ZWO Seestar S50 Full Review | High Point Scientific
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 มิ.ย. 2024
- The ZWO Seestar S50 Smart Telescope combines a telescope, electric focuser, astronomy camera, and ASIAIR controller into one unit! We’re so excited to put this innovative smart telescope to the test. Let’s see how it performs!
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00:00 Introduction
01:25 What's In The Box
02:17 Scenery
03:05 Solar
03:53 Lunar
04:37 Planetary
05:43 Deep Space
07:52 Final Result: The Pacman Nebula
08:24 Who Is This Telescope For?
09:09 Seestar Smartphone App
12:32 Conclusion
#telescope #smarttelescope #zwoseestar - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
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I ordered mine today. Can hardly wait to image all the Messier objects I’ve only visually observed in my lifetime. 🔭
Mine came yesterday, don't open yet.
I really enjoyed your deep dive into the S50. You highlighted the strengths of the Seestar extremely well, but rightly pointed out it is not a planetary system. With its short focal length and 50 mm aperture, it was never really designed for planetary imaging.
Overall, your video is one of the best I have seen for the Seestar S50. On of its greatest strengths is it is so powerful in a such a lightweight, portable unit. It will easily become my goto telescope for quick sessions, outreach, and travel. You can take in your carry on luggage, and be observing five minutes after getting to your destination!
It is a shame ZWO is so slow fulfilling the preorders. This video just makes me want it more. Having ordered in June I hoped I would have it in time for the October annular eclipse, but now I am hoping that you have one to ship to me in time for Christmas! I know I can trust High Point to give the best customer experience possible, but ZWO leaves much to be desired in the realm of customer communication.
Pre-ordered mine several months ago. Reviews looking good. I anticipate this scope to be a great portable, fun rig.
I received my SeeStar in October, but just opened it yesterday for Christmas. It has a Planetary mode now on the Playstore app I downloaded, but haven't had a chance to try it out. It had one software update that was free. This was all done on December 25th, 2023. Hope this info helps. Thank you for the gr8 and informative video!
I heard that ZWO will be adding a Mosaic mode in in up-coming update. ZWO has a forum that includes a Seestar section. They encourage folks to report bugs, and also accept suggestions for future updates. I ordered mine, but it may take until December this year to get it. Becoming older, I was no longer able to shuttle around my 10" DOB, nor able to afford all the expensive equip. to do proper astrophotography. I then discovered the Seestar.. and my quest to continue doing astrophotography has been solved. I watched a few other reviews and discovered that the Seestar captured more and finer details than the Dwarf 2 [maybe Dwarf is working on improvements? not sure].. so I'm very excited to use my Seestar when it finally arrives! Thank you for a really good review!
Thanks for your review and coverage of this SeeStar S50. I think you touched on what this device is capable of and while I have ordered this smart telescope, I'm happy to wait as long as it takes to get it, as I own various other ZWO products, I know what I get will work well.
Waiting on my Seestar S50 expected to ship in December from y’all, so excited.
I've got one of these on preorder from you guys, and the lack of a functional planetary mode doesn't really bother me much right now. It's a brand new product, and the software is still being actively developed. The addition of a planetary mode, especially given the fact that it has a functional lunar mode already, seems like not much of a job to be done. It would be problematic if ZWO hasn't at least announced that it will be coming in the next year or so, but this thing seems to have caught on with the community - they're going to make a bucket of money if the production runs are the same quality as the review models - so they're not just going to abandon the thing.
Mine is on pre order as well.
A 50mm/250mm scope will never do good planetary images. It wouldn't be too wise for them to pretend it could as it would be not fit for purpose in the retail law sense. For planets you need aperture and a higher practical magnification. You'll be able to tell which planet you are looking at but in terms of surface detail, forget it and image things which lend themselves to a small scope instead.
@@Skootavision I agree. I've always been more interested in planets than other night-sky objects, so whereas this is a great leap forward in abilities, it's not what I'd be interested in. For planetary viewing and imaging, I imagine that they'd have to come out with a dedicated scope that has a much larger aperture. brightness control, and various magnification modes. Since it would be less marketable than a more all-around scope like this it would have a pretty hefty price-tag. I am impressed with how much progress has been made in such a short amount of time with this style of scope, and am looking forward to seeing what the next generations of scopes have to offer.
