These are Nikon's third-generation 10-22x50 binoculars, building upon the past designs of 2007's Action VII Zoom XL 10-22x50 and 2013's Aculon 10-22x50 in 2013. The new design features a generous 16.3mm of eye relief, a tough aluminum chassis and updated optics.

We found them to be a versatile pair of binoculars, and used them at 10x magnification to locate objects before zooming in to 22x for a closer look. Changing magnifications is easily done with a lever on the right eyecup, but the optics do suffer from the sacrifices required when producing a binocular with zoom functionality.

Nikon Action Zoom 10-22x50 binoculars review

Nikon Action Zoom 10-22x50 binoculars: Design

• Strong aluminum chassis
• Easy magnification change
• Big focus dial

Along with the fixed magnification models in the Action series, the Action Zoom 10-22x50 binoculars have the same strong, lightweight aluminum chassis. This helps to protect the careful arrangement of lenses required for zooming, as well as making the binoculars more durable without adding extra weight.

In fact, the 2026 Action Zoom 10-22x50 is 0.4 oz (10 grams) lighter than the previous Aculon model. This is important for the stargazer or hiker who may already have lots of heavy gear to carry, where small amounts can make all the difference.

The exterior of the binoculars is covered in a textured rubber armor, which provides good grip while scanning the skies. A chunky focus dial between the barrels is easy to find with your fingers and use, enabling you to adjust focus quickly while observing. Focus touch-ups are usually required when changing magnification.

Magnification is easily changed with the right eyecup zoom lever, which is pushed down with the right index finger to move from 10x through to 22x. On the bottom of the right eyecup, there are printed white numbers on the body so that you can also set the magnification precisely at 12x, 15x and 18x. This helps with observing targets that don't require the full 22x zoom, and allows an astronomer to be more precise in their observations.

When moving the zoom lever, the lenses in the eyepieces slide forward and backward, changing the distance to the objective lenses at the front of the binoculars. This changes the effective focal length and magnification of the binoculars.

50mm objective lenses let plenty of light through the binoculars when stargazing, delivering a bright image at 10x magnification and helping you to spot faint objects.

Nikon Action Zoom 10-22x50 binoculars: Performance

• Good for star-hopping then zooming in
• Noticeably dimmer at 22x
• Needs a tripod for overhead views at 22x

The 22x magnification on the Nikon Action Zoom is the strongest out of the entire range, with the next one down being the 16x50. During handheld observation, the zoom functionality was good for night sky objects that weren't too high overhead or terrestrial observation at horizontal and downward angles.

We were able to see the top portion of the Orion constellation with the magnification at 10x, with a bright Orion's belt and smudgy Orion nebula (M42). Switching to 22x magnification, we got a close-up view of the three stars making up Orion's belt and the dog-star Sirius to its left. At 22x these points of light were much more impressive but the binoculars handled stars much better than diffuse objects such as the Orion Nebula, which looked fairly unimpressive at 22x. We actually got a better view of the Orion Nebula with the NIkon Action 16x50.

The maximum exit pupil on the Action Zoom is 5 mm at 10x magnification, but when fully zoomed in at 22x, the exit pupil drops to 2.3 mm, effectively halving the amount of light your eye is receiving. This makes the view seem dimmer and was especially noticeable when observing Orion's nebula and during terrestrial viewing in daylight.

We found the Beehive Cluster by star-hopping from Castor to Pollux and then to the star cluster. We used the 10x magnification for star-hopping before zooming in to get a better view of the Beehive cluster, but it was still disappointing. The wide-field view of the Beehive Cluster within the triangle of Cancer at 10x was much better than the zoomed-in dim view at 22x. Paired with the increased handshake from overhead observation without a tripod, it was less rewarding than observing at lower magnifications.

For beginners we would usually recommend using a tripod or getting an image-stabilized model when using binoculars with 12x magnification or over. It is possible to get sturdy views during handheld viewing by tucking your elbows into your chest or sides, but this only works when observing on the horizontal or downwards. When looking directly overhead, it was very hard to keep the Nikon Action Zoom 10-22x50 still enough to make out any details when fully zoomed in.

This was also an issue when observing another overhead observation target, Jupiter. When trying to spot the faint line of its Galilean moons, the resulting observation was just a mess of bright squiggles. This would definitely be remedied with the use of a tripod adapter and tripod, but be aware that these accessories become a necessity when stargazing overhead.

Looking at the half moon was good and offered a range of lunar views thanks to the magnification change, but again, the higher magnifications required steady hands. The moon at 22x magnification also looked significantly dimmer than the moon when observed with the Nikon Action 16x50s. While it suffered from similar levels of handshake, 16x50s have better light transmission because of their fixed magnification and wider exit pupil. At 10x magnification, the binoculars suffered from distortion around the edges of the view, but this disappeared when zooming into higher magnification.

Nikon Action Zoom 10-22x50 binoculars: Functionality

• Rubber eyecups block light
• Versatile zoom range
• Tripod adapter socket

The Nikon Action Zoom 10-22x50 is a versatile optical tool and is useful when you are unsure what level of magnification you will need before you go out. We tested them out with the other binoculars in the Nikon Action range, the 7x50, 10x50 and 16x50. If we were going out for the evening, we would usually reach for these as it saved us having to take two different binoculars for wide-field and close-up viewing.

The zoom lever was incredibly easy to use during observation and touching up the focus with the focus wheel was easy with my middle finger. That said, viewing overhead objects at 22x magnification is heavily marred by hand shake and would be improved with the use of a tripod.

Just like the rest of the new Nikon Action range, the Zoom model has a tripod adapter socket in-between the two barrels, hidden behind a screw-in Nikon logo. If you are planning on using these for a lot of high-magnification observation, we would recommend buying the Nikon 7650 binocular tripod adapter and a budget tripod, like the Manfrotto Element II tripod, to ensure you can get blur-free views of the stars.

We found the rubber eyecups were really comfortable, and actually preferred them to the hard, twist-up cups that the rest of the Nikon Action range has. They blocked out any light in the environment far better than the twist-up cups and were much more comfortable on the eye sockets. While the binoculars feature 16.3mm of eye relief, stargazers who wear eyeglasses may be disappointed by only having two heights for eye relief, with the rubber eyecups flipped up or flipped down.

The objective lens caps are easy to remove and replace but they can be quite loose and could get lost easily if not attached to a neck strap. The rubber eyecup covers remain fixed in place during transport and keep the eyepieces clean for observation. Nikon provides a neck strap and soft carry case with these binoculars but the neck strap is pretty thin, so if you are planning on carrying them around for a long time, consider getting a padded neoprene strap for binoculars for only $25.

How we tested the Nikon Action Zoom 10-22x50 binoculars

We tested the Nikon Action Zoom 10-22x50 binoculars in a city park during the day and at night in mid-March in the U.K. For stargazing, we tested them in a city park with a Bortle scale between 5 and 7. Our primary observation targets were Orion's belt, Sirius, Jupiter, the waxing half moon and the Beehive Cluster in the constellation of Cancer. For terrestrial viewing, we used them for finding birds in a local park and zooming in for up-close observation.

During testing in the U.K., nighttime temperatures were on average between 46 and 54 degrees Fahrenheit (8-12 degrees Celsius). Seeing conditions were clear and during non-lunar viewing, the skies had minimal or no moonlight.

User reviews

At time of writing, reviews for the Nikon Action Zoom 10-22x50 were relatively positive, with users praising the smooth zoom mechanism and agreeing with the quoted 22x magnification on the zoom.

Users also liked the Zoom’s flexible magnification options and the 50mm objective lenses for height views, but the general consensus was that a tripod would vastly improve observation at the maximum magnification.

Should you buy the Nikon Action Zoom 10-22x50 binoculars?

If you are a binocular beginner or casual stargazer who wants variable magnification, these are a great purchase. The build quality is solid and the zoom mechanism is very smooth, enabling you to observe from 10x through to 22x.

The zoom function does mean that sacrifices have to be made in terms of light transmission, and at full magnification, the view is noticeably dimmer than at lower magnifications. This reduces the brightness when observing deep space objects like nebulas, but for brighter objects and stars, they performed well.

If you want to observe frequently at 22x magnification, though, we would recommend buying a tripod and binocular tripod adapter, so that you can enjoy these night sky wonders shake-free.

If the Nikon Action Zoom 10-22x50 binoculars aren't for you

If you need binoculars purely for wide-field observations, we would recommend the Nikon Action 7x50 binoculars or Action 10x50 binoculars. They have fixed lower magnifications and light transmission isn't sacrificed for the zoom functionality. The build is almost identical to the Action zoom model.

If you need optics for looking at deep sky objects, we would recommend one of the best telescopes, or a pair of binoculars with strong magnification and large objective lenses. Try the Celestron SkyMaster Pro 20x80 or Celestron SkyMaster 25x100 binoculars, both of which have larger objective lenses than the Nikon Action zoom. You will have to use a tripod with these, but the larger objective lenses will give you a brighter view of dim objects.

If you want high-magnification views without needing a tripod, the Fujifilm Fujinon Techno-Stabi TS-L 1640 binoculars are a great choice. The objective lens diameter is only 40mm, but the image stabilization gives you a higher level of detail that makes up for the lower light transmission. For handheld use, the difference is night and day.

While still aperture-limited — a smaller aperture makes less light received, which makes faint objects harder to see and details harder to resolve — a good small telescope can excel at the things it can do. This include showing fabulous views of the whole moon, revealing the phases of Mercury and Venus, showing surface features on Mars when the Red Planet is at a close opposition, tracking the Galilean moons of Jupiter, splitting double stars, showcasing open star clusters and revealing the very brightest deep-sky objects, including the Orion Nebula and the Andromeda Galaxy.

The Celestron Moon Mission Travel-scope 70 portable telescope is a re-skin of the plain Celestron Travel-scope 70, and is labelled as a lunar telescope. The moon is what it excels at, which is particularly handy in the year that humans went back to the moon for the first time since 1972, drumming up all kinds of excitement about our nearest neighbor.

Its affordable price and simplicity of use further increase its attraction for children. How many young astronomers will find a passion for space after being excited by the Artemis II mission and then seeing the moon for themselves through the eyepiece of this easy-to-use telescope?

Celestron Moon Mission Travel-scope 70 review

Celestron Moon Mission Travel-scope 70: Design

• Quick and simple set-up
• Comes with all the accessories to get started
• Lightweight and portable

Inside the box we found the telescope tube, which is just 17 inches (44 centimeters) long, kept within a protective travel bag. Also present were the two eyepieces (10mm and 20mm), a 3x Barlow lens, a moon filter, a star diagonal, a finderscope with crosshairs and a useful moon map poster. There are even free download options for the well-known Starry Night planetarium software and Celestron’s Sky Portal mobile app. All in all, it’s a complete package for anyone wanting to get started in astronomy. The only thing it doesn’t come with is guaranteed clear nights!

Everything is lightweight, so there is no risk of children hurting themselves if they drop anything (though one would advise not dropping the telescope tube!). No tools are required for assembly, which is an additional advantage when aiming a telescope at children. The finderscope is attached by chunky thumb screws, the telescope tube screws onto the pan of the mount, and the tripod legs extend via a series of latches.

The mount is a simple, manual alt-azimuth with a pan handle for easy control. The tripod can extend from 22 to 52 inches (56 to 132cm), and it’s a good height for sitting down while observing or standing up — whichever you prefer. The whole set-up process takes a couple of minutes — perfect for impatient children (and the occasional impatient adult!).

Celestron Moon Mission Travel-scope 70: Performance

• The moon looks superb through both eyepieces
• Ideal for following Jupiter’s moons
• Open star cluster Messier 35 was easily shown

The view of the crescent moon while it was in the constellation of Gemini, the Twins, and near Jupiter, was impressive. First using the 20mm eyepiece at 20x, the whole moon easily fit into the field of view. Though the moon’s phase was two days away from first quarter, through the eyepiece we could easily see the silhouette of the whole moon’s disk thanks to earthshine.

During the time we observed the moon, the day/night terminator cut close to the crater trio of Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catharina around the edge of Mare Nectaris. Other lunar seas including Mare Crisium, Mare Tranquilitatis (landing site of Apollo 11) and Mare Serenitatis were nicely displayed.

Through the 8mm eyepiece at 40x, the moon filled the field of view. The low-angled sun cast dark shadows below the crater walls, which contrasted nicely with the bright surface. Just beyond the terminator, the peaks of crater walls and highlands caught the sun, islands of daylight on the edge of night. All in all, it was a very pleasing view.

A short hop brought us to Jupiter, the moon’s close neighbor for the night. As expected, we found the sub-3-inch aperture unsuitable for revealing any details in Jupiter’s atmosphere — the gas giant just appeared as a bright disk. Its four Galilean moons could be seen to either side, however. We tried with both the 20mm and the 8mm eyepiece: Jupiter’s moons were evident in both and filled the view in the 8mm, appearing as points of light accompanying Jupiter.

Close by in Gemini was Messier 35, an open star cluster that is technically visible with the naked eye, but only from the darkest sites in a moonless sky. Through a 70mm telescope it should be much easier to see, and it was, appearing as a faint smattering of stars against the night sky.

We could not, however, see NGC 2158 — a neighboring open star cluster that is much fainter at magnitude +8.6. This revealed the limitations of a 70mm telescope as opposed to a 100mm (4-inch) or 127mm (5-inch) aperture.

Celestron Moon Mission Travel-scope 70: Functionality

• Wobbly tripod
• Accessories are a mixed bag

The actual telescope is as smooth as they come. We found the focuser is good enough for the price point, the two supplied eyepieces aren’t at all bad, and the optics were pretty crystal-clear. For more experienced users with larger telescopes, this 70mm telescope would make a fine finderscope. But what massively lets down the Celestron Moon Mission Travel-scope 70 portable telescope is the tripod that comes with it.

We found the tripod to be incredibly flimsy, and this resulted in vibrations that would shake and blur the view through the eyepiece. Every time we used the pan-handle to turn the telescope and mount head, the tripod would wobble, setting up a feedback of vibrations which we would then have to wait to settle down. The same happened whenever we adjusted focus. While budget telescopes typically do come with poor tripods, we definitely recommend investing in a better tripod as soon as you can.

The 3x Barlow lens also felt like overkill to us. For a 70mm aperture we would not recommend pushing the magnification too high: the telescope simply does not have sufficient aperture to capture enough light for such high magnifications, and the view just becomes a blur. Anything above 100x for a 70mm aperture is too much in our view, yet when used with the 10mm eyepiece (which has a power of 40x) the Barlow lens pushed the magnification up to 120x. We think a 2x Barlow lens would have sufficed.

We were indifferent to the moon filter. When screwed into the eyepiece it just dulled the moon and made it look red and drab, similar to how it might appear during a lunar eclipse. Admittedly it might be more useful when looking at a full moon rather than a crescent, when there are no shadows or contrast on the surface, but we found we preferred not to bother with the filter.

Overall, the telescope’s engineering is decent for the price, but replacing most or all of the accessories would not be unwarranted. But given how much it would cost to do so, if you are intending to spend that money then it would be better just to buy a more expensive, larger-aperture and better quality telescope.

Should you buy the Celestron Moon Mission Travel-scope 70 portable telescope?

If the Celestron Moon Mission Travel-scope 70 portable telescope isn't for you

If you are looking for a telescope for astrophotography that is also relatively simple to use and won’t break the bank, consider ZWO’s SeeStar S30 smart telescope.

If you are looking for something that’s still affordable, but with a little more aperture, try Sky-Watcher’s Explorer 130 EQ2 telescope.

If you want a telescope that has the same 70mm aperture but is a little more high-tech, go for Celestron’s StarSense Explorer LT70AZ refractor, which uses Celestron’s StarSense mobile app technology.

If you want a lot more aperture to track down faint deep-sky objects or to clearly see the belts and rings of Jupiter and Saturn, go for Celestron’s StarSense Explorer 8-inch Dobsonian.

User reviews

There were not many customer reviews of the Celestron Moon Mission Travel-scope 70 portable telescope available at the time of writing, but as it is identical in all but aesthetics and a few accessories to the standard Celestron Travel-scope 70, we can use reviews of the latter as a guide.

The consensus on Amazon was that users were mostly delighted by the telescope, valuing how easy it is to set up and use, as well as its portability and appropriateness for children. However, they shared our concerns about the flimsiness of the tripod.

How we tested the Celestron Moon Mission Travel-scope 70 portable telescope

We took advantage of the clear, mild spring weather that the southwest of England enjoyed in the week beginning April 20, observing around 9.30pm. In particular, we took time to study the moon on the evening of April 22, from a south- and southwest-facing garden.

The titular Hail Mary is the spaceship from "Project Hail Mary", the Andy Weir novel-turned-Hollywood blockbuster that carries Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) across the stars to save humanity. While the design of the ship is certainly described in the book, this is definitely a Lego rendition of the movie version. So, if you're an Andy Weir fan who imagined it looking a little different, you can blame the studio.

Coming in at $99.99 with just under 900 pieces, it's a lot smaller than we expected (and hoped for). If you're after something comparable to the hefty NASA Artemis Space Launch System or gargantuan Venator-Class Republic Attack Cruiser sets, then you'll be disappointed. However, the Lego Project Hail Mary has a heck of a party trick to make up for its diminutive size: A spinning mechanism that simulates the centrifugal gravity system of the ship.

Lego Project Hail Mary review: Build

The Lego Project Hail Mary is constructed from 830 pieces, split across six numbered paper bags, with a few large pieces in a separate plastic bag. I built the kit over the course of two nights, but you could easily smash it out in a single evening if you wanted to.

The build starts with a little diorama, showcasing the Ryland and Rocky minifigures on either side of a window (the barrier that separates them when they first meet and learn to communicate in the movie). It's a cool little display that can work well on its own or can be attached to the stand of the ship itself.

From there on, four out of the six bags are almost entirely dedicated to the display stand and the incorporated spinning mechanism, with the final section of bag four attaching the ship’s crew module to the spinning mechanism. Thanks to the intricate mechanism inside it, the stand not only spins, but also retracts and extends the crew section of the ship, simulating the centrifugal gravity system from the movie. While it's a complicated mechanism that means a lot of Technic pieces, but the build itself is straightforward thanks to the clear instructions.

At last, the final two bags will see you constructing the ship itself. This consists of the main body where the thruster is housed, the three fuselage sections, and the solar panel array that provides power to the ship. Some builders might be disappointed that the actual spacecraft is a remarkably small part of the build process, but I think the spinning display stand is cool enough to offset that. Also, there are no stickers, which is always a huge win for me.

Lego Project Hail Mary review: Design

As I mentioned earlier, the display stand is surprisingly hefty and draws the eye away from the beautiful ship – a bit more than you might want from a display piece. That's the downside, but the upside is that it's an awesome party piece. Turning the handle on the front of the stand in either direction rotates the entire ship, simulating its spin in the movie. If you turn the handle clockwise, the crew module extends outward, while turning it counterclockwise retracts it.

The ship itself is a great recreation of Grace's eponymous craft, the Hail Mary. It's quite small, as Lego spaceships go, so there are no interior details or easter eggs hiding within the construction. Despite that, it captures the distinctive silhouette of the craft well, and includes all the major details, like the astrophage-powered engines that make the whole mission possible. From the three main pillars of the ship, which are the fuel tanks that store the astrophage, to the solar panel arrays that stick out from the main body, it all looks great.

I really love the little mini-diorama scene that you can create between Grace and Rocky, recreating their tentative first contact. It's a clever bit of design too, as you can attach their individual plinths to the main display and tuck the glass divider away in the stand. The minifigures themselves are great too. Grace has a custom red NASA flight suit, while Rocky is barely a minifigure — he's an eccentric collection of pieces mashed together, but I can't deny the end result is unmistakable Rocky.

Should you buy the Lego Project Hail Mary?

Overall, the Lego Project Hail Mary is a wonderful set that should thrill fans of the movie (more so than fans of the book, although I’m sure they’ll enjoy it too). The ship looks fantastic, and the spinning mechanism is wonderful to see in motion. There are actually some enterprising companies out there selling motorized mod kits for it, which is something I'm seriously considering checking out myself.

With that said, the prominent nature of the stand and somewhat gimmicky spinning feature does limit its appeal as a display model. Plus, those who aren’t big into technic-like builds may want to pass on this one and just admire it from afar.

Finally, while the build itself is only suitable for older teens and adults due to the complex nature of the internal workings, the finished model will definitely delight younger kids thanks to the interactivity it offers.

At first glance, the specification looks simple: a 2.3MP monochrome Sony IMX174 sensor, 5.86µm pixels, USB 3.0 connectivity and a compact red aluminum body. The important details are the sensor size, speed and global shutter. For lunar and solar imaging, where you often want to capture large areas in high frame rate videos and freeze split-seconds of steady “seeing” — when turbulence in Earth’s atmosphere doesn’t degrade an image of an astronomical object — those traits matter more than headline megapixels.

The ASI174MM is especially attractive for solar imaging with an H-alpha telescope — a filter that blocks all wavelengths of light other than H-alpha, which is emitted by hydrogen atoms. That’s because its 5.86 μm pixels match the focal ratios typical of solar telescopes, yielding sharp, efficient detail. Its relatively large sensor can cover more of the solar disc than many small planetary cameras, while its high frame rate supports the usual lucky-imaging workflow of capturing video, selecting the best frames and stacking them for sharper images.

ZWO ASI174MM astronomy camera: Design

• Compact aluminum camera body
• USB 3.0 and ST4 guide port included
• Useful adapter bundle

The ZWO ASI174MM has a compact, lightweight and practical design that’s ideal for use as a camera attached to a telescope. Its small cylindrical aluminum body adds very little strain to a focuser, solar diagonal or off-axis guider, which is particularly useful when working with solar telescopes.

