Are Smart Telescopes Taking Over Astrophotography?
Smart telescopes like Seestar, Vespera, and DWARF make astrophotography easier than ever. But can they replace a traditional rig—and will they ever match a big aperture telescope?...
The Space Koala Astrophotography by Luca Bartek
The biggest opportunity for traditional telescope is truly automated goto functionality like smart telescopes. Celestron options are ok but for the price, it’s far too unrefined.
ZWO is almost there with the ASIAIR ecosystem. Other brands (Stellavita by Touptek) will be there soon. There will always be a tradeoff between compatibility/openness vs. ease of use
Thank you for this great video. I think all your points are valid. However, we should also take into account the increased interest in telescopes and astrophotography that smart telescopes are bringing. Now, for a relatively small purchase price, enthusiasts can 'join in the fun' of space exploration. This could be a stepping-stone to even more interest and gear in the future.
oh I 100% love them, for that very reason! They bring more people outside and get them interested in the night sky, who could possibly say that's not an amazing thing
Recently genius telescopes are being introduced that even make the clouds go away.
A heavy smart telescope
My CPC1100 get me good visuals of many objects. Getting those ancient photons stimulating my eyes. My 80mm just does not see Jupiter the same way. Also the 80mm is all manual, yep I have to move the handle in both x-y directions. At magnification of x166 tracking can be a pain with 80mm. So CPC1100 wins for small far away objects. Small aperture wins for wide views of cool star patterns Paliedes or Double Clusters. I work with computers all day, and the visual experience of space gets me away from the computer. Telescopes make me think how small my effort really is compared to universe. Calms my work brain from next days tasks. But I wholeheartedly appreciate all the astro-photographers effort and procedures to create excellent pictures and artwork. One topic I recently started exploring is night vision eyepieces. You might do a video on why / why not. On a CPC1100 a night vision would allow me to see dim targets from my light polluted backyard. Cost is high, not as high as cooled cameras + laptop.
Night vision eyepieces are in fact expensive but they let you explore deepsky in real-time! I put mine on my 20" dobsonian and see everything while I freely move around to explore the sky (my dob is manual)
Hopefully
Smart scopes are great for bringing new interest to astrophotography…. when it use to be too technical and expensive. EAA is definitely the future but no Seestar is ever gonna replace a big rig. I love my Seestar but I will grab my rig for sure when I go to dark site…. because I want more serious quality.All in ones are great but are no match for the “good stuff”.
For me, as someone with fibromyalgia and inflammatory disease, a smart scope makes a lot of sense for me. Although, I can handle the smaller end of your "normal' rigs, having to handle a large scope setup is more of a chore and rather difficult for me. A large scope, in my opinion, is more ideal for a permanent observatory. However, that being said, I don't see smart scopes becoming too much larger than what they already are. I don't think you're going to see a "Seestar S200 or 300" anytime soon. An S80 or S90 would be a good scope but I wouldn't go too much larger than that. An S100, at the most, would be a good scope.The likes of Celestron will not be releasing a 14" version of the Origin anytime soon! I think what you'll see is incremental improvements in the specs of the scopes such as better optics, better imaging sensors, better filters, possibly cooling, etc. One thing I think will appear soon is dedicated EQ mounts for smart scopes, not just tilt-pan camera mounts and tracking mount wedges.
Good video. No getting away from the laws of physics and economics.
I grew up as a kid marveling at the night skies through my father‘s Celestron 8 inch. I have also been an avid photographer since my teens. But I honestly have never understood the smart telescope astrophotography phenomenon. If you can’t actually see with the naked eye what your smart telescope happens to be pointing at, and you’re just going to view a digital end product, why not just download an image from the web and stare at that? Yes, you happened to be present at the same point on planet earth as your smart scope, staring in the same general direction of some space object that you will, after some delay, derive a digital image from. But in no way were you really enjoying viewing the light arriving from the object, forming an image in your mind in real time. This is why a traditional large scope has so much more appeal to me, and I hope at some point in my retirement to purchase one. One might argue the same logic applies to using a telephoto lens on a camera with an electronic view finder, but in that case you’re more likely in a position to actually see the subject with the naked eye before or after taking the photo, the image presents instantaneously in the viewfinder, your composition is probably unique, and the subject itself or its actions may be unique at the moment.
