1246 replies to this topic

[Gravity Wave]

Congratulations! Looking forward to your experiences getting it setup and shooting some DSOs


What will be the first light photo?

[GSBass]

Cool, love the photo with vespera

My Dwarf2 came today!

 

I haven’t had time to do anything but take it out of the box and start charging it up.

I made one quick attempt to connect my android app to it but the first attempt failed which could be due to all sorts of things including permissions, low battery, or too-old firmware.  I’ll try to sort that out tomorrow.  I have some other commitments tonight.  I think the IOS app will be available by the end of January.

 

Anyway, here is the Dwarf2 next to my Vespera and my old 20” DOB in the background.

The Dwarf2 accessories are also shown in the picture.  You charge it with a USB-C that you must provide.

 

6CB5CFB1-86D5-48D8-9616-530CAEE70DC4.jpeg

 

It also comes with a fairly nice carrying bag.  very similar to what I use for my mirrorless camera.  

 

I got the "delux" version with a couple extra accessories.  I don't remember what the base version comes with.

[wcstarguy]

My Deluxe Version is on order. Enjoy watching/reading any posts from those of you who already snagged one.

[GSBass]

Assuming the rest of us won’t get our tracking numbers til mid late February so hoping you have lots of time to play and share, in Someways it will be good we have to wait, I would not expect the iOS app to be super stable for a while given the pressure to get it out there, sounds like they are still working to get it out while on vacation just so they can get it in App Store because a good many getting theirs now don’t have a android device. Although I’m sure you will be testing iOS out I would imagine it will be less frustrating for you to use the latest android build for a month or so

My Dwarf2 came today!

 

I haven’t had time to do anything but take it out of the box and start charging it up.

I made one quick attempt to connect my android app to it but the first attempt failed which could be due to all sorts of things including permissions, low battery, or too-old firmware.  I’ll try to sort that out tomorrow.  I have some other commitments tonight.  I think the IOS app will be available by the end of January.

 

Anyway, here is the Dwarf2 next to my Vespera and my old 20” DOB in the background.

The Dwarf2 accessories are also shown in the picture.  You charge it with a USB-C that you must provide.

 

6CB5CFB1-86D5-48D8-9616-530CAEE70DC4.jpeg

 

It also comes with a fairly nice carrying bag.  very similar to what I use for my mirrorless camera.  

 

I got the "delux" version with a couple extra accessories.  I don't remember what the base version comes with.

[jprideaux]

I had time today to test out the Dwarf2 during the day.  I originally had problems connecting to it. 

It seemed to be prompting me for the wifi PW and I did not know what to type in.  I emailed Dwarflabs and they told me the default PW is 12345678   

After typing that in, things worked.  I was able to load in the latest firmware and give it a try.  

I'm still not totally sure of the least number of steps to connect and if blue-tooth pairing is necessary but I was able to take a couple pictures and also take a couple videos of birds at my bird feeder.

 

See https://youtu.be/ScooR3l6NHE for a video (taken with my iPhone) of the Dwarf2 taking a video out of my kitchen window of my bird-feeder.

 

See https://youtu.be/9ZisfNwOWuw for my first ever video taken with the Dwarf2 of my bird-feeder.  

 

I have a scheduled Sky-watch tonight at a local State Park and I will be bringing along my Vespera and the Dwarf2 (and perhaps my 10" Dob as well).

If I have any luck playing with the astro-imaging feature of the Dwarf2 tonight, I will post about it on Sunday.  

I did see that they had a number of astronomy targets in the "catalog" as well as the opportunity to type in manual coordinates.

I'll probably just keep things simple tonight and choose an easy target (like M42) from the Dwarf2 catalog.

[oneuke]

Great videos.  Thanks for sharing.  Good luck with the outreach tonight.  Should be interesting.

[wykbbb]

Astro La Vista posted another video Jan 21. He imaged Andromeda Galaxy, Horse Head, Rosette Nebulae, Triangulum Galaxy , Pleiades. 100 x 15 sec subs. https://www.youtube....h?v=dKJ-NXSRuDw

Edited by wykbbb, 21 January 2023 - 04:55 PM.