Usefully, the camera includes a high-speed USB 3.0 connection, which is important because the ASI174MM’s main strength is capturing and transferring many video frames very quickly. It can also be used over USB 2.0, but doing so gives up much of the performance that makes the camera appealing in the first place.

An ST4 guide port adds extra flexibility. Although the ASI174MM is primarily sold as a planetary camera, it can also be used as a guide camera (mounted on top of a main imaging scope to capture a wide field of view), especially with off-axis guiders (a device that sits between a main camera and the telescope to precisely track stars), where the larger sensor helps find guide stars more easily than smaller-chip models.

ZWO ASI174MM astronomy camera: Performance

• Excellent for solar and lunar video capture
• Global shutter is a real advantage
• Large pixels favor longer focal lengths

The ASI174MM’s combination of a relatively large 1/1.2-inch sensor, 5.86µm pixels, and fast video capture makes it particularly well-suited to imaging the sun and moon. Compared with planetary cameras built around smaller sensors, it records a considerably larger area of the telescope’s field of view, reducing the number of panels needed for mosaics and making it easier to locate and frame a target.

That larger sensor is especially useful for solar imaging, which is what we tested it with. The exact field of view depends on the telescope’s focal length, but the ASI174MM can capture larger active regions — and, with some setups, most or all of the solar disc — without immediately requiring a mosaic. For example, we tested it with the Sky-Watcher Heliostar 76Ha solar telescope, for which it is a natural match, where prominences, filaments, sunspots and rapidly changing structures on the solar surface need to be recorded at high speed.

The camera’s global shutter is another advantage for solar imagers. A rolling shutter (the standard choice for deep-sky imaging) records an image progressively, one row of pixels at a time, to produce a low-noise, high-dynamic-range image. However, atmospheric turbulence, which slightly shifts the image, can cause distortion. A global shutter exposes the entire sensor simultaneously, helping the ASI174MM preserve the shape of solar and lunar features more accurately from frame to frame.

High-speed capture also supports lucky imaging. Instead of trying to produce one perfect exposure, the camera records thousands of short exposures in rapid succession. Software then identifies and stacks the sharpest frames — the brief instants when Earth’s turbulent atmosphere becomes relatively steady.

While it’s ideal for solar imaging, the ASI174MM is much less convincing as a conventional deep-sky camera. Long exposures can reveal pronounced amp glow towards one side of the frame, while the uncooled sensor becomes increasingly noisy as exposure times increase. Calibration with dark frames can reduce these effects, but it adds complexity and cannot turn the ASI174MM into a modern cooled deep-sky camera. It can be used for short-exposure imaging, guiding and some specialist applications, but solar, lunar and planetary video remain its natural strengths.

ZWO ASI174MM astronomy camera: Functionality

• Captures good data
• ZWO software works well
• Little guidance available

The ASI174MM fits neatly into the established workflow for solar, lunar and planetary imaging: capture a high-speed video, identify the sharpest frames, align and stack them, then sharpen and process the image. Its fast USB 3.0 connection enables high data transfer rates, while region-of-interest controls allow the user to record only a selected portion of the sensor. Reducing the size of the recorded area can substantially increase the frame rate, which is particularly useful when imaging an individual sunspot.

Several free applications can control the camera and record these videos, including SharpCap and FireCapture. AutoStakkert! is widely used to analyze, align and stack solar, lunar and planetary frames, while programs such as ImPPG, RegiStax, Siril, Adobe Photoshop and GIMP can be used for sharpening, contrast adjustment and final processing. Windows users have the widest choice of third-party astronomy software.

However, ZWO also provides its own free ASIStudio software suite. For the ASI174MM, the most relevant applications are ASICap, which controls the camera and records lossless SER or AVI video, and ASIVideoStack, which analyses and stacks the resulting frames (and can also be used for post-processing). ASIStudio is available for both Windows and macOS.

The basic capture process is straightforward. After connecting the ASI174MM to ASICap, exposure time and gain are adjusted until the brightest areas of the sun or moon remain below saturation. Because this is a monochrome camera, the live view can be shown either in grayscale or with false color applied for easier viewing. A video containing around 1,000 to 3,000 frames is then recorded, though the ideal number depends on the target, seeing conditions and available storage.

Storage requirements are significant. Uncompressed high-frame-rate video from the full sensor can consume several gigabytes in a matter of seconds, so a fast computer, a USB 3.0 connection and plenty of free drive space are essential.

Once a video is loaded into ASIVideoStack, the software can assess frame quality, align the image and combine a chosen percentage of the sharpest frames. The finished stack can be exported in formats including JPEG and FITS. JPEG is convenient for immediate sharing, but FITS preserves more of the original image data and is better suited to serious post-processing.

The workflow is functional rather than polished. There is relatively little guidance for beginners and obtaining the best results requires experimentation with exposure, gain, frame rate, focus, stacking percentages and sharpening settings. It can take many attempts to determine which combination works best with a particular telescope and observing conditions. For that reason, it’s wise to archive the video files, which can be revisited and processed later as processing skills/software improves.

How we tested the ZWO ASI174MM

We tested the ZWO ASI174MM planetary camera for two weeks and used it in conjunction with the Skywatcher HelioStar 76mm solar telescope and Solar Quest mount to image the sun in H-Alpha (Hα).

Should I buy the ZWO ASI174MM?

Buy the ZWO ASI174MM if your main targets are the sun and moon, especially if you want a monochrome camera with a larger-than-average sensor, fast frame rates and a global shutter. It remains particularly suited for H-alpha solar imaging, where monochrome capture, speed and sensor area matter.

If this product isn’t for you

If you want a cheaper first planetary camera, a smaller-sensor ZWO ASI120-series-style camera may be enough for basic lunar, planetary and guiding use, though it will not offer the same field of view.

If you want a more modern planetary camera, look at newer monochrome planetary models like the ZWO ASI585MM with lower read noise, smaller pixels or higher resolution, depending on your telescope’s focal length.

If your goal is deep-sky imaging, a cooled astronomy camera is a better choice than the ASI174MM. We have reviewed the ZWO ASI533MC Pro and the ASI183MC Pro and gave both of them nothing less than four and a half stars for beautiful deep-sky astrophotography.

Finding the sun sounds easy, right? Many people think of the sun as big and bright, but it’s actually rather small in the sky — it’s got an angular diameter of just half a degree, in fact, the same as the moon. Put an all-important solar filter on a telescope, and you’re left with the challenge of finding a tiny orange or white circle in a sea of black. Even if you manage to find the sun, nudging a solar telescope back into position every few minutes to keep it in the field of view quickly gets irritating.

Cue the Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount, a simple grab-and-go product that exists to solve exactly that problem. Costing around $585/£259-£359 (the latter with a tripod), it is not a general Go-To astronomy mount and it is not trying to be one. It is best understood as a dedicated solar tracking platform for small solar telescopes. That could range from regular telescopes wearing solar filters, most likely during a solar eclipse, to dedicated solar telescopes such as white-light-filtered refractors and H-alpha (Hydrogen-alpha) telescopes designed specifically for viewing the sun.

Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount head: Design

• Lightweight and compact mount head
• Simple controls make it beginner-friendly
• Vixen-style saddle suits small solar scopes

The SolarQuest mount head weighs just 2.9 lbs/1.3 kg, accepts standard 45mm Sky-Watcher/Vixen-style dovetails and can be fitted to a tripod using a 3/8-inch screw. Meanwhile, the optional tripod is lightweight and easily adjustable, with a bubble level and accessory tray. Whatever tripod you use, it’s imperative to get it stable before using the SolarQuest because its ability to track the sun successfully depends on it.

With the optional aluminum tripod — which we used in our review — the total setup is still only around 9.9 lbs/4.05 kg, making it easy to set up inside and carry into the garden. Eclipse chasers travelling abroad will easily be able to store it in a carry-on camera bag.

The mount itself has very few controls: A power button and an 8-way sliding switch. A long press of the power button finds the sun, with the second used to make manual adjustments. There are no menus and no alignment tasks.

Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount head: Performance

• Finds the sun automatically in clear conditions
• Fine-tuning controls keep the sun centered
• Works well with solar telescopes

At first glance, the promise of the Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount head is so simple: you level the tripod using its built-in bubble or spirit level and point the attached telescope somewhere to the left of the sun. You then long-press the power button and step back. The built-in GPS calculates the date, time, and location, as well as the sun’s altitude and azimuth. The mount levels the telescope, pauses, then slews to the right altitude. Then its photodiode solar sensor (a small camera) hunts for the solar disc and locks on. In practice, the system gets impressively close to that ideal — but with some small caveats.

The sun needs to be in a clear sky, but it doesn’t have to be high. We reviewed the SolarQuest during a summer heatwave, when getting up very early was the only sensible way to observe the sun. Having got up early to take advantage of the cool morning air before the sun rose too high, we feared the SolarQuest would fail to find such a low sun. Luckily, there were no such issues, with SolarQuest taking just under 60 seconds to be perfectly aligned with the sun.

For visual observing, that’s transformative. Instead of spending the first part of a session aligning, shadow-aiming and nudging a scope into position, you can be looking at the sun within minutes. However, we did have to use the joypad on the SolarQuest to center the sun. Happily, the controls are very sensitive and move slowly, so we were able to have a perfect view of the sun in under two minutes from pressing the power-on button. That’s impressive.

Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount head: Functionality

• Accurately tracks the sun
• 8x AA batteries are old-fashioned
• Payload is a limiting factor

Tracking accuracy is very good, with a tiny adjustment on the joypad required perhaps every few hours. Since it largely follows the sun’s path through the sky, it should be suitable for a total or deep partial solar eclipse, when a crescent sun could confuse the sensor (to be sure, you could cover the sensor during totality so it doesn’t hunt for the sun and try to realign during an eclipsed crescent sun).

However accurate it is, this is an alt-az mount. It can track the sun well but it cannot remove field rotation during much longer imaging sessions. For visual use and almost all solar use — including casual video capture — that is not a major issue. However, for long-duration solar imaging and creating time-lapses, it’s a limitation to keep in mind.

One practical complaint is the battery compartment. Pop open the door (which detaches and becomes easily lost) and inside is a small plastic cradle that takes eight AA batteries. As if needing to take a trip to a store before being able to use the SolarQuest wasn’t annoying enough, it occurred to me that if I was going to an eclipse, I would need to travel with at least eight more AA batteries as spares — and possibly another 16x for true peace of mind. Not a pleasant prospect. Should any gadget like this be AA battery-powered in the age of Lithium-ion and USB-C? A resounding no. The box includes a 12V DC connection but there’s no cable. It all seems poorly thought through and old-fashioned.

However, the main practical limitation of the SolarQuest is its 8.8 lbs (4 kg) payload, which sets it apart as an accessory for small solar telescopes. At its best when speed and simplicity matter, SolarQuest is a travel-friendly mount ideal for beginners and eclipse chasers seeking to remove a common frustration from solar observing — finding and tracking the sun — without adding complexity. It almost totally succeeds.

How we tested the Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount head

We tried the SolarQuest for about two weeks with both a Celestron Regal M2 spotting scope (with a solar filter attached) for white-light observations of the solar disk and a Skywatcher HelioStar 76mm solar telescope. The latter was used to get some images of the sun in H-Alpha (Hα), in conjunction with a ZWO ASI174MM planetary camera.

Should I buy the Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount head?

If you need something to support a solar or solar-filtered telescope under 8.8 lbs/4kg, the SolarQuest should be on your radar. It quickly finds the sun and tracks accurately, removing the need for manual alignment. It’s also really compact, operates quietly and has very simple controls.

The included instructions are poor, the way it’s battery-powered is far from ideal, and it’s limited by its payload capacity, but it’s so easy to use and quick to work that it’s hard to criticize the SolarQuest too harshly — it’s a slick and simple accessory.

If the Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount head isn’t for you

There are very few dedicated solar trackers like the Sky-Watcher SolarQuest. However, some star trackers do have a mode where you can choose the sun as the star to track, including the Benro Polaris. Once you’ve entered the sun in the frame using the virtual joystick, the Polaris can automatically track it. Another alternative is an equatorial mount, which, when well aligned, can handle solar observing for longer periods and/or for making time-lapse sequences.

With a total solar eclipse on Aug. 12, an annular solar eclipse on Feb 6, 2027 and another total solar eclipse on Aug. 2, 2027, solar telescopes are about to be in hot demand. After all, why peer at the eclipsed sun when you can see it in close-up? However, the Sky-Watcher Heliostar 76mm offers something a little different to a telescope wearing a solar filter — and it’s just as good when there’s no eclipse at all. Built around a standard, small-aperture refracting telescope, it has an H-alpha etalon (an ultra-narrowband filter used to observe the sun) and a diagonal blocking filter, which together let you safely see features in the sun’s chromosphere, a layer of its atmosphere above the surface (photosphere) and below its corona (outer atmosphere). It’s a layer that’s invisible in standard white light, but it glows in the very specific 656.28 nm wavelength of light, called hydrogen alpha (about 92% of all the atoms in the sun are hydrogen).

Costing around US$3,395/UK£2,399, the Sky-Watcher Heliostar 76mm isn’t specifically an eclipse telescope, being unable to show you anything of the precious but short totality phase, when the corona comes into view. Although it’s a great way to get a unique look at the partial phases of a solar eclipse, it’s actually best seen as a solar telescope fit for studying our star at any time. It can show incredible features such as prominences (which look red to the naked eye during totality), filaments, bright plage regions and even solar flares (if you’re lucky with timing!), but can be used at any time of the day.

Read: The best solar telescopes for an HD view of the solar surface

Sky-Watcher Heliostar 76mm H-alpha solar telescope: Design

• Purpose-built H-alpha solar refractor
• Relatively portable 76mm tube
• Safety-critical blocking-filter diagonal

At first glance, the appeal of the Sky-Watcher Heliostar 76mm is obvious. A 76mm aperture is large enough to offer meaningful solar detail, but the 8.4 lbs/3.8kg tube remains easy to mount. The 630mm focal length gives a useful image size, while the included finder, eyepiece, diagonal, sunshade and case make it feel like an all-in-one solar observing package, albeit an expensive one.

It comes with all the scaffolding firmly attached, from carry handle and tube rings to a V-style dovetail, which is simple to attach to a mount. It also comes with a diagonal containing the 11.5mm blocking filter, which looks like an add-on, but is a critical part of the safe optical system that must be in place when using the Sky-Watcher Heliostar 76mm.

Is it portable? Kind of. It’s hardly a grab-and-go gadget, but it’s light enough to take in and out of a backyard and, if you’ve a mind to, on trips once in its protective case.

Build quality is mostly excellent, which also applies to most of its accessories. Notably, its dual-speed Crayford focuser on the scope is firm and precise, with a fine-tuner to easily get a sharp image. We also liked the rugged design of the solar finder, which makes it easy to use and dependable. Lastly, it comes with a small, sturdy sunshade that attaches to the tube and keeps the observer in the shade while observing.

Sky-Watcher Heliostar 76mm H-alpha solar telescope: Performance

• Bright images of the surface, filaments and prominences
• Uneven contrast across the sun’s disk
• Trifid Tuner helps bring out solar features

Remember that time you first saw Saturn and its rings in a telescope? Prepare for something similar when you first look through the Sky-Watcher Heliostar 76mm at what’s happening on the surface of our star. What you’ll see is an orangey disk that, once brought into focus, is scarred by bubbles and grain on its surface, plus giant dark tears called filaments, with plenty of contrast bringing the entire scene to life. Around the edge, we spotted some prominences. It truly is a superb view — we couldn’t take our eyes off it.

The only issue we had with the Sky-Watcher Heliostar 76mm, from a visual observing point of view, was the uniformity of the image. Although it’s perfect in some areas, it’s less so in others, with some patches too bright and others lacking contrast. Luckily, there’s a mechanical lever on the optical tube known as a Trifid Tuner, which applies micro-pressure to the etalon, slightly changing the contrast levels.

The Trifid tuner allows you to alter exactly what you see of the solar disk and the prominences, though it never completely solves that uniformity issue. We found that the best way was to nudge the tuner slightly, wait for the scope to settle, and take another look through the eyepiece. That way, you can look for granulation, dark filaments and bright prominences, all of which demand different levels of contrast.

Sky-Watcher Heliostar 76mm H-alpha solar telescope: Functionality

• Quick setup and easy alignment
• Great for visual observing
• Imaging requires time and patience

The Heliostar 76mm is fairly straightforward by H-alpha standards, with the Trifid tuner a simple way to tune it to observe different solar features. The 20mm eyepiece in the box worked well, as did the dual-speed focuser. In fact, the only thing getting in the way of setting up the Sky-Watcher Heliostar 76mm in mere minutes is the recommendation that a solar telescope should be left outside in the shade for at least 30 minutes before use, so its etalon can reach thermal equilibrium (otherwise you can expect uneven contrast and even distortion).

The Sky-Watcher Heliostar 76mm is designed primarily for optical solar astronomy, but it’s also good for anyone taking their first steps into solar imaging. This is a highly specialized niche of astrophotography, and not one to be taken lightly; expect to spend many hours learning to use myriad software packages (none of which are supplied or even suggested by the manufacturer) and post-processing images. We gave solar photography a try with a ZWO ASI174MM monochrome planetary camera, which we used to capture videos of the sun with FireCapture software. The task then is to extract, stack and process frames.

If none of those desk-based tasks appeal — and to many visual astronomers, they won’t — Sky-Watcher does include a smartphone adapter. We tried it out and although it was easy to use and worked well, it obtained only very basic images of the sun.

How we tested the Sky-Watcher Heliostar 76mm H-alpha solar telescope

We tried the Sky-Watcher Heliostar 76mm for about two weeks from a suburban backyard, always with a SkyWatcher SolarQuest mount head (which is sometimes bundled with the telescope). We largely used it to visually observe prominences, filaments, sunspots and texture on the sun in H-Alpha using the provided 20mm eyepiece, always leaving the scope outside for a while to acclimatize before use. We also experimented with taking full-disc solar images using a ZWO ASI174MM planetary camera.

Should I buy the Sky-Watcher Heliostar 76mm H-alpha solar telescope?

Buy the Sky-Watcher Heliostar 76mm if you want a dedicated H-alpha solar telescope that prioritizes visual observing, portability and ease of use. It’s perfect for anyone who wants to see prominences and filaments in far more detail than white-light solar viewing can provide. The only real issue is a slight lack of uniformity in contrast in its field of view, which necessitates tweaking its Trifid Tuner as you observe different features — something that potentially creates issues if you’re planning to image the solar disk using a planetary camera.

If the Sky-Watcher Heliostar 76mm H-alpha solar telescope isn’t for you

If your priority is simple, inexpensive solar observing, a certified front-mounted white-light solar filter on a suitable telescope is a cheaper route, but it will primarily show sunspots rather than the more dramatic H-alpha prominences and filaments. Similar H-alpha telescopes typically considered as rivals to the Sky-Watcher Heliostar 76mm include the Coronado PST and the much more expensive Lunt LS80MT B1200.

Key to its attraction is its small size, carry case and shoulder strap, which makes it possible to sling over a shoulder. Its rugged, wave-textured housing and bright color options? Not so much. However, with just enough optical performance to satisfy casual astronomers — particularly those focused on lunar observing — it makes a good option for astro-travel. Is it a replacement for one of the best telescopes? Absolutely not — but for close-up views of the lunar disk (particularly lunar eclipses), Jupiter and its moons, and bright open star clusters such as the Pleiades — this lightweight scope offers an appealing balance between portability and power if, and only if, you mount it on a tripod.

Nocs Provisions Lite View spotting scope review

Nocs Provisions Lite View spotting scope: Design

• Compact, travel-friendly size
• Rugged rubberized grip
• Integrated tripod mount

What's immediately noticeable about the Lite View is its rubberized, wave-textured exterior, which feels solid and secure in the hand. It's impact-absorbing and confidence-inspiring — important if you're heading out to a field for a late-night lunar eclipse, perhaps — though it will jar with anyone used to the mono, metallic designs favored by telescope designers. As a bonus, the IPX4 water-resistant rating means it will tolerate drizzle and damp conditions, though it's not fully waterproof or fogproof. Are we fans of its two color choices, Ochre Yellow and Saguaro Green? Not so much, though; with the popularity of stargazing-themed travel, the differing tones of astronomy scopes and spotting scopes no longer make sense.

At 192 mm long and weighing 567 g / 1.2 lb, the Lite View lives up to its name. It's small enough to fit into a larger jacket pocket and comes with a protective carrying case and shoulder strap, making it ideal for grab-and-go observing sessions. Its focus wheel and eyepiece zoom ring are logically placed, but while the former can feel slightly stiff at first, the latter is much looser. After some use, the focus wheel loosens and becomes smoother to operate. Meanwhile, the twist-up eyecups offer 18 mm of eye relief, making it comfortable to wear with spectacles.

Crucially for astronomy, the scope includes an integrated tripod mount. At higher magnifications, it proves essential.

Nocs Provisions Lite View spotting scope: Performance

• Excellent lunar detail
• Visible Galilean moons of Jupiter
• Some chromatic aberration

Turn the Lite View toward a first-quarter moon, and it quickly justifies its place in a basic travel astronomy kit. At 9x magnification, the lunar disk appears crisp and bright against the night sky, with strong contrast across the dark maria and a pleasingly wide field of view that makes locating and centering it effortless. Increase the magnification to around 20x, and the view becomes more immersive, with crater chains and rugged terrain along the terminator snapping into satisfying relief as shadows sculpt the surface into dramatic texture.

At the full 27x magnification, crater rims and fissures become more pronounced, and for a 56mm spotting scope, the overall sharpness remains impressive. However, this is also where the scope’s limitations begin to surface. A trace of purple fringing and faint yellow coloration appear along the lunar limb in high-contrast areas, but it's not severe. Sharpness softens slightly compared to the sweet spot around 20x magnification, and in darker conditions, chromatic aberration becomes more noticeable around the moon.

