with no room to expand, makes sense on a extremely narrow sense
@@joseribeiro9564 It is true what you say, tracker like SkyGuider + DSLR with zoom lens definitely better than current smart scopes. But it is still much easier to have an all in one cheap setup for a casual observer who just want to see what's in the sky without hassle, nothing serious (All automated, don't have to worry about settings, polar allignment, locating DSOs etc). I am optimisitc that price to performance will increase in these small scopes and it will be ideal for people who just want something that just works and takes pictures (Works pretty well for a 'gimmick' 😂).
@@joseribeiro9564 no, as the time to set up align etc a more complex gear is considerable, vs the 2 minutes it takes to set up the seetstar. So, yes a tracker is way more versatile, Seestar is extremely practical at least to me. Of course you have the limitations you mentioned regarding widefield and possibilities to expand (ZWO could add some feature via software maybe ). But apples to apples. Seestar is not a gimick.
Great info! Question, does this require internet access to use the app in the field? What about a remote observing site with no internet?
It uses it's own WLAN connection with your phone. No need for Internet Connection.
How do I know it’s not connecting with picture database?
I’ve been wondering the same thing. I’ve asked several users, and they all agree 100% that these are real images because you can see imperfections and view the images individually. However, I still find it fascinating how a small telescope can capture these images and stack them so beautifully.
Seeing how this can also be used for non astrophotography purposes like landscape photography proves the optics are very much so real and not taking photos from a database, ZWO would’ve already been called out for BS like Samsung was when it got caught faking moon photos using AI
It’s pretty hard to conceal this all it takes is for one person to bust the floodgates open
Great review. I have definitely subscribed and liked. But you do know those technique speakers in the background, those are white vans.😂
Ordered, thanks for the review!
Thanks for the info man just ordered one for my girl she's been interested in telescopes and things like that and this would be great for her
@@caspermarks9300 She's gonna love it!
This was so so helpful, thank you!
I got one last week--of course, haven't had a clear sky since; hopefully I get it out soon.
how is your experience with it ?
Thanks for the info about the Seestar S50. I've followed your link to the manufacturer and will consider it. Bummer about the no connect in cold weather though as where I live we do get freezing temps and snow. I still have my Canon 5d which is also full frame digital but haven't even charged the batteries in 3 years or more. Been in kind of a funk. 😞 Thumb up here. 🙂
Excellent video, informative, to the point, and with a touch of comedy. Thank you for sharing.
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere. I’m waiting for the pro model with the interchangeable focal lengths.. Is there such an item. No.. but they should come out with one very soon.
I just received an S 50 for Christmas. I am a complete noob however so far I love it. I wanted it to shoot SpaceX launches, since the launchpad is only about 5 miles away. I just wish that the compass mode that is available in the celestial mode Would also be available in the scenery mode. That way I could use the iPhone to spot the target and have the S 50 move to the Target. I can’t wait until the next launch to see how well it works.
Mine came in today. Totally forgot I ordered it! Day time nature photography is awesome!
how can you forget, that you ordered something like that?
@@jamesdavies3223 😂😂 I just built a new rig that’s all ZWO, and totally forgot about that one 🤷♂️
@@jamesdavies3223 Not hard. Mine was on order for over a month. Then one day I got to the motel and the front desk called to tell me I had a package. Oh yea I guess that thing finally showed up. Had kinda forgot about it after I ordered it.
Just bought mine it should be here on March 1 can't wait
I'm ready to purchase one !
Grat video. However, when simulating the field of view, I think you should also put the aperture at 50 mm, for the S50 is an F5. Or it doesn't matter? Cheers and clear skies!
The low 2k resolution is my concern. I guess you could you topaz to enhance the resolution but that may create artifacts. I still am tempted. If they came out with a better sensor and longer exposures, I would happily pay twice the price. I feel like the longer I wait, the better this already amazing tech is going to get.
I filmed so many scenes for this video that got left of the cutting room floor. I can't remember if I included this or not, but I have called this the Tiktok telescope. The photos come out in vertical format and look fine on Instagram and Tiktok. I wouldn't print them out and hang them on the wall though. I still like my DSLRs and cooled astronomy camera for high res.