[GSBass]

impressive, however the stars elongated……perhaps I should not worry about that with this camera but it does bother me….. I won’t use 15 sec if that is result…. Gotta have round stars…. Could be Achilles heel of this system… tracking is so important, there is new firmware that’s suppose to improve that, it’s unclear if he has it yet, but you would think he would

Astro La Vista posted another video Jan 21. He imaged Andromeda Galaxy, Horse Head, Rosette Nebulae, Triangulum Galaxy , Pleiades. 100 x 15 sec subs. https://www.youtube....h?v=dKJ-NXSRuDw

Edited by GSBass, 21 January 2023 - 06:11 PM.

[rayman54]

I have ordered one of these devices.  I'm thinking of constructing an equatorial wedge onto which the Dwarf II would be mounted.  Will this eliminate the bulk of the star elongation and field rotation.  Also I'm wondering if there is an option for longer than 15 second image captures??

impressive, however the stars elongated……perhaps I should not worry about that with this camera but it does bother me….. I won’t use 15 sec if that is result…. Gotta have round stars…. Could be Achilles heel of this system… tracking is so important, there is new firmware that’s suppose to improve that, it’s unclear if he has it yet, but you would think he would

 

[GSBass]

It will eliminate field rotation… currently I think 15 sec is max, the rest is an unknown except I know they did improve tracking in latest update. From my experience with vespera though, if we can get a solid 10sec sub then that’s all we need to get good photos

I have ordered one of these devices.  I'm thinking of constructing an equatorial wedge onto which the Dwarf II would be mounted.  Will this eliminate the bulk of the star elongation and field rotation.  Also I'm wondering if there is an option for longer than 15 second image captures??

[GSBass]

Astro la vista said he was going to write dwarf labs but I did also just to ensure they are aware. He has a spec of dust somewhere in his optical system revealed as a dust mote, darkened circle… upper right in this screen shot. Jeff, you should check your images carefully just to make sure….. I doubt anyone wants to fool with flats to remove these….. I suggested an extra QA step to dwarf labs to catch these.

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Edited by GSBass, 22 January 2023 - 11:36 AM.

[jprideaux]

At the public outreach event at the State Park, I had more connection problems with the Dwarf2 so decided not to demo it at that time.  I had a good experience giving people looks through my 10" dob and showcasing the Vespera.  

 

The issue with the Dwarf2 was with my android tablet not allowing the "automatic wifi" connection to work with the Dwarf2 and I didn't have time there to trouble-shoot that.  For the brief time I played with it, I could not see a Dwarf2 wifi signal showing up in my tablet's list of available signals.

 

I have seen some others posting on some Dwarf2 Facebook groups that there are problems with some versions of android tablets easily working with the Dwarf2.  Apparently some android tablet versions work fine but others are a bit problematic.  Mine must be one of the problematic ones. 

I think the Dwarf2 App software tries to take advantage of an android feature to automatically try to connect to a wifi which will give you a prompt to continue.  On mine, it never gets to that place.  I saw in the DwarfLab start-up video   that sometimes the Dwarf2 may not turn on its wifi and if that is the case, you might need to press the power button as if you turning it off and then it will start to produce the wifi and then you can manually connect to it in your mobile-device settings.   Hopefully it will play better with IOS once that version of the APP comes out at the end of the month or early February.

 

Anyway at home this morning, I found it transmitting a wifi signal and I then did the manual connection from my tablets wifi signal possibilities and got in no problem.  So with Android it is a "little fiddly"  at least with my android tablet.  There is also the issue of my android tablet "wanting" to connect to my home wifi and I have to be diligent to drop that connection and make sure to connect instead to the Dwarf2.

 

Any astro-testing will have to wait until it is clear again.  Rainy today but Monday night should be clear.

 

I did some indoor testing today with Dwarf2 and determined that the telephoto lens can focus as close as about 98 inches.  One of the reasons I got the Dwarf2 was to use it for things other than astronomy and I was curious of its close--focus ability.

 

I also determined that there are two ways to get images and videos off the device:

1. manually pull out the micro-SD card and place it in the provided SD adapter and put that in a SD-card-reader (to USB) and plug that in my computer and drag the files off.
   1. You will need some tweezers or needle-nose pliers to get the micro-SD card out of the slot after you press to release it.
2. OR (more convenient) you can through the Dwarf2 app, get into settings and temporarily turn "MTP Mode" on and connect a USB-C cable to the base of the Dwarf2 and the other end to your computer and the Dwarf2 will then show-up as a drive and you can drag an drop the files off.

 

I did a little close-focus experiment taking a picture (with Dwarf2) of a spider in a cob-web in the corner of my office and compared doing the same with my Nikon zfc camera using a telephoto lens from about the same distance away (about 98 inches).