Beyond the moon, it performs surprisingly well on bright deep-sky targets. The Beehive Cluster (M44) appears as a sparkling spray of stars, while the Orion Nebula (M42) shows a soft, misty glow under darker skies. The Pleiades (M45) particularly benefit from the generous field of view at lower magnifications, presenting a striking cluster framed against a black sky. Even Jupiter offers a rewarding sight. Though the planet remains small and surface detail is not visible, its four Galilean moons are clearly visible.

Optics-wise, the Lite View is not going to rival premium top-end ED-glass optics or a dedicated refractor telescope, but its HiFi fully multi-coated lenses and XDR roof prisms deliver bright, reasonably sharp views overall, particularly at mid-range magnifications. Overall, it meets expectations for its size and price.

Nocs Provisions Lite View spotting scope: Functionality

• Smooth zoom control
• Tripod use is essential
• Handy carry case

Key to the appeal of the Lite View are its 56mm objectives and 27x magnification, which you won't find in most lightweight binoculars. However, like large astronomy binoculars, this spotting scope — despite being very lightweight — is best used with some stability. While technically possible to use handheld at 9x, stability becomes an issue beyond 12x. At 27x, even slight movements blur the image significantly. For serious lunar observing, a tripod is mandatory. Annoyingly, the scope comes with a large rubber mount covering the undercarriage's tripod thread, which needs to be removed using an (included) Allen key. It appears to serve no purpose.

The great thing about the Lite View's zoom range is that it's smooth, flexible and allows the easy framing of the moon at low power before zooming in to better fit the field of view. Focusing at high magnification requires a gentle touch. The focus ring's resistance helps prevent accidental shifts, but fine adjustments demand patience. You'll also need to refocus slightly when changing magnification, which does somewhat interrupt the flow when observing.

Should you buy the Nocs Provisions Lite View spotting scope?

The Nocs Provisions Lite View Spotting Scope occupies an interesting niche. It's not a dedicated astronomical device, yet it performs impressively on the moon and bright objects. Its lightweight build, shoulder-ready pouch and integrated tripod mount make it ideal for travel, spontaneous observing sessions and lunar eclipses. Yes, there's some chromatic aberration. Yes, it softens slightly at 27x. However, when mounted steadily and aimed at Earth's natural satellite, it delivers detailed, rewarding views that exceed what its size suggests. For lunar lovers who value portability and simplicity, it's a compelling companion under the night sky.

How we tested the Nocs Provisions Lite View spotting scope

We tested the Lite View during multiple evening sessions under suburban skies and in darker rural conditions. Particular attention was given to lunar observing at various phases from crescent to gibbous and other bright objects in the night sky.

The scope was mounted on a stable tripod for all high-magnification observations. We evaluated sharpness, color fidelity, contrast and ease of focusing, as well as its ability to resolve Jupiter's Galilean moons and several bright deep-sky objects, largely bright open clusters of stars.

If the Nocs Provisions Lite View spotting scope isn't for you

If you're seeking significantly higher magnification and premium optical performance, consider the Celestron Regal M2 80 ED, which delivers outstanding clarity at a much higher price point. Astrophotographers may prefer a similarly priced entry-level smart telescope, such as the DwarfLab Dwarf Mini, which can capture excellent images of the moon and deep-sky objects. Another option is large stargazing binoculars like the Celestron SkyMaster 20x80 Pro, which offer greater light-gathering for fainter objects, though at the cost of added bulk.

The Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian comes equipped with 8mm and 20mm eyepieces, one of which is intended specifically for the moon, as well as a red-dot finderscope, a moon filter, a moon-map poster and free access to download the Starry Night planetarium software and Celestron’s SkyPortal app, which is powered by SkySafari.

All in all, it will make an excellent package for someone to get started enjoying the night sky. Though the optics and accessories are not perfect, for the price their drawbacks can be overlooked, and as an entry-level telescope it paves the way for the user to graduate to increasingly more sophisticated telescopes at a later date.

Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian review

Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian: Design

• Quick and simple set-up
• Portable

The Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian comes out of its box complete, other than its eyepieces and red-dot finderscope in plastic bags. Set-up takes literally minutes — remove the plastic cap over the aperture and the cap on the focuser, insert your eyepiece of choice, screw on the finderscope and you are ready to go. No tools such as screwdrivers or Allen keys are needed— it is just a matter of unscrewing thumbscrews.

We found the finderscope went on easily — more about that later. However, the tiny thumbscrews that lock in the eyepiece were incredibly tight. Pliers didn’t help much and risked damaging the screw. In the end, we found elbow grease was just about enough to unscrew them, but if our review model is typical, then children will definitely need the help of an adult to unscrew these. Once they are unscrewed, they can be tightened to more forgiving tolerances.

Overall we can recommend the build quality of the Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian. Everything is sturdily made, from the Dobsonian base, the optical tube, the easily adjustable tilt and focuser knobs. The mount has a single arm and rotates on a ‘lazy Susan’ turntable.

Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian: Performance

• Three
• Bullet
• Points

This is where we thought that the Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian excelled. For such a small telescope, it was decently versatile.

For example, on the night of April 5, our first target was Jupiter, which was bright in Gemini, and unmistakable as it lay not far from the constellation’s twin stars Castor and Pollux. Jupiter appeared as a bright disk, with perhaps the merest hint of its banding — or was that our imagination? What certainly were real were the four Galilean moons: Io and Europa on one side, Ganymede and Callisto on the other. It was a sight sure to impress beginners and casual observers.

We moved the Celestron Moon Mission’s view towards the multiple star Castor, and the telescope capably split the main binary pair as two close, white stars using the 20mm eyepiece. Another popular multiple star is Mizar and Alcor in Ursa Major. Of course, Mizar and Alcor can be split with the naked eye, but the third visible star in the system is for telescopes only, and again the Celestron Moon Mission showed the three stars clearly.

Slewing east, Arcturus — the second brightest star visible from the U.K., and fourth brightest in the entire sky — appeared a glorious red, evoking its nature as a red giant.

While waiting for the moon to rise (and before taking some time out to watch the Artemis II coverage), we decided to track down some faint fuzzies. The box that the Celestron Moon Mission comes in highlights the Orion Nebula and the Andromeda Galaxy as two deep sky objects that the telescope can see. At the time of testing, the Orion Nebula was too low in the west, while the Andromeda Galaxy was not visible. Instead, we hunted down two other nearby galaxies, M81 and M82, in Ursa Major.

Searching for these two galaxies, which are located next to each other in the same field of view, is where the real challenge of using the finderscope, as we described in the Functionality section, really reared its head. In the end, we decided to star hop to the galaxies and struck out in roughly the right direction. Soon the telescope alighted on the two galaxies, visible as two fuzzy patches of light. Looking at them straight on, we found it difficult to discern their shape, but by using averted vision as we looked through the 20mm eyepiece of the Celestron Moon Mission, we could make out the broad disk-shape of the spiral M81, and the elongated cigar shape of M82, and even caught hints of mottling with brighter spots in the edge-on M82 that are better seen in images.

After we watched the live NASA feed of Artemis II going around the far side of the moon, the moon finally rose from our location after midnight. Its phase was a waning gibbous three days after full. As such, the moon appeared bright and reddish, being low to the horizon. Through the 20mm we could see the whole disk, though the phase meant that for most of the lunar surface there was no contrast, making it harder to distinguish craters except for at the terminator.

Adding the 1.25-inch moon filter — more properly known as a neutral density filter that dims the incoming light — helped to limit the contrast and make the details stand out more. Switching to the 8mm eyepiece, with a magnification of 50x, the view jumped closer to the moon and the lunar surface filled the field of view, with bright crater rays visible on dark lunar mares.

Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian: Functionality

• Finderscope is awkward to use when pointed at the zenith
• Focusing is adequate
• Simple to use

The tabletop nature of the telescope poses some challenges for adults using it. As its name suggests, the telescope is designed to go on the top of a table. Usually when we think of Dobsonian telescopes, we think of very large instruments with very large apertures, and eyepieces close to standing height. This Dobsonian, on the other hand, is very small, and without a very tall table we found that we spent a lot of our time bent double looking through the eyepiece. Of course, this also means it is the perfect height for a child.

We found it did pose a problem when using the finderscope. For objects at low elevations, such as Jupiter in Gemini during spring 2026, we found it wasn’t too bad. However, when we wanted to direct the telescope towards Ursa Major at the zenith, the only way we could look through the finderscope was by literally getting on the floor to look through it. This is a problem with all tabletop telescopes, not just the Celestron Moon Mission, and it would be unfair to suggest otherwise — but it is a problem nonetheless.

Once we addressed the tightness of the focuser thumbscrews, we could switch the eyepieces in and out with ease. We found the focuser to be perfunctory. It provides only coarse focusing, with no careful fine-tuning, and sometimes it was tricky to find the sweet spot. Additionally, Newtonian reflectors like this one require collimating for perfect pin-sharp images. Collimating refers to adjusting the secondary mirror (the primary mirror is fixed at the base of the optical tube) so that it aligns and focuses light reflected from the primary just so. It’s also a fact that astronomers hate collimating, as it is a finicky procedure.

Out of the box, the collimation wasn’t bad, and we felt it was also unreasonable to expect beginners and children, whom this telescope is undoubtedly aimed at, to collimate the instrument with no guidance or tools included. Therefore, we reviewed the telescope as it came out of the box, to replicate the experience that beginners and children would receive. Had we collimated the telescope, then it probably would have improved the image a tad.

We found that actually using the telescope, in terms of positioning and pointing, was very simple. It’s worth remembering that Newtonian reflectors reverse their image (up becomes down), and after using smart telescopes, GoTo telescopes and Celestron’s StarSense telescopes with directions provided by a smartphone for so long, that took a little getting used to again! It may confuse beginners and children, but before the days of smart telescopes and GoTo, everybody had to get used to navigating across the sky using a reversed image, so it’s no bad thing.

Should you buy the Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian

If you want to introduce your children to astronomy, then the Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian is the perfect instrument. It is safe to use, with no risk of knocking something heavy over, as it weighs about the same as a bag of sugar, which is amazing really. It is simple to use, in the sense that it is just a matter of pushing and turning, although children might need assistance in pinpointing the location of targets. It’s also a fair all-rounder, as all Dobsonians are – it excels at showing the moon, displays the planets very well, and shows deep-sky objects as best it can for a 100mm-aperture telescope

If you want to see fainter galaxies and nebulae, then you will need a telescope with a larger aperture. If you want to do imaging, then you will need a telescope with a motorized equatorial drive to enable you to track the objects while imaging.

And if you want assistance in finding celestial objects without having to star-hop, then a GoTo or smart telescope might be best for you.

If the Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian isn't for you

If you're looking to spend less, Celestron offers a smaller Dobsonian, the Celestron Firstscope 76. For a more flexible telescope, take a look at the Celestron Inspire 100Z. Or if neither fits the bill, we've rounded up the best telescopes and best beginner's telescopes.

How we tested the Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian

We used the Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian during the occasional clear nights in the first two weeks of April 2026 from our south-facing garden in the United Kingdom. The temperature was clement, about 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius), with some modest light pollution to the north and dark skies to the south looking towards a more rural area.

We began observing after 10 pm, with the skies completely dark. The moon was near full at the time of testing — in fact, quite fittingly, one of the nights was the same night that the Artemis II mission went around the moon. However, the moon remained low the entire night, meaning it could only be viewed near moonrise after midnight, close to the horizon, before it became hidden behind a nearby bank of trees for the rest of the night.

Roughly the size of a thick paperback book, it’s one of the smallest smart telescopes yet produced — tiny enough to fit in a jacket pocket while still capable of imaging nebulae, star clusters, the moon and even sunspots. It's also one of the best telescopes for beginners.

Positioned below the larger Dwarf 3 in DwarfLab’s lineup, the Mini sacrifices aperture and resolution for portability. It uses a 30mm refractor paired with Sony’s IMX662 sensor and relies on automated stacking to gradually reveal deep-sky objects. The telescope connects to a phone via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and handles alignment, tracking and imaging automatically through the DwarfLab app.

With built-in filters, optional equatorial tracking, and advanced software features such as Mega Stack and Stellar Studio processing, the Dwarf Mini is aimed at beginners and traveling astrophotographers who want a compact, automated imaging system that doesn’t require lots of extra kit — and works well even in light-polluted cities.

DwarfLab Dwarf Mini smart telescope review

DwarfLab Dwarf Mini: Design

• Ultra-compact 30mm refractor telescope
• Internal motorized filter wheel
• Magnetic solar filter
• Lightweight design
• Ideal for travel and eclipse chasing

The defining characteristic of the Dwarf Mini is its size. The body includes a 360-degree rotating base and an articulating lens arm that moves through 225 degrees, allowing the telescope to cover most of the sky. It's significantly smaller than its competitors, including the larger Dwarf 3, making it easy to pack for travel. In fact, it’s easily small enough to slip into a camera bag or carry-on luggage, making it an appealing option for traveling astrophotographers — perhaps including eclipse chasers preparing for the upcoming trio of total solar eclipses beginning in 2026, since a magnetic solar filter is included in the box. Nice touch!

The telescope itself is a 30mm f/5 refractor with a focal length of 150mm. This produces a field of view of about 2.4 degrees, roughly five times the apparent diameter of the full moon. That optical system is paired with a Sony IMX662 sensor, a 1/2.8-inch sensor capable of 2.1MP resolution (1080p). This sensor is all about low noise and sensitivity, making it well-suited to short astrophotography exposures, but not to high-resolution images. Compared with the Dwarf 3’s Sony IMX678 Starvis 2 sensor, which delivers 8.3MP and 4K resolution, the Mini is a step down in terms of detail. However, in practice, the difference is smaller than expected, particularly after image stacking and processing.

The device also features a motorized internal filter wheel, allowing users to switch between broadband and dual-narrowband filters directly in the app to mitigate light pollution and better image nebulae. This avoids the need to install external filters, which are an add-on accessory with some smart telescopes.

The box includes a magnetic solar filter, a USB-C charging cable and a lens cloth. However, a small tripod is not included in the box, which feels like an omission given the Mini’s travel-friendly design. That's not a deal-breaker since any small tabletop (or full-size) tripod can be used, but the all-in-one feel is sacrificed.

DwarfLab Dwarf Mini: Performance

• Reveals deep-sky objects even under light pollution
• Plate-solves stars and stacks short exposures
• Mega Stack combines data from multiple sessions

The Dwarf Mini performs surprisingly well considering its small optics. During testing, it proved capable of capturing bright deep-sky targets such as the Orion Nebula (M42) and the Pleiades (M45), as well as open clusters like M44, even from suburban skies.

Smart telescopes compensate for small apertures by stacking many short exposures over time, gradually building up a deeper image. In standard alt-az mode, exposures are typically limited to around 10-15 seconds to prevent field rotation (which can cause blur). This technique allows the telescope to perform well even under heavy light pollution and/or strong moonlight, making it particularly useful for urban astronomers, where the chance of seeing faint nebulae is virtually zero.

One particularly useful feature is Mega Stack, which combines multiple imaging sessions of the same targets. Instead of capturing everything in a single session, data from several shorter sessions can be added later — even months or years later — to produce deeper images. That's handy when windows of clear skies are few, or if you plan occasional trips to dark skies where better data might be possible.

For more advanced imaging, the telescope also supports an equatorial (EQ) tracking mode, something professional astrophotographers insist upon. EQ mode may not be essential on a travel-friendly smart telescope like this, but its inclusion is impressive. It requires the purchase of an equatorial wedge, such as Dwarf Mini’s Mini Tripod accessory, which we were not able to test during this review. After a simple alignment with Polaris, the mount tracks the sky’s rotation, allowing exposures of up to 90 seconds. It can make a marked difference with very faint targets — though it’s not an essential feature on a smart telescope aimed at beginners.

Daytime performance is also strong. With the included solar filter, the Mini easily captured sunspots and solar activity, while lunar images also showed impressive crater detail.

The main limitation is resolution. The 2MP sensor produces images that look excellent on smartphones and social media, but they lack the detail needed for large prints or serious astrophotography. But for a telescope this small, the results are genuinely impressive.

DwarfLab Dwarf Mini: Functionality

• Smartphone control via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth
• Sky Atlas feature for automatic target selection
• Manual pointing and mosaic imaging modes

The Dwarf Mini is designed to be controlled entirely through the DwarfLab smartphone app, which connects via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

Once connected, users can browse a built-in sky atlas, which displays objects currently visible from their location. Selecting an object prompts the telescope to plate-solve the surrounding stars, automatically align itself, slew to the target and begin stacking exposures. Imaging sessions can be stopped at any point if you’re happy with the result so far. The app also displays session details such as exposure count and total integration time.

For users who want more control, the telescope can also be manually aimed at any patch of sky, which is particularly useful when imaging newly discovered comets or objects not yet included in the atlas database. For objects larger than its field of view, such as the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), Mini has a mosaic mode, which allows the telescope to capture multiple adjacent frames and stitch them together.

Captured images can then be processed using Stellar Studio, DwarfLab’s built-in image processing software, which is very good at removing noise and adding contrast. Images can be saved in JPG, TIFF or FITS formats, giving beginners a set of sharing-friendly options and more advanced users the chance to download files into desktop processing software.

It’s all remarkably easy to operate once you’re comfortable with how the app works. Beginners can capture solar, lunar and deep-sky images within minutes of set-up, while more experienced astrophotographers can still access advanced features such as EQ tracking and mosaic imaging.

Firmware updates are frequent and install easily through the app, so it’s worth connecting the telescope to your home Wi-Fi before heading to a dark-sky site — you never know when new features will appear!

Should you buy the DwarfLab Dwarf Mini smart telescope?

The DwarfLab Dwarf Mini offers a tempting combination of portability, automation and surprisingly capable astrophotography performance. It won’t replace a full astrophotography setup, but for beginners, urban astronomers, travelers and eclipse chasers, it provides an easy way to capture the night sky — and the sun — without bulky and expensive equipment.

If the DwarfLab Dwarf Mini smart telescope isn't for you

If you're after something with a little higher resolution, the DwarfLab Dwarf 3 is a larger, more powerful version with a 4K sensor and a slightly larger aperture.

ZWO Seestar S30 is a similar smart telescope with automated tracking and an included tabletop tripod, though it's recently been surpassed by the slightly pricier ZWO Seestar S30 Pro, a higher-resolution alternative that boasts superior optics and imaging.

For an overview of the top telescopes in this category, read our 2026 guide to the best smart telescopes.

User reviews

Online reviews of the Dwarf Mini often highlight its portability, simplicity and image quality. One reviewer described it as a “great piece of kit for deep space astrophotography.”

Another wrote: “I had no trouble getting it imaging within a few minutes out of the box,” praising the image quality, autofocus, GoTo accuracy, tracking, and the app. “It's a brilliant piece of kit,” said another user.

However, several users also reported poor quality in planetary images — and that’s certainly true (though it can find the moons of Jupiter).

How we tested the DwarfLab Dwarf Mini smart telescope

Our observations took place on a few clear nights during February and March 2026, in temperatures down to lows of 43 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius) and highs of about 54 F (12 C). Light pollution was between 5 and 6 on the Bortle scale — urban conditions with bright city lighting. Battery life averaged around 4 hours, though longer imaging sessions were supported using an external USB power bank connected to the telescope's USB-C slot.

The sub-250 g drone market shows no signs of reducing competition, with manufacturers racing to offer advanced features at increasingly affordable prices. While DJI maintains its dominance as the market leader, brands such as Holy Stone have been steadily improving their offerings to compete in this popular segment of the drone market.

The Holy Stone HS900 Pro is being sold as the company's most capable consumer drone to date, and is aimed at beginners and enthusiasts looking for premium features without the premium price tag.

In reality, this is much more difficult than it sounds because the beginner market is so competitive that even DJI beginner models are impressively affordable. We’ll have to wait and see if the HS900 Pro is good enough to be one of the best beginner drones.

The HS900 Pro includes a range of intelligent flight modes designed to simplify aerial photography and videography. Features such as Follow Me, Point of Interest, Waypoint Flight and various automated shooting modes make it easy to capture dynamic footage with minimal experience.

At the heart of the drone is a 48MP camera capable of capturing 4K video. While it lacks obstacle avoidance technology found on some competitor models, the HS900 Pro delivers a reasonable blend of performance, image quality and flight features, but it undoubtedly has a handful of shortcomings that will hopefully be ironed out with firmware updates.

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Holy Stone HS900 Pro: Design

• Folding design
• Sub-250 g drone
• Folding controller

The Holy Stone HS900 Pro looks like most other sub-250 g drones with its compact folding design and light gray finish. This type of design is great for beginners and more experienced pilots because the folding element makes these drones easy to carry all day on trips out or in a camera bag with other kit.

The drone is just 5.63x3.26x2.44 in / 143x82.8x62 mm when folded, and 6.59x8.57x2.44 in / 167.4x217.8x62 mm unfolded. Most sub-250 g drones are around these dimensions, so there’s nothing out of the ordinary here, and build quality is fantastic - no complaints either. The airframe is made of a lightweight yet strong plastic, which is, once again, in keeping with similar drones.

The controller that comes with the HS900 Pro is the same as that which came with the HS900, but is light rather than dark gray to match the drone.

This is a folding controller where the phone attaches to handles that fold out at the bottom of the controller in a similar way to the old DJI Mavic 2 controller and accommodate smartphones of all sizes. This is nice and compact at 6.0x1.85 x3.23 in / 152.5x47x82 mm when folded. Detachable control sticks that can be stowed away at the bottom of the controller.

The HS900 Pro controller provides all of the controls you need and more for operating the drone and the camera; you have the control sticks, a power button, a Return to Home button (RTH), a speed control button, a gimbal dial, a customisable Fn button with dual functionality, a small joystick for adjusting camera settings and photo and video capture buttons.