@@deltaastrophotography - good to know and I appreciate your review and kind response.
Dwarf 2 now shoots in 4k...
Appreciate you frankness! @@deltaastrophotography
I am a new follower of your wonderful channel
I own a Seestar since one week now and it's just amazing. What puzzles me isn't the overall quality of the all-in-one smartscope, it's its price. The product isn't "crazy good" by itself, you'll do better with a classical astrophotography set-up... but relatively to its cost ? It's in-sane ! For that amount of money, let's be honest, you can barely get an APN camera and its main basic standard lens. To get a 50mm APO triplet, a tracking mount, a camera, a good dual-band filter, the soft and the computer to process your images for 500 dollars or so, in an instrument compact enough to enter in your small luggage, It's unbelievable. Now, I confirm about what you said : the Seestar doesn't like the cold. I had malfunction problems too, under 0°C (when it started to freeze). It's a bit frustrating, considering that we are in... winter !
...
BTW, did you notice about Godzilla, just sitting in your lounge ??
Would you be able to track SpaceX launch’s with this S50 ?? Thx for the review !
TY so much for the vid. I just ordered one.
Super info, we use the Seestar with station mode with our own WiFi and it doesn’t drop like their own WiFi. Clear skies and thanks
Thanks for this information. About to order a Seestar and was a bit worried about the freezing conditions. I live in the middle of Kansas and winter is running around freezing at night.
I received mine a month ago. Works on landscape and the moon, but can't focus on DSO'S! Only had 2 clear? , nights since I got it😮.
As always your videos are hilarious. If this ends up okay, your review will be the one I show my friends, to sway them toward buying one.
I’m glad your link lead to highpoint scientific. They’ve been good to work with for me. Also I noticed a lot of seasoned astronomers are having fun with this scope. That’s what sold me.
Good review buddy!
This guy is great! Subscribed.
Ohh your M42 images is much better that what I got from 20' exposure in a city center. Now, the fun begins, I must increase the exposure and take the car to a dark place. Oh, I think the critics on alt-az mount might be too much, many people have to get up early the next day, and one hour under the sky is all what we can afford.
I especially feel this in summer when it doesn't get dark till almost 10:00 at night. Who likes getting started that late?!
Thanks for the info about connecting in the cold. I’m looking at temps in the teens and lower twenties over the next two weeks and even lower typically this time of year. It would be a plus to be able to sit in the warm house and have no worries about using this smart-scope. This is making me reconsider. Should I buy this?
Wonderful review i just bought the S50 early morning and can’t wait to see the result! I had 130eq still have it and love it, what rig would you also recommend for planetary and even deep sky ? I was thinking about 12’ Dobsonian but i dunno anything about what DSLR camera to use or what tool for good pics
S30 is releasing soon! Smaller but mighty package.
Really great video! Great job!
Great review Walt, very helpful.👍
I was thinking about getting a telescope for astrophotography. The smart telescope option was an option but I want to use an e-mount t2 adapter on a full frame ultimately. Celestron seems to be popular although the different configurations and where to use a startracker has added complexity. Also when do you use colour filters to highlight and boost the images captured. This I need to research.
Entertaining video.
Great review. Can you connect it to a MacBook Air?
Great video!!!, I had mine a few days ago but I'm getting a lot of errors even with clear sky on Orion nebula. " the image gets star trails and is discarded". It has been updated, leveled. any help will be appreciated
I want to buy one😮, but Please excuse my ignorance So to fix the “altitude azimuth mount to equatorial mount, if the manufacturer made in the future version 2, is it possible to install a motor inside camera body to rotate only the inside camera to achieve the required image, still i might buy this one but hoping for V2
Best review of the S50 I've seen. No one cares to explain the difference between Alt AZ and Equatorial and even the field of view. Great job! Question, what tripod do you recommend to use it at a higher position?