I appreciate your view and this is why smart scopes are just not for everyone! But a lot of people (including myself) do enjoy digital observation too, and they provide a very easy and cost effective way to do that!
To look through an eyepiece, is how most people saw their first experience with astronomy, and it's never going to get better than that.
I've been an amateur photographer most of my life. Started with a Canon TX and now own a Canon T2I my last digital SLR that I bought years ago. Since Apple incorporated a wide angle lenses and editing features on their smartphones I never use my Canon. It's collecting dust. Going miles to a dark sky site and setting a a telescope is cool for just star gazing but to photography deep sky objects I think people telescopes will start to collect dust. Unless you're a pro or just old school. The same goes with component stereo systems I just purchased my second Bose bluetooth speaker and my stereo system is getting dusty now. Seestar was smart. Instead of fighting technology they embraced it. But smart telescopes are improving so fast I'ii just wait.
in my opinion, smart telescopes are an entry point for beginners, me included. currently i only have a pretty small 700/76 reflector for visual observation and i plan on getting a dwarf mini for astrophotography, i am a student and don't have much money or space in my dorm to be able to purchase and house an actual astrophotography rig. once i have both the space and money, i will certainly get a proper rig but in the mean time, the smart telescope will suffice
my 14 inch sct stays firmly on top of my MESU 200. But then again, I'm 73 :) You're doing just great moving a 14 inch monster around :)
Having a fixed pier is the dream!
Good analysis. But integration time and processing is what makes the difference. That and skies..... I agree with everything you say though. Good analysis Luca.
Astrophotography isn’t doing real astronomy. But real astronomy is doing astrophotography. (This is called doing astrophilosophy).
I remember having similar opinions about digital photography when it first became commercially available. Back then only wet film photography was ‘real photography’. So, do you wet film bulb expose your astrophotography, or do you cheat with digital cameras?? 😂
I bought the celestron 6” evolution, and I enjoy looking at things. But I would also like to see deep sky objects. Any thoughts on a camera? I really like your channel.
the C6 is a great scope and the evolution mount is super convenient for visual use! For astrophotography you'll be quite limited on that mount due to the not-so-precise tracking and field rotation. You could, however, do planetary and/or lunar imaging if you pair it with a planetary camera! One option to have the "smart scope" experience on your current setup is the Pegasus Astro Smarteye, which does live stacking and shows you deep sky objects. It is a little pricey so I'd only get it if you're set on staying semi-visual later on
It’s funny how hardly anyone talks about visual astronomy anymore. I have a 10-inch Dobsonian that I use for planetary imaging, and now a Seestar S30 Pro for nebulae and galaxies. Even so, I still go back to my Dob for visual observing—there’s something incredibly rewarding about manually tracking down an object in the night sky. It feels like that side of the hobby is fading. So much of the focus now is on capturing and posting images on social media, but many people don’t really know where those objects actually are in the sky. That sense of connection—of navigating, recognizing constellations, and truly finding things—is part of what makes astronomy so special. It would be a shame to lose that.
There is definitely a trend towards photography as it has truly gone through a revolution over the past 10 years with prosumer products becoming more and more affordable. That said, I believe the distribution of online content is also skewed in the photo direction simply because there's much more novelty to talk about. I personally love visual, but because of photography I have developed a certain appetite for seeing things better, hence my 20" dob and night vision eyepiece.
@the_space_koala20 inch dob? Wow... I wish I have room for a monster like that hahaha... Dark skies!
IMHO no, really I`ll not buy smart telescope for $2k. Because it`s not modular. In compare to for example my other hobby: diving. Will I pay $2k for dive computer - no. Because you can swim even without it, and next year some company will produce new one with brighter screen. May be I`ll buy some new dive computer if it will increase my underwater time x1.5 (it`s almost impossible, beause of physic and biology ), or bring some revolution changes. Will I pay $2k for regulator (gas delivery system from tank to your mouth)? Yes, they did not change for almost 10 years, and regulator`s produced 20 years ago works the same good. So I bought Good regulator and cheap computer. According to telescope: I prefer to buy really good tube and change new excellent photo matrix every few years, than spend $2k for average new upgrade every few years.
I only bought the nice dive computer and fins and stuff and I rent the BCD+other equipment everytime. My reasoning is difficulty of transportation (I dive while on vacation only). If i wanted to translate that to scopes I guess I’d buy the nice camera and control system and rent the optics and mount 😅