ZWO Seestar S50 PRO

[davenn]

hi guys
ZWO have just announced and will be available mid-Sept. their new ZWO Seestar S50 PRO smart telescope.
This for astrophotography ( there is NO eyepiece to look through) 50mm objective and a 260mm focal length.
The scope connects to and is controlled by an app on your smart phone -- Iphone/Android

I have not owned a smart scope like this before and have put one on order. So looking forward to its arrival

There are several reviews on Youtube and so far all with good praise

Wonder if anyone else here is contemplating buying one ?

Cheers
Dave

 

[Borg]

Interesting. Looks easy enough for even me to use.

The reviews do look pretty good. I'll be interested in seeing how you like it.

 

[davenn]

Interesting. Looks easy enough for even me to use.

The reviews do look pretty good. I'll be interested in seeing how you like it.

cheers
as you may have seen, it can do dozens ++ frames within and stack them, all by itself and takes into account frame rotation if imaging using it in the AL-AZ mount as shown above but alternatively, using an adjustable angle mount on a tripod, it can be used in equatorial mode. This allows longer exposures and gets rid of the frame rotation issues

Delivery is supposed to be around middle of the month - fingers crossed.

One video I watched, the guy reviewing it was on a rooftop in the middle of Tokyo and you can imagine the level of light pollution at that location. The images he was capturing were awesome considering the light pollution.
The scope does have a LP filter built in that can be turned on or off



cheers
Dave

 

[Borg]

Yes, it looks very impressive. I didn't know that such small, high quality telescopes existed. I've seen people here talking about stacking images but to see it included directly into the software is awesome.

 

[Bandersnatch]

I remain nonplussed about these devices.
The automation of the observation process is so extensive that I don't quite get the difference between this, and going outside with a planetarium app on your smartphone, to look at pictures uploaded from the HST. Other than the missing 1k in your account, that is.
At least the price has gone down a chunk since the last time we spoke about these here.

 

[davenn]

The automation of the observation process is so extensive that I don't quite get the difference between this, and going outside with a planetarium app on your smartphone, to look at pictures uploaded from the HST.

For me, this is a huge advantage, with my ongoing and worsening health problems. It's becoming more and more difficult for me to get out with my other scopes for doing astrophotography and this will be a way I can get out with something light and portable and still produce astro-images.
I cant even lift and carry my Celestron CPC925 any more. It hasnt been used for 10+ years

If you have watched the video, you would have seen that the images can be moved to a main PC and can then do your own stacking and playing around with processing in your own fav software ... Pix-in-Sight etc.

Another thing I am looking forward to using is the solar imaging. it has a clip-on white light filter and
I am very sure it's going to produce much sharper images that my current setup Canon 6DII, a 400mm tele-zoom and a 2x adaptor.
With all the "glass" that the sunlight has to go through with that setup .... the produced images require
lots of processing to produce something nice.

The scope also has a light pollution filter built in that can be switched in and out of the optical path.

cheers
Dave

 

[FactChecker]

The automation of the observation process is so extensive that I don't quite get the difference between this, and going outside with a planetarium app on your smartphone, to look at pictures uploaded from the HST. Other than the missing 1k in your account, that is.

It's similar to a photographer taking a photo of an iconic scene at a location. We like to go there ourselves and take photos of our favorite places even if it has been done by others hundreds of times. It's sort of a pilgrimage to a beautiful place.

 

[Andy Resnick]

For me, this is a huge advantage, with my ongoing and worsening health problems. It's becoming more and more difficult for me to get out with my other scopes for doing astrophotography and this will be a way I can get out with something light and portable and still produce astro-images.
I cant even lift and carry my Celestron CPC925 any more. It hasnt been used for 10+ years

At least now I understand why you got this in the first place- sorry to hear about your inability to use the Celestron, for sure.

I'm curious to hear what you think (after using the Seestar for a few times).

 

[DaveC426913]

I have not considered on of these devices but maybe I should.

I've got a nice 5" Newt (I think it's a Orbitor 4000?) but its on a janky Eq. mount so a pain to use.

I am mostly interested in planetary observation.

(Haha, I Googled Orbitor 4000 to see if I could add a pic. #1 hit: my own PF post from last year.)

I'm just looking around at planetary pics taken with a Seestar:

On FB:
"Anyone asking if it does planets.
I did this with the S50.
Mostly 10 min raw videos stacked in the Seestar.
The moon is also a 10 min raw video stacked."

Not sure that's really an $800+ improvement over my 5" Newt, despite the convenience.

 

[Borg]

Mostly 10 min raw videos stacked in the Seestar.

AFAIK, it can stack images from several hours. 10 minutes seems like a really small observation time.

 

[DaveC426913]

AFAIK, it can stack images from several hours. 10 minutes seems like a really small observation time.

Not sure what poster meant. Perhaps they mean "stacked many 10 minute videos".

 

[AlexB23]

I have not considered on of these devices but maybe I should.

I've got a nice 5" Newt (I think it's a Orbitor 4000?) but its on a janky Eq. mount so a pain to use.

I am mostly interested in planetary observation.

(Haha, I Googled Orbitor 4000 to see if I could add a pic. #1 hit: my own PF post from last year.)

View attachment 374059

I'm just looking around at planetary pics taken with a Seestar:

View attachment 374060
On FB:
"Anyone asking if it does planets.
I did this with the S50.
Mostly 10 min raw videos stacked in the Seestar.
The moon is also a 10 min raw video stacked."