I uploaded the files to this folder.

 

The following are the cropped images just showing the spider for each.    This is a challenging thing to do and I though the Dwarf2 compared favorable.  

I did not have the resulting exposure the same for each (both done in manual mode) but you can get a sense.  for the Nikion image, I had set the aperture to F16 to get the most in focus.  I think the Dwarf2 is always "wide-open" or at least I did not see any aperture adjustment option in the manual set-up.

 

 

 

I had previously done a comparison (between Dwarf2 and Nikon zfc) with taking a video of my bird-feeder from about 20 feet way and was very happy with each of them.

 

Nikon video of bird-feeder

 

Dwarf2 video of bird-feeder

 

 

 

[GSBass]

I love being able to repurpose stuff so after my 58mm b&w 093 sitting in a drawer for 10 years, my step up ring arrived today to use it with the dwarf, looking forward to trying this, although 1.25 ir filter can be bought relatively cheap now days, I think I paid over 100 for the 093…. But it is a big piece of glass 

Attached Thumbnails

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[GSBass]

I’m hoping the iOS app will allow a simple download to the camera roll…. Just seems antiquated nowadays to not have simple wireless transfers… perhaps vespera has spoiled me

At the public outreach event at the State Park, I had more connection problems with the Dwarf2 so decided not to demo it at that time.  I had a good experience giving people looks through my 10" dob and showcasing the Vespera.  

 

The issue with the Dwarf2 was with my android tablet not allowing the "automatic wifi" connection to work with the Dwarf2 and I didn't have time there to trouble-shoot that.  For the brief time I played with it, I could not see a Dwarf2 wifi signal showing up in my tablet's list of available signals.

 

I have seen some others posting on some Dwarf2 Facebook groups that there are problems with some versions of android tablets easily working with the Dwarf2.  Apparently some android tablet versions work fine but others are a bit problematic.  Mine must be one of the problematic ones. 

I think the Dwarf2 App software tries to take advantage of an android feature to automatically try to connect to a wifi which will give you a prompt to continue.  On mine, it never gets to that place.  I saw in the DwarfLab start-up video   that sometimes the Dwarf2 may not turn on its wifi and if that is the case, you might need to press the power button as if you turning it off and then it will start to produce the wifi and then you can manually connect to it in your mobile-device settings.   Hopefully it will play better with IOS once that version of the APP comes out at the end of the month or early February.

 

Anyway at home this morning, I found it transmitting a wifi signal and I then did the manual connection from my tablets wifi signal possibilities and got in no problem.  So with Android it is a "little fiddly"  at least with my android tablet.  There is also the issue of my android tablet "wanting" to connect to my home wifi and I have to be diligent to drop that connection and make sure to connect instead to the Dwarf2.

 

Any astro-testing will have to wait until it is clear again.  Rainy today but Monday night should be clear.

 

I did some indoor testing today with Dwarf2 and determined that the telephoto lens can focus as close as about 98 inches.  One of the reasons I got the Dwarf2 was to use it for things other than astronomy and I was curious of its close--focus ability.

 

I also determined that there are two ways to get images and videos off the device:

1. manually pull out the micro-SD card and place it in the provided SD adapter and put that in a SD-card-reader (to USB) and plug that in my computer and drag the files off.
   1. You will need some tweezers or needle-nose pliers to get the micro-SD card out of the slot after you press to release it.
2. OR (more convenient) you can through the Dwarf2 app, get into settings and temporarily turn "MTP Mode" on and connect a USB-C cable to the base of the Dwarf2 and the other end to your computer and the Dwarf2 will then show-up as a drive and you can drag an drop the files off.

 

I did a little close-focus experiment taking a picture (with Dwarf2) of a spider in a cob-web in the corner of my office and compared doing the same with my Nikon zfc camera using a telephoto lens from about the same distance away (about 98 inches).

I uploaded the files to this folder.

 

The following are the cropped images just showing the spider for each.    This is a challenging thing to do and I though the Dwarf2 compared favorable.  

I did not have the resulting exposure the same for each (both done in manual mode) but you can get a sense.  for the Nikion image, I had set the aperture to F16 to get the most in focus.  I think the Dwarf2 is always "wide-open" or at least I did not see any aperture adjustment option in the manual set-up.

 

 

 

 

 

I had previously done a comparison (between Dwarf2 and Nikon zfc) with taking a video of my bird-feeder from about 20 feet way and was very happy with each of them.