That is my hope as well. Planet mode would be nothing more than a new update, so Im hoping they go the honorable route and the Video Gaming Industry route where they bleed us dry for every new add-on that is nothing more than what should have shipped in the first place.
Mine is hopefully coming this week. I'm just waiting for it to get shipped.
🤘👽
It's not a software oversight, like skoot said, the wide field would make planets besides earth look like small specks. Im sure their next one will feature a planetary lens/mode, but this one is for moon/dso/Sol.
Been waiting for mine since April 14th. They are already improving the software so hoping Highpoint will ship soon.
Ordered mine at the beginning of September it will take a while to arrive but at least the app will be fully updated. Thanks for your review. 👍
Can’t wait for mine to arrive! I didn’t realize you guys were also located right in NJ
whoooooo!
ordered months ago from HPS.
can
not
wait
The seestar is an excellent beginners setup due to its simplicity, You will learn a lot about the stars and planets and how to set up and it's a great intro into Astrophotography. HOWEVER don't expect awesome images, yes they will look great on instagram but you are very limited with what you can do with it.
1: it is not an eq mounted device which means horrible field rotation as you use it during the night
2: the image quality is Meh compared to what you can do with a better scope, a cooled camera and an equatorial mount (obviously they do cost money)
3: If one thing breaks on it then you dead in the water. It is more or less a paperweight whereas with a dedicated Astro setup you can chop and change, the sky is the limit.
4: resale value will plummet as soon as the next incarnation comes in. Whereas you don't lose as much in resale for dedicated equipment
Don't let what I said put you off however as I still think it's great for beginners and such a great learning tool for outreach, schools and for those days when a more seasoned astrophotographer just can't be bothered setting up or is traveling.
ZWO just needs to add a planetary filter that blocks some of the light coming in (similar to the solar filter but optimized for planetary viewing). That should solve the planet light bleed.
But since this telescope is fast evolving into a new classic, I am sure there will be tons of add-on products from third-party manufactures (including all sorts of filters) coming very soon. That will make this little telescope even more fun to use.
I got recommended to you guys from a TH-camr, ‘Rooster Inn Observatory’. Because I asked him if you guys were ok to do business with. Ordered mine and it looks like it will just make it for Christmas. I gave up years ago on astrophotography because my equipment and technique sucked. This scope does everything I always dreamed of and more. I live close to Bortle 1 skies! S. Dakota.
I've been giving this thing the 'side eye' since hearing about it but I'm currently to busy trying to get an 18" system going... always some newcomer trying to trip me up in my journey! lol
I got 4 telescopes and 2 goto mounts, but there are locations around my house where I just can't get my mounts and telescope or do not want to. This limits the available night sky targets for me to the Northern part and very little limited around towards the South. I got the spot, but I won't put my telescope there due to security reasons. That's where I'm gonna use this little guy.
So, I went the DSLR route with a Sky-Watcher GT mount and Canon D5100. I've just learned about polar alignment, mounts, and specific settings for exposure, ISO, shutter speed, etc. My pics aren't there yet. With more experience I should get better results than SeeStar... Yet, I would still get a SeeStar as well, because manually doing all of what it does is very time-consuming and if you cut corners the results aren't like SeeStar. You have to take all sorts of exposures... from lights, darks, and frames, and then learn astrophotography and other apps. Comparatively, SeeStar would spit out impressive pics in way less time.
Great review,
Thanks, great review; just end up wondering how to do post processing capture images with Photoshop or similar software. Thanas again!
Thank you for this great review. Yeah, I am very interested in imaging using my Celestron 8SE. But I'm not willing to go through the investment and technical aspect of getting high quality images. Especially spending hours taking long exposure pictures and videos, then downloading to my computer and processing and stacking and yada, yada, yada. This Seestar S50 looks scope looks very attractive! Though I wish it could do planatery imaging with detail. But for deep space targets and lunar imaging, it looks like a winner, especially for the price. Oh, and I do like that I could use it to capture day time nature pictures from my lake dock.