Not sure that's really an $800+ improvement over my 5" Newt, despite the convenience.

Just remember that these new devices will get better with time. Today's image quality will be the worst a smart scope will ever be.

 

[DaveC426913]

Just remember that these new devices will get better with time. Today's image quality will be the worst a smart scope will ever be.

Yes. A reason to stay tuned for developments; but not a reason to buy one now.

 

[Borg]

Not sure what poster meant. Perhaps they mean "stacked many 10 minute videos".

I would assume that each of the individual planetary images was approximately 10 minutes.

 

[AlexB23]

Yes. A reason to stay tuned for developments; but not a reason to buy one now.

I agree. Wait until the tech matures.

 

[davenn]

Just remember that these new devices will get better with time. Today's image quality will be the worst a smart scope will ever be.

Which is why I didnt buy one when they first came out
There's been substantial improvements over the last 2 - 3 years

So I am definitely not buying a first generation model

All S50 Pro figures below come from ZWO's official US store listing, retrieved August 25, 2026.

Feature	Seestar S50 (original)	Seestar S50 Pro	Change
Aperture	50mm	50mm	Unchanged
Focal length	250mm (f/5)	260mm (f/5.2), 4-element APO with ED glass	Slightly longer; new lens design
Main sensor	Sony IMX462, 2MP	1/1.2″, 8.3MP, 2.9µm (2160 × 3840)	~4× the pixels
Field of view	1.28° × 0.72°	2.8° (portrait)	Much wider
Second camera	None	Wide-angle: 6mm f/1.75, 8.3MP, 63° FOV	New
Mount	Alt-azimuth only (no EQ mode)	Alt-azimuth with EQ Mode, 60s exposures in EQ	EQ mode added
Battery	~6 hours	10,000mAh, up to 9 hours	~3 hours more runtime
Storage	64GB	128GB eMMC (~100GB usable)	Doubled
Weight	3.0kg	2.8kg (main unit)	200g lighter

 

[davenn]

AFAIK, it can stack images from several hours. 10 minutes seems like a really small observation time.

You misunderstood the process
10 minutes for imaging the sun and the moon produces 1000's of images.
I cant find the exact frame rate of the video, all I know is that it is 4k, so likely to be at least 40fps.
40 fps * 60 sec = 2400 frames per minute x 10 minutes of video = 24,000 frames

For Solar and Lunar, each of those 24,000 frames would be stacked. This produces outstanding resolution.
Videoing sun and moon using video and then stacking all the frames has been done for years
You can save that video to your PC then use your fav video frame stripper and stacker, eg. AutoStakkert to work on the video.

DONT confuse this with stacking individual still camera frames that you would use for galaxies, nebula, comets etc. When in Al-Az mode 30 sec exposures are the max before frame rotation becomes a hassle.
If you mount the scope in equatorial mode, then at least 60 sec exposures can be taken and stacked.

cheers
Dave

 

[davenn]

I agree. Wait until the tech matures.

haha if ya did that, you would never buy anything, camera, computer, car etc etc As in my other comment, the ZWO S50 Pro has been maturing for 3 years and has produced very good improvements over the original S50

 

[davenn]

I have not considered on of these devices but maybe I should.

I've got a nice 5" Newt (I think it's a Orbitor 4000?) but its on a janky Eq. mount so a pain to use.

I am mostly interested in planetary observation.

(Haha, I Googled Orbitor 4000 to see if I could add a pic. #1 hit: my own PF post from last year.)

Let me be VERY clear. The S30 Pro and S50 Pro are not optically designed for planetary imaging.
So any imaging of those objects is going to be poor.
Other than the Sun and Moon, it's designed for deep space objects

Dave

 

[AlexB23]

Which is why I didnt buy one when they first came out
There's been substantial improvements over the last 2 - 3 years

So I am definitely not buying a first generation model

All S50 Pro figures below come from ZWO's official US store listing, retrieved August 25, 2026.

Feature	Seestar S50 (original)	Seestar S50 Pro	Change
Aperture	50mm	50mm	Unchanged
Focal length	250mm (f/5)	260mm (f/5.2), 4-element APO with ED glass	Slightly longer; new lens design
Main sensor	Sony IMX462, 2MP	1/1.2″, 8.3MP, 2.9µm (2160 × 3840)	~4× the pixels
Field of view	1.28° × 0.72°	2.8° (portrait)	Much wider
Second camera	None	Wide-angle: 6mm f/1.75, 8.3MP, 63° FOV	New
Mount	Alt-azimuth only (no EQ mode)	Alt-azimuth with EQ Mode, 60s exposures in EQ	EQ mode added
Battery	~6 hours	10,000mAh, up to 9 hours	~3 hours more runtime
Storage	64GB	128GB eMMC (~100GB usable)	Doubled
Weight	3.0kg	2.8kg (main unit)	200g lighter

Best to just get a used telescope at this point.

 

[davenn]

Best to just get a used telescope at this point.

I have telescopes with eyepieces .... this is an exclusively imaging scope
read back to my comments earlier in the thread and you will see the main reason
why I am buying this scope

For me, this is a huge advantage, with my ongoing and worsening health problems. It's becoming more and more difficult for me to get out with my other scopes for doing astrophotography and this will be a way I can get out with something light and portable and still produce astro-images.
I cant even lift and carry my Celestron CPC925 any more. It hasnt been used for 10+ years

You must have missed that comment

cheers
Dave