 

Nikon video of bird-feeder

 

Dwarf2 video of bird-feeder

[GSBass]

How far away is your bird feeder?

[jprideaux]

How far away is your bird feeder?

My bird-feeder was about 20 feet away from the Dwarf2 (and also from my Nikon digital camera for the other referenced video).  I measured that with a tape-measure.

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=ApWd9mOqEeU is the official Dwarflab's start-up guide and general information about the Dwarf2 and is very informative to watch.  

In it they do show that it is possible to get the images directly to your mobile device's camera roll.  So I guess there are 3 ways to get the images off!

I was just a little more PC-centric and wanted the images there.  

[wykbbb]

 

The following are the cropped images just showing the spider for each.    This is a challenging thing to do and I though the Dwarf2 compared favorable.  

 

The first images posted by a CN member from a Dwarf II is about spiders.   

 

I'm aware  you linked to your birds video, but a bird image was not in the post.

Edited by wykbbb, 22 January 2023 - 03:37 PM.

[jprideaux]

The first images posted by a CN member from a Dwarf II is about spiders.   

If videos count, my first posted anything from the Dwarf2 was a video taken of my bird-feeder (but that was only a link here on
cloudy Nights).    I happen to like spiders!  Astro images to come the next clear night!   And maybe a sun picture the next clear day!

Edited by jprideaux, 22 January 2023 - 03:40 PM.

[GSBass]

Thanks Jeff… so if I actually want to do infrared landscapes then we are probably talking hundreds of ft away to even start having a fov wide enough…it’s cool… …that wide angle Nikon lens might come in handy

My bird-feeder was about 20 feet away from the Dwarf2 (and also from my Nikon digital camera for the other referenced video).  I measured that with a tape-measure.

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=ApWd9mOqEeU is the official Dwarflab's start-up guide and general information about the Dwarf2 and is very informative to watch.  

In it they do show that it is possible to get the images directly to your mobile device's camera roll.  So I guess there are 3 ways to get the images off!

I was just a little more PC-centric and wanted the images there.  

[wykbbb]

If videos count, my first posted anything from the Dwarf2 was a video taken of my bird-feeder (but that was only a link here on
cloudy Nights).    I happen to like spiders!  Astro images to come the next clear night!   And maybe a sun picture the next clear day!

I like spiders too. I just didn't expect spiders to be the  first image from a Dwarf II. The spider definitely would not belong under the original EAA thread. 

Edited by wykbbb, 22 January 2023 - 03:43 PM.

[GSBass]

I suspect most of my photos from dwarf will not be Astro 

If videos count, my first posted anything from the Dwarf2 was a video taken of my bird-feeder (but that was only a link here on
cloudy Nights).    I happen to like spiders!  Astro images to come the next clear night!   And maybe a sun picture the next clear day!

[jprideaux]

Thanks Jeff… so if I actually want to do infrared landscapes then we are probably talking hundreds of ft away to even start having a fov wide enough…it’s cool… …that wide angle Nikon lens might come in handy

I haven't done any testing of the wide-angle lens on the Dwarf2 except to see the larger area and pan the little rectangle of the telephoto lens over the place I'm interested in.  

The interface they have developed to interact with the 2 lens is quite nice.  I'm impressed.  I'll see if I can take a couple images with just the wide-angle lens to see how that itself works.

[Daedin]

The first images posted by a CN member from a Dwarf II is about spiders.

Much better than the other images from Andromeda.

I could not dream of being able to capture NGC 2070 with such a tiny scope and get an image of that resolution and quality 😜

[jprideaux]

I like spiders too. I just didn't expect spiders to be the  first image from a Dwarf II. The spider definitely would not belong under the original EAA thread. 

Technically, this particular thread is now in the Refractors Equipment forum so images other than EAA are not banned!    

There still exists the original Dwarf2 thread in the EAA forum and I'm careful not to post such silliness about spiders there!

[GSBass]

Sounds good…. I’m still just thinking infrared so I know I won’t be able to use the wide angle on that…..my reference to wideangle was that Nikon converter lens I got…. Regardless of how well the teleconverter or wide angle work for Astro, they should at least be usable during the daytime you would think

I haven't done any testing of the wide-angle lens on the Dwarf2 except to see the larger area and pan the little rectangle of the telephoto lens over the place I'm interested in.  

The interface they have developed to interact with the 2 lens is quite nice.  I'm impressed.  I'll see if I can take a couple images with just the wide-angle lens to see how that itself works.