I bought the Dwarf 2 as a companion to my 8 inch dob and then found this review. You are spot on. Great for imaging DSOs if you’re not a pro or don’t want to break the bank and are not expecting professional results, and also great for outreach. An overall impressive product for the price!
I’d even push back on professional results. I’ve been some amazing photos post processing images from this telescope. Now granted I may be easier to please than the biggest pros, but I think the majority of people would be impressed by the results than can be achieved with good imaging practices and great processing skills. I read about this scope during the kick starter phase but their wasn’t enough info. Over the last few weeks I’ve collected enough info to take the leap. And can’t wait to get started. But I think the rest of your points are spot on.
Thanks for this review, James! My first reaction to the photos was, “wow, that’s what my stars looked like when I started imaging on an alt-az Mount a couple years ago!” My second reaction was, wow, my dad and I would have gone crazy for something like this when we started stargazing almost 45 years ago. This is a really neat way for beginning observers and casual observers to get even more out of the hobby than they can using binoculars or small telescopes. Even today, I’m intrigued! Thanks again and clear skies.
Excellent review James! You covered all the major points and more👍 I agree with you that someone wanting to get some images, but not wanting to learn everything else and due to time and money etc. this will be a great little gadget! And like you say, I guess it will do well at star parties ! Thanks for reminding me how much money I’ve spent on Astro gear🤣🤣 Clear skies!
Fantastic video , in depth and very informative. Definitely would love to see you processing videos as step by step instruction videos starting from very basic and moving on to expert levels . Keep up great work 👍
Excellent work James, as always mate!! Really thorough and well thought out review with considered points - top tier stuff! 🙂Clear skies!! (p.s, around 17:38-ish -- you're not alone! it looks way better than my first images too haha!!)
Nice review James. Although these small scopes get a lot of flak from people, I think that is largely because they have the wrong expectations of what a little scope like this can achieve. However, for outreach and trying to get people introduced to and interested in astro, I think they have a definite role to play. Will be interesting to see how it compares with the Seestar from ZWO.
I use the eVscope, Vespera, and ZWO Seestar50 for outreach in Bortle 9 skies. Works well for this. We get 10,000 people at out star parties at Griffith Observatory on Saturday nights. The public loves these scopes and many want to buy one.
Excellent review James, I think you covered all the points that came to mind while watching👍For what it is, and it's intended audience, I do think it represents pretty good value. One of my neighbours have a couple of kids that have taken a keen interest in astronomy/astrophotography and wanted to have a look at my rigs. They were somewhat disheartened when they realised the cost involved. I think the Dwarf would make a good entry into astrophotography without breaking the bank. After that I do also think that learning Pixinsight (or Siril/APP etc) would be a logical next step if you wanted to take the hobby further, if you can make a Dwarf image look good then processing an image taken with an IMX571 sensor will seem like childsplay!
Good review James - I appreciate how you framed the use case(s) for this device. Although if someone were looking for a completely automated experience, how about a subscription service where you pay an amateur astronomer to send you a picture of whatever you want :) Joking aside, imagine if in addition to equatorial mode, the Dwarf could swap in DSLR lenses to make use of better / telescopic optics, turning it into a mini go-to mount + camera + live stacker. It could certainly enhance the EAA experience. CS!
Thanks! Those subscription services.. Ive been tempted by them for some southern hemisphere targets.. but they are not cheap, lol. It will be interesting to see how these gadgets evolve.
it's definitely for hikers like me that like astrophotography, just me and my backpack setting up the tent on a mountain under a clear sky with new moon and this little bugger taking pictures it's great cuz i couldn't carry 15kg or more of rig components on the mountains
Good review but not easy to use you have to do black photos twice each time before you use it, then you have to find a target manually and then do focusing and then IF you are lucky you can calibrate it. For me the unit would not calibrate even though I had clear skies and clear field this telescope is not for beginners in my opinion
Thanks! I've only taken dark frames once, although taken them each night out so they are taken with the ambient temps as the captures is a good idea. The focus can be tricky. What I have found that works is to run the auto focus when there is some day light out, on a far object. At night I use distant lights or the moon for a rough focus. With the platesolving/calibrate, I've noticed two main things. 1) The focus has to be good enough that you can see many stars. If the focus is off, its not going to recognize enough stars to get a good solve. 2) I manually point the camera up and at a spot with no obstructions.
Nice review James I think for outreach it would be a great tool to have but as an imaging rig you're better off with a standard type of setup, in saying that it still does a reasonable job.
Thanks Tich! For what you and I are after.. absolutely. I think for someone that wants to do some easy astronomy without jumping into the rabbit hole you and I fell into, this works pretty good. :)
Thank you for the video, very in depth review. Can you make a review but with the latest update of the dwarf II ? I think is improved a lot, i read some very happy comments in terms of new functions and expecially of the quality of the photos Thanks for interest
Thank you! I will take a look at the upgrades for sure. The weather has been so bad this spring I have not had a chance to use it. By mid July we should be back to clear nights.
My Dwarf will be delivered tomorrow; I can't wait. Some reviews say you should not use a tripod and place it on a flat surface. I'm not sure if it is to reduce shaking or not, but you said that wind affected it. What is your opinion on that?