I’m strongly considering ordering this unit from Hi Point as a post-cancer survivor gift. But how does work on the Horsehead Nebula, which is notoriously difficult to capture?
And if I order by 10.16.23, when would this scope arrive?
Thank you for an incredible review. You guys rock!
I've already seen some impressive captures of the horsehead by the Seestar. I just ordered mine yesterday and don't expect to see it until next year.
For viewing planets could you tape an ND filter to the front to limit the amount of light coming in? I ordered mine last week and going to try this idea out when it arrives.
Is the app optimized for the IPad or an Android tablet? Saw a Vespera a couple a weeks ago at a star party. I think they showed the pinwheel galaxy on an iPad full screen and it was impressive. There was also a 6” SCT on the same object and all you could see is a faint blur. I was pretty impressed. The only thing I don’t like about these smart telescopes is their weakness for planets.
Just wondering if ZWO can correct the Planetary Mode through software update. Any thoughts on this problem out there? Thanks.
Why is this scope set up so low to the ground. I live in Puerto Rico, on 3.5 acre, no obstruction of buildings and I like to use my Stellarium app on my iPhone. I want to know if this has mapping of constellations like the Stellarium app.
Good video thanks! Would be good to see some raw photos from the scope before any sort of post processing. I assume all the deep space ones you showed were after post processing?
Actually all of the dep space photos that I showed BESIDES the Pacman nebula comparison were raw and unedited! The orange and blue Pacman photo was processed a bit in PixInsight but otherwise all unedited!
As it's not an equatorial mount, can you explain how it manages to capture long exposures without trailing
I ordered a Seestar S50 at the end of July from High Point. I probably will not receive it until Nov or July. I do have a Dwarf which I am enjoying. I calculated the Seestar will give me a 2.5 x larger image over the Dwarf. The benefit from the Dwarf is a 2.5 x larger FOV . Since the Seestar is an alt-az mount, will it automatically correct for rotation noise. I can set my Dwarf up in the EQ position with my tripod to get around that. What can I expect from Seestar.
Question; is the case good enough for travel? Can I take the scope as carry on for a plane trip?
Ive got a gysker 130 eq telescppe that i dont know how to use, kinda new to astrophotography aswell
Should i learn to use the gysker or get this for Christmas
I think I will wait until zwo builds a bigger model of their smart telescope. I want more reach and german equatorial mount.
Agree. The specs on this says it does 1080p resolution. I'd like a little bit bigger with 8k resolution.
Do comets show up in the sky map so that you can select them?
yup
I think the scope is ideal for beginners. For veteran astro photographers i think it isn't quite good enough. Perhaps in the near future this type of scope will be a convenient alternative to a normal astro setup.
The bottom line is that it's not good enough compared with even a basic astro setup.
New astro here....trying to find a good scope to view galaxies under $1k..... researched several brands i.e. Celestron , Orion , Sky watcher .... Was recommended to go with a Dobsonian ...any suggestions offered will be researched.....deuces
Just unboxed my Seestar yesterday. Charged up and the connection went through fine. Leveled scope. Hit Solar. It doesn’t find it. Rebooted and tried several times. ALSO, Joy Stick Controls don’t work. What am I missing?
Curious to get your take on how Seestar images compare to DSLR images taken using a tracker like the Star Adventurer or Move-Shoot-Move. I own both, but am looking for something that will give me comparable images with less weight and no polar alignment setup..........getting too old and arthritic for the weight and eyesight to do a good job with them. Thanks!
I have one on order with HPS. Can't wait to start using - with my vision issues, EAA is the only way I can enjoy backyard astronomy. My order was 06/30. Any guess when mine will arrive?
ZWO already said orders received after May won't be shipped until at least November.
@@Theoldman27 I received an email from HPS recently saying that they expected to receive a few units by the end of this month, plus another batch in mid to late October. The big question: will HPS be able to fulfill my order with the October shipment? So much depends on whether HPS anticipated the demand and made a big wholsale order back in April. Or did they just wait until retail orders rolled in and then only ordered enough product from ZWO Just-in-time?
