Absolutely, and I highly recommend starting that way. The comparison was meant against building up a photography rig with similar capabilities. Even with used components, it's gonna be hard to get into this price range.
There is something fundamentally different about actually looking at Jupiter... The image might be faint, imperfect ... But it is live.
The astrophotography/live viewing split in astronomy is interesting. For me, the whole reason I do backyard astronomy is to find the objects myself and observe directly, to the point where even using an app like Stellarium feels a bit like cheating.
I have a Dwarflab DWARF 3 (also mentioned in the post) that I highly recommend. It’s one of those gadgets that ended up using more than expected when I bought it. I toss it in my luggage and I got to capture really nice sky pictures with little effort (Marfa TX, Patagonia, latest total solar eclipse in Spain)
If you are buying think through whether you want a wider field of view (S30 series) or more details (S50 series). S30 might be a better bet for amateur viewing.
A small piece of feedback: it is a really interesting piece, but also very grating to read. I'm guessing you used AI to review/edit, and it seems to have added a lot of filler and coated the piece with its own style. I found a pre-AI post much more pleasant to read: https://adfr.io/thoughts/20240207_time_travel
> At a few hundred euros, I am no longer asking whether a smart telescope can replace a serious visual telescope
Well, I bought a used 8 inch (203mm) telescope for 500€ a few years ago. Used telescopes can be very cheap.
Absolutely, and I highly recommend starting that way. The comparison was meant against building up a photography rig with similar capabilities. Even with used components, it's gonna be hard to get into this price range.
There is something fundamentally different about actually looking at Jupiter... The image might be faint, imperfect ... But it is live.
The astrophotography/live viewing split in astronomy is interesting. For me, the whole reason I do backyard astronomy is to find the objects myself and observe directly, to the point where even using an app like Stellarium feels a bit like cheating.
> even using an app like Stellarium feels a bit like cheating.
Personally, I have no computers, phones or any electronic crap when I'm observing the sky. Just me and a manual telescope.
I look at the sky to get away from all that shite.
Well, it's half an hour old image anyway ;) But I understand your point.
I have a Dwarflab DWARF 3 (also mentioned in the post) that I highly recommend. It’s one of those gadgets that ended up using more than expected when I bought it. I toss it in my luggage and I got to capture really nice sky pictures with little effort (Marfa TX, Patagonia, latest total solar eclipse in Spain)
Nice post, and the only sort of 'advertising' that works for me, ha.
They are out of stock unfortunately, though perhaps the pro is worth the higher price.
Can confirm, they're a lot of fun. Especially for the person who wants minimal setup fuss and just to snap some pictures of the heavens.
If you are buying think through whether you want a wider field of view (S30 series) or more details (S50 series). S30 might be a better bet for amateur viewing.
I hate that the LLM era has turned me into a detective every time I read a piece of writing but… this prose is very AI-speak, no?
[delayed]
Perhaps it's better to ponder whether or not it contains information useful to you / is a pleasure to read?
Author here, thanks for sharing my post =)
Thank you for sharing!
A small piece of feedback: it is a really interesting piece, but also very grating to read. I'm guessing you used AI to review/edit, and it seems to have added a lot of filler and coated the piece with its own style. I found a pre-AI post much more pleasant to read: https://adfr.io/thoughts/20240207_time_travel
Quick question: Did you use AI for that post?
Just for the final polish, the post itself is written by myself.
Now I gotta go buy one