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This was a live stream… the goal was to show the whole process so people who know what to expect.

Sorry, but what are you refering too?

SeeStarS50 is the most user friendly of the two and you can get great photos with an hour or two of exposure on many popular targets. I have a video coming out (maybe today, maybe the weekend) where I show more in-depth Astrophotography sessions of a few hours on various targets I’ve been doing over the summer. And the SeeStarS50 is available today. The dwarf 3 looks on paper to be very good, but its predecessor the Dwarf 2 is more a “beginner/intermediate” device whereas SeeStars50 is dead easy to use.

Jupiter/Saturn are “okay” but you really need a larger higher magnification telescope to get photos like you see people post with some frequency. For Planetary imaging I lean on my 8” EdgeHD.

Not sure how to "show" the view through the eyepeice, as you'd be looking through a camera lens as well. Ideas?

Thanks!

I got mine with the reducer/field flattener so I was pretty happy with the results. I have not used the SkyWatcher 80ED to compare.

Bottom right opens the save files and you can download them to your phone from there, however note that the current image doesn’t show up until you are finished.

It saves stacked images automatically on the SeeStar’s internal hard drive. However in the setting you can tell it to also save all the info vial images taken and you can also stack the images on a computer and with processing pull out additional detail.

Thanks

I'll have an update video soon, but they have switched over to manufacturing the Dwarf 3, which is an improvement over the Dwarf 2, so my guess is there may be a few along the production route but they are no longer manufaturing the older model. They continue to update the Dwarf 2 firmware and software app, we just got an AI Enhance which I've been testing. So it sounds like they are commited to bring as much as possible to the Dwarf 2 as they can from the Dwarf 3 development.

@EmberSkyMedia oh ok! Thanks! That sounds good. I like when companies continue to support past products even when a new version is released.

@@revenger681 ditto!

Effectively you are changing the white balance from very warm to very cool which adjusts how the IR is handled as its coming in primarily on the RED channel.

Could you explain HOW to do that? I’m using a Kolari IR chrome filter so everything is a horrible blue to start with.

@@SDA-Sound are you using it on a IR or full-spectrum modified camera?

It does a surprising good job for the price, I have a series of videos on the Dwarf 2 (as I'm waiting on the Dwarf 3 to arrive) and you can see all the various shots I've gotten with that one. I will have a video out soon as I got some preview images from DwarfLabs to talk about but best would be to wait a bit longer for when I have the unit in my hands as I'll be doing all sorts of videos.

Yes it is!

Ditto!

Depends on what you want, each has its own strengths and weaknesses.

True, but the Dwarf 3 is 4K camera vs. A vertical 1080p, so there is a trade off depending what you want to image.

@@EmberSkyMedia yeah not keen on the vertical aspect only of the s50 .

I’ll hopefully be doing a side by side comparison at the end of month or early August once I have a review unit in my hands.

@@EmberSkyMedia look forward to it 👍

This is my voice, I am not Mr. Beast.

I always shoot Astrophotography wide open, as the Iris blades ruin the stars as you want them perfectly round.

@@EmberSkyMedia Thanks, maybe you know of other lenses that are sharp enough at open aperture for a price similar to the Nikon 105 F2.5? for a photo of the stars? 

Units have not been released yet, I’ll be getting a unit for review (hopefully) by the end of the month. At which time I’ll be doing side-by-side live streams of the units and more in-depth review. Orion Rises into the sky around late September (unless you like imaging at 4am in the morning then start of September) so I’ll be doing side by side of nebulas like Trifid or Lagoon Nebulas.

Thanks for the clarification Gary, the new motors have improved the mount tracking ability.

If you are worried about awkward angles of viewing then going with a Refractor telescope (just realize you need a bigger one not a $100 cheap thing) or a smart-telescope (which uses your smartphone) might be a better plan.

I believe the thinking was "less ports, more outdoor resistance" as to the choices to internalize the battery and SD card. Given that the Dwarf 3 can run pluggged for a long time (indefinetaly?) and connect to WIFI the idea is it becomes an outdoor all around observatory you can set-up and leave for days/weeks of automated observations etc. With the Dwarf 3 the only port is the USB-C port and I'm hopeful that's well sealed.

Sorry to hear about your Dwarf 2, but yay on the Swap for a Dwarf 3!

Glad it was helpful!

Price (and discounts) fluxuate, I based the price on the time the video was made and currently that is the lowest price it has been on offer. Changing it in the video is not possible at this time but in newer videos I'll reflect the price at the time of recording.

Also, if you are a D2 owner, they will give you a $50 additional discount. I ordered the D3 right after they announced it and was able to preorder for $399. All I did was email them after I made my order and they refunded the $50. I had to send them the original invoice for the D2.

Thanks for the indepth reply, a lot to unpack there but here are my thoughts. 1. Dwarf 3 in equitorial mode (which it will have) I think will be better equipped to track faster moving objects than the Dwarf II. Not sure as fast as ISS, Tiangong, and Hubble but we can hope. 2. To see planets with surface and cloud detail clearly requires a lot of apature (my 8" telescope is just good enough). However particularly saturn the rings are currently becoming "on edge" at our vantage point so I'd hold off until 2026 to attempt to image it if you want the rings, but then I think larger smart telescopes will be on the market. 3. Yes, in and ideal world I'd just connect it up to the mains or a large battery, but alas I did not. One of the reasons I'm looking forward to the Dwarf 3's larger internal battery, then with a pack and it I could go for signfiicantly longer period or even connect to the mains and just run all the time (well with the scheduling feature they annouced, when its dark). Again thank you for your thoughts, It will be fun to see how more capable the Dwarf 3 will be but these app updates breath life into the Dwarf II as well!