This looks like so much fun. I’ve never owned any kind of telescope equipment before, but have always been fascinated (How could anyone not be?) and looking for a good excuse to get something easy to use. Does anyone know if or how it does at capturing close, fast moving things like satellites or the ISS?
Not likely. Most mounts that can track orbital elements will run several thousand dollars.
Can it photograph a comet? Or just objects from its library?
This has been a very temptimg telescope but its just hard for me to make the decision to get this or go down more of a visual astronomy route at first instead of astrophotography right away
Does it stack and processes picture itself or it just takes pictures and we have to manually stack and process it??
It automatically stacks and does plate solving
can someone help me with a question? What kind of camera do i need if I want to just monitor the sky at night? Like a security camera I could point towars the sky? Something I could monitor in real time and record.
Thanks in advance.
I’m considering buying one of these. Can someone explain to me how the camera aligns 10 second sub stacks without dealing with the rotation of the earth? later stacks, say three minutes after the initial 10 second stack, should be rotated and would show rotational misalignment.
I have heard that the Seestar S50 does some alignment shots and can mitigate to around 15° of difference. Pictures with round about 2 hours worth of exposure look pretty good.
I would have thought in planetary mode, the S50 would have a manual settings option that would allow you to adjust exposure to reduce blowouts. Anyone care to comment on that 🤔
If they can improve the quality of the planetary imaging this would be near-perfect.
I'd buy it from you guys as is but it seems shipping to Portugal/Europe would incur customs fees and offset the great price you guys are selling at. :(
Teagan is the Man❗️🔭
Can you use an iPad in addition to (or instead of) a smartphone?
Hi
what Android version do you have to use or need.
and wifi range?
Galaxie photos please
can you give the fits file for us to download and try.
also try Afinity photo for processing it also has astro stacker in itnnearly as good as Adobe elements
Regards Athol
hope my scope arrioves next month for my 68th birthday on the 13th oct :-)
Such a shame it’s only 2mp
Any experience using this for milky way shots?
Can I have these photos printed for display in my home? How large before the photo “falls apart”?
Will I be able to take photos only with my phone?
Can you add lenses to it?
Will it be worth waiting for a Seestar with a 70mm aperture???
What power source is used to
Charge it?
For planets ZWO has added a new "Planetary"mode into the app. Expecting more updates in the future.
Can u download the pics right to your phone ?
You could put something in front of the lens for shorter exposures for planetary.
We had the idea that a possible neutral density filter could be great in "lunar" mode or "scenery" mode! A variable filter to help bring down the brightness of the planets as one does with the moon for visual observation.
Keep in mind though that we have no indication if ZWO will produce something of the sort or integrate a "planetary" imaging mode or not in the future as of right now.
Thanks for watching!
The focal length is a bigger issue for planetary, imho. That said, they already announced they will be implementing a "pro" mode on their app that will allow the user to change the exposure settings and the like.
@@XShadowAngel of course. Even if they implemented a barlow option it would be tough to bring a planet into good resolution.
@@highpointscientificthey already said they will.
With its short focal length and 50mm aperture, it will never be a good planetary system regardless of what software tweak they make or some MacGyvered add on attachment. It is optimized for DSO, Solar, Lunar, and Scenic viewing. For planetary imaging, I have always been told you need at least 4 or 5 times the focal length of the Seestar’s 250mm.
I have one question about the Seestar S50. What format are the files RAW or JPEG?
Raw and TIFF
what would the market price of one of these
I wonder What they feel about any of the unistellar scopes and if they are over marketed.
I am curious to seeing them review their products.
for city dwellers, will zwo update seestar for planetary?
It’s already possible (but not ideal), there are great images and videos from users using scenery mode with sone tweeks. But as far as we know they’ll integrate a planetary mode as soon as some other features they planned are realized.
They say on Instagram that they are looking into Planetary mode.
@@KofieBluejay I think that is just fake news. They would need better hardware which would raise the cost of the product. Software can only do so much.