Manfrotto 055 or Vanguard alta pro. They are stable and can be adjusted to max height of around 170cm (around not exactly 170), so for astrophotgraphy they can do really well
Regarding cold environments . . have you considered an electric blanket? I know they work for standard cameras in freezing circumstances, as do home-made rigs using pocket warmers or even battery powered warming jackets. Just keep them clear of the tracking mechanism and I'd think you'd be okay. At the very least, set up a wireframe makeshift "tent" (for lack of a better word) around the S50 and drape the electric blanket over it. That way you're not interfering with the device at all
Great review Walt thanks
Although a physicist, I'm pretty new to astronomy. This looks like a good starting scope and I like the portability n
I took this with me when I was shooting the eclipse. It was a hit! Every single person there saw how easy it was and immediately wanted one.
Has SeeStar come up with a way to allow it to work in Canada in the winter? I live in Saskatchewan where night temperatures drop below 0 celcius (32 F), from anytime during September, until late April or early May. (In Saskatchewan, where we have great night skies, the December to Feb. night time temperatures are usually between -20 and -35 C). Based on your review the SeeStar will not wrok here for 1/4 to 1/3rd of the year. Any thoughts?
@@donaldmackinnon5587 That seems to just be a problem with my unit. Most others haven't experienced it. But also I can put a portable heater next to mine and be fine!
@@deltaastrophotography Thanks for your note. I guess I will spend the money and see how it works in Saskatchewan.
Looks good for those of us with low frustration levels 😅
In the FOV calculator you needed to rotate 90° Unfortunately it's limited to portrait view
Telescopius and Stellarium are much better with better visualisations and a way to change the angle, but I needed to use that FOV calculator to show the overlapping field of view boxes. It's pretty good for just that purpose!
Regard the cold. Does this not have an internal heater?
The only reason I won't be buying one of these is I already have a Red Cat 51 set up controlled by an ASIAir mini which does the same thing but costs considerably more. The only difference is I have to do a polar alignment and I can change the camera. To be honest most set ups are easy to use these days when controlled by something like an ASIAir anyway. The Seestar 50 just puts all the elements into one package at a very reasonable price, I just wish they had brought this out four years ago, I could have saved myself a lot of money. There are already 3D printed accessories available for this scope such as filter holders and dew shields and I wouldn't be surprised if ZWO improved the design to permit the use of different sensors, perhaps even mono ones over the coming years. I'm sure many people will get hours of pleasure using these scopes and some will undoubtedly go on to buy more traditional scopes later on. Some traditionalists don't seem to like these scopes because they are fully automated so their argument is that people will never learn their way around the night sky and will get bored and give up. But I don't believe this, I think it will get more people interested in astronomy and maintain that interest.
In an future version could they not have the sensor on an rotating plate to make it equatorial?
Amazing video, thank you very much !
Hi, greeting from UAE thanks for the nice demo. By the way can i combine the moon shot with airplane while flying across or sunset?
Great video! With the vertical view how have you been at capturing say the Milky Way? How about non-night sky like say birds, off in the distance action etc. how does it compare to the Dwarf unit?
Interesting discussion on the field of view. Based on this I’d estimate it will have limited use during eclipse totality as the corona will extend well beyond the field of view, thoughts?
So the photos you get from it, are you expected to post process them in photoshop (or at least can you)? Like, do we get RAWs/TIFFs to work with? I’d love to see some of the shots you managed to get from it. Great video as always 👌🏽!
So Basically it's only good for imaging an Object for an hour at a time before you need to either reframe or choose another target?????
Yeah pretty much. You can get an hour a night on the same target for multiple nights in a row as long as you shoot at the same time each night. But I definitely don't recommend going over an hour on a single target. Now if you want to shoot a tiny galaxy where you have plenty of room to crop, then you can go longer.
I just find out when I outside doing astrophotography with the Celestron SE 6, I miss out of looking at other objects in the sky. Also, I thinking get the SeeStar over the AWO camera for the telescope, but because I am MAC users, the software for stacking is hard to find.
Siril is free stacking software and pretty fun to use once you get used to it. I call it the PixInsight free trial. It's pretty powerful software.
Thanks I will have to check out Siril.
@@deltaastrophotography
In what way will you use it to photo the eclipse?
Just got my seestar today, waiting for clear skies...
Thanks for sharing brother!
2MP Camera that I cannot swap? Need to think about it
Thanks for the review! I am thinking about buying the SeeStar S50, but how would it work on the Milky Way and taking a photo of the Milky Way with a lighthouse, or a building, or a mountain in the foreground? Thanks!
