S50 or wait?

Sacnusan

I’ve just discovered the S50. Yep I know it’s a year and half late. But due to circumstances, I haven’t been actively looking for a telescope. The S50 seems to fit the bill for me and my pocket right now.

So the S30 has been released on pre order, but I like the S50 and am about to buy it. But I don’t want to be that guy that commits his money and bam ZWO announces the S80 a week later.

What do you think guys, do I bite the bullet and go for it and get the S50 a year and half down the line?

Lorix

Sacnusan

I have been an amateur astronomer for several years, I own a 102ED with AA+ and I too have always wondered if Seestar S50 could be right for me.

I didn't regret it: excellent quality/price ratio!

Even a few sunsets ago S50 allowed me to photograph comet C2023 A3 in a few minutes while the clouds had temporarily disappeared; if I had mounted my 102 I would certainly have lost it because it clouded over again!

Its strong point is the speed of installation and lightness; even though it has a diameter of 50 mm, it's incredible what photos it can take!

Buy it without waiting!

satch984

Wait S30 if you like wider frames more

Digital Don

When it comes to technology, there will ALWAYS be something better coming.

No matter what you buy, the next one will most likely be more powerful, have more features, and possibly be less expensive too. And if you wait, the one that follows that will be even better. So, do you want to wait forever or enjoy what's available while you're still around to use it?

I love my S50 but I may purchase an S30 or Dwarf 3 to get that wider field that satch984 mentioned.

Don

starnet

The S50 is fine, you will not regret buying it. The problem is the SeeStar app, and that's the same piece of software, no matter which version you get.

Gulyas K

S30 is for wider frame astrophotography. S50 is somewhere in a middle, sometimes I feel it a bit small (for planetary nebulae). Nobody knows when the bigger version is coming. There will be a bigger for sure.
I would love an S70 os S80 with a bigger and more sensitive sensor (maybe with a possibility to cool it with external power,), guiding and field rotator as the Alt/AZ is so comfortable, makes the equipment very portable and easy to use (no polar alignment!). I'd be among the first users who pre order it! 🙂
I'd go for the S50 right now if I were you.

LA3QMA

I have been close to press order several time on the Dwarf2 as this was the first smart scope i would like to try. The size and that it could be used for astro and also landscape was important for me. Then after googling and reading watching youtube etc i then discovered the S50. After much reading and "comparing" i order the S50. I dont regret it. Many people in here have a lot to say about the app and its evolutions since the first version. I'm sure and hope at some point zwo can refactor and fine tune when they have most of the important functions ready. watching youtube for me the dwarf2 app seems to be a lot more "work" to get the same result. But thats based on what i have seen on the net. The S50 i cannot use for scenery as i was planning with the Dward2 as its to big for my use. But again i dont regret the S50. Im even more interested in this hobby and have learned much more the last year than "ever" regarding post processing images on the computer etc. I would love to do more planetary but then the S50 is not the best but you get good pictures of the big ones. So yes if/when zwo is selling a "bigger" smart scope i'm probably going to buy that too :-)

Gulyas K

LA3QMA Talking about the Seestar app, I have no problem with it at all. I read all the user complaints that their Seestar cannot find the Moon and Sun and they are just struggling with it. I have been using my Seestar for a while and I do not remember a single occasion when it could not find either the Sun or the Moon. Less than a minute after I hit the Goto button, the object was on the screen. So I guess this Sun and Moon finding issue is actually a user issue. Bad level adjust, bad compass calibration, bad location set up in the app, etc. I never ever had a Sun or Moon finding issue, so the app obviously works well if it is used properly.

LA3QMA

Gulyas K Agree. I'm quite happy with the latest public version. Only had a few problems with the moon and sun but i think this is due to external things that probably confuse the s50. If i think the S50 is going to "struggle" i use the cancel button and then manually fine tune with the "joystick" on the screen. I think many people are to quick to complain in stead of give constructive feedback. zwo has moved more functions in groups so its more logic now when there are more functions compared to the first version. so it might be a few extra touch on the screen but then again the app is more visually clean and not cluttered. And we are all different in how we want and expect things to be. But rather than nagging zwo its better with constructive feedback. They dont have to change anything but they might if more people report the same "issue". So i'm not that interested in mosaic due to the small FOV. Then a automatic scheduler is more important for me. But yes i'm going to use and explore the mosaic when its public. And the youtube preview for the mosaic posted in this forum was nice to see. I don't think people will be unhappy buying the S50. Its a great device for beginners and also for people that already have better equipment. Its so easy to take with you and get pictures when the sky is clear. Bigger equipment you need to plan better to rig etc. Yes you get better images i guess but the S50 is so small that you can easily use it anywhere without any planning or heavy backpacking :-)

H

👍👍👍

tom-dd

My solution: Buy now S50 AND wait for next one ;-)

H

tom-dd 👍

Mohmiim

Just to share my experience, I have it for 10 days now and it suffers from 318 connection problem when it happen u can not do much with the telescope other than turning it on and off. Suppor tries not exist I opened a bug and logged 2 support tickets and nothing. I thought I found a solution by deleting the app and reinstalling it but worked for few minutes then back to the error. So if u are buying one just keep that in mind

Tech@ZWO

Mohmiim Sorry for the trouble, may i know your BT number? i will confirm with my colleague and replied to you soon.

Gulyas K

And also keep in mind that these cases are very rare and mostly not the fault of Seestar firmware or app, but the Android on your device. I've got an annoying issue, but I consider it an issue of my tablet. If I use my old Samsung tablet, it's slow, but no issues at all. But if I use my new Xiaomi Pad 6 tablet, it's super fast and smooth, but whenever I rotate my device and changing between landscape and portrait mode, it drops the connection with Seestar then reconnect again. This does not happen with the Samsung tablet, so obviously not a Seestar issue.

Mohmiim

Tech@ZWO
BT20241018377795S

Tech@ZWO

Mohmiim Thanks, has my colleague contact you and arrange RMA?