Seestar, my first Orion and thoughts on Ed Ting

footman

footman

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Laurence
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I thought I was going to get some more mosaics of the moon last night but local trees defeated me. I saw Orions Belt very clearly so set up the Seestar, this time it behaved itself (could be no user error!).
Got about 30 minutes of subs but only looked at them this morning. I saw that Seestar had stacked and processed already and the resulting jpg was quite good so I gave it some minimal post in Windows Photos and Topaz. I know the stars are a bit weird etc. and it's not "real" astrophotography but I'll live with that, at least I didn't spend half a day on Siril and Photoshop!

Anyway, I watched Ed Ting on YT have a right go at the Seestar. He didn't quite say it was a toy but was very definite in that it was early days for smart telescopes and we should all wait until they get better. For goodness sake Ed, I'm 77 this week, how long should I wait?

View: https://youtu.be/c9Cn-4esmsU?si=J-GmS3QlZSnzv5-4


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His review is so biased.

How much does his Takahashi rig cost when you include all the parts to make it work? something over £5,000. (10X the Seestar)
How long does it take to set up the Takahashi rig in a new location? At least 30mins if not an hour. ( 2 min the Seestar)
How much does his Takahashi rig weigh? Well over 10 Kg. (about 1 Kg the Seestar)
How much does the post-processing software needed for his rig cost?

He forgets to mention that the SeeStar saves each individual image for you to then download and do the exact same post-processing as you would on images taken from his rig.
He goes on about white balance, that's the easiest thing to adjust even just using your phone's inbuilt software.

I get the feeling he doesn't like the See Star:)

I have been doing astrophotography for about 15 years using conventional gear. It hurts your wallet.
I have sold off most of it now but the SeeStar or the impending Celestron Origin may well tempt me back.

There are a lot more positive reviews out there on YouTube that are worth viewing.
 
:agree: with David. I haven't watched the video but I'm guessing I don't need to. If this guy is using Takahashi kit he is a very serious astrophotographer and the likes of the Seestar etc will not be for him. That's no reason to knock it as he is very far from the target buyer. 'Proper' astrophotography has never been easy (I cut my teeth on 50 min exposures on slide film) but it's easier now than it ever has been. That still doesn't mean it's easy and with the outlay in expense, time, effort and the learning curve most people with an interest fall at the first hurdle. If the likes of the Seestar get more people without deep wallets and all the time in the world out there, taking photos, sharing them and getting more very ordinary people interested in what's beyond our our insular little world, what's the problem? And yes, the Seestar does save individual subs, so if users want to start dipping a toe in the waters of integrating and processing their own images they can. They might even become the 'proper' astrophotographers of the future, which wouldn't happen without that Seestar box turning up at the door. I wouldn't have one (I don't think.........although I've had a good long look at what they can and can't do) but I think they're great.
 
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