I have used mine two different ways. With the included mini tripod in the lawn and in an equatorial mount (I purchased a cheap vixen style dove tail for the eq mount). With the little tripod legs, it did shake a little in the wind. I'd say anything over 6mph can impact some exposures. It seemed very solid on the eq mount.. not surprising at all. You'll be fine with the included mini tripod as long as it isn't too windy.
Hi, thanks for a great video. I've checked out a number of videos about this product and the Seestar. I'm someone who had a 2" refractor as a teen in the '70s/'80s, and these products look great for someone wanting to casually get back into sky. I have a question that no one seems to have addressed with the Dwarf, can the wide angle camera be used at night for timelapse capture of meteor showers? (I'm guessing the stacking process would need to be different?) Any insight would be appreciated, I'm still on the fence in my choice of product.
Thanks Steven! I have not tried using the wide angle lens for astro... but I just checked and it does look like I can use the wide angle lens with the astro features. The exposure times are limited to a max of 1 second. Looks like stacking works the same. I'll have to try it out the next time it is clear. Might work good for milky way shots.
Coll little toy to have in your trunk and pull it out whenever away and the sky is clear... fixes the astrojunkie withdrawal symptoms better than any phone ... after my last experience with gear on holiday... I am inclined to get something to fit this bill ... C11 or TS 115 and a mount with a laptop and all ... not good for moralle ... imagine having to tell the missus that you can't fit more crap in the car due to the gear... although I am way more inclined towards the Skywatcher Virtuoso GTI in 150 flavour... it can also take my Samyang 135 with a DSLR...
I'm a newbie; my Dwarf II was just delivered yesterday. It has the latest firmware version. I have a question for anyone who might have the answer. I've noticed that the two lenses might not be aligned correctly. When I finally get the object in the center of the telescopic screen, it shows the object right on the yellow box line on the bottom or just outside it on the wide-angle view. Is that normal? Thank You!
I have noticed that finding an object during the day using the wide lens (with a little green target box in the center) is not perfectly aligned with the telescopic lens. I think part of it might just be parallax. It doesn't impact deep sky imaging though because I only use the telescope and the platesolver has been doing a good job centering objects.
I have a question about video telescope, if video telescopes can pick up sounds in space that we can't hear, can it also pick up sounds that we can hear? For example a dog barking a mile away, I'm sure I can't hear a dog barking a mile away from me, although the riddle of "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound" can finally be answered. I've always been a hundred percent that the tree would have made a sound regardless who is there or not. So can someone answer my question please?
Are you referencing the sounds of a black hole that was recorded/released last year? My understanding is that the sound frequencies recorded were very low.. well below what our own ears are able to hear. If you were to playback a sound in space.. say music with a speaker, I don't think you'd hear anything because the speaker needs air. Sound need a medium to travel, like air. An interesting question.
*traductor de Google: Sí, pero a veces tiene problemas con las estrellas. Me parece mejor enfocar automáticamente cuando todavía hay luz apagada. Eso te acerca lo suficiente por la noche como para poder enfocar manualmente para marcar las estrellas.
They are far behind on apple iOS, compatibility, and abilities. Other than that the scope is fantastic for what it does as long as you keep your expectations Realistic. If you are expecting James Webb or Hubble clarity, then you need to go out and spend $13 billion and get that.
I was looking for an intro beginner Astro photography setup and the most basic one I found would have been about $3k total for decent images. And that was mostly the dslr. Maybe I will do that down the line, but I mainly wanted something to take camping. I found this and the consensus is that it’s very intro level and cheap but gets the job done! Seems fine to me!
@@kalikiter1 The Dwarf II is perfect for camping. Very small and light. If deep sky imaging is something you would be interested in.. this will certainly give you a taste of it.
@@kalikiter1 it is by no means “cheap”! It is a quality device so far. It only weighs 2 pounds and once you set your focus for the Astro shooting and get it perfect then you don’t need to set it again. That means you can be up and shooting pictures within five minutes.👍 yes, a 50 mm lens would be even sharper pictures but that scope weighs three times more (6 lbs) and larger in dimensions, making it questionable as carrying on an airplane. Get them both.🤭
I think it is important to review these because this may very well be where the hobby is going. Just as digital took over from film -- and now mirrorless is taking over from DSLRs -- in conventional photography, integrated systems may well be the future for astro. It will be interesting to see where things go over the next 5-10 years.
Hi, -I did not get paid for this. They are letting me keep it and I do have an affiliate link that kicks a few bucks my way in the unlikely event you purchase one of these. -It's not a piece of crap. Did you watch the whole video? I show what one can expect for the pictures and compare it to a typical astrophotography rig. If it was piece of crap, I simply would not have reviewed it. -Integrity of the hobby? By having youtubers review it? I'd argue a department store refractor with plastic lenses in the eyepiece do far more harm to the hobby than a small EAA gadget such as this. On the contrary.. this may actually replace the standard recommended first scope (6-8" dob). Will be interesting to see how it works at the star party. -Maybe you are just agitated by having these reviews spam your youtube feed. If that is the case, I can sympathize.
How does taking the time to write a baseless, vitriolic comment such as this serve to protect the 'integrity of the hobby'? If anything, you're doing the exact opposite thing by dragging the whole tone down with such laughable remarks. People like James actively ELEVATE the integrity of the hobby by offering lots of free and informed help to his fellow man! - You need to take a look at what's making you think this is an acceptable way to talk to people and snuff it out, before inflicting further venomous commentary on people who quite frankly don't deserve it - You'll honestly be happier for it!
