ZWO Seestar S50 - Discontinued I have included the S50 as it is still a very good Smart Telescope and still the best one for imaging small Deep Sky Objects. Based on the price of the new S30 Pro the long awaited upgrade S50 Pro will be expensive with estimate are £800 to £900. The S50 will be available secondhand for a long time. S50 Specifications A direct comparison of the Dwarflab 3 and Seestar S50 is difficult as they are quite different: Seestar S50 Aperture 50mm Focal length 250mm Sensor 2MP (Sony IMX 462) Sensor Orientation Portrait Field of View 1.28° x 0.72°. Max Exposure 10 to 60 Secs Image Resolution 2.39 arcsec/pixel Image format: JPEG, FITS Memory 64GB Filters Light pollution & Nebula Digital Zoom 2x and 4x Mount drive AltAz & EQ Mode Tripod Fitting ⅜” The technical bit - so you understand why the above and other information matters. • Aperture A larger aperture gathers more light, resulting in a brighter image captured in a shorter time. The Seestar S50 has 50% more light gathering capability compared with the Dwarflab 3. • Focal length A longer the focal length contributes to a higher the magnification. The Seestar S50 has a smaller 2MP sensor size compared with the Dwarflab 3's 8MP sensor, resulting in a smaller field of view for the S50. Why does this matter? High magnification is good for small objects, but Deep Sky Objects (Galaxies, Nebulae & Star Clusters) can be very large. Some didn’t fit into the Seestar S50 field of view. (See Mosaic Mode below) • Image Resolution Generally a large sensor gives a better resolution, however, this is effected by pixel size and telescope focal length. Neither the Dwarflab 3 or S50 is perfect (the ideal number is 1 to 2 arcsec/pixel), but the S50 is slightly better. This does show in the images where the quality of the S50 gives pinpoint stars as does the Dwarflab 3. • Image Orientation S50 sensor is set in portrait (longest axis is vertical). In use your phone screen will display a box on the sky map showing the FOV. The orientation changes when using AltAz or EQ Mode. All Smart Telescopes lack the ability to rotate the imaging area for optimal framing. (See Mosaic Mode below). • Exposure The telescopes has user adjustable shutter speed (exposure). Seestar S50 is less flexible with Astronomy Mode limited to 10, 20 and 30 and 60 second exposures. For daylight use the exposure is only fully automatic. The longer exposure time can reduce noise, but it may pick up unwanted objects like satellites and aircraft trails which will lead to images being rejected, therefore, requiring even more images and overall a longer imaging time. • Filters Being able to image faint objects in light polluted skies is one of the stand out features of Smart Telescopes. With most people having to live with light pollution it opens up astronomy in a way not previously possible. The telescopes uses built in filters to overcome light pollution and also user a selectable dual band filter to enhance specific colours emitted by nebulae. • Mount Drive The S50 is design to track objects as they move across the sky. They do this in two ways: Alt-Az - up/down and left /right. Works for short periods of imaging only. EQ Mode - necessary for imaging over long periods. To use the EQ Mode the telescope MUST be fitted to a tripod with a tilting head and aligned with the celestial pole (not quite the Pole Star) so the object is tracked in the arc it moves in across the sky. The Design The S50 has all the optics in a rounded rectangular box attached to an L shaped arm. The optical arm will move through an angle of 270 o while the base will rotate 360 o . Neither the arm or base can be moved by hand only through the App. Controlling the Telescope • The App All functions of both telescope are controlled through their respective Apps. Both companies are constantly updating the software with new functions. Seestar users wanted EQ Mode (see Tripod below for possible problems) and Framing (Mosaic Mode) as both were standard on the Dwarflab 3. Seestar added these functions in a software update. Some reviewers have said the Dwarflab App is a bit more complicated to learn, but the there is more flexibility in the control of functions than for the Seestar. To me the Seestar App is not as user friendly as the Dwarflab App. ZWO recommend the Seestar App is only used on phones / tablets that use Android 10 and above with min 6GB RAM The S50 App has a similar arrangement to Dwarflab for helping you find what to image. There is a “Recommended” list of objects that are above the horizon and are relatively easy to image. There is also an interactive Star Atlas showing the location of numerous objects in the night sky it also shows the field of view. A search function allows you to find an object through its name or catalogue number. For more experienced users you can specify the celestial coordinates (RA and Dec) for objects not listed. Seestar App also includes a list of visible Comets. My biggest criticism with the atlas is the use Caldwell Catalogue numbers of which there are 109 objects, but