I’m looking to purchase a new telephone and after doing some light research I found these three options that I can easily travel with but I’m unsure which would be best for where I live/best quality overall

I live in the desert far out from the city and other people so light pollution is relatively low. If you have any knowledge on these three and could help me out that would be great! Or if you have any recommendations for other telescopes I’m open to hearing them! Thanks

OK before anyone gets upset, I know this has been asked here before, but the most recent thread that comes up on Google was from before the Dwarf 3 added mosaic and equatorial modes, which seems to have leveled the playing field by a lot.

Basically my situation is that I've got a decent entry-level planetary photography setup, with a 8 inch Dob and a ZWO-224MC, but between the focal length and sensor size of that setup, it's virtually useless for most DSO's.

Additionally, I'm looking for something a bit easier to use because having just had my first kid, I don't have as much time to spend on astro as I used to, and I'd like something that we can use a bit more interactively together so I can show him all the cool stuff that's out there. Which led me towards smart telescopes.

So, in a nutshell, I want it mostly for larger DSO's of the sort that I wouldn't be able to get with my existing setup, I'm not overly worried about planets. Moon shots would be cool, but not totally important. Mostly I'm looking for something for galaxies, nebula, etc.

As I understand it - the S50 will produce higher resolution images, but the Dwarf 3 has the wider field of view and better light collection from it's sensors.

The wider field of view kind of feels like a moot point given that the s50 has a mosaic mode, so I'm really not sure where that leaves me.. Ultimately the most important thing is the final picture quality, followed by target flexibility (excluding planets), with convenience of use being a close third. Ideally, what I'd really like in terms of convenience is being able to set it up, then sit with my son on my ipad/laptop and watch in "real-time" (read - every 10-30min depending on the target and the necessary exposure times and whatnot) all the various DSOs that are in position to see then.

Also - I believe these are the top 2 within the <$1000 price range, but if I've somehow missed another contender that beats out either of these two, I'm open to that as well

Hello!! I’m a high schooler just starting to get into astronomy and astro photography. I believe I want to do something in the field when i’m older and want to start learning more. I’m looking to purchase a relatively affordable but nice telescope. I was looking at the ZWO Seestars but had no clue whether to pick the s50 or s30. Or would a completely different brand or telescope be better?

I want to buy a small smart telescope. I’m torn between the Dwarf 3 and the Seestar 30s Pro. The price difference between them isn’t a deciding factor for me.

The Dwarf 3 has slightly better aperture (f/3.5 vs f/3.0), however it has smaller pixels (IMX678).
The Seestar has a better sensor (IMX585) but a worse f-ratio.

The Seestar has a larger field of view, but wouldn’t that make the resolution per pixel worse than with the Dwarf?
(Sure, with the Dwarf you need to shoot Andromeda in mosaic mode, but everything else fits into the Dwarf’s field of view.)

In some reviews I read that the Dwarf allows more manual settings, but it’s not entirely clear to me what that means. In the end, it seems like everyone does stacking in some external software anyway.

So, please: which one would you choose and why? (The goal is, of course, the best possible results—the best possible photos—even with the assumption that I’ll stack them manually in external software.)

Dying to get into astrophotography and been researching S50 vs S30 Pro vs Dwarf 3. I now see s50 is out of stock and discontinued? For first rig do we recommend s30 pro or dwarf 3? Or wait for something new? I have access to pretty dark skies and am 2 hours from Joshua tree / Anza. Dwarf 3 is attractive because it’s available on Amazon. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Now that they’re finally releasing the S30 Pro, I was planning to get the S50 to shoot more DSOs and planets. However, I love shooting the Milky Way, and the S30 Pro has that capability. I’d appreciate some help choosing between the two.

Hey everyone! I’m new to astrophotography and interested in picking up a”smart scope” to get started. I’m trying to decide between the Seestar S30 Pro or the S50. I’m primarily interested in deep sky stuff.

I’m a molecular biologist with considerable experience in microscopy, so I’m pretty comfortable with image processing, and that’s honestly a big part of what draws me to this hobby. I’d love to get a feel for the workflow and eventually work my way up to a full rig when my budget allows. But for now, I want something that’s easy to use and still gives me solid results while I’m learning.

I’ve read some specs and reviews of both of these Seestar models, but it’s still hard to tell what actually matters in practice when you’re starting out. So, for those who’ve used one or both:

Any noticeable differences in image quality, noise, ease of use, etc.? Anything I should know about accessories, software quirks, or post-processing differences? I will also add that I live in an area with significant light pollution (Bortle 9.0, lol), so pursuing this hobby will likely involve weekend camping trips to nearby areas, etc.

Appreciate any insight or personal experience you can share, especially if you’ve made this same decision recently. Thanks!

Hi all, I'm about to take my first step into astrophotography with either the S30 or S50. I keep flip-flopping between the two, as I love the small form factor and wide FoV of the S30, and I quite like the idea of seeing what a budget device like this capable of. At the same time the extra detail (and I assume wider range of targets) of the S50 is obviously very nice and tempting. Budget is not a consideration but I can only get one.

My thinking was that an S30 might be a nice entry into this new hobby and by the time I know if I've been truly bitten by the bug the successor to the S50 will finally be out, and it might be a nice companion device and stay more relevant.

However, I do want to put the S30 through its paces and that would mean using EQ mode. As far as I understand it, the stock S30 tripod isn't suitable but the stock S50 tripod just about is (with wedge and counterbalance). I do not own any other tripods. This raises the cost of the S30 and while budget is not a massive factor it seems like the S50 might be better value at this point.

Do I have that right, and do you have any other points that might tip the balance one way or the other? Thanks in advance and I look forward to joining in the fun soon!

Zaglądam tu, bo chcę po prostu zacząć przygodę z astrofotografią. Mam doświadczenie z łączeniem zdjęć w innych ustawieniach, więc chciałbym wyciągać zdjęcia do łączenia w innym oprogramowaniu. Chciałbym skonfigurować i używać w trybie Eq, żeby wydłużać czas naświetlania. Mam już całkiem niezły statyw fotograficzny. Jestem w obszarze Bortle 7-8. Pole 30 mm jest dla mnie odpowiednie na początek. Mogę używać szerokiego pola do zdjęć Drogi Mlecznej, ale nie jestem pewien co do trybu śledzenia gwiazd, który ma S30 pro.

Co myślicie o Dwarf 3 kontra S30 pro? Dużo porównań z S50, ale teraz ogniskowe są w zasadzie takie same. Czy nieco większa apertura w Dwarf robi różnicę? Czy jest znacząca różnica w sensorach? Wygląda na to, że oprogramowanie Seestar może być "ładniejsze", ale oba są funkcjonalne.

Może więcej osób musi wziąć do ręki S30 pro, żeby można było porównać. Prawdopodobnie nie można się pomylić z żadnym z nich jako punktem wyjścia.