The 2250 mAh batteries are claimed to provide up to 30 minutes of flight time, and during testing, flight times were typically coming in around 23 minutes in what you might call normal wind conditions. Return to Home is initiated at 20% battery charge, so at this point the drone will either automatically Return to Home or you can take over and fly it back manually.

Holy Stone HS900 Pro: Functionality

• Stable flight
• Decent subject tracking
• Level 5 wind resistance

Flight performance is impressive, with smooth, responsive controls that make it easy to capture stable video and execute precise manoeuvres. Despite its lightweight design, the HS900 Pro offers Level 5 wind resistance, allowing it to cope with winds of up to 24 mph.

Stable, Normal and Sport modes provide maximum speeds of 11 mph, 22 mph and 31 mph respectively, while safety features include Smart Return-to-Home, Low Battery Return-to-Home and Signal Loss Return-to-Home.

Automated flight patterns include Follow Me, Point of Interest (Orbit), Waypoint Flight, Gesture Control, Spiral Flight and Cruise Control. These features work reasonably well, and subject tracking is more effective than with the older HS900.

The HS900 Pro's AI Subject Tracking keeps the subject centred in the frame. Whether you're capturing a person walking, cycling or taking part in outdoor activities, the drone can follow their movement smoothly without constant manual input. This is a feature that’s becoming much more popular and often makes subject tracking more effective.

There are two tracking modes available: AI Following keeps the drone behind the subject at a set distance and height, making it ideal for recording movement naturally and steadily, while AI Parallel flies alongside the subject, providing a more cinematic side-on perspective. Following works well, but when Parallel was tested, the HS900 Pro vibrated heavily during flight. This is a glitch that will need to be ironed out with a firmware update.

The time-lapse feature is easy to use and automatically creates finished videos based on your chosen interval and duration. Unlike DJI drones, however, flight control remains separate from the feature, making it harder to judge the speed and distance needed for hyperlapse shots. Wind can also affect results because the drone may drift in gusty conditions.

As a result, time-lapses are generally smooth but can appear slightly uneven in gusty conditions. Cruise Control, another feature, allows the drone to continue flying after you release the control sticks, making it useful for maintaining a constant speed and direction during long video sequences.

Compared to the original HS900, the HS900 Pro is an extremely similar drone, and the camera quality and functionality appear to be similar, potentially identical. The main differences are in the improvements to subject tracking and the automated flight patterns. This makes the drone feel like more of an incremental update rather than a more significant upgrade.

This isn’t a drone that offers obstacle avoidance either, so there are no sensors for this purpose, although it does have TOF ranging which can help to achieve more stable flight, including improved position holding when GPS is weak.

There is also optical flow positioning that aids positioning indoors. These are useful, but when other beginner drones are beginning to offer obstacle avoidance, the bar has been raised somewhat.

Holy Stone HS900 Pro: Performance

• 1/2.3-inch 48MP CMOS sensor
• Up to 4K 30 FPS video
• Poor RAW photo quality

The Holy Stone HS900 Pro produces reasonable image quality in both photos and videos that will more than meet the needs of beginners and enthusiasts. At launch, this does come with a caveat we’ll discuss in a moment, but first let’s take a look at the camera specs.

The HS900 Pro camera features a 48MP 1/2.3-inch Sony CMOS sensor with an 83-degree field of view, which roughly equates to the equivalent of 24mm in full-frame/35mm terms, with a fixed f/2.6 aperture. Video can be captured in 4K at 30 FPS and FHD up to 60 FPS, which is adequate but not outstanding.

Video quality is good and comparable to the original HS900 with a maximum bitrate of up to 100 Mbps. Photo shooting modes include Single Shot, Burst Shot, Timer Shot, Time-Lapse, Slow Motion, Camera Filter and Panorama. Then there’s Dolly Zoom for video, which works well despite using the camera’s digital zoom.

Photo quality is inconsistent and something of a paradox, but not in the way you might normally expect. The HS900 Pro can capture up to 48MP photos and RAW and JPEG formats, and the JPEGs look good – no major criticisms here. Where things quickly go downhill, however, is when capturing RAW photos in DNG format.

RAW photos have terrible color casts that are so bad that you can’t color correct them using white balance controls in software such as Adobe Lightroom. It’s basically impossible to neutralize the color cast, which makes the RAW files unusable. This is one area where Holy Stone seriously needs to issue a firmware update to resolve the issue.

Please note the footage below was shot in 4K, but our video player only plays in HD.

The camera controls available allow you to take as much control as you need, alongside auto shooting if you prefer. Two features that are still, unfortunately, missing after the HS900 are a histogram to assist with setting exposure correctly and Automatic Exposure Bracketing. These are essential for the drone to compete more effectively in a highly competitive market.

Holy Stone HS900 Pro: Price

In the past, Holy Stone was initially released in the US, with availability expanding to other regions afterwards. The kit includes the drone, a controller, two batteries, cables, spare propellers and a carry bag. This is everything you need to get started in terms of the drone itself.

The kit costs around $389.99 / £369.99, which would have once been attractive for a drone with the features of the HS900 Pro, but you can get a lot more in terms of features and image quality around this price point. This is illustrative of just how the competitiveness of the sub-250 g drone market shows no signs of slowing. In fact, it’s still heating up.

Should you buy the Holy Stone HS900 Pro?

If you're looking for an affordable camera drone that offers more than the basics, the Holy Stone HS900 Pro is a reasonable option, but certainly not the best available. It combines a lightweight sub-250 g design with features often found on more expensive models, while flight performance is impressive, with accurate GPS positioning, stable hovering and dependable Return to Home functionality.

There is no obstacle avoidance, which is a feature we’re now seeing in beginner models and puts the HS900 Pro at a distinct disadvantage in terms of both price and functionality. But the main issue with the drone is that some of the features and functionality feel incomplete. Not in terms of the hardware, but rather that they’re in need of refinement from a firmware update. Whether this will happen is impossible to say, but Holy Stone will probably improve these weaker areas.

If this drone isn't for you

The DJI Mini 5 Pro is the most advanced sub-250 g drone available, offering unrivalled features, functionality and professional image quality in a small and lightweight form factor.

The DJI Lito 1 is DJI’s least expensive drone to feature obstacle avoidance. It offers subject tracking functionality and up to 4K at up to 100 FPS, all in a beginner model. This model is currently unavailable in the USA

The Potensic Atom 2 is one of the best value sub-250 g propositions available. Image quality is great for photos and videos, while flight performance is solid alongside reasonably quiet flight.

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The drone market is hotter than ever, with newbie and slightly more experienced drone pilots now able to enjoy some seriously impressive features on low-cost drones. The new DJI Lito series replaces the older Mini series, with the exception of the DJI Mini 5 Pro, which is DJI’s flagship sub-250 g drone. There are two models available and in this review, we are going to take a look at the DJI Lito 1.

The Lito 1 may be the entry-level Lito model, but it still comes with a feature we’ve been waiting to see on a beginner drone for ages - 5-lux omnidirectional obstacle sensing, otherwise known as collision avoidance. This is a feature that, up until now, has only been available on more advanced and expensive drones, despite being a feature that beginners can truly benefit from.

There are also intelligent flight modes, including ActiveTrack, QuickShots, MasterShots, Hyperlapse, and Panorama, that help you to capture professional-looking photos and videos at the touch of a button. The subject tracking modes are particularly impressive, especially for an entry-level drone, thanks to the omnidirectional obstacle sensing.

The Lito 1 features a 48MP 1/2-inch CMOS sensor with video capture available up to 4K at 100 FPS and photos in JPEG and Raw format. Video can only be captured in the normal profile, which is perfect for beginners because it can be used straight out of camera with no need for color grading.

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DJI Lito 1: Design

• Sub-250 g drone
• Compact folding design
• Respectable battery life

The Lito 1 is a small, lightweight camera drone that looks much like other DJI ‘mini’ drones, with a folding design that makes it even more compact for travel and storage. At 8.78 oz / 249 g, this regulator-friendly drone is just 5.67 x 3.70 x 2.44 in / 144 x 94 x 62 mm when folded, and 7.20 x 9.88 x 3.11 in / 183 x 251 x 79 mm unfolded.

In terms of overall design, it won’t win any innovation awards with its typically DJI light gray build, but it’s undoubtedly a functional drone with great build quality. One of the main visual differences between the Lito 1 and the DJI Mini 4K, for example, is that the Lito 1 has one 5-Lux omnidirectional obstacle sensor on the top of the drone, and another on the bottom.

These two sensors provide highly effective 360-degree obstacle avoidance that will give beginner drone pilots confidence, but you can never fully rely on them to avoid obstacles. Omnidirectional obstacle sensing is fantastic, but it’s no substitute for flying with care and attention. You can also change the way it behaves to suit different situations.

The Lito 1 comes with the DJI RC-N3 controller in the Fly More Combo. This is the most basic DJI controller, where you attach your phone to a telescopic phone holder at the top to give you a camera view and access to settings.

It’s not as convenient as a smart controller but it does its job well and helps to keep costs down. The DJI RC-N3 has a decent battery life and is comfortable to hold, with detachable control sticks that stow away at the bottom of the controller when not in use.

Battery life of the drone itself is great but the claimed 36 minutes of flight time doesn’t quite translate to reality. Flight times came in at around 24 minutes before the battery reached around 16% and 'Return to Home' was initiated. This is still great for small 2590 mAh batteries and plenty of time if you have three batteries from the 'Fly More Bundle' to offer over an hour of flight time.

DJI Lito 1: Functionality

• Quick takeoff
• No internal storage
• Non-GPS RTH

The Lito 1 is a nimble drone capable of some respectable flight speeds, with a maximum speed of 40.27 mph in sport mode and 26.84 mph in normal mode and when tracking subjects. Cine mode is also available with reduced speed and less sensitive controls to assist pilots when capturing cinematic footage. Wind resistance is also great at 23.94 mph, so it will only be on the most windy days when you can’t fly.

Controls are responsive, and you undoubtedly enjoy a robust DJI flight experience with the drone. Plus, video transmission is faultless, and there were no issues whatsoever during testing. Then there are the intelligent flight modes, which include ActiveTrack, QuickShots, MasterShots, Hyperlapse, and Panorama; these all help beginners and experienced pilots alike to capture professional-looking photos and videos at the touch of a button.

The jewel in the crown feature has to be the Omnidirectional Obstacle Sensing because this is the first time it’s been available on a beginner drone model, not to mention one that is so competitively priced. There are several modes available, including Brake and Bypass, so you can select the option that suits the flying situation, and despite having only two sensors – one on the top and one on the bottom of the drone – it does a fantastic job. The subject-tracking modes are impressive, thanks to omnidirectional obstacle sensing and selecting a subject to track is incredibly easy.

Other useful features include Quick Takeoff and Return to Home (RTH). The former allows you to take off before satellite signals have been fixed for GPS, which is useful in more built-up locations.

RTH is the feature pilots know and appreciate, but where it differs slightly from the Lito 1 is that during the latter stages of the RTH process, the drone tracks its take-off route, so a strong GPS connection isn’t essential. This wasn't tested because there were always strong signals, but on paper, it sounds great.

One missing feature is internal storage, so you’ll have to rely on using a microSD card to save your photos and videos. It’s certainly not a dealbreaker and is typical of beginner models. It does, however, offer Wi‑Fi 6 QuickTransfer at up to 50 MB/s, so you can transfer imagery to your smartphone using the DJI Fly app quickly.

DJI Lito 1: Performance

• 1/2-inch 48MP CMOS sensor
• Up to 4K 100 FPS video
• Raw & JPEG photos

The Lito 1 is the absolute beginner model in the new Lito line-up, and as such it has the smaller sensor of the two available models. The camera features a 1/2-inch 48MP CMOS sensor and the lens offers an equivalent focal length of 26.2mm. The aperture is fixed at f/1.8 while focus is available from 4m to infinity.

Image quality is impressive overall, despite the small sensor, and much better than many drones at a similar price point with a small sensor. So, despite this being a beginner model, there’s no doubt that the Lito 1 will keep most beginner pilots happy for years to come before the desire to upgrade to a more advanced model takes hold.

Photos are typically sharpest in the central area of the frame with some fall-off towards the edges of the frame. Video quality is better, as is usually the case, but this is due to using fewer sensor pixels and the centre of the lens. Not to mention, video is much more forgiving than photos because the image is moving.

Photos can be captured in Raw and/or JPEG using shooting modes including Single Shot, Burst Shooting, Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB) and Timed shots with delays between two and 60 seconds. This is exactly what you need for shooting photos with a drone.

Please note the footage below was shot in 4K, but our video player only plays in HD.

Video can be captured at up to 4K 100 FPS, 2.7K vertical up to 60 FPS and FHD up to 100 FPS. Video can only be captured in the Normal color profile for straight out of camera footage, so there’s no need for color grading.

The main downside for more advanced users is that the Lito 1 doesn’t capture video in the 10-bit D-Log M color profile, but if you need this, the slightly higher-spec Lito X1 is the model for you.

DJI Lito 1: Price

The DJI Lito 1 is competitively priced at just £429 for the Fly More Combo, or £299 for the drone and a battery if you already own a DJI RC-N3 controller. The Fly More Combo includes three batteries, a charging hub, a carry case, and accessories, along with the drone and the controller. At the time of writing, the drone is unfortunately unavailable in the United States.

This is a great price for an entry-level drone in a Fly More Combo with all those useful accessories. It’s slightly more expensive than some other entry-level drones, but the main advantage of the Lito 1 is that it has Obstacle Sensing.

Should you buy the DJI Lito 1?

If you’re an absolute beginner looking for a solid drone that will meet your needs for some time to come, the DJI Lito 1 is one of the most attractive drones available. If you’d like the same drone but with some additional features, the DJI Lito X1 is a more advanced version.

Flight performance is excellent, and the omnidirectional obstacle sensing is incredibly useful for beginners because it can seriously reduce the risk of crashing. Image quality is also impressive considering the size of the camera sensor, although it’s not a drone that you’d choose to use professionally.

Alongside the omnidirectional obstacle sensing, another impressive and indeed useful feature is subject tracking, which performs incredibly well. This is a feature you don’t often see in entry-level drones, and when you do, it doesn’t work well, but with the Lito 1, the performance can’t be faulted.

If this drone isn't for you

The DJI Lito X1 is the higher spec model of the two new Lito models and features a larger sensor alongside forward-facing LiDAR for improved obstacle sensing. It can also capture video in the flat D-Log M color profile.

If you’d like the most advanced sub-250 g drone available, the DJI Mini 5 Pro offers the best image quality, features and functionality of any compact and lightweight drone.

If you’d like a sub-250 g drone at a competitive price but don’t need obstacle avoidance, the Potensic Atom 2 is a fantastic sub-250 g drone capable of capturing 4K video and photos in Raw and JPEG.

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Drones are more accessible than ever before, and DJI shows no signs of slowing down in its aggressive drive to take over the beginner drone market. The DJI Neo 2 is both affordable and impressive as a selfie, camera and FPV drone, but with the new DJI Lito X1, high-end features and functionality have finally made it to a beginner model.

The Lito X1 features a 48MP 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensor with video capture available up to 4K at 100 FPS and photos in JPEG and Raw format. The drone features a 5-lux omnidirectional obstacle sensing and forward-facing LiDAR for safer flights in complex environments. Obstacle sensing is a no-brainer for beginner drones, and it’s finally here.

Then there are intelligent flight modes, including ActiveTrack, QuickShots, MasterShots, Hyperlapse, and Panorama, which make it incredibly easy to capture professional-looking imagery. The subject tracking modes are great performers thanks to the omnidirectional obstacle sensing, where you can be confident that the chances of the drone crashing are greatly reduced.

The Lito X1 is priced competitively and is arguably excellent value for money, with the DJI Lito X1 Fly More Combo (DJI RC 2) costing just £599; this is the bundle that features a smart controller with a built-in screen. It’s safe to say that this could be both one of the best beginner drones and possibly even one of the best camera drones available.

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DJI Lito X1: Design

• Compact folding design
• Sub-250 g model
• Two controller options

With its standard DJI folding design, build quality and light gray color, the DJI Lito X1 is a solid yet unremarkable drone from a design point of view.

That said, there’s nothing wrong with this at all, and the Lito X1 is undoubtedly an impressive performer. The drone is just 5.67 x 3.70 x 2.44 in / 144 x 94 x 62 mm folded and 7.20 x 9.88 x 3.11 in / 183 x 251 x 79 mm unfolded, with a regulator-friendly weight of 8.78 oz / 249 g.

The Lito X1 looks like most other drones in the sub-250 g class, but one standout feature is the 5-Lux Omnidirectional obstacle sensors – one on the top of the drone and the second one on the bottom.

These provide up, down, left, right, forward and backward obstacle avoidance, and despite there being just two sensors, the system performs incredibly well. There’s also forward-facing LiDAR for increased precision. The inclusion of these features is a first for a beginner drone.

With the Fly More Combos, you can opt for either the DJI RC-N3 controller, which requires a phone to be used with the DJI Fly app, or the DJI RC 2 smart controller with a built-in 5.5 in FHD touchscreen. This more advanced controller isn’t much more expensive and is significantly more convenient than the standard controller, so it’s well worth consideration.

In terms of battery life, the standard batteries are claimed to last up to 36 minutes, but during testing, flights were coming in at around 24 minutes before Return to Home was initiated when the battery reached around 16%. This is still pretty good, although the higher capacity Prlus batteries will extend flight times further to a claimed 52 minutes.

One point to make is that the Plus batteries take the weight of the drone over 250 g, so you have to be aware of this and its regulatory implications. For most people, the standard batteries offering flight times around 24 minutes will be more than sufficient and keep things simple by maintaining the X1’s sub-250 g weight.

DJI Lito X1: Functionality

• Quick takeoff
• 42GB of internal storage
• Non-GPS RTH

Despite its small size and light weight, the Lito X1 is still a fairly fast and powerful drone with a maximum speed of 40.27 mph in Sport Mode and 26.84 mph in Normal Mode and when tracking. Wind resistance comes in at a respectable 23.94 mph. There’s also Cine Mode, which reduces speed further and reduces the sensitivity of controls to help you to capture more cinematic footage.

Video transmission is solid, and there was no image breakup or stuttering during testing. The maximum range goes far beyond the legal flight distance limits, so they’re impossible to test, but with such robust transmission, you’re pretty much guaranteed a great connection within the legal range.

The X1 flies as well as you’d expect for a DJI drone, so no complaints here. Plus, ActiveTrack, QuickShots and MasterShots all perform particularly well. Subject tracking is excellent thanks to the collision avoidance system, which provides confidence with the drone flying autonomously. Other useful shooting modes include Hyperlapse and Panorama, which make capturing these types of photos and videos incredibly easy.

Another standout set of features is Quick Takeoff and Smart RTH. The former allows you to take off before stallites have been fixed, instead using vision positioning until satellites are connected.

For the latter, the Lito X1 memorizes flight routes in well-lit environments, which helps to provide a safe Return to Home without satellite connection for GPS. This is unlikely, but still useful, and the system aids RTH in all situations.

While the Lito X1 has a microSD slot for removable storage, there’s also 42GB of internal storage that can be used independently or as a backup when using a memory card.

Then there’s QuickTransfer, where files can be transferred to your smart device at up to 50 MB/s via Wi-Fi 6. You can also plug the drone into a computer when it’s switched off and connect to its storage to download photos and videos without switching the drone on.

DJI Lito X1: Performance

• 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensor
• Raw & JPEG photos
• 10-Bit D-Log M

The Lito X1 is an advanced beginner drone, and despite the small sensor size, image quality is surprisingly good. It’s not on par with more expensive drones such as the DJI Mini 5 Pro, DJI Air 3S or DJI Mavic 4 Pro, unsurprisingly, but you could produce both photos and videos to a professional level with the drone.

The camera features a 48MP 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensor that can be set to shoot 12MP and 48MP photos. The lens has a full-frame equivalent focal length of 24mm, while the fixed aperture is f/1.7.

Photos can be captured in Raw and/or JPEG using Single Shot, Burst Shooting, Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB) or Timed shots with delays ranging from two to 60 seconds.

Like most drones, photos are sharpest in the central area of the frame with a small amount of fall-off towards the edges. Plus, as usual, results are typically better in brighter conditions.

Video quality is sharper across the frame because shooting at up to 4K uses a crop of the full sensor, and the moving image is much more forgiving.

Please note the footage below was shot in 4K, but our video player only plays in HD.

Video can be captured at up to 4K 100 FPS, 2.7K vertical up to 60 FPS and FHD up to 200 FPS. Video can be captured in the Normal color profile at 8-bit or 10-bit for straight out-of-camera footage.

if you’d like to capture more professional video that needs to be color graded, you can shoot in the 10-bit D-Log M color profile with a maximum bitrate of 130 Mbps. Log footage is generally not available with beginner drone models, so this is impressive.

DJI Lito X1: Price

The DJI Lito X1 comes in at a beginner-friendly price considering the impressive features and functionality on offer. At the time of writing, the drone is unavailable in the United States.

For UK residents, the X1 costs £369 for just the drone and a battery, which is ideal if you already own a compatible DJI controller. The DJI Lito X1 Fly More Combo (DJI RC-N3) costs £509, while the DJI Lito X1 Fly More Combo (DJI RC 2) costs £599. A DJI Lito X1 Fly More Combo Plus (DJI RC 2), which includes higher capacity batteries for longer flight times, costs £669.

The Fly More combos include three batteries, a charging hub, a carry case, and accessories, along with the drone and the relevant controller. For just an extra £90, the DJI RC 2 smart controller Fly More Combo is extremely attractive and offers a much more convenient experience than the DJI RC-N3 controller.

Should you buy the DJI Lito X1?