only some 66 are visible from the UK. Experienced astronomers use the more common NGC or IC numbers for these deep sky objects. The Seestar App can be disconnected once you start imaging an object. Seestar’s “Plan” allows you to select a number of objects to be imaged through the night. The S50 only allow you to select the objects to be imaged over the set period, but uses its pre programmed settings for each object which is less flexible than Dwarflab’s App. With the unpredictable UK weather I would never recommend leaving any telescope outside all night. At best it may just cloud over, but rain will cause serious damage. The S50 has a built in dew heater to stop the front lens fogging up, however, this does shorten battery life. • Seestar S50 Framing (like Dwarflab Mosaic Mode) An App update allows the S50 to image larger objects by increasing the area by up to 4 times to a maximum of 2.56° x 1.44°. While this is fully adjustable, both axis change together keeping the same aspect ratio. Again more imaging time is required to produce a detailed final image. • Image Processing Biggest difference between Seestar S50 and Dwarflab 3 is image processing. The S50 telescope stacks the number of images you specify into a final image. Images it doesn’t “like” are rejected. All the images taken are stored by the telescopes for you to do your own processing if you want to. “Deep Sky Stack” allows images of the same object taken on different nights to be stacked together. Seestar S50 has a single post processing stage to enhance the final image. While it works adequately, it is interesting that the user manual encourages you to look at additional processing software - though none is specified. From reviews this appears to be what most users do. Downloading the individual images to use the same post processing software (paid for or free) as used for conventional imaging. I don’t understand this as the whole point of these small Smart Telescopes is to give you a good image without all the extra work. By comparison Dwarflab “Stella Studio” offer lots of inbuilt image processing functions. Planets - What Planets? Smart Telescope are generally not designed to image the planets due to the large field of view making the planets appear as tiny discs. However, a new Seestar update gives 4x digital zoom - effectively cropping the image to enlarge the object size. This is sufficient to show Jupiter as a small disc with dark bands - the cloud belts. The Planets are easy to find and you will see them better with a conventional telescope like the Starquest DX102MC. Moon and Solar Imaging The S50 has a supplied with a sun filter which is push fit. Locating the Sun or Moon is a bit more trial and error with only the one camera and its small FOV. However, the small FOV and higher resolution works to the S50’s advantage producing a larger and better looking Moon or Sun image than any other Smart Telescope. The new 4x digital zoom feature can be used on the Moon for close-ups of lunar features. Daylight Use While the S50 has a Daylight Mode feature it is not that useful due as the high magnification and small field of view works against it. Plus it only has automatic exposure and gain settings when looking at wildlife or scenery. It does have a tracking function for follow moving objects. Seestar S50 Tripod Seestar S50 is supplied with a mini tripod for Alt-Az Mode as standard, this is probably because it is incapable of being used on just a flat surface the way the Dwarflab 3 can. The motor drive rotates the L shape body around a central core which has the ⅜” tripod thread and is flush with the base so if any of the base outside the core is in contact with a flat surface or a tripod base the S50 cannot rotate. In the image you can see a rubber disc surrounding the tripod thread which is used to lift the base slightly to avoid contact. The S50 has an inbuilt sensor to help you level the tripod. A pan / tilt head tripod is need to use the S50 in EQ Mode for longer exposure tracking. The App will not allow exposures longer than 10 seconds unless the telescope is in EQ Mode. EQ Mode Tripod When using EQ Mode for either telescope I would recommend using a sturdy full size tripod with 3 way head (not ball head) costing £50 to £90. I use this Smallrig 73” tripod (Amazon link). It has both ⅜” and ¼” screw thread and is very stable particularly if you remove the spreader connected to the legs.