It's way too zoomed in for that. You are better off with a DSLR/Mirrorless camera or even your phone.
I bought a seestar s50 , but honestly not really expecting it to blow me away. I have a Vespera and Vespera Passengers already , but passengers has been kinda like an Alpha testing program for Vespera Pro , but we had to pay 2 grand to join!
If it’s anywhere near as good as the normal Vespera that’s a huge win for ZWO as it’s three times cheaper than its competitor. I’m anxious to try it, but not expecting it to blow me away , but I will be surprised if it holds up well against my Vespera’s!
The passengers, it’s not a real fair competition. Passengers has an IMX 585 in place of the IMX 462 , but we’re having problems with vignetting and battery life is abysmal. Don’t recommend any purchase one until the updates come out and patch everything
Great video Walt!! What kind of files does this device generate? How long is the battery life?
Thanks in advance!
I still can't find an explanation of what the final digital image is and where it resides. Is the end product a bunch of unstacked photos (FITS) that you will need to remove from the Seestar and use stacking software to reproduce? Or are simple already stacked photos saved as jpgs/tiffs (or some other common format) on your phone? Or is it both - already stacked jpgs to easily share with your friends and a series of photos you can stack yourself if you so desire? Thanks. I'm just not finding a clear explanation.
Oh man! I actually filmed that scene and cut it to keep the video from being 45 minutes long. I was going to make a tutorial and put it in that video. You get a single .fit and a single JPEG. The JPEG is very low res. If you turn on the "save individual frames" option there will be a separate folder with all of your light frames which are .fit files.
@@deltaastrophotography Thanks! I'm assuming the low res jpgs aren't worth sending to non-astronomy friends? I have GIMP so I assume I can stack in that program or some other free stacking program? Sorry to pester you but I'm new to this whole stacking process. I'm thinking about getting a Seestar S50 but if I have to get additional software or spend hours in post processing will it be worth it? Thanks again.
Can you hook up the seestar to a sky tracker?
Are the pictures at the end of the video from the device?
Yes all of them except when the video is fading out with end cards. That's just a photo of a Galaxy I put up while the video was fading out. In hindsight I shouldn't have done that.
@@deltaastrophotography But they are very beautiful and clear.😮 How many hours did you photograph each one of them?
How does it know that from which part of earth it is being used? I mean does it use some location input or we have to find one night sky object in-order for it to start finding other objects? I live in a city with lot of light pollution, will it manage everything on its own?
I'm pretty sure it uses GPS. It has no problems finding the sun on it's own. I haven't tested the strength of the light pollution filter in a city, but that's supposed to be what it's designed to do!
Good review.... I see the major issue is that is seems that you can't bring it out too far if there's no wifi. Or am I wrong on that point?
It produces it's own wifi. It just doesn't seem to work well when it's below freezing.
Sometimes... I don't work too well either when the temperature drops either! Here in NE, it does drop to down to the high 20's at this time of year.@@deltaastrophotography
@@hangerbird Yeah the night the Seestar's Wifi froze up it was 27°F outside. We don't get that kinda cold all the time here . Usually just a few weeks in January and February.
If you kept a larger battery hooked up to the USB power input it might work better in cold conditions. Also it will keep saving and stacking even if you loose WiFi connection, until it stops with battery discharge
It appears you did a lot of post processing with the stacked images
I wouldn't say a lot, but yes they are color corrected, saturated, and have noise reduction on them. Some of them were re-stacked in DSS because the stacked photo from the SeeStar had planes and satellites.
I have been trying to buy another used Celestron NextStar 8e for a long time until I saw this! Just $500!!
How about Andromeda? Can it do mosaics?
Weird, my S50 has red power light and charge indicator lights. Or maybe the camera you used has weird color rendition. :)
Also I recommend for easy leveling to get one of those $25-30 tripod leveling bases, they have 2 baseplates connected by 3 adjustable wheels. Slip one between the S50 and the tripod and it makes leveling far less frustrating.Unfortunately I'm in the north of New England and weather hasn't been cooperating with me wanting to use it more. Hopefully by March it will get better.
Can you see planets with it? I saw a vid that says smart telescopes are only for galaxies, nabulae, etc