If you’re looking for a highly capable sub-250 g drone, but one that’s less expensive than the DJI mini 5 Pro, the DJI Lito X1 is one of the most impressive beginner drones we’ve ever tested.

Flight performance is excellent, while image quality for photo and video capture certainly won’t disappoint; capture photos in Raw and JPEG, while you can capture up to 4K 100 FPS video in Standard and D-Log M color profiles.

What makes this drone stand out from the competition, besides this, is the omnidirectional obstacle sensing and forward-facing LiDAR that make flights even safer.

This is a first for beginner drones and a most welcome pair of features that set a new bar for beginner drones. If you’re on a budget but would still like a drone with professional features and functionality, the Lito X1 is a fantastic option.

If this drone isn't for you

The DJI Neo 2 is a highly affordable selfie drone featuring autonomous flight modes and subject tracking. It can also be flown as a camera drone or an FPV drone when paired with different controllers.

The DJI Mini 5 Pro is the most advanced sub-250 g drone available with excellent features, functionality and image quality, making it ideal for professionals and enthusiasts alike.

If you’re on a tight budget and don’t need obstacle sensing, the Potensic Atom 2 is one of the best budget sub-250 g drones available. It shoots Raw and JPEG photos, alongside video up to 4K.

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It makes astrophotography — once a complex and expensive hobby — possible with a single, automated device, though what makes the Seestar S30 Pro particularly interesting is not just its simplicity, but how it changes the experience of observing. Instead of actively operating a telescope, users watch a digital image build in real time. Sure, your eyes don’t see the photons coming from distant galaxies, but that misses the point — urban astronomers can’t see much of those galaxies anyway when using an optical telescope.

Positioned as an upgrade to the original Seestar S30, it introduces higher-resolution 8.3MP imaging, equatorial tracking support and expanded imaging modes aimed at more advanced users.

Designed for beginners, urban astronomers and astrophotographers of any level who are looking for a portable rig, the Seestar S30 Pro is about convenience, capability and a different way to explore the night sky.

ZWO Seestar S30 Pro smart telescope review

ZWO Seestar S30 Pro: Design

• Lightweight design
• Dual-camera system
• Full smartphone control

At first glance, the Seestar S30 Pro barely resembles a telescope, being closer in size to a telephoto lens than a traditional optical instrument. That portability is one of its defining strengths — this is a telescope you can realistically take anywhere, whether into a backyard, onto a balcony or on a dark-sky trip. You could even take it as hand luggage on a trip to see a total solar eclipse in a distant land.

The design is deliberately minimal. Aside from a power button and USB-C slot, there are no physical controls. Everything — from slewing and focusing to image capture and processing — is handled through the Seestar app. Once connected to a phone via its own WiFi network, the system operates entirely offline, connecting directly to your phone without requiring an internet connection in the field.

A key feature of this new, improved model is its dual-camera system. The primary telephoto camera is dedicated to deep-sky imaging, using a Sony IMX585 sensor that’s capable of 8.3MP (4K) images, while the secondary wide-angle uses an equally capable Sony IMX586 sensor for sky alignment and wide-field imaging modes.

The included tabletop tripod is solid, if small, so users with backyards surrounded by buildings or trees will benefit from mounting the device on a full-size photographic tripod. It also comes with a handy, high-quality padded shoulder bag to store the telescope and all its accessories.

ZWO Seestar S30 Pro: Performance

• Automatic stacking with intelligent frame rejection
• EQ mode enables longer exposures
• Strong results under urban/suburban skies

Using the Seestar S30 Pro is less about operating equipment and more about using an app. After powering on and connecting via WiFi, the telescope automatically plate-solves the stars overhead, determines its position and slews to a selected target. Within minutes, it begins capturing short exposures — typically around 10 seconds — which are stacked in real time to reduce noise and improve detail. Crucially, the system automatically discards poor-quality frames caused by tracking errors, wind shake or star trailing.

The effect of the image stacking is gradual. As more data is collected, a faint patch of light slowly resolves into a nebula or distant galaxy. The longer the telescope runs, the clearer and more detailed the final image becomes, with nebulosity and spiral arms becoming visible. Stars remain sharp across the field of view — the Seestar S30 Pro’s optics may be small, but they are excellent quality. During our test, we produced some superb images of the Orion Nebula (M42), as well as Bode’s Galaxy (M81) and the Cigar Galaxy (M82), the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) and the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules (M13).

Stacking images is a hugely effective way to do observational astronomy under light-polluted urban skies. By stacking multiple exposures and applying built-in filters (there are three), the Seestar S30 Pro can reveal objects that would otherwise be invisible through the eyepiece of a traditional optical telescope.

The all-new equatorial (EQ) mode extends performance further, though aligning the telescope with Earth’s rotation requires purchasing the add-on Seestar TH10 Fluid Tripod Head. This is easy to set up, thanks to an in-app setup process that perfectly positions the tripod and ball head. With Expert Mode engaged, exposures of up to 60 seconds are possible. We tried it on two faint targets — the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) and the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules (M13) — and got much greater detail.

Planetary imaging is less impressive, with planets appearing small and lacking fine detail. That said, we did manage to image Jupiter and its moons. The telescope is clearly optimized for deep-sky imaging rather than solar system work — the exception being the moon, which looked fabulous through the Seestar S30 Pro.

ZWO Seestar S30 Pro: Functionality

• Intuitive smartphone app
• Automated imaging and Plan mode
• Built-in processing and FITS export

The Seestar app is central to the entire experience. It acts as both controller and processing platform, offering a planetarium-style sky atlas that displays objects visible from the user’s location. Selecting a target triggers automatic alignment, slewing and image capture. Once imaging begins, the app displays real-time progress, including exposure count and total integration time. Users can stop a session at any time or continue it for deeper results. The telescope can operate largely unattended, making it easy to leave running and check later.

If all of this is beginning to sound like the Seestar S30 Pro is ideal for lazy astronomers, it doesn’t end there. Cue the app’s Plan mode, which allows users to schedule multiple targets for imaging overnight. Orion Nebula not rising until 3 a.m.? No problem. Pre-sunrise comet? Stay in bed. Assuming you’ve checked for clear skies beforehand, the Seestar S30 Pro can observe while you sleep. However, Plan mode does come with limits: exposure time and gain cannot be fine-tuned per target, so users must rely on default settings. For most, that won’t deter.

For those interested in post-processing, the Seestar S30 Pro supports FITS file export, enabling images to be refined in external software such as Siril, PixInsight, DeepSkyStacker or Photoshop (though advanced users dealing in FITS files may find that the system’s 128GB internal storage needs frequent attention). Alternatively, the built-in Deep Sky Stack provides quick results with minimal effort, allowing frames to be discarded and the effective AI Denoise pipeline to be engaged — something that takes a little patience, but delivers excellent results.

How we tested the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro

Testing took place over multiple nights during late winter and early spring, under suburban Bortle 6 skies in cold but not freezing temperatures. It was also used in Bortle 2 skies in sub-zero temperatures, with no ill effects on the 6-hour battery life. The telescope was used to image a variety of deep-sky objects, with sessions ranging from short captures to integrations lasting several hours. Both standard alt-az mode and EQ mode were tested.

Should you buy the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro?

The Seestar S30 Pro is best understood not as a traditional telescope, but as an automated imaging system designed to make astrophotography accessible. It’s also an upgrade on the Seestar S30 that may or may not be worth the money, depending on your needs.

For beginners, it provides a clear pathway into astrophotography without the usual financial or technical barriers. For more advanced users, it’s an efficient grab-and-go system for casual or supplementary imaging.

If the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro isn't for you

If you’re looking for a more affordable entry point, the ZWO Seestar S30 offers similar ease of use, but with lower (2MP) resolution and fewer advanced features. For those who simply want basic, shareable images, it remains a strong alternative.

The DwarfLab Dwarf Mini is even smaller and more portable but it is limited to 2MP imaging. At the other end of the market, the Unistellar Odyssey is a premium smart telescope offering much larger apertures and access to citizen science campaigns, albeit at significantly higher prices.

For an overview of the top telescopes in this category, read our guide to the best smart telescopes.

I only managed to get out under one clear sky to test the new R6 III but it was a wonderful session at my usual dark hill spot surrounded by a sea of stars and celestial shapes. After setting up my tripod, I was ready to start shooting, armed with the Canon 14mm f/1.4 and 45mm f/1.2 lenses.

If you are a seasoned astrophotographer, you will undoubtedly have started your craft by learning how to manually focus on stars to get them crisp and sharp in the frame. Everyone does. Whilst the manual focus (MF) versus autofocus (AF) debate continues within the community, the technology for low-light autofocusing capability has come a long way since mirrorless cameras were first introduced and the R6 III is physical proof of that.

The astrophotography

You only get the luxury of being able to do this if your camera is actually good at autofocusing in low light and for starry nightscapes. All three versions of the Canon EOS R6 feature a low-light autofocus range of -6.5 exposure value (EV), so they already have a strong baseline for shooting under dark skies. The Canon EOS R6 III features a higher resolution and advanced autofocus algorithms, so the AF system actually has more data to use and is better at using it.

I was able to capture bright objects easily and start shooting without having to spend ages using manual focus for each new shot. The autofocus was powerful enough to capture at least one star in each of my frames. I simply used autofocus on the brighter points of light in my composition, waited for the green box and then switched to manual to avoid any refocusing if I decided to recompose the shot.

Bright objects were the easiest to capture, with Jupiter, Pollux and Castor easily captured in the western sky. Light pollution washed out the contrast in this shot but it was the quickest autofocus because of the brightness of the objects.

The autofocus helped me capture a range of other constellations too. With the R6 III focusing on the bright star Arcturus, along with the rest of Boötes and Coma Berenices next to the Coma Star Cluster (Melotte 111).

The shape of Leo is recognisable and the autofocus captured the brightest star, Regulus, to bring the rest of the stars in the constellation into focus. You can even spot the Beehive Cluster (M44) in Cancer, to the right of the frame and it is fairly sharp in focus. Barring some minor star trailing from my lack of a star tracker, the stars are nicely in focus, including on minor objects like star clusters.

Using the 45mm lens, I got some close-ups of some quadrilateral shapes in the sky. Hercules' prominent trapezoidal keystone is visible and one of the corners, Zeta Herculis, was picked up by the autofocus. It is not exactly a bright star, with a magnitude of 2.88, but the R6 III picked it up easily and brought the rest of the corners into focus. Whilst barely a smudge along one of the sides of Hercules, I even managed to capture the Hercules globular cluster (M13) with the R6 III and the Canon RF 45mm wide open at f/1.2.

The polygonal head of the dragon in Draco was easily captured in the centre of the frame, with bright stars Eltanin (2.23), Rastaban (2.79) and even Iota Herculis (3.8) showing prominently. The autofocus capabilities of the EOS R6 III are maximised when used alongside a lens with a very fast aperture like f/1.4 and f/1.2. Without these types of lenses, you would be much less likely to be able to autofocus on such dim stars.

The upgrades

The big question when looking at the third iteration of a camera model is to figure out if the upgrades are actually worth it. First, you have to think about your budget and also what you are using the camera for. For astrophotography, there are a few upgrades in the EOS R6 III that can be considered to see whether they are worth it.

The most noticeable upgrade on the R6 III is the resolution, which has been upgraded from the R6 II's 24.2MP sensor to a 32.5 MP sensor. On top of improved resolution for general and astrophotography, the boosted number of pixels allows the Dual Pixel CMOS AF II to collect even more data points because there are more pixels. Dual Pixel architecture splits each pixel into two separate photodiodes and allows each photodiode to read the light from the star at two different positions and allows the lens motor to bring those points together into perfect focus.

The upgraded sensor resolution combined with upgraded tracking algorithms from the flagship Canon EOS R5 II make the R6 III better at locking onto low-light points and make autofocus for astrophotography much more reliable than in previous models.

I initially expected the higher resolution to translate into more image noise on photographs but this was not the case. The R6 III utilizes dual-gate gain architecture, which means that every pixel has a switchable path at the hardware level depending on the ISO level used and allows images with higher ISOs to have a heavily reduced base amount of noise and thus makes them less grainy.

Photos at lower ISOs on the R6 III have an incredibly high dynamic range (HDR) thanks to the low conversion gate (LCG) circuit. This allows the natural color of the stars to be preserved instead of coming across as indeterminate white blobs, as well as the subtle hues of the dark surrounding sky in the photograph.

Aside from the technical aspects of how the resolution improves the autofocus, the detail in images from the R6 III is noticeable and is great for picking up finer stellar structures such as star clusters and smaller stars. When paired with a distorted lens like the Canon RF 7-14mm f/2.8-3.5 fisheye lens, extra resolution really helps details pop. I didn't get to use the fisheye lens for astro but general daytime shooting delivered some high-quality photographs.

The final important upgrade on the R6 III is the inclusion of a CFexpress card slot, which allows faster writing and reading speeds both in camera and during media downloads. A UHS-II SD card has an average read speed of 300MB/s and an average write speed of 260MB/s.

This may seem fast but the most advanced CFexpress cards have a read and write speed of over 3000MB/s, which makes huge workloads so much easier to process. This may only be of benefit to professional photographers who shoot a lot of video or need to do a huge amount of burst photography in RAW format, but it does vastly improve the performance of this camera. Bear in mind that CFexpress cards are much more expensive than SD cards and require an additional CFexpress reader to transfer data to a computer.

Is it worth it?

The price difference between the R6 Mark II and the Mark III is just under $1000 and for that amount of money, justifying the move up to the latest model comes down to a few factors that you will have to consider. The power of the low-light autofocus is tempting but you should think about the camera as a whole to see whether it is worth making the investment.

If you are looking to boost resolution in your night-time scenes and have been shooting astrophotography for a long time, the R6 III could be worth the extra investment thanks to the 32.5MP sensor, which retains the powerful dual-gain architecture for getting high dynamic range images at lower ISOs and delivering high ISO images with significantly less grain.

If you have a heavy workflow, you are likely to be frustrated with the lack of a CFexpress card slot on the earlier R6 models and would benefit from the advanced functionality the new slot will give you, especially if you shoot a lot of RAW imagery and video.

Stick with an earlier model or a different mirrorless camera if you are a very casual astrophotographer who does most of your shooting in the daytime. I just can't justify the massive jump in price for basic shooting, where a beginner or intermediate photographer's money might be better spent on getting a fast f/1.4 lens for superior astro. I used the Canon RF 14mm f/1.4 lens for astrophotography testing and I don't think the images would have looked half as good if I had used a lens with a smaller aperture. If you already own the R6 II, the only reason you might upgrade is if you need to do more heavy cropping into your images or need better hybrid video functionality from a camera.

That's not to say the telescope is for everyone. Priced at $4,299 (£3,211 GBP), the Celestron Origin Mark II has somewhat of a steep barrier to entry that might turn some beginners off who aren't sure if they want to get serious about an astrophotography hobby. The Celestron Origin Mark II also isn't going to before most users; the Origin series excels at taking crisp images of deep sky objects but isn't going to be your go-to for viewing the moon or the planets of the solar system.

But if you can swing the price tag and are looking for a no-frills, all-in-one astrophotography solution that's ready to use within minutes of unboxing, the Origin Mark II might be what you're looking for. It's a bit larger, heavier and more expensive than some of the smart telescopes we've reviewed, but it offers the image and optics quality you'd expect from a trusted brand like Celestron.

Like many smart telescopes on the market today, the Origin Mark II does not feature an eyepiece. All of the images you'll capture will be sent straight to a smartphone or tablet, making this less of a true telescope experience and more of a photographic rig.

Celestron Origin Mark II review

Celestron Origin Mark II: Design

• Looks more like a standard telescope than some smart observatories
• Easy, fast set up
• Larger and heavier than some smart telescope models

The Origin Mark II is loaded with user-friendly features. The motorized mount has a perfectly placed handle to help users move the telescope around once set up, and its tripod is incredibly sturdy. Just note that the entire unit weighs 41.6 lb (18.6 kg) when assembled; this isn't a telescope you'll want to carry around and move from location to location once it's put together.

Celestron makes several carrying bags for tripods and a padded carrying bag for the Origin optical tube, but we did not try one during this review. We previously reviewed the Celestron Origin Mk I that included a carrying bag, and found the bag very comfortable to carry and well-padded for keeping your investment safe.

The mount also has a red LED that shines down onto a tray with a rail, making this area handy for holding filters or other accessories temporarily while you swap them out. The mount also features a bubble level to help users accurately level the unit during setup. We found this feature especially useful when using the Origin Mk II in mountainous outdoor terrain. The tripod also includes extendable spikes to help it balance on loose or uneven surfaces.

Aesthetically, the Origin Mk II looks nearly identical to its predecessor the Mark I with classic Celestron styling. The white optical tube, which separates from the mount for storage and carrying, resembles many of the traditional tubes in Celestron's long history.

Note that the Origin series makes a good deal of noise when it's powered on and slewing between targets. There are cooling fans inside the optical tube that run while in operation, but they aren't loud enough to be heard from more than a few feet away. The mount's motors, meanwhile, could be heard from inside our house while we were testing the unit in our driveway. It's not a dealbreaker by any means, but just be aware that if you bring this to a star party with other skywatchers, the noise could be an issue in some settings.

The Origin Mark II is controlled entirely through Celestron's Origin app. We tested the app on an iOS device and found it fast and well-organized into just a few menus. Users who are used to using an stargazing app will find the Origin app easy to navigate; simply look through the "Tonight" menu for a list of objects that will be visible for your location and select one to have Origin slew towards it automatically.

From there, its as easy as pressing the Camera icon to get the Origin Mark II to start capturing images in seconds. Origin Mark II will focus automatically, although there are options for manual focus and exposure if users feel confident adjusting settings on their own.

The app will automatically stack and align the images it takes, removing (or at least reducing) the need for post-processing images in other software. In our review, we used the Origin Mark II's automatic settings, and found our images to be clear and detailed without the need for manual adjustment of settings.

However, the Origin Mark II also features a "Snapshot" mode that allows users to take single-image captures of objects such as the moon. We found the Origin Mark II to be well-suited for taking highly detailed images of the lunar surface.

While the manual controls are easy to use, dialing in the exact focuser position can be tricky at first due to the lag between making an adjustment on the app and the telescope responding to it. The focuser controls are a simple 'up' or 'down' button, with a set amount of adjustment and no fine-tuning option.

Celestron Origin Mark II: Performance

• Deep sky objects are bright and detailed
• Locates and tracks objects effortlessly
• No need for stacking or processing images

We tested the Origin Mark II under moderately dark skies (Bortle 4.0), with some urban light pollution nearby. The Origin Mark II we tested came with a nebula filter, which was able to filter out some of the light pollution and offer crisp views of galaxies such as Bode's Galaxy and the Whirlpool Galaxy.

We had a little trouble getting our iOS device to connect to the Origin Mark II's Wi-Fi network; this happened a few times during our review of the Mark I as well. Still, with a little patience, we were able to connect to the scope and begin selecting objects in the app within a few minutes.

Stars appear as bright pinpoints in the images without any color fringes or starburst patterns, and there was virtually no noise in the images.

Intermittent clouds overhead during our review prevented us from taking hours-long exposures of these objects, but even exposures of just 5-10 minutes brought out the shapes and details of deep sky objects in crisp detail.

Celestron Origin Mark II: Functionality

• Very limited controls make for an effortless experience
• Celestron's Origin app is a pleasure to use
• Selecting deep space objects each night is quick and easy

The Origin Mark II and Celestron's Origin app make astrophotography an effortless experience. Once the telescope is paired to your device, the app offers easy-to-navigate menus to choose objects either from a virtual planetarium view or from a list of objects that are visible on a given night.

From there, tapping on any object will offer users a "Center Object" option which will slew the Origin directly to it. Taking an image is then as easy as tapping on the camera icon, and the Origin Mark II will do the rest.

Should you buy the Celestron Origin Mark II?

The Celestron Origin Mark II puts deep space objects right at your fingertips. Within minutes, users can take highly detailed photos even in light-polluted areas. It's a great rig for beginners because it removes the need for multiple pieces of equipment or dedicated software to handle post-processing and stacking of images.

If you're looking for a beginner-friendly all-in-one astrophotography telescope that and the $4,299 (£3,211 GBP) price tag is within your budget, the Origin Mark II might just be what you're looking for. Within minutes of taking it out of the box and installing the app, you'll be able to take your own images of galaxies, nebulas and other deep sky objects.

Maybe I'm just a traditionalist, but without an eyepiece, the Celestron Origin Mark II feels more like an astrophotography rig than it does a telescope; Celestron does call it a "home observatory," after all.

Nevertheless, the Celestron Origin Mark II is one of the easiest-to-use pieces of photographic equipment I've used and would be an absolute joy for someone looking to do beginner-friendly astrophotography at home.

If the Celestron Origin isn't for you

Want to stick with a smart telescope but want something a bit cheaper? We actually think you couldn't do much better than the Vaonis Vespera Pro II. It's astoundingly detailed, smaller and lighter than the Origin and costs less, too.

There's a lot to love about this fully-featured intelligent "home observatory," but we understand that full automation and limited customization aren't for everyone. If you want something more traditional, we'd recommend either the Celestron NexStar 8SE which is a powerful catadioptric with a wide scope for additional high-end eyepieces and other accessories, or if you have an even larger budget, go for the even better Celestron Advanced VX 8 EdgeHD which we gave 5/5 stars in our review.

The 16x magnification gets you a lot closer to the night sky and offers eye-popping detail when compared to lower magnifications, but there is a trade-off. You have to pay attention to eye alignment during observation, thanks to the smaller exit pupil, and during the initial set-up, it can take a while to find the right angle for clear views because of a smaller exit pupil.

Add to this the need for super steady hands when observing overhead and you might think these binoculars aren't worth it, but for astronomy buffs and binocular pros, you would be hard-pressed to find this level of optical quality cheaper than the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of $170.