(I don’t get a commission if you buy one). Note - If use anything other than the supplied tripod make sure the base of the S50 is raised above the mounting plate. EQ Wedge For Seestar telescopes I have seen a suggestion to use a Skywatcher Star Adventure wedge (£72) to get EQ alignment. As the wedge also requires a tripod (£84) that is a costly alternative that doesn’t do any better than a decent tripod. Another suggestion is the McGill EQ Mode kit made in Singapore (approx £111) which can be fitted to the S50 tripod or again a stable tripod. CAUTION - I have seen comments by numerous people on social media that after using the S50 in EQ Mode for some time the tracking accuracy has decreased meaning images were dropped instead of being stacked. Some blame a weakness in the motor drives others blame a recent software update for the problem. Further update 15th March 2026 - latest software update includes improved tracking. Looks like problems were software related. Battery Replacement - Seestar only All Seestar telescopes have a replaceable battery. Only currently available for the S50 - Seestar Battery. How many cycles (charge / discharge) the S50 battery lasts is unknown, however, you can add a power tank through the USB- C port for longer imaging runs or if it doesn’t hold a full charge any more. Seestar S30 - Discontinued I am unsure why ZWO released this telescope in mid-2025 knowing they would be launching the S30 Pro six months later. The S30 is comparable to the later Dwarflab Mini as they both use the same IMX 662 sensor (an upgrade from the IMX 462 used in the S50). As you might expect the S30 produces images of similar quality to the S50 with the Seestar's standard image processing, but with the advantage of a much larger field of view. Aperture 30mm Focal length 150mm Field of View 2.14° x 1.20° Sensor 2MP (Sony IMX 662) Max Exposure 60 Secs Image Resolution 3.98 arcmins/pixel Image format: Vertical File format: JPEG, FITS Memory 64GB Filters Light pollution & Nebula Digital Zoom 2x and 4x Mount drive AltAz & EQ Mode Tripod Fitting ⅜” The S30 is easy to use straight out of the box. In addition to the main astro imaging system which offers a significantly larger field of view than the S50, there is a smaller daylight camera above it with a 23° field of view. The narrow field camera orientation is vertical while the wide field camera is horizontal. The S30 does not have a level guide in the App like the S50, but still needs to be on a level surface. A nice new function is “Guest” function where up to 6 devices connect to a wifi output from your phone or tablet so each device can see the object imaged. Like the S50, it has a front lens heater to prevent dew build-up, though this will impact battery life. For solar imaging, a magnetic Sun filter is provided, which is easier to install than the push-fit filter on the S50. When compared with the S30 Pro EVERY aspect of the S30 makes it look like a budget S50, but it is not priced that way as the Dwarflab Mini is cheaper. Note: Although it uses the same App the S30 can’t access all the features available to the S30 Pro.

Seestar S50

Seestar S50

Seestar S50 optics

Seestar S50 dimensions

ZWO Seestar S50 - Discontinued I have included the S50 as it is still a very good Smart Telescope and still the best one for imaging small Deep Sky Objects. Based on the price of the new S30 Pro the long awaited upgrade S50 Pro will be expensive with estimate are £800 to £900. The S50 will be available secondhand for a long time. S50 Specifications A direct comparison of the Dwarflab 3 and Seestar S50 is difficult as they are quite different: Seestar S50 Aperture 50mm Focal length 250mm Sensor 2MP (Sony IMX 462) Sensor Orientation Portrait Field of View 1.28° x 0.72°. Max Exposure 10 to 60 Secs Image Resolution 2.39 arcsec/pixel Image format: JPEG, FITS Memory 64GB Filters Light pollution & Nebula Digital Zoom 2x and 4x Mount drive AltAz & EQ Mode Tripod Fitting ⅜” The technical bit - so you understand why the above and other information matters. • Aperture A larger aperture gathers more light, resulting in a brighter image captured in a shorter time. The Seestar S50 has 50% more light gathering capability compared with the Dwarflab 3. • Focal length A longer the focal length contributes to a higher the magnification. The Seestar S50 has a smaller 2MP sensor size compared with the Dwarflab 3's 8MP sensor, resulting in a smaller field of view for the S50. Why does this matter? High magnification is good for small objects, but Deep Sky Objects (Galaxies, Nebulae & Star Clusters) can be very large. Some didn’t fit into the Seestar S50 field of view. (See Mosaic Mode below) • Image Resolution Generally a large sensor gives a better resolution, however, this is effected by pixel size and telescope focal length. Neither the Dwarflab 3 or S50 is perfect (the ideal number is 1 to 2 arcsec/pixel), but the S50 is slightly better. This does show in the images where the quality of the S50 gives pinpoint stars as does the Dwarflab 3. • Image Orientation S50 sensor is set in portrait (longest axis is vertical). In use your phone screen will display a box on the sky map showing the FOV. The orientation changes when using AltAz or EQ Mode. All Smart Telescopes lack the ability to rotate the imaging area for optimal framing. (See Mosaic Mode below). • Exposure The telescopes has user adjustable shutter speeds (exposure). Seestar S50 is less flexible with Astronomy Mode limited to 10, 20 and 30 and 60 second exposures. For daylight use the exposure is only fully automatic. The longer exposure time can reduce noise, but it may pick up unwanted objects like satellites and aircraft trails which will lead to