The Seestar S30 is a 30mm smart telescope designed for ultra-portability and provides a wider field of view.
The latest Seestar model has been released by ZWO and despite the rumour mill predicting it would be a larger successor to the popular Seestar S50, the new kid on the block is smaller.
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Unboxing and setting up
In use, it’s unobtrusive and virtually silent save for intermittent voice announcements, although these can be muted.
The housing is white, solidly built and sits on a supplied non-adjustable tabletop tripod.
Thanks to the standard 3/8-inch female screw thread, the unit can also be mounted on any suitable tripod.
It’s so light that it’s easily lifted with one hand. Simply place it in a spot with a clear view of the
sky and it just gets on with the tasks you set, without fuss.
Controlling the Seestar S30
Control is via the same Seestar app used for the S50, so any app improvements or bug fixes are effectively applied to both devices.
One example is the much-requested mosaic function.
Announced almost at the same time as the S30, this provides the ability to image a larger area of sky in panes which are then stitched together.
The S30 therefore has the long-awaited mosaic mode by default.
Initially an altaz device, a recent app update towards the end of our review period also introduced an equatorial mode.
This eliminates field-rotation effects and leads to fewer rejected long exposures.
How the Seestar S30 performs
The S30’s 30mm apochromatic triplet lens has a focal length of 150mm.
Combined with the Sony IMX662 sensor, this produces an imaging field of 1.20° x 2.13°, which is large enough to cover most of the larger deep-sky objects (DSOs) and ideal should another bright comet appear.
Imaging the Rosette Nebula, we were able to fit it in frame without resorting to the mosaic option.
Watching this iconic 1.3°-diameter nebula slowly form on screen, despite light-polluted skies, was rather magical.
Mosaic mode expands the imaging frame to 2.39° x 4.25° but takes longer to complete.
The unit also contains a second, wide-angle lens which is great for overview shots of the sky, although control options for this are currently limited.
It’s also good for widefield scenes or sunrise and sunset shots.
The control app includes an interactive virtual sky interface to select imaging targets. Once chosen,
you simply ‘Go-To’ the object and start imaging.
We found the S30’s Go-To accuracy excellent for DSOs, but it can get a little confused with large, bright objects like the Sun (once the clip-on filter is installed) or a bright Moon.
It uses plate solving to work out which stars it’s pointing at for DSO navigation but is less reliable for these brighter objects.
Here the wide-angle lens can be used to correct any mistakes and we found this to work particularly well.
Once we had the Sun centred, we were able to sync on it then located Venus in the daytime sky without any issues.
In terms of planets, the S30 doesn’t have the focal length or aperture to do much.
Live stacking
Nighttime imaging with the Seestar S30 is done through live stacking.
Once the target has been identified and centred, the S30 takes exposures and stacks them on your phone.
The individual exposures can be saved and, if you prefer, processed externally.
The Seestar app also has a manual stacking option that allows you to select your data post-capture and then apply the app’s own AI denoise function, which also produces excellent results.
While our time with the equatorial mode was limited, we found it very intuitive to set up.
The S30 needs to be tilted for it to work, either using a wedge or adjustable tripod head. Initial testing suggests it’s a valuable extension to the S30 and S50’s capabilities.
Packed into a small yet mighty unit, we found the Seestar S30 to be a capable and impressively portable smart scope.
For on-the-fly night-sky imaging, it’s heaps of fun, inexpensive and produces great results.
Seestar S30 Portability
There’s a lot to like about the ZWO Seestar S30, but one thing that really stands out is its portability.
It’s so light and small that it’s easy to pop into a bag and carry to your preferred location for imaging.
The Seestar control app works well with the device, giving you a powerful imaging solution that you can set up in minutes.
Astronomy imaging in the UK can be fraught with difficulty due to the weather, and telescopes often need to have an anti-dew heater fitted to avoid moisture ruining imaging sessions.
With the S30, this is all built in; you simply need to turn it on in the app.
If you can’t get away from light pollution, there’s again no need to carry around filters and filter wheels, because the S30 has a light-pollution filter option that can be turned on at the press of a button.
All in all, this amazingly portable device is optimally suited to extract the best from what can sometimes be rather challenging and changeable skies.
Seestar S30 best features
Internal switchable filters
Internal filters can be selected through the app. A dual-band filter reduces the effects of bright moonlight and artificial light pollution – excellent for nebulae. Meanwhile, a UV/IR cut filter is used for clearer, sharper images. A dark field filter is automatically used for dark frame generation for noise reduction.
30mm apochromatic triplet telephoto lens
Despite its diminutive size, the S30’s 30mm objective lens performs well. We didn’t see any evidence of fringing around bright objects at all. The lens has a focal length of 150mm which gives the unit a mid-speed focal ratio of f/5. Combined with the IMX662 sensor, the image scale is 4 arcseconds per pixel.
Wide-angle scenery lens
The second, widefield lens is activated by selecting ‘scenery mode’ in the Seestar app and allows you to either centre your target before using the telephoto lens or capture widefield landscape photos. It also features an AI tracking mode, allowing you to automatically track moving objects.
6,000mAh Battery
The S30 has an internal rechargeable 6,000mAh battery that can operate the unit for six hours of normal imaging. Switch on the anti-dew heater and the power will drain faster. However, plug an external USB-C battery into the S30’s charging port and you can image all night long.
Magnetic solar filter
The magnetically attachable solar filter clicks over the 30mm lens to turn the S30 into a white-light solar telescope. You can either take single shots of the Sun through this filter or capture raw frame video which can later be registered and stacked through an external application such as AutoStakkert!
Key specs
- Price: £369
- Optics: Triplet apo refractor
- Aperture: 30mm
- Focal length: 150mm, f/5
- Sensor: Sony IMX662 STARVIS 2
- Resolution: 1,080 x 1,920 (tele), 1,920 x 1,080 (wide)
- Mount: Altaz
- Power: 6,000mAh battery
- Storage: 64GB internal eMMC
- Ports: USB-C
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi, USB-C, Bluetooth
- App control: Seestar iOS/Android app
- Extras: Solar filter, carry case, tabletop tripod, USB-C cable
- Weight: 1.65kg; 1.80kg with tripod
- Supplier: 365Astronomy
- Tel: 020 3384 5187
- www.365astronomy.com