Nikon Action 16x50 binoculars

Nikon Action 16x50 binoculars: Design

• Only 16 oz heavier than the 7x50 model
• Rubberized outer shell is good for grip
• Small exit pupil initially tricky to use due to the angle required for a good image disk

The Nikon Action 16x50 binoculars are 0.3-inches shorter in length than the Nikon Action 7x50s, but the design is practically identical. They are 16 oz heavier than the 7x50s, weighing 2.07 lbs (940g), but honestly, when we held them in either hand simultaneously, it was hard to notice the difference.

The Porro prism design has a wide grip surface and when combined with the rubber shell, makes these binoculars easy to hold while out stargazing or when looking at the moon. While they are good for handling, we found the 16x50s quite tricky to use during observation due to a combination of the twist-up eyecup height, the 56-72mm interpupillary distance (the distance between the eyepieces) and the small exit pupil of 3.1mm. We had to experiment with eyecup placement, adjust the interpupillary distance and angle our eyes to get a whole image circle during observation.

These binoculars take a bit of getting used to for stargazing. There are other binoculars like the Nikon Action 7x50 or the Celestron Trailseeker 8x42 that are more grab-and-go. That said, most high magnification binoculars will need some level of getting used to due to emphasized hand shake and a smaller exit pupil.

However, the payoff is worth it in the end, with the Porro prism design and large 50mm objective lens diameter working to produce a bright 3D image of your chosen subject — although, from experience, you will probably have to angle them precisely against your eye socket.

We tested these binoculars alongside the 7x50, 10x50 and 10-22x50 models and in our opinion, the lower magnification options are better for learning the layout of the night sky and locating certain target objects via star hopping. The 16x50s, however, are great for grabbing a close-up and more detailed view of a target when you have found it, and for those with more experience, you may want to opt straight for the 16x in the first instance.

Nikon Action 16x50 binoculars: Performance

• Dazzling views of Orion's belt and the half moon
• Views were shaky when used handheld
• Eye placement matters to produce a full image circle

When you observe using binoculars with higher magnifications, the exit pupil tends to be smaller than that on those with lower magnifications.

For example, for ranges of binoculars that have a consistent 50mm objective lens across their magnification range (e.g., 7x, 10x, 15x), the higher the magnification, the smaller the exit pupil. A smaller exit pupil means that there is less wiggle room for eye placement during observation to achieve a full image circle. If comparing Nikon's Action binocular line models, the 7x50s' huge 7.1mm exit pupil is over twice as large as the 16x50's 3.1mm exit pupil. This initially makes them less satisfying to use, but they bring you so much closer to your target than the 7x magnification can that we believe this period of adaptation ultimately delivers better observations of individual targets.

We used these binoculars handheld and managed to get great views of a range of night sky objects. The stars Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, which make up Orion's belt, were a spectacle to behold in these binoculars. The three stars spanned the entire image circle from left to right and shone a wonderful blue color in a moonlight-free sky. Just below Orion's belt, we found the Orion nebula (M42) in Orion's sword. We managed to make out some gaseous structure with these binoculars and used averted vision to get a better look at two bright points within the nebula, Theta-1 Orionis and Theta-2 Orionis.

Averted vision is a stargazing technique where you look slightly away from a faint object to make it appear brighter and more detailed. This is because the periphery of your eye is much more sensitive to low-light. Thanks to the higher magnification, using this technique to see the Orion nebula was much more rewarding than lower magnification optics.

Observing Jupiter was easy enough and when used in a steady position, we were able to see the line of Galilean moons alongside the marble of Jupiter. This was not without difficulty, though, as aiming these binoculars upwards without support from a tripod meant that views were shaky. The same can be said for observing the Beehive cluster (M44): although the magnification meant much more detail should be visible through the 16x rather than the 7x or 10x models in this range, views were actually slightly less detailed due to hand shake.

During observation of the moon, when centered in view, the moon was free of chromatic aberration but gained some blue color fringing when moved to the edge of the image. Apart from this, though, we noticed no significant optical distortions or aberrations in real-world use.

With practice, you can get a relatively stable view with these binoculars only using your hands, but the magnification is likely too high for beginners. We would definitely recommend a binocular tripod if you are worried about this or want to share this viewing experience with others. Getting a steady view can be tricky but the payoff is worth it, as we learned when observing a waxing half moon and seeing the lunar craters cast in striking light and shadow by the terminator.

Nikon Action 16x50 binoculars: Functionality

• Tripod adaptable
• 13mm eye-relief
• Tricky eyecup placement

Unless you have incredibly steady hands, you will definitely get more out of these binoculars when using them with a tripod, especially when targets are high overhead. A tripod will also make it a much easier viewing experience if you are having a group stargazing session with friends and family. We would recommend the budget-friendly Manfrotto Element II tripod for an excellent, lightweight and stable option. You will also need to connect your binoculars to your tripod with an adapter, like the Nikon 7650 binocular tripod adapter (sold separately). The Nikon logo in between the barrels unscrews to fit this adapter into place.

As previously mentioned, we struggled with initial observation due to the small exit pupil, eyecups and interpupillary distance. I don't wear eyeglasses and would normally use eyecups at the fully extended position but found that this produced a slightly split image disk when observing. The second-lowest eyecup height adjustment out of four, and a slightly angled placement on my eyesockets, produced a much larger and connected image disk/circle.

These binoculars can be a bit off-putting at first, as it takes a bit of personal experimentation to find the perfect set-up for you. That said, there are four levels of preset eye-relief up to a total of 13mm, which means it is possible to get a good view with them, albeit a bit tricky. During overhead observations, the eyecups can dig in after extended sessions. This extra point of contact can actually help stabilize the binoculars, but it is something to be aware of comfort-wise.

The eyecup covers remain fixed during transport in their soft carry case but the lens caps can fall off easily, which is annoying when trying to keep them as clean as possible during transport. The neck strap is underwhelming: it does the job, but we would recommend a more heavily padded strap if you wanted to use them for longer periods of time. This Nikon Neoprene strap for binoculars is only $25.

Unfortunately, these binoculars lack any kind of water resistance, so while they might be okay in light rain, I wouldn't use them in anything heavier than that. They also lack nitrogen purging, which means they will fog up when moving between environments with differing temperatures and humidity.

How we tested the Nikon Action 16x50 binoculars

We tested the Nikon Action 16x50 binoculars in a city park during the day and at night. For stargazing, we tested them in a city park with a Bortle scale between 5 and 7. Our primary observation targets were Orion's belt, Jupiter, the waxing half moon and the Beehive Cluster in the constellation of Cancer. For terrestrial viewing, we used them during the day in parks for observing wildlife.

During testing in the UK, nighttime temperatures were on average between 46 and 54 degrees Fahrenheit (8-12 degrees Celsius). Seeing conditions were clear and for non-lunar viewing, the skies had minimal or no moonlight.

User reviews

The user reviews for the Nikon Action 16x50 binoculars are limited as they were only announced in February 2026. From our testing, we think they are a good pair of close-up binoculars for observing more details on night sky objects. Users should bear in mind that these binoculars may need some time to get used to the smaller exit pupil which needs precise eye alignment for the best views.

Should you buy the Nikon Action 16x50 binoculars?

If you are a binocular astronomer who wants to start seeing more detail from the night sky, then these binoculars offer a budget-friendly option to do just that. For those who are already familiar with using binoculars and have owned other pairs in the past, this could be a great high-magnification addition to the collection. You are also getting some top-of-the-line Nikon optics for the manufacturer's suggested retail price of $170.

Where a low magnification option is good for learning the wide-field geography of the night sky, higher magnification binoculars are great for getting a closer look at regions or objects with more details, such as nebulas, small asterisms and the lunar surface.

If the Nikon Action 16x50 binoculars aren't for you

If the Nikon Action 16x50 binoculars aren't for you, one of the other models in the new range might suit you. The Nikon Action 7x50s are great for learning constellations in the night sky and locating objects, thanks to their wide field of view. The Nikon Action 10x50s are a good bet if you want a pair that is good for casual stargazing and wildlife observation. For more control over the magnification level, the new Nikon Action 10-22x50 zoom binoculars offer flexibility depending on what you are looking at.

If you have the budget and want some of the sharpest handheld views of the night sky, we would strongly recommend the Fujifilm Techno-Stabi TS-L 1640 binoculars, which offer the same magnification level and some of the strongest image-stabilization (IS) available. They have smaller objective lenses but the IS makes up for this and gives you a shake-free view that immediately makes details visible.

I tested four models from the Action range, including the 7x50, 10x50, 16x50 and 10-22x50 zoom binoculars. The new models are not waterproof but are made from an aluminum alloy, which helps them strike a great middle ground between the Aculon and Action Extreme ranges. I tried them all for stargazing and found the 7x50 to be a great pair for beginners due to its low magnification and wide field of view, making it easier to star-hop and familiarize yourself with constellations.

Nikon Action 7x50 binoculars

Nikon Action 7x50 binoculars: Design

• BaK-4 Porro prisms
• Sturdy aluminum body
• Large focusing knob

The body of the Action 7x50 binoculars feels incredibly sturdy while also delivering on a weight of just over 2 lbs (935 g). They look big and heavy, but thanks to the aluminum alloy material used for the chassis, they are stronger than the plastic build of the Nikon Aculon binoculars and lighter than the Nikon Action Extreme binoculars. This is a huge plus for practical astronomy, as it will reduce fatigue when spending long sessions looking at constellations.

The 7x magnification and 50mm objective lenses make them perfect for beginner astronomy and a great first pair. 50mm objective lenses are a good size for letting in lots of starlight, so you get a bright view of the objects you are looking at.

Low 7x magnification is great for astronomy beginners for two reasons. First, it gives you a chance to practice keeping your hands steady, as small magnifications mean that hand tremors are amplified less while aiming at the sky. Second, the wider field of view makes it easier to hop between stars in a constellation, because you can keep them in view while identifying and moving between them.

The Porro prism design provides better internal light reflection without any coatings, which helps provide an image with strong light transmission. This simple prism design means that production costs are kept low while still providing a good image for the user. BaK-4 glass has a higher refractive index and produces a rounder exit pupil than BaK-7 glass, meaning better light transmission and edge-to-edge sharpness.

Nikon Action 7x50 binoculars: Performance

• A wide field of view (FOV) is good for locating objects
• Perfect for seeing constellation structure thanks to the wide FOV
• A massive exit pupil means eye alignment is easy

These binoculars are great for navigating the night sky and while they are perfect for beginners, they would also sit well in an experienced stargazer's gear bag.

They excel in wide-field constellation observation and I used them to practice star hopping around the Big Dipper asterism, starting at Alkaid on the tail, to the double stars of Mizar and Alcor, then on to the stars of the bowl. I did the same with the Orion constellation and although I couldn't make out the Orion Nebula (M42) in much detail, the lower magnification meant I could observe the surrounding stars of Orion more easily. I used them to star-hop from Castor to Pollux in Gemini and then moved diagonally to find the Beehive Cluster (M44) located within the triangle of Cancer. This took a few goes — it was easier with these binoculars as they have a wide field of view, but they did lack the more contrasted images of the cluster I got with the higher magnification models.

I also tested the Nikon Action 10x50 model alongside them, which would be more suitable for someone with astronomy experience who wants more magnified views of night sky objects, or some binoculars for more versatile daytime use, like bird-spotting. Optical performance was practically identical to the 7x50 model except for the increase in magnification. During testing, they offered a closer view of the Orion Nebula (M42), appearing more smudge-like and showing gaseous structure.

One huge benefit of these binoculars is the huge 7.1mm exit pupil. Unlike models with higher magnifications and smaller exit pupils, you don’t have to align your eyes with the eyecups perfectly to achieve a good view. While a larger exit pupil can make the background sky seem brighter, due to the exit pupil delivering sky glow from light pollution to your dilated pupils, the 7x50s offered an immersive night sky experience even when observing in a city park. All of this with a pretty sharp edge-to-edge view with minimal distortion. Obviously, if you took these to a dark sky site, the objects would be much more contrasted against the night sky thanks to a lower level of light pollution.

When I observed Jupiter, I was able to see the very faint line of the most easily observable Galilean moons but couldn't resolve the individual moons at this magnification. For planetary observing, I would definitely recommend a pair with at least 15x magnification and using a tripod to steady the views. Alternatively, you could opt for a binocular with image stabilization if using a tripod isn't possible or is deemed inconvenient.

Nikon Action 7x50 binoculars: Functionality

• Long eye-relief
• Hard eyecups can dig in
• Tripod adaptable

The binoculars' aluminum chassis is covered in a rubberized coating, which helps when handling them because they grip better. This model is not waterproof and isn't even explicitly stated as water-resistant. I think they would be fine in light rain but I wouldn't use them in anything heavier than that.

Eyeglasses wearers will be pleased with almost 20mm of eye relief provided by the hard plastic eyecups, which can be stopped at four different preset heights.

I don't wear eyeglasses, so while using these binoculars at the maximum eye relief and repeatedly aiming them upward, I felt like they were digging into my eye sockets. On the plus side, this does create another point of contact to prevent shake, but it's definitely something to be aware of if you want to use these during extended sessions.

The Nikon logo in between the prisms unscrews to reveal a tripod mount, which is quite standard for many binoculars. This would be useful during longer sessions, when observing with a child who might get tired hands easily, or for those with grip strength issues or arm tremors.

The binoculars come with a thin neck strap, which is OK for casual use, but I would recommend something more padded if you want to carry these around for extended periods. The rubber eyecup cover stays fixed for protection during travel or when not in use.

The objective lens caps, however, come off easily and could easily get lost if not attached to the neck strap. I also found they can come off when getting the binoculars out of the carry case, which wasn't a big worry, but might be risky if using them in dusty or sandy conditions, where you would want the lens caps on at all times except for direct observation.

How I tested the Nikon Action 7x50 binoculars

I tested the Nikon Action 7x50 binoculars in the city both during the day and at night. For stargazing, I tested them in a city park with a Bortle scale between 5 and 7. Our primary observation targets were the constellation Orion, Orion's Belt, the Big Dipper, Jupiter and the Beehive Cluster in the constellation of Cancer. For terrestrial viewing, I used them during the day in parks for looking at small birds and squirrels.

During testing in the U.K., nighttime temperatures were on average between 46 and 54 degrees Fahrenheit (8-12 degrees Celsius).

User reviews

The Nikon Action 7x50 binoculars were announced in February 2026 and released in March 2026, so user reviews are still trickling in for this new model. Based on our testing, they are a great beginner pair of binoculars for astronomy and I think they are a great budget entry into the world of binoculars.

Should you buy the Nikon Action 7x50 binoculars?

If you are a beginner to binoculars or stargazing, then I would highly recommend the Nikon Action 7x50 binoculars. Their low magnification means you get a wider field of view when using them, making it easier to star hop along constellations and locate night sky objects. They are a perfect tool for learning the celestial sphere of the night sky.

They sit at a price point of around $140, so while they are not the cheapest, they are relatively cheap for their class of binoculars. You are also getting high-quality optics from Nikon, with BaK-4 porro prisms that have strong light transmission with an approximate refractive index of 1.568-1.569

If the Nikon Action 7x50 binoculars aren't for you

If the Nikon Action 7x50 binoculars are not for you, then you may want to try the other magnifications in their newly released Action range. I have tried the 10x50, 16x50 and 10-22x50 zoom models, the latter of which gives versatility in magnification.

If you are after pure deep sky observation, I would recommend the Celestron 25x100 binoculars, which need a tripod but have massive objective lenses for letting in plenty of light from dim nebulas and galaxies.

To take your stargazing experience to the next level, try a pair of image-stabilized binoculars. Our best overall pair is the Canon 10x42 L IS WP, which offers supreme control while scanning the skies and shake-free views at a 10x magnification.

We all know that prime lenses are the best option for capturing the night sky, and depending on how you’re composing your shots, 50mm, 35mm, 20mm and wider options are available for full-frame cameras.

If you want to cover all bases, a selection of primes is essential. 50mm is a useful focal length when capturing foreground objects to create strong shapes, and the Viltrox AF 50mm f/1.4 Pro FE is a cost-effective nifty fifty for Sony shooters.

Pair this lens up with one of the best Sony cameras, and you could potentially have a great budget yet professional combination for less wide-angle astrophotography.

Sure, it’s not as premium as the Sony FE 50mm f/1.4 GM, but the Sony lens costs a whopping, almost, three times as much as the Viltrox lens, but there’s no way it’s three times as good. In fact, the Viltrox 50mm is an impressive lens, whichever subjects you’re shooting.

This lens costs a highly reasonable $549 / £525, which is a fantastic price for a 50mm f/1.4. It’s not the least expensive option, and you could save more by opting for a 50mm f/1.8 lens, but when you factor in the great build and the impressive image quality of the Viltrox, it is definitely worth considering.

The Viltrox 50mm f/1.4 is part of Viltrox’s Pro range, which sits just below the flagship LAB range, which includes the impressive Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.2 LAB FE.

Viltrox AF 50mm f/1.4 Pro FE lens review

Viltrox AF 50mm f/1.4 Pro FE: Design

• Solid build quality
• Manual aperture ring
• Wide metal focusing ring

Viltrox lenses have a handful of things in common: excellent build quality and being surprisingly heavy are a couple of these. The lens itself isn’t huge and comes in at roughly the size of most 50mm f/1.4 lenses at 3.33 x 4.37-in / 84.5 x 111mm, but it weighs a colossal 28 oz / 800 g.

To be fair, it balances well with Sony full-frame cameras but is considerably heavier than the Sony FE 50mm f/1.4 GM, which weighs in at a more moderate 18.2 oz / 516 g.

The Viltrox does, however, sport an all-metal and weather-sealed construction, which includes the comfortably wide metal manual focusing ring; something you’d no doubt get plenty of use out of when shooting the night sky.

Then there’s the metal manual aperture ring that can be set to clicked or clickless operation, an AF/MF switch and a programmable Fn button. Weather sealing is great for cold nights out, but that hefty weight isn’t ideal if you have to trek to locations with a variety of lenses in your kit bag.

The lens is made up of 15 elements in 11 groups. This includes one ultra-precision aspherical element, three extra-low dispersion (ED) elements and eight high refractive elements. The front element also features a water and stain-resistant coating, which is useful when working in dark and sometimes cold and damp conditions.

The aperture is made up of 11 diaphragm blades, which produce a pleasing bokeh effect (background blur). The minimum focusing distance is 17.7-in / 45 cm, and the filter thread size is 77mm.

While there aren’t a huge number of filters available for astrophotography, the 77mm filter thread is a standard size if you happen to use color correction filters to remove the orange glow of artificial lighting, or star filters to add a glow to stars. These types of filters are available in both the circular screw-in type and square filters.

Viltrox AF 50mm f/1.4 Pro FE: Performance

• Fantastic image quality
• Vignetting wide open
• The sweet spot is f/8

The Viltrox AF 50mm f/1.4 Pro FE is a fantastic lens, following what you’d expect from a fast prime lens in terms of sharpness, distortion and overall image quality.

For astrophotography, it’s what happens as the wider end of the aperture range that’s most important, which we’ll cover, but it’s also important to look at the lens in a wider context to give the fairest and, indeed, strongest assessment possible.

The 50mm f/1.4 produces reasonable sharpness at f/1.4, although the corners don’t exhibit a great deal of fall-off. Central and corner sharpness improve incrementally as you stop down the aperture, with f/8 being both the sweet spot of the lens and the setting where image quality takes a leap in a positive direction.

Despite this, shooting between f/1.4 and f/2.8 for astrophotography produces excellent results. Like all fast aperture prime lenses, there’s vignetting wide open, which is f/1.4 for this lens. This reduced slightly at f/2.8 and was gone at f/4.

At the time of writing, there wasn’t a lens profile available in Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw, so lens corrections, except for chromatic aberration removal, had to be applied manually. The images presented in the review have not had any lens corrections applied, so you can see what the lens is capable of.

During testing, a shot was taken of Christmas lights with trees behind at f/1.4, and there was only the tiniest amount of fringing/chromatic aberration visible. This was easily removed using the "Remove Chromatic Aberration" option in the Lens Corrections tab in Adobe Lightroom.

Viltrox AF 50mm f/1.4 Pro FE: Functionality

• No Optical Image Stabilization (OIS)
• Fast and silent autofocus
• USB-C port for updates

Just like other prime lenses, there’s not a huge amount to shout about with the Viltrox 50mm f/1.4. This is typically the case because prime lenses traditionally trade on their, hopefully, excellent image quality and fast maximum apertures, with a handful of other features thrown in for good measure, such as manual aperture rings.

Manual focus with the lens is extremely comfortable thanks to the wide focus ring with smooth resistance, while its width makes it easy to use in low light and when wearing gloves. The same goes for the aperture ring, which features click and clickless operation via a switch. The downside of the all-metal construction, however, is that it will get cold when shooting in winter, so gloves will be a necessity.

Moving on to autofocus (AF), which isn’t relevant but remains important to mention, especially if you plan to use the lens for capturing other subjects, is that the AF is fast and silent. AF is powered by Dual Viltrox HyperVCM motors, so half the amount of the Viltrox 35mm LAB lens, but the 50mm managed to lock onto subjects positively during testing. Focusing is also internal, so the front element doesn’t rotate whether focusing manually or with AF.

One feature that’s handy for keeping the lens up to date is the USB-C port on the lens mount. This allows the lens to be powered by a computer, for example and switches on Bluetooth so you can connect the lens to the Viltrox Lens app. Alternatively, you can attach it to a computer via USB-C for firmware updates and use the desktop app instead.