images being rejected, therefore, requiring even more images and overall a longer imaging time. • Filters Being able to image faint objects in light polluted skies is one of the stand out features of Smart Telescopes. With most people having to live with light pollution it opens up astronomy in a way not previously possible. The telescopes uses built in filters to overcome light pollution and also user a selectable dual band filter to enhance specific colours emitted by nebulae. • Mount Drive The S50 is design to track objects as they move across the sky. They do this in two ways: Alt-Az - up/down and left /right. Works for short periods of imaging only. EQ Mode - necessary for imaging over long periods. To use the EQ Mode the telescope MUST be fitted to a tripod with a tilting head and aligned with the celestial pole (not quite the Pole Star) so the object is tracked in the arc it moves in across the sky. The Design The S50 has all the optics in a rounded rectangular box attached to an L shaped arm. The optical arm will move through an angle of 270 o while the base will rotate 360 o . Neither the arm or base can be moved by hand only through the App. Controlling the Telescope • The App All functions of both telescope are controlled through their respective Apps. Both companies are constantly updating the software with new functions. Seestar users wanted EQ Mode (see Tripod below for possible problems) and Framing (Mosaic Mode) as both were standard on the Dwarflab 3. Seestar added these functions in a software update. Some reviewers have said the Dwarflab App is a bit more complicated to learn, ut the there is more flexibility in the control of functions than for the Seestar. To me the Seestar App is not as user friendly as the Dwarflab App. ZWO recommend the Seestar App is only used on phones / tablets that use Android 10 and above with min 6GB RAM The S50 App has a similar arrangement to Dwarflab for helping you find what to image. There is a “Recommended” list of objects that are above the horizon and are relatively easy to image. There is also an interactive Star Atlas showing the location of numerous objects in the night sky it also shows the field of view. A search function allows you to find an object through its name or catalogue number. For more experienced users you can specify the celestial coordinates (RA and Dec) for objects not listed. Seestar App also includes a list of visible Comets. My biggest criticism with the atlas is the use Caldwell Catalogue numbers of which here are 109 objects, but only some 66 are visible from the UK. Experienced astronomers use the more common NGC or IC numbers for these deep sky objects. The Seestar App can be disconnected once you start imaging an object. Seestar’s “Plan” allows you to select a number of objects to be imaged through the night. The S50 only allow you to select the objects to be imaged over the set period, but uses its pre programmed settings for each object which is less flexible than Dwarflab’s App. With the unpredictable UK weather I would never recommend leaving any telescope outside all night. At best it may just cloud over, but rain will cause serious damage. The S50 has a built in dew heater to stop the front lens fogging up, however, this does shorten battery life. • Seestar S50 Framing (like Dwarflab Mosaic Mode) An App update allows the S50 to image larger objects by increasing the area by up to 4 times to a maximum of 2.56° x 1.44°. While this is fully adjustable, both axis change together keeping the same aspect ratio. Again more imaging time is required to produce a detailed final image. • Image Processing Biggest difference between Seestar S50 and Dwarflab 3 is image processing. The S50 telescope stacks the number of images you specify into a final image. Images it doesn’t “like” are rejected. All the images taken are stored by the telescopes for you to do your own processing if you want to. “Deep Sky Stack” allows images of the same object taken on different nights to be stacked together. Seestar S50 has a single post processing stage to enhance the final image. While it works adequately, it is interesting that the user manual encourages you to look at additional processing software - though none is specified. From reviews this appears to be what most users do. Downloading the individual images to use the same post processing software (paid for or free) as used for conventional imaging. I don’t understand this as the whole point of these small Smart Telescopes is to give you a good image without all the extra work. By comparison Dwarflab “Stella Studio” offer lots of inbuilt image processing functions. Planets - What Planets? Smart Telescope are generally not designed to image the planets due to the large field of view making the planets appear as tiny discs. However, a new Seestar update gives 4x digital zoom - effectively cropping the image to enlarge the object size. This is sufficient to show Jupiter as a small disc with dark bands - the cloud belts. The Planets are easy to find and you will see them better with a