It'll never be spectacular, no matter what they do in software - 50mm 250mm FL lens just isn't very useful for planetary...
If you know the coordinates, can you make it slew to that point?
Can this work without internet access? Will the star atlas still work?
Must you have a smart phone? Or will a laptop do it?
Only 250mm focul length..thats a bummer. Would love more zoom for dark space objects. Cant complain for the price.
Can you shoot the Milky Way with the SeeStar?
Allignment ?
$499. is still a LOT for most beginners. This is really more of a step up 'scope for amateurs graduating from a lesser, cheaper model.
$499 is a lot? a bag of Doritos is $5.49 these days. Most peoples phone cost more than double.
@@cmacclel Yes, $499 is a lot - and "most people" definitely do NOT own a smartphone that costs more than twice as much.
I'm interested in what lesser cheaper model of astrophotography gear you're referring to...
Between the camera and scope, I can't see how you could spend less than this.
Dumb question but can I see the ISS with this?
Has anyone tried to capture the ISS with this yet? If not, Ill give it a go when it gets here!
I want a telescope that looks like the post processed pac man image right out of the scope is there such a scope ?
No, there is no free lunch.
All images need at least a bit of processing in order to look anything like what you're asking.
Even Hubble and JWST need their images processed prior to publication.
On planetary, no 250mm focal length non-barlowed telescope works. The image scale is too small, even if you get the exposure correct.
The planetary viewing limitations seem to be exposure driven issues. Is ZWO addressing this? Poor planetary viewing is a real limitation for my purposes of sharing with very young kids.
f5 aperture for a telescope doesn't sound good at all. Basic photography in low light usually requires a decent f2.8 or even a f1.4 aperture for light collection.
You are correct in regards to basic photography! Fast f/1.4 lenses are great to use in low light settings. In astrophotography there are some telescopes, likes the Celestron RASA, that are F/2.2 and this is great for small sensor cameras but dude to manufacture limitations and cost, refractors at a speed of f/1.4 would be considerably more expensive, especially for the amatuer astronomer. We can easily make up for this lack of speed in f/5, f/6 or f/7 refractors buy utilizing larger pixels as well as longer integration time!
The long focal length of some scopes, like RCs or SCTs provide high resolution of small objects. f/5 is very standard for even the most renown and well performing refractors in the world!
Is it good enough to spot aliens on the moon?
smartphone "astronomy"
Heavy processing and manipulation is required. The images are subpar imho. I’ll stick to my 80mm apo and laptop.
That is part of the fun. Fall face first into Siril
For $500, I think it is a very good value as an intro to EAA and Deep Space Astrophotography. DSO images are better than I would expect from a 50mm aperture. An 80mm APO, GEM, Autofocuser, Filterwheel, and cooled camera with NINA and PixInsight is a big step up, but realistically it is a $5000 investment at the least. Not to mention it's portability. My home is Bortle 5 with trees, but within an hour I can load up my Seestar and be at a Bortle 3 observing sight with a clear view of the Southern horizon.
You are comparing apples to oranges! The Seestar is designed for Electronically Assisted Astronomy, and if you are expecting a $500 integrated system to compete with a system that can costs thousands and has a steep learning curve curve, you are bound to be disappointed. It is amazing what people have achieved withe post processing the Seestar images, but your wanting to expect it to match an 80 mm dedicated astrophotography system is as fair a comparison as comparing your system to a 12” RASA system.
Although I agree with first comment which state processing is part of the fun, the Seestar is the price of the Az-Gti mount only, which is the cheapest mount you can get (new) with a go to system.
Even if you cheap the f out, using doublets or singlet, buy the same sensor, the azimut mount, the ASIAIR and filters, you would at least be 3 times the price… And probably not 3 times better.
I also have a very pricey astro photography rig(eq6r pro, 80mm apo refractor, c8 edge hd) and a dob but ordered this for those nights I just want to go out back and star gaze with more color and detail than my dob provides. It’s also simple, light weight, portable and requires no other expensive accessories besides your current smart phone. Also will make a nice travel piece. Probably will gift one to my nephew for all the reasons already stated.