Viltrox AF 50mm f/1.4 Pro FE: Price

At $549 / £525, the Viltrox AF 50mm f/1.4 Pro FE is an absolute bargain for a pro-spec lens. It may be tier two of the Viltrox line-up with Pro lenses sitting below the LAB series, but just like the flagship lenses, you get the lens, a lens hood, front and rear lens caps and a soft lens case in the box.

To give some context on how well-priced this lens is, the Sony FE 50mm f/1.4 GM costs $1448 / £1399, so it’s almost three times the price. The Sony GM is a fantastic lens, but it’s considerably more expensive — you could buy two Viltrox prime lenses for the same amount.

Viltrox AF 50mm f/1.4 Pro FE: User reviews

Online reviews suggest that users are extremely happy with the build quality and image quality, but often mention the weight of the lens. Some reviews mention slow autofocus, but this was apparently remedied with a firmware update. The firmware of the lens was updated before our review.

How we tested the Viltrox AF 50mm f/1.4 Pro FE

The Viltrox AF 50mm f/1.4 Pro FE was tested in combination with the Sony A7R V, which offers an unforgivingly high resolution. The lens was tested at night with a focus on astrophotography, and in daylight to assess sharpness, distortion and general functionality for an all-round approach to testing.

Should you buy the Viltrox AF 50mm f/1.4 Pro FE?

If you’re in the market for a fast 50mm prime lens, the Viltrox AF 50mm f/1.4 Pro FE is a fantastic option well worth considering. The maximum f/1.4 aperture is ideal for astrophotography, and the excellent image quality produced makes it an ideal partner for the Sony A7R V and older R series models.

The focal length isn’t the most versatile for wide-angle astrophotography, but it is perfect when capturing silhouetted objects in the foreground to add context to shots.

Build quality is also excellent thanks to the all-metal design, which includes weather sealing and a water and smudge-repellent coating on the front element.

There’s no getting away from the fact that this is a heavy lens for what it is, but that could be a price worth paying for the overall cost and performance of the lens.

If this lens isn't for you

The Sony FE 50mm f/1.4 G Master is a premium standard prime lens delivering excellent sharpness alongside Sony’s solid GM build quality. It’s a fantastic lens, but it also costs a lot more than the Viltrox 50mm f/1.4.

The Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.2 LAB FE is part of Viltrox’s flagship lens series, offering an ultra-fast maximum aperture, excellent image quality and a slightly wider-angle focal length.

The Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G is a rare gem — one of those lenses that belies its price and series, offering exceptional image quality for a seriously affordable price. Many people say it’s better than the Sony 24mm f/1.4 GM.

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360-degree drones are a relatively new product category, and although DJI was pipped to the post by the Antigravity A1, the market leader has come back swinging with the launch of the DJI Avata 360. This is a drone that looks remarkably like the DJI Neo 2, but it’s a lot bigger and heavier, and its propeller guards enclose the propellers less.

With dual controller options available, including FPV, this could be one of both the best camera drones and the best FPV drones available. The ability to pair the Avata 360 with DJI FPV accessories means that you can capture even more immersive 360-degree video, where you’re flying through a building or weaving through and around trees in a forest. The DJI Avata 360 is currently waiting to be in stock at B+H, Amazon and other retailers.

It’s the ability to shoot first and reframe later that makes 360-degree drones an interesting and attractive option for pilots. What’s more, there’s a single lens shooting mode where you can take advantage of DJI’s impressive subject tracking.

The camera itself rotates at the front of the Avata 360 and features two 64MP 1/1.1-inch CMOS sensors with replaceable lenses. These can capture photos and video up to 8K 60FPS. Image quality is great for 360-degree capture, but it’s not as good as a standard camera drone — as is the case, to be fair, with most 360-degree cameras and drones.

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DJI Avata 360: Design

• Non-folding design
• Propeller guards
• Rotating gimbal

As previously mentioned, the Avata 360 looks a lot like the DJI Neo 2, except for the size and the fact that its propeller guards don’t fully enclose the propellers. It’s this cinewhoop FPV design that makes it ideal for flying through complex environments when using the DJI Motion Controller 3 and DJI Goggles N3 for FPV flight. It can also be flown like a camera drone when paired with a standard controller.

At 9.69 x 7.83 x 2.19 inches (246 x 199 x 55.5 mm), the Avata 360 is quite large for a drone with a cinewhoop-style design, and weighs in at 16.05 oz (455 g), putting it well above the 250 g threshold, so it's more restricted than smaller, lighter drones. Build quality is fantastic, as you’d expect for a DJI drone, while the set-up and operation of the drone are incredibly easy.

The camera sits at the front of the drone and cleverly rotates when the drone lands and takes off, keeping the lenses off the ground to avoid damage. The lens guards can be replaced if they do get damaged.

This is such a simple yet clever feature, and an improvement on the Antigravity A1’s mechanical legs that extend to keep the bottom camera off the ground. Image stabilization is software-based rather than relying on a mechanical gimbal.

The Avata 360 is compatible with multiple controllers, including the RC 2, RC-N2 and RC-N3. This means that if you already own a compatible controller, you could use that instead of buying a kit that includes either the DJI RC 2 smart controller or the DJI Motion Controller 3 and DJI Goggles N3.

Both of these were provided with the review kit, so it was possible to test the Avata 360 as both a camera drone and an FPV drone. The latter was both a lot of fun and provided the ability to capture more dynamic and immersive video footage. DJI's Motion controllers are incredibly intuitive and make FPV flight accessible to everyone.

DJI Avata 360: Functionality

• Subject tracking
• Collision avoidance
• 42GB of internal storage

The Avata 360 flies well using either standard controls or FPV goggles and a motion controller. Using a standard controller is much simpler and doesn’t require a spotter to keep an eye on the drone during flights, but pairing it up with FPV accessories is about as simple as it gets — compared to traditional FPV drones, anyway.

The drone features collision avoidance, which can be switched off but provides confidence when flying in complex environments. During testing, this was switched off when flying FPV in a forest to ensure smoother flight, although this naturally carries more risk.

Alongside collision avoidance, there’s also ActiveTrack, which has multiple modes that are selected automatically. Standard mode maintains a steady distance and altitude relative to the subject, while Cycling mode provides greater speed and faster turns to keep the subject in frame. Then there’s Intelligent Tracking, where you can lock onto and track subjects in the DJI Fly and DJI Studio apps.

The main difference between 360-degree drones and traditional camera drones is that you have to edit and reframe photos and videos before sharing them. You take the 360-degree image and essentially flatten it to a single, traditional view. Where things get interesting is that you can add camera movements using keyframes and make the drone appear to flip and roll.

DJI Studio is fairly easy to use, but it is also clunky, and there is a small learning curve. In all honesty, you will spend much more time using the DJI Fly and DJI Studio apps to reframe photos and videos than you’ll spend flying the drone; this is the main downside to using any 360-degree camera or drone, compared to standard cameras and drones.

Photos and videos can be saved to a microSD card or to the drone’s 42GB of internal storage. The internal storage is certainly useful because 8K 360-degree video requires a lot of storage, and this internal storage can supplement your microSD when necessary. However, with this in mind, somewhere in the region of 100GB of internal storage would have been preferable.

DJI Avata 360: Performance

• Dual cameras
• Up to 8K 60FPS video
• Photos and videos require editing

The Avata 360 creates its 360-degree image using two 64MP 1/1.1-inch CMOS sensors with ultra-wide-angle lenses. These have an f/1.9 aperture with focus from 1.5m to infinity.

You can set exposure manually, but leaving the camera set to Auto works extremely well when capturing 120MP photos and videos up to 8K at 60FPS. Shooting in Auto isn’t usually a good idea when capturing video, but with 360-degree drones, where you’re essentially capturing everything, it makes life so much easier. What’s more, you can’t use ND filters to control shutter speed anyway.

Image quality is what you’d expect from a 360-degree camera or drone, so no surprises here. It’s not as good as a standard camera drone, although the Avata 360 does have a single lens mode where you can capture 4K 60FPS video that doesn’t need to be reframed — just like a standard camera drone.

Once your 360-degree footage and photos have been transferred wirelessly from the drone, they need to be edited and reframed, either in DJI Studio on a computer or in the DJI Fly app. This is the main downside to 360-degree capture, but also its greatest advantage: Being able to add movement to videos, changing camera angle and adding effects while reframing photos, is both useful and creative.

Please note: Footage to come soon. It was shot in 8K, but our video player only plays in HD.

Video can be captured at up to 8K 60FPS in either the Normal color profile for straight out of camera footage, after reframing, or in the 10-bit D-Log M flat color profile. This color profile requires color grading and provides much greater image quality and flexibility within an advanced and/or professional workflow.

DJI Avata 360: Price

The DJI Avata 360 comes in at a highly aggressive price point when compared to the competition. So, while DJI may not be the first drone manufacturer to produce a 360-degree drone, consumers in all regions — except the United States, where there’s currently a DJI ban — can now choose between two models, and the Avata 360 is less expensive than the competition and has different controller options.

Drone-only, the Avata 360 costs £409 / €459 / AU$799, while the option with the DJI RC 2 smart controller costs £639 / €719 / AU$1159. There are also two Fly More Combos that include a couple of additional batteries, a carry bag, a battery charging hub and other accessories. The DJI Avata 360 Fly More Combo (DJI RC 2) and the DJI Avata 360 Motion Fly More Combo both cost £829 / €939 / AU$1619. The latter includes the DJI Motion Controller 3 and DJI Goggles N3.

Should you buy the DJI Avata 360?

As 360-degree drones go, the DJI Avata 2 is incredibly well-priced compared to the Antigravity A1 and is so much more agile, thanks to its FPV credentials. Image quality is similar in many respects, but the ability to shoot in the flat D-Log M profile does give the Avata 360 the edge here.

The ability to fly the Avata 2 either as a standard camera drone with a smart controller, or as an FPV drone with the Motion Combo, is also fantastic. Having the ability to choose one controller option, or even both, will undoubtedly make it attractive. The only downside to flying a drone when wearing FPV goggles is that you must have a spotter/observer with you when flying outdoors.

If this drone isn't for you

The Antigravity A1 follows a camera drone design but is controlled using a motion controller and FPV goggles. It has a great FPV flight mode for capturing smooth, sweeping videos, and the automated flight modes are also impressive.

The DJI Neo 2 is an inexpensive selfie drone with impressive autonomous flight modes and subject tracking. Like the Avata 360, it can also be flown as a camera drone and an FPV drone when paired with the right DJI accessories.

If you’re looking for a fully fledged FPV drone, but one that can be incredibly easy to fly, the DJI Avata 2 is a great choice. Unlike traditional FPV drones, this one can hover and be paired with DJI’s Motion Controller 3.

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Enter Siril, a free, open-source astronomical image-processing software designed to meet the needs of astrophotography enthusiasts. It's compatible with Linux, Windows and macOS, and it's becoming an increasingly popular choice among amateur astronomers who are seeking a cost-effective, at-home solution for their image-processing needs. We took the 1.2.6 version of the software for a spin to find out how it works.

Siril astrophotography software review

Siril astrophotography software: Pricing

• Free due to open-source approach
• Frequent updates that are often shared across the community

Siril is distributed under the GNU General Public License v3.0, allowing users to download, use and modify the software at no cost, as long as the right credit and credentials are provided where appropriate. If you use Siril in any of your work, you're asked to credit the software using specific information featured on the Siril homepage. At a time of mass consumer photo editing software, this rather DIY, homespun approach that used to be the norm in the early days of computing is nice to see — and worth supporting.

The software is available for Linux, Windows and macOS, ensuring accessibility for a wide range of users. And because it's based on community-driven development, the software benefits from contributions from a dedicated group of developers and users who continuously work to improve the features and performance. The commitment to being a free and open-source tool makes Siril an attractive option for budget-conscious astrophotographers, as there are no costly subscriptions. What you get instead, however, is a steeper learning curve and less of a focus on shiny user-interface features to help you through the process — there's a lot to learn in Siril.

Siril astrophotography software: User interface

• Minimal user interface that may be unfamiliar to some
• Simple navigation once you understand the workflow

When presented with the initial view of Siril, you'd be forgiven for thinking the overall effect is a little intimidating, and perhaps akin to some of the early image-processing, script-based software programs you may have used in years gone by. But it's worth persevering; Siril's interface is organized into tabs that guide users through the sequential steps of image processing, from calibration to enhancement, and it's quite well laid out when you know what you're looking for. Before you delve into anything, visit the Siril tutorial section, which guides you through everything from getting started with the software to learning how to automate scripts, work with more advanced images, use noise reduction and complete complex computations, depending on the results you're after.

You'll be presented with an initial screen, and if you follow the tutorial, you'll need to put all of the images you want to work with in a separate folder and, within that, four other folders for "darks," "lights," "flats" and "biases." Once you do that, you can run a preprocessing script that essentially stacks these images for you automatically.

Siril astrophotography software: Key features

• Powerful automated stacking
• Postprocessing features that produce fantastic results

Once this stacking is completed, you will be presented with a file to open. This file will render your picture with all of the combined images together. (It will be placed in the Home folder, and you can open it by pressing Open on the top left of the Siril window.) You're not done yet, though. What you'll be presented with at first may look like a blurry, black-and-white approximation of what you hope your final image will look like.

There are a few steps to be completed next, including extracting the background and gradient, and using photometric color calibration to calculate the light that's emitted from each celestial body to correct the color. This feature is especially impressive, as the software will connect to global star databases and identify which stars and deep-sky bodies are in your image. If there's a match, it will automatically adjust the image to correct the color and focus based on these areas of the image you wish to highlight. It also offers multiple star alignment methods, including global star alignment and one-star alignment, thus facilitating the precise stacking of images to improve output.

All of this points to an advanced image-enhancement capability that sets Siril apart from other image-editing software. Its feature set encompasses the essential tools required for high-quality astrophotography image processing, especially of deeper space and detailed images. The preprocessing capabilities address common issues, such as sensor noise and vignetting, and lay a solid foundation for subsequent processing steps.

Siril astrophotography software: Astrophotography features

• Noise reduction algorithms
• Automated star recognition, which is powerful for color correction

In addition to the photometric analysis tools that can enable you to study a range of dark-sky features, the astro features of Siril extend beyond just image processing. Siril can handle a wide range of image and video formats, providing flexibility in data input and output. It's possible to use the software for a variety of scientific research applications, thanks to the rich detail it provides.

At the heart of Siril lies its scripting model. The ability to create and execute scripts enhances efficiency dramatically when you're dealing with extensive collections of high-quality images. The best part is that it is also highly customizable. If you know how, you can write your own scripts to edit specific elements of images.

From an astro perspective, one of Siril's key strengths is the way it handles noise during the stacking process when it aligns and combines multiple exposures. By stacking many frames, Siril uses statistical methods — like median or average stacking with rejection algorithms (e.g., sigma clipping or Winsorized sigma) — to naturally reduce random noise, such as thermal or read noise, while preserving real signals, like stars and nebulae.

Powerful background-extraction and gradient-removal tools help suppress unwanted light pollution or uneven illumination that can resemble noise, and post-processing. It offers wavelet-based denoising, allowing users to target noise at different levels of detail. This method preserves fine structures while minimizing grain, which is a critical feature for astrophotography, where the detail of your image is everything.

Should you download the Siril astrophotography software?

There's a lot to learn in the world of astrophotography, but when it comes to image editing, Siril opens up a whole new world by giving you ultimate control over your images. Because the software is open-source, it benefits from a huge amount of online information about it, and there are plenty of tutorials, images to practice on and expert guidance available for free, which is commendable in its own right.

For these reasons, I highly recommend Siril, and there are few competitors, especially when you consider this software is open-source and offered to the community for free.

For many people who are happy to tackle the formidable task of learning Siril inside out, there's no doubt that this software will be an invaluable resource for both seasoned and novice astrophotographers. By continually evolving through community-driven development, Siril ensures that users will always have access to cutting-edge tools for capturing and processing the wonders of the night sky.

If the Siril astrophotography software isn't for you

While Siril has a steep learning curve, Skylum Luminar Neo allows for fast editing and is affordable. There are many one-click editing tools available as well as AI tools to help make the job easier. If you're looking for a good software for noise reduction, DxO PhotoLab 7 should be your go-to. It has the best noise removal tool that we've tested.

If you're looking to only edit astro photos, Affinity Photo 2 is your best option. We've rated it as the best photo editing app for astro in our best photo editing apps guide. You can stack various types of calibration frames and it has a handy AI editing tool.

Reasonably priced and with an excellent build quality, the Yachance Night Light star projector looks fantastic, and thanks to rubberized feet, it stays put wherever it's placed. Buttons on the front of the unit make it easy to control, though a remote control (included) offers easier access to the star projector's full functionality.

In fact, marketing the Yachance Night Light Star Projector as just a star projector does it a bit of a disservice. This is a full sleep aid, including a white noise machine with a range of soothing sounds built in, the ability to play music of your choice, and a night light. The bright and bold projections are merely the cherry on top of what is surely one of the best star projectors and specifically, one of the best star projectors for kids.

Design

• Looks fantastic
• Very well made
• Easy to control

A dome shape on three feet, we love how the Yachance Night Light star projector looks. It's sturdy and stylish, and looks more high-end than its $39.99 price tag would suggest. It can be controlled entirely via the touch buttons on the front of the unit, but it also comes with a small remote control, which makes operating the projector from across the room much easier.

Unlike some other projectors, there are no interchangeable parts of the YACHANCE Night Light Star Projector. The dome here acts as the projector, with the lights and bulb hidden inside. The dome cannot be swapped out for any other domes, as it can in the One Fire Night Light projector. As long as you're happy with the cartoonish star images offered by this projector, they're not an issue. It’s fewer parts for little hands to fiddle with and lose.

There's an LCD display on the front of the projector, which shows how much time is left on the sleep timer if you've opted to use the functionality. It has the potential to be a little distracting, but it's subtle and not bright enough to outshine the projections themselves.

Performance

• Fantastic reach
• Good choice of colors
• 360-degree rotation

As we've already mentioned, the Yachance Night Light star projector doesn't offer up scientific projections or even aurora-like projections. Instead, it projects bold, cartoonish stars and moons on the wall and ceiling. It's bright and vivid, but there's no doubt these projections are better suited to children than to adults.

The projections do have a wide reach, however, and are likely to cover the entire ceiling of an average-sized bedroom. The projector is very quiet in operation, too; only if you turn on the rotation function (which moves the projections around 360 degrees) will you hear a slight whirring, but it's never distracting.

There are multiple colors to cycle through on the projector; you can opt for single colors or a duo. You can't choose a color with the touch of a button, which may be a problem for some; you can only cycle through every option available, either by pressing a button on the projector itself or using your remote control.

It's a small issue, though, as every color available looks great. The projections from the Yachance Night Light star projector are bright, clear and vivid, even in a room that isn't completely dark, and with three levels of brightness, you can opt for a mode that best suits your environment: the lowest setting might be ideal for creating a relaxing ambience before bedtime, while the brightest is a great option for a space-themed party.

Functionality

• Speaker with built-in relaxing sounds
• Comes with a memory card so you can preload your own music or sounds
• Sleep timer and night light

One of the best things about the Yachance Night Light star projector is all the extra bells and whistles it packs in. There's a handy night light, which can be set to three different brightnesses on the projector base itself, a built-in speaker, and a sleep timer, which can be set in five-minute increments all the way up to 995 minutes.

While we're not entirely sure why you'd want to set something on a sleep timer for 16 and a half hours, having full control of the timer beyond the usual 30 or 60 minutes is certainly handy.

There's a sound machine built right into the projector, too, which features 29 soothing sounds, from white noise, a running stream, birdcalls and a heartbeat. Perfect if you're planning to use the Yachance Night Light star projector as a sleep aid, either for yourself or a baby. While you can't connect to the projector via Bluetooth, it is equipped with a card slot and ships with a 128MB memory card so you can add your own sounds and music.

While Bluetooth would make it easier to play your own music, we do appreciate the extra safety that is offered by having no connectivity. It's a safety measure that shouldn't be overlooked, particularly if you're planning to use the Yachance Night Light star projector with young children,

Should I buy the Yachance Night Light star projector ?

If you're looking for a star projector that's suitable for children, well-made, offers a variety of functions and makes a great sleep aid, we really think the Yachance Night Light star projector is one of the best on the market. At $39.99, there are cheaper options available, but it's still reasonably priced considering everything this projector packs in.

If the Yachance Night Light star projector isn't for you

If you're looking for a projector that's more suited to adults, however, you'll want to look elsewhere. If a night light is important, we recommend the Jiawen Galaxy Projector Light, which is stylish, reasonably priced and offers soothing aurora-like projections. And if you're looking for something a little more scientific, we think the Sega Toys Homestar Flux is one of the best scientific star projectors currently on the market.

On paper, these night vision binoculars boast impressive specs, including an infrared light that stretches 980 feet (298 m), a daytime viewing mode and seven brightness levels. Not only that, but it can record 1080p videos and 3MP stills on the supplied MicroSD memory card.

The binoculars arrive in a custom-fit military-grade hard case. Also supplied is a carbon-tipped lens cleaning brush, a 32 GB high-speed MicroSD Card, a shoulder strap and soft carry bag and everything else you need to get going, apart from batteries — more on that later.

But are they worthy of a spot in our best night vision binoculars guide? Read on to find out.

Sigweis night vision binoculars review

Sigweis night vision binoculars: Design

• Large LCD screen
• Robust build
• Good placement of buttons

Compared with models we've tested previously, including the Nightfox Swift, the Sigweis feel solid in the hand and less toyish. However, this does come at the cost of them being noticeably heavier (1.3 kg with batteries inserted) and bulkier, something you will want to consider if you're taking these out on the trails with you.

There are six large buttons on top of the night vision binoculars that are easy to reach with your fingertips when you're holding them to your face. The most-used buttons are on the outer edges, with the power and menu buttons in the middle of the device. Each button gives reassuring audible feedback (as a click) when pressed, and the buttons depress enough that you can easily feel you have pressed it, even with cold hands or thick gloves. The textured casing helps wet fingers to keep a secure grip on the binoculars, which is especially useful, as the Sigweis can be used in inclement weather, thanks to their IP56 waterproof rating.