conventional telescope like the Starquest DX102MC. Moon and Solar Imaging The S50 has a supplied with a sun filter which is push fit. Locating the Sun or Moon is a bit more trial and error with only the one camera and its small FOV. However, the small FOV and higher resolution works to the S50’s advantage producing a larger and better looking Moon or Sun image than any other Smart Telescope. The new 4x digital zoom feature can be used on the Moon for close-ups of lunar features. Daylight Use While the S50 has a Daylight Mode feature it is not that useful due as the high magnification and small field of view works against it. Plus it only has automatic exposure and gain settings when looking at wildlife or scenery. It does have a tracking function for follow moving objects. Seestar S50 Tripod Seestar S50 is supplied with a mini tripod for Alt-Az Mode as standard, this is probably because it is incapable of being used on just a flat surface the way the Dwarflab 3 can. The motor drive rotates the L shape body around a central core which has the ⅜” tripod thread and is flush with the base so if any of the base outside the core is in contact with a flat surface or a tripod base the S50 cannot rotate. In the image you can see a rubber disc surrounding the tripod thread which is used to lift the base slightly to avoid contact. The S50 has an inbuilt sensor to help you level the tripod. A pan / tilt head tripod is need to use the S50 in EQ Mode for longer exposure tracking. The App will not allow exposures longer than 10 seconds unless the telescope is in EQ Mode. EQ Mode Tripod When using EQ Mode for either telescope I would recommend using a sturdy full size tripod with 3 way head (not ball head) costing £50 to £90. I use this Smallrig 73” tripod (Amazon link). It has both ⅜” and ¼” screw thread and is very stable particularly if you remove the spreader connected to the legs.(I don’t get a commission if you buy one). Note - If use anything other than the supplied tripod make sure the base of the S50 is raised above the mounting plate. EQ Wedge For Seestar telescopes I have seen a suggestion to use a Skywatcher Star Adventure wedge (£72) to get EQ alignment. As the wedge also requires a tripod (£84) that is a costly alternative that doesn’t do any better than a decent tripod. Another suggestion is the McGill EQ Mode kit made in Singapore (approx £111) which can be fitted to the S50 tripod or again a stable tripod. CAUTION - I have seen comments by numerous people on social media that after using the S50 in EQ Mode for some time the tracking accuracy has decreased meaning images were dropped instead of being stacked. Some blame a weakness in the motor drives others blame a recent software update for the problem. Further update 15th March 2026 - latest software update includes improved tracking. Looks like problems were software related. Battery Replacement - Seestar only All Seestar telescopes have a replaceable battery. Only currently available for the S50 - Seestar Battery. How many cycles (charge / discharge) the S50 battery lasts is unknown, however, you can add a power tank through the USB-C port for longer imaging runs or if it doesn’t hold a full charge any more. Seestar S30 - Discontinued I am unsure why ZWO released this telescope in mid-2025 knowing they would be launching the S30 Pro six months later. The S30 is comparable to the later Dwarflab Mini as they both use the same IMX 662 sensor (an upgrade from the IMX 462 used in the S50). As you might expect the S30 produces images of similar quality to the S50 with the Seestar's standard image processing, but with the advantage of a much larger field of view. Aperture 30mm Focal length 150mm Field of View 2.14° x 1.20° Sensor 2MP (Sony IMX 662) Max Exposure 60 Secs Image Resolution 3.98 arcmins/pixel Image format: Vertical File format: JPEG, FITS Memory 64GB Filters Light pollution & Nebula Digital Zoom 2x and 4x Mount drive AltAz & EQ Mode Tripod Fitting ⅜” The S30 is easy to use straight out of the box. In addition to the main astro imaging system which offers a significantly larger field of view than the S50, there is a smaller daylight camera above it with a 23° field of view. The narrow field camera orientation is vertical while the wide field camera is horizontal. The S30 does not have a level guide in the App like the S50, but still needs to be on a level surface. A nice new function is “Guest” function where up to 6 devices connect to a wifi output from your phone or tablet so each device can see the object imaged. Like the S50, it has a front lens heater to prevent dew build-up, though this will impact battery life. For solar imaging, a magnetic Sun filter is provided, which is easier to install than the push-fit filter on the S50. When compared with the S30 Pro EVERY aspect of the S30 makes it look like a budget S50, but it is not priced that way as the Dwarflab Mini is cheaper. Note: Although it uses the same App the S30 can’t access all the features available to the S30 Pro.

Dwarflab 3

Seestar S50 optics

Seestar S50 dimensions