I think the filter is primarily for nebulas, when the moon is out go with it anyways but I try not to use filters if I can.

I’m guessing (I don’t know) but that should improve the weatherproofing not having ports for the batter and the miniSD card. Now the only “port” is the USB.

Eventually I think those bigger scopes are going to come, but likely not for another few years unless someone got something hidden under their hat.

@@EmberSkyMedia It might be sooner that we expect. ZWO will certainly not wait for their competitors to win this race. They have re$ources and experience under their belt to come up with nice smart scope. Fingers crossed...cheers!

@@gloomiehoodie I wouldn't mined a SeeStar S80, that way I could directly 1:1 compare it to my WO80mm telescope. Which would be fun.

@@EmberSkyMedia Certainly, S80 with a 320-400mm FL would be a dream for a portable smart scope. I'm down for that! However, I don't even know if these specs could be achievable without compromising its portability and price accessibility to most hobbyists. Let's see what ZWO team are capable of.

@@gloomiehoodie I'd expect the price to be just over double the S50 and it to be "portable" in terms of one can carry set it up etc, but I'd expect its more a "rolling case" then the foam briefcase for size.

You have to ask him, in theory it should be possible.

At a point, optical design and element size will limit performance. Especially if you want fine details on your targets. Otherwise I’d just use my wide f1.2 lens all the time.

No idea unfortunatly to the fate of Astro-Dwarf. Yes I'm going to gift my Dwarf II to a family memeber once I get some side-by-side comparisons done between the units,

Just to be clear, Dwarf Lab didn't pay me to make this video (they didn't even know I made it until after), or any of my videos (they did send me a review unit to review but they didn't pay me to say anything in my videos). Improvements are not "MINIMAL" as larger optics + better sensor + EQ Mode 60 seconds should add up to significantly better images. And the ability to use the wide field camera as well is a nice bonus. Should Dwarf II users upgrade, that's a harder question to answer, depends on how much of an improvement it ends up being and if the SeeStar S50 is more your flavour. But honestly the Dwarf II is quite capable and if you own one be happy to use it and not worry about "should you upgrade" until we see some hands-on comparisons, then decide what direction is best for you.

Yeah, not sure ZWO’s next SeeStar is going to be, a lot of speculation of S70, S80 or S100. I expect 80mm but it could still be another year or two away as that big of optics will need heavier motor drive to operate.

There are apparently 2 built-in filters and it should come with moasic mode. I’m hoping moasic gets some integration into Dwarf II, at the very least a basic system so it will take the overlapping photos but I doubt it will stack them in camera for the Dwarf II due to limited computing power.

Actually given it has 2 cameras on board it should be pretty able to indicate on the app for polar alignment, but yeah it would be cool if it self-aligned.

@@EmberSkyMedia puzzled that nobody has done it yet

@@terrybrooks395 Would require a 3rd-axis motor to align the telescope's 2-axis to be in the right position.

NinjaTek 85A if I remember correctly, infill 10% (most likely).

Built in, given it’s only an 8MP camera that’s plenty of space and you just download the footage off the camera from time to time and transfer it to your mobile or computer for further processing.

@@EmberSkyMedia I own the Dwarf II but DwarfLab offered an incentive loyalty discount so I have bought the Dwarf III, delivery expected starting end of August in time for the cooler clear nights of autumn (UK weather however is unpredictable). I will have a Dwarf II deluxe with 3 batteries for sale in time for Xmas for some lucky person.

Such is the life cycle of technology.

Yep, But the value of the Dwarf 2 plummented when Seestar came out.

@@johnsmith-rd9rr yeah the seestar S50 caused the Dwarf II re-sale price to drop. I don't think the 3 had a signficant effect except that more people are trying to sell this week and last, and maybe a blip in September when the units are in people's hands.

Glad to hear it Jones! I think people will be quite pleased once it’s in their hands!

It’s a pre-order, I’m assuming as they are trying to figure out how many to make in the first run.

​@@EmberSkyMedia (sorry for my bad english i'm italian) Thanks for the answer :) i think yes, but in this months i think people for the summer buy Seestar o another smart telescope. This moment, in my ingorance, is a perfect moment to buy smart telescope because summer is near and the evenings are perfect to see the stars with friends or better to make public nights with a lot of people (i personally organize two or three public nights in my town). I hope that not miss this perfect moment to ship and sell Dwarf III

@@Paolo14984 Yes, it would be ideal to have the Dwarf III in our hands now vs. later in the Summer. That is always the case but as you learn in this hobby, there is always something new coming up in the east :)

Agreed, solid improvement for the price.

Actually the 3’s upgrades are pretty significant it might be one of those rare times where upgrading is truly worth it. But the question becomes how much can you sell the Dwarf II for and right now I’m seeing $250 but by the time the Dwarf 3 is in your hands… resale of the 2 might be like $150 so it is an additional investment.

@Grigorych's comment pretty much sums it up. If you have the Dwarf 2, then wait for upcoming models. Otherwise, the Dwarf 3 is good, since it is more of incremental upgrade to the Dwarf 2. You have to factor in the loss you'll incur by selling the Dwarf 2 and see if that "extra cost" is worth the price of a new Dwarf 3. But hey.. if you have disposable income, please keep supporting DwarfLabs 🙂

@@ntt2k True, its not a completely new telescope that it totally different, it's a solid improvement though. I'm planning to do side-by-side comparisons and then for me at least, a family member has expressed interest in the Dwarf II.

its not a signifcant improvement for someone who isnt paid by Gwarf labs.@@EmberSkyMedia

No,its not a significant improvement. And why havent you mentioned anywhere that taking 60 sec subs with the 3 will make the final stacked image even worse than the 2? Field Rotation errors.....@@EmberSkyMedia