There is a wrap around the large LCD screen, but we'd have liked this to mould to our face by being more malleable; it lets in a lot of light, especially from the bottom, which makes the screen very reflective. We found ourselves staring back at ourselves in certain daytime lighting conditions, making it difficult to see the image on the screen.

Unlike previous night vision binoculars, where the lenses are within the unit's body, in the Sigweis, they protrude from the front. One is a lens, and the other is an infrared LED light. The lens rotates to focus; left to close objects and right to focus on something further away.

Sigweis night vision binoculars: Performance

• Very clear nighttime viewing
• Fixed optical zoom, 4x digital zoom
• Illumination only comes from the right

The infrared illumination range is 980 feet, which is 750 feet more than the Nightfox Swift, which is only marginally cheaper. The illumination only comes from the right-hand side of the unit, which means that sometimes you get noticeable shadows even if your target is right in front of you. Not important when just observing, but something to be mindful of if you're filming or taking photos.

When the unit is turned on, the default mode is video. By pressing the mode button, you can cycle through to photo mode and media playback mode. You can just observe without recording or taking stills if you want to.

Eight symbols visible on the LCD screen indicate the mode, night vision sensitivity, space on memory card, image resolution, SD warning, battery indicator, zoom level and IR level.

The 3x optical zoom is fixed, but the digital zoom (sensor cropping) extends to 4x. As with digital zooms, image sharpness decreases the more you zoom.

The large focus wheel is smooth to turn, with an obvious start and end point. You could turn it with just one finger but we found it easier to operate like you would a camera lens. Once in focus, the image on the large LCD screen is pleasingly sharp and clear in both daytime and at night.

Sigweis night vision binoculars: Functionality

• Six AA batteries required (doesn't take rechargeable batteries)
• IP56 waterproof rating
• Daytime mode

When the Sigweis night vision binoculars arrived, we were keen to start testing that evening. Having recently tested the Nightfox Whisker, which was handily chargeable via USB-C, we'd hoped for more of the same. Sadly, though, we found that the Sigweis need 6x 1.5V (AA) batteries. Cool, we have some rechargeable ones in the cupboard. Except, wait, on reading the warning note on the back of the binoculars, it said to not use rechargeable batteries. We tried it anyway just in case, but true to the warning, rechargeable batteries did not work, and the binoculars did not boot. Our testing was put on hold until we bought some non-rechargeable AA batteries. This is the worst thing about these binoculars. Non-rechargeable batteries are not only expensive but also have a significantly worse environmental impact than rechargeable alternatives.

Putting our qualms about the non-rechargeable batteries aside, the Sigweis Night Vision binoculars feature a generous IP56 rating. The '5' means the binoculars have limited dust protection, and the '6' means they can withstand protection against strong water jets in all directions. You can use them in all-terrain locations (like sandy deserts or pollen-filled fields) and in inclement weather without worry.

Although you can use these night vision binoculars anywhere, the weight is a significant factor. As a comparison, the recently reviewed Nightfox Whisker weighs 609 g, including the rechargeable battery; the Nightfox Swift weighs a tiny 360 g, including the battery. The Sigweis weigh a hefty 1.3 kg. They are tripod mountable, which helps if you're staying in one place, but if you have a long way to walk to your viewpoint, you'll definitely feel the weight in your rucksack or kit bag.

While these are primarily night vision binoculars, you can use them in the daytime too. The best application for this would be research (e.g., animal surveys), as the image/video quality isn't good enough for inspiring footage or stills. It's a handy feature, though and means they aren't completely redundant once the sun comes up.

The hard shell case is of excellent quality. The other accessories, like the soft case and neck strap, are fine, but nothing to shout about.

Should you buy the Sigweis night vision binoculars?

We want to really like the Sigweis night vision binoculars, but there are two big downsides. The weight, but more importantly, the fact that you need 6x non-rechargeable batteries. Although you can apparently use them for 8-16 hours, depending on IR levels and screen brightness, this still doesn't seem good enough to warrant the extra expense of buying new batteries each time, or the negative environmental impact.

If those things don't concern you, these are a good pair of night vision binoculars at a very affordable price. They do what they are meant to — allow you to see objects, animals and people in the dark and take stills or videos for future reference.

They are very easy to use; we only had a read of the user manual to see what it contained. The English grammar throughout is pretty poor, but that is fairly common when products have been made in a place where English is not spoken as a first language. Still, you can find everything you'd need in terms of operation and troubleshooting. We spent a couple of minutes getting to grips with what each button did and navigating the menu system — that was enough to get going.

If the Sigweis night vision binoculars aren't for you

We recently reviewed the Nightfox Whisker night vision binoculars. We think they are comparable regarding operation and image/video quality, but they are lighter, rechargeable and more compact. The one thing they are missing compared with the Sigweis binoculars is a waterproof rating. This only really matters if you purposely plan to use them around water or in inclement weather often.

For casual observing or monitoring, we recommend the Nightfox Swift, which, thanks to the head mount and maximum viewing distance of around 75 yards, are more akin to goggles than binoculars. The battery is rechargeable via micro-USB, and it weighs a tiny 360 g. The Swift are particularly helpful if you need your hands free while observing, perhaps while feeding animals at a rescue center at night, or developing photos in a dark room.

If you need a pair of night vision binoculars with higher magnification, check out the Luna Optics LN-G3-B50. The magnification ranges from 6x to 36x. This gives the flexibility of wide-area scanning and close-up viewing. There is also built-in image stabilization at 6x to help minimize wobble. At 16MP, the resolution is also better, but they are more expensive.

For alternative ideas, check out our round-up of the best night vision binoculars. We regularly review this guide and update it with the best models we find as they come to market.

The Fujifilm X-H2 is the high-performance, detail-focused member of the X-series of Fujifilm cameras. Released in 2022 along with the speed-focused X-H2S, the model suits the professional photographer or videographer who demands high-end specs within the Fujifilm X ecosystem.

The X-H2 captured a wide range of celestial objects, including the Orion Nebula (M42), constellations and star clusters. It shares the same 40MP sensor and processor that delivered strong astro performance in the X-T50, but in a more robust body. Could it be one of the best cameras for astrophotography?

Retailing around $2300, it's a camera with a price tag for professionals or high-level hobbyists, but it could be worth it if you do long, demanding shoots under the stars or in the studio.

Fujifilm X-H2 Review

Fujifilm X-H2 : Design

★★★★★

• 40MP sensor
• Sturdy body
• Professional functionality

The X-H2 is the Fujifilm workhorse camera designed for professional photography use and packed with plenty of customizable controls. It houses the same 40MP APS-C sensor and X-Processor 5 processing engine that is found in the X-T5 and X-T50, but delivers more professional features.

The mode dial is chunky, offering seven custom modes that a user can assign different shooting profiles to. This is a camera built for a professional photographer who knows how to fully manipulate the camera's settings and knows what they are shooting. There is a lot of functionality here that would be overkill for a beginner or maybe even an intermediate hobbyist, such as a CFexpress slot, 8K video capability and pixel shift multi-shot.

All these premium features come in a hefty 1.46 lb (660 g) body that feels sturdy in the hand during shooting. The 5.8-million-dot electronic viewfinder (EVF) sits at the top and offers boost modes depending on your situation, including a low-light priority mode to boost the display in darker settings.

The three-inch touchscreen is standard for professional use and is fully articulating with 1.6-million dot resolution. Alongside plenty of manual dials and a joystick for exposure and menu control, there is extended touchscreen functionality when needed.

A secondary black LCD-screen sits at the top of the camera and displays details for battery life and photo count, as well as exposure and shooting settings when in use.

The Fujifilm X-H2 can easily handle the bigger XF lenses like the XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR II and XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR, so there is no overbalancing issue, like with smaller Fujifilm models.

Fujifilm X-H2: Performance

★★★★

• Captured astro targets easily
• Strong dynamic range
• No more noise handling than X-T50

For astrophotography testing, I took the X-H2 to a Bortle 4 site in South West England, along with the XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR II lens, XF 18mm f/1.4 R LM WR lens and XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR lens.

The X-H2 is a highly versatile camera that can keep up with heavy shoots for different styles of photography, whether that be street, portrait or astro. A sunset shows off the high dynamic range, whilst still retaining enough detail to resolve the crescent moon alongside Venus in the twilight.

Despite this, the X-H2 was highly capable of capturing a range of celestial objects, including Orion’s belt and the Orion Nebula (M42), the Big Dipper asterism, the Pleiades star cluster (M44) and Jupiter. Whilst there wasn’t amazing high ISO noise handling, dark spots in images weren’t as grainy as the noise found in similar images taken with a Sony A7CII.

Because it is a larger camera than the X-T5 and X-T50, I would assume an increase in the image sensor size, too, which would mitigate high-ISO noise problems common in astrophotography. This is not the case because the X-H2 houses the same 40MP X-Trans CMOS 5 APS-C sensor and X-Processor 5 as these smaller X-series cameras. This is not necessarily a bad thing, it just has the same level of higher ISO noise handling as a camera smaller and cheaper than it.

It handled shooting with a heavy wide-angle lens like the XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR lens easily and it managed to capture a wide portion of the night sky even with significant light pollution in a Bortle 6 area.

Fujifilm X-H2: Functionality

★★★★

• Handles bigger XF lenses
• 1,000+ compressed raw buffer
• Strong battery life

The bulk of the X-H2 body helps the camera house all of its premium features. It can handle bigger XF lenses, so you don’t have to worry about your setup feeling underbalanced or not being able to make the most of the best glass.

The X-H2 has seven custom mode slots on the main mode dial as well as ten function buttons for extreme customization depending on your favorite and most used settings and shooting profiles.

This functionality makes it suitable for extended hybrid use by a professional. Paired with a UHS-II SD and CFexpress type B slot, the X-H2 can work as fast as you do and prevent any annoying buffers, with the CFexpress type B handling 1,000-plus compressed RAW images. This is essential if you need to shoot in heavy bursts or capture 8K video footage. It also sports a full-size HDMI port for video output and jacks for mic and headphone use.

I found that it was great for a long astrophotography session, and the NP-W225 battery didn’t fail on us either. You could hook the X-H2 up to an external power bank for added battery life, but at a 540-shot rating, you probably don’t need to do that unless shooting lots of video. During testing, I found that even after a long night of long-exposure shooting, the battery wasn’t fully depleted and never gave up on me midshoot.

The fully articulated screen meant that working from a tripod is easy, and you don’t have to bend to weird angles to see the frame before you start shooting. This is a plus for astrophotography, but there are no astro-specific features besides a boosted view in the electronic viewfinder for low-light and plenty of manual exposure dials.

Fujifilm X-H2: User reviews

The overall online consensus of the X-H2 is good, with users finding the 40MP sensor great for creating high-res images. The deeper grip on the X-H2 was preferred when using larger lenses, too. Paired with 8K video and a robust build, the X-H2 is rated as a premium hybrid camera.

Some downsides were the dependence on lenses to get the most out of the 40MP sensor and some users missed the dedicated ISO and shutter dials found on other Fujifilm models.

How we tested the Fujifilm X-H2

I tested the Fujifilm X-H2 with the following lenses: XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR II lens, XF 18mm f/1.4 R LM WR lens and XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR lens.

I used the camera for street and landscape photography as well as conducting more focused astro use. To shoot astro, I went to a Bortle 4 area and a Bortle 6 area in South West England. The nighttime temperatures reached 41 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius). I photographed a range of night sky objects, including the constellation Orion, the Big Dipper asterism, the Orion Nebula (M42), the Pleaides star cluster (M45), Sirius and Jupiter.

Should I buy the Fujifilm X-H2?

The X-H2 has good astrophotography performance, but it is no better for handling immediate noise than the smaller and cheaper X-T50. Even so, the larger body of the X-H2 means it acts like a bigger heat sink, with better thermal noise reduction during heavy shoots. It lacks a range of astro-specific features that you would expect in a larger camera, such as a bigger sensor and a night-vision mode on screen.

If you do a lot of professional hybrid shooting, then features like a CFexpress type-B slot and 8K video capability would suit you. There is no limits on the range of lenses you can use or the amount of work you can put it through. For this reason, it is a diverse camera for different uses but I would only recommend it to someone who already makes money from photography or videography.

If the Fujifilm X-H2 isn't for you

If you would prefer a full-frame camera that can handle a lot of the same demanding workload, take a look at the Sony A7R V. It has a full-frame 61MP sensor, 8K/24p video capability and 693-point AI autofocus.

If you want the best mirrorless camera for astrophotography, choose the Nikon Z8. Starlight mode with autofocus detection down to -9EV makes the Z8 perfect for sharp star focusing even in the darkest places. It even has a dedicated mode that tinges the screen red to preserve night vision when out shooting.

If you want a Fujifilm but don’t want one as tailored to professional use, the X-T50 is a good intermediate choice for hobbyists. The X-H2 and X-T50 share the same powerful 40MP sensor, but the X-T5 has a few stepped-down features. It still has great video performance at 6K and is way more portable than the X-H2, whilst still delivering strong high-res photography.

Once you have downloaded the free SkySafari app, navigating to targets is seamless, and quite handily, this refractor is supplied with a phone dock for a hands-free experience. A major highlight of the Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ is the quality of the optics, especially given the price point: chromatic aberration, or color-fringing around brighter, high-magnitude objects, wasn’t catastrophic, and I found that I could enjoy some exquisite detailing on a selection of targets, especially within the solar system. Could this be one of the best telescopes?

While this model is increasingly difficult to get in the US, it is still available in the UK and Europe. The Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 80AZ is still available in the US and is pretty similar in specs, with a larger aperture.

Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ telescope review

Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ: Design

• Portable design, ideal for traveling, and for all the family
• Some features felt of a flimsy quality
• Largely smooth operation, but lacks fine-tuning

On arrival, the telescope came very well-packaged, and at a weight of approximately 7.4 lbs (3.35 kg), I had high hopes that the Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ’s lightweight build would be a winning design not just for beginners, but for the whole family. Admittedly, I was slightly concerned that the whole set-up would topple over during my observations, especially as winds were strong in the open spaces I had selected for my test site.

For the price-point, the overall build of this refractor is fair — some features (such as the star diagonal) are perhaps not of the very best quality being made of plastic. However, for a little less than $269, it’s what I have come to expect of telescopes that pride themselves in being the “entire package” without breaking the bank. Additionally, being considered an “entry-level” telescope, set up took less than 10 minutes without the enclosed manual, and this was discovered by timing a family member who had only ever used a telescope once or twice in their lifetime. The Celestron StarSense LT 70AZ certainly ticks the box in being easy to build.

Once built, I took the opportunity to move the telescope from the kitchen to the garden. Refraining from affixing the dewshield to the objective lens, I peered into the optical system: the glass is fully and multi-coated to a beautiful standard, and I noted the internal structure to be of excellent quality. The telescope’s focal length is 700mm, offering a focal length of f/10 — the Celestron StarSense LT 70AZ is a “slow” telescope, making it best for observing the ‘nearby’ solar system and the moon, as well as brighter deep-sky targets such as double stars.

The Kellner eyepieces are of a fair build, but I recommend investing in some higher quality accessories to get the full benefit of this instrument, keeping in mind to be respectful of the highest useful magnification, which is 165x, and the lowest being 10x. You can find some of our favorite eyepieces in our best eyepieces for telescopes guide.

The altitude-azimuth fork mount is basic and features a slow-motion control for slewing along the altitude axis, along with tightening screws to lock the tube into position. I did notice a slight drooping once I’d aligned the tube to my daytime reference point, no matter how much I tightened the setup. Looking through the eyepiece, my target hadn’t moved too far from the center of the field of view, so I was optimistic that my observations would go unhindered. I appreciated the basic design of the rack and pinion focuser, which made bringing daytime objects into focus a breeze. However, I was conscious of the lack of ability to fine-tune.

Downloading the StarSense app onto my iPhone 15, IOS version 18.4.1 was simple, and I encountered no problems. You’ll need an Android 7.1.2 and higher, or iPhone 6 to install this free software. In addition, my smartphone fitted snuggly in the phone dock with no slipping as I moved the setup and the tube around.

Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ: Performance

• Good, small views of the planets
• Optical system can pick up the brighter deep-sky targets
• Alignment through the app offered decent accuracy for a beginner telescope

I decided to go through the alignment process shortly before my observations to see how long it took — I was delighted to see that this two-step process took less than a few minutes, is incredibly accurate and easy to implement. You can read a bit more about how it works by reading Celestron’s dedicated page on the StarSense Explorer Technology.

Powering up the StarSense app, I was pleased to see that the software was recommending one of the targets that I’d added to my wishlist a few nights prior: king of the solar system, Jupiter, which was dazzling in the west at a magnitude of -2.0. Clicking on the planet in the app so that I was given navigational guidance, it was just a simple case of nudging the tube in the direction of the on-screen arrows until Jupiter was in my field of view — at least according to the app (which offers a green signal to let you know you’re on target).

Locking the tube in place by tightening the screws, I peered through the eyepiece to see that, while the gas giant wasn’t slapbang at the center of my field of view, it was only out by a few degrees as I brought my target into focus. The 10mm offered pleasing views of a bright ball of light, with small pinpoints — three of the four largest of Jupiter’s moons, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto — visible with good clarity and contrast. Chromatic aberration was at a minimum, which was pleasing to see given the price point of this refractor, but I needed dark blue and yellow filters to enhance Jupiter’s atmospheric belts and zones.

Mars also made for a good target through the optical system of the Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ. Shining at a magnitude of +1.0 in Cancer, and not too far away from a moon in waning gibbous phase at 77% illumination in Leo, the contrast and clarity of the planet was of decent quality — and is sure to delight astronomers, who are just getting started in skywatching. It’s important to note that through the field of view of this refractor, and with the accessories supplied, targets will have a small angular size.

Slewing to the moon, and with the StarSense app continuing to demonstrate its reliability, I have to say that the rugged lunar surface, with its smattering of impact craters and mare, was a highlight during my observations. A moon filter (not supplied) added to the sight, with impressive clarity and only a slight hint of purple fringing around the moon’s limb. Crater Tycho was a standout feature, along with Stevinus, and the lunar seas Mare Vaporum (Sea of Vapours), Mare Crisium (Sea of Crises) and Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility).

But what of the deep-sky objects? The Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ provided pleasing views of some of the brightest targets, as recommended by the StarSense app. In Taurus, the Pleiades was glowing in the west at magnitude +1.3 and was a model target given its contrast and clarity in my field of view, as was the Beehive Cluster in Cancer, glowing at a dimmer magnitude of +3.1.

I discovered galaxies were a touch too faint through the Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ. However, it was possible to just pick out Messier 81 (+6.9 magnitude) and Messier 82 (+8.4 magnitude) in Ursa Major, as well as several galaxies within the constellation of Leo. Globular clusters Messier 13 and Messier 3 could be seen using the supplied eyepieces, appearing as fuzzy blobs of light.

Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ: Functionality

• Easy, free download of the StarSense app
• App does recommend targets that are too faint for the optical system, so be cautious!
• Impressive app accuracy and great target recommendations

What makes the Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ so special is the ability to be able to make use of your smartphone for simple, fuss-free tours of the night sky. The StarSense app behaves like your personal astronomer, recommending targets to view from one night to the next. I would, however, err on the side of caution when making your selection, as with this setup and accessories, you’ll be hard-pressed to see some of the night-sky wonders that are recommended. I recommend diversifying your arsenal of filters and eyepieces to truly get the best out of this refractor, again, being respectful of the highest and lowest useful magnifications.

That’s not to say that you should limit yourself, and once you are comfortable with how the Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ works, I wholeheartedly agree with following up on the app’s suggestions — something it does very well by offering up a choice of “Tonight’s Best” and a whole slew of some of the more challenging, fainter objects to get stuck into.

It’s worth noting that the StarSense app will take up around 520 MB of your phone’s storage space, so I advise keeping this in mind, as well as downloading it over a WiFi connection to save on your data allowance. The app can, very cleverly, use your smartphone’s camera, gyroscope and accelerometer to accurately pinpoint your location, and recommend a selection of targets in your vicinity in real-time. It was a pleasure to watch the app at work, despite it being broad daylight, as I watched it continually recalibrate for the most accurate, most up-to-date guidance.

With my iPhone securely docked and waiting for the skies to become darker, I took on board some of the StarSense app’s recommendations that would keep me occupied over the course of a few nights. There’s plenty on offer and all within reach of the refractor’s optical system.

Should you buy the Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ?

The smallest of the Celestron StarSense Explorer family, the LT 70AZ is undoubtably a great telescope for the beginner, particularly children and casual skywatchers. Being lightweight, the set-up is ideal for observers on the go and seems to be resistant to gusts of wind that are often more prevalent during the cooler months. What’s more, it’s very easy to setup and use, even if you’ve had very limited use of a telescope previously.

The planets are certainly its strength during observations but given its ability to show a variety of targets — from those within the solar system, to the farthest reaches of space — along with the generous selection of accessories, I feel you can't go wrong with the price tag. The Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ is certainly a bargain in this regard.

I do feel that you can get more from the Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ’s optical system, so recommend accessorizing with eyepieces and filters for the very best views.

If the Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ isn't for you

With a larger aperture than 70mm, the Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 114AZ and Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ Newtonian reflectors within the StarSense Explorer line of telescopes are just as simple to use and build, but will open the universe even further to those looking for an instrument that surpasses the limitations of a smaller aperture. There is also the Dobsonian range — Celestron StarSense Explorer 114AZ, Celestron StarSense Explorer 130AZ, Celestron StarSense Explorer 150AZ, Celestron StarSense Explorer 8-inch and Celestron StarSense Explorer 12-inch.