On a whim around Christmas time, I decide I wanted to test out the dwarflabs dwarf mini scope. It seemed neat. I almost didn’t believe the reviews. A small scope that can be set up in minutes, lightweight, portable, small? Oh and it can also stack and do some automatic processing???

Unfortunately the weather where I am is not always great. Unless the whole night is clear, I usually won’t put out my main rig. But I still have the itch to take pictures of something! This little dwarf mini provides that opportunity. If there are breaks in the clouds for an hour or so, I can easily deploy the mini!

The app interface is intuitive. It does a very cool job finding and tracking the target. It’s big fun.

For subs less than 60s, it uses alt-az mode. Literally plop it on the ground, find target, shoot. I’ve been shooting 30s-45s and I’m very pleased. I have not had good weather this week, so I have not tried the EQ mode. It does lunar and solar(with the included filter), too. I’ve done some daytime cloud timelapses. Daytime photography, yay!

The stellar studio processing route: It’s pretty slick. After stacking the images (takes place within the unit itself), the stacked image can be uploaded to stellar studio and further processing can take place. Oh, and all this takes place within the app. Is it as detailed as what can be done in PI or APP or PS? Of course not! But is it awesome and a quick way to observe the skies? Heck yes.

Each facet of astrophotography has its complexities. It’s overwhelming, intimidating, almost frightening at times. I remember when I started (and I’m FAR from being “experienced” or “advanced”, but it’s been a fun ride) how steep of a hill was ahead of me. Scopes, cameras, mounts, filters, focuses..Oh and that’s just acquisition. Pre-processing and post-processing are another thing altogether. Going through and learning about all of these things has humbled me. I’ve learned a ton. It’s increased my curiosity in other, related, fields/technologies. I’m learning more about the universe and physics and chemistry and history each day.

All this to say that I’m impressed. I feel like dwarflabs did a great job with this ecosystem (unit, app, processing all in one spot). I also think that the mini can open up the hobby to many more people. I think those already with experience will enjoy it too!