Dwarf II is a versatile, compact smart telescope that simplifies astrophotography. Suitable for day or night, it easily connects to mobile devices and features wide-angle and telephoto lenses but lacks an eyepiece. The Dwarf II, well-priced and equipped with GOTO and object tracking capabilities, captures very good 4K images of celestial phenomena, including the Moon, Sun, galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters.
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Reasonably priced
Compact and portable
Captures very good images for its size
Dual lens design
GOTO and object tracking work great
Awkward user experience
Requires basic knowledge of astrophotography
Lacks nightly astronomical highlights
Limited battery life
No watermarking of images
Backyard
astrophotography
is
experiencing
a
surge
in
popularity
thanks
to
telescopes
becoming
more
user-friendly
and,
as
a
result,
actually
fun
to
use.
However,
cost
and
portability
remain
a
barrier,
making
the
Dwarf
II
Smart
Telescope
a
smart,
viable
option
despite
some
annoying
shortcomings.
Dwarf II is a compact and portable smart telescope at an excellent price point. It’s also super flexible, featuring both wide-angle and telephoto lenses. Designed for use during both day and night, it conveniently connects to a user’s handheld device, such as a phone or tablet (iOS and Android). It operates without needing a traditional eyepiece (for better or worse). The telescope connects via both WiFi and Bluetooth.
The Deluxe version comes with a black carry bag, a rechargeable battery, a 64MB microSD card, a mini tripod, an extra battery, a UCH filter for light pollution, a pair of solar filters (to match the two lenses), and the filter adapter. Photo: George Dvorsky
It’s primarily meant for astrophotography, allowing for imaging deep space objects like galaxies, star clusters, and nebulae while delivering a surprising level of sharpness for its size. During the day, Dwarf II can capture stunning landscapes and is also suitable for tracking moving objects, such as birds, thanks to its AI-enabled object-tracking feature.
DWARFLAB, the company behind the telescope, is registered in Hong Kong, though its operational department is in China. The associated app was recently upgraded to OS2.0, greatly enhancing its interface and functionality and introducing features like a built-in beginner’s guide. It’s important to note, however, that Dwarf II is not tailored for absolute beginners; it’s best suited for users who are comfortable moving beyond a camera’s “auto” features and those with some image processing experience. Dwarf II features a somewhat clumsy user interface that initially leads to stilted user experiences; however, as familiarity grows, so does the workflow, resulting in surprisingly good results.
The telescope comes in one of two packages. The Classic version, priced at $459, comes with a black carry bag, a rechargeable battery with a Type-C USB charger, a 64MB microSD card, and a mini tripod. At $595, the Deluxe version comes with these basic accessories: an extra battery, a UCH filter for light pollution, a pair of solar filters (to match the two lenses), and the filter adapter itself.
The October 14, 2023, annular solar eclipse, as viewed by the Dwarf II telescope—and through some exceptionally cloudy conditions. Photo: George Dvorsky
The
Deluxe
version
is
currently
available
at
a
15%
discount,
bringing
the
price
down
to
$505.7.
This
promotional
sale
runs
until
April
18,
and
to
take
advantage
of
the
savings,
customers
should
use
the
discount
code
SOLARECLIPSE
at
checkout.
The Deluxe package costs a bit extra, but it’s worth it; the filters vastly improve usability (remember, we have that exciting total solar eclipse coming up in April!), as does the extra battery (I found that the batteries lost their charge rather quickly, so the backup was good to have). As a nice touch, the company offers free shipping to the United States, Canada, and most EU countries ($69 purchase minimum).
The unit itself is nimble, sleek, and with a distinctive look. Dwarf II is barely larger than a book, measuring 8 inches wide, 5.1 inches long, and just 2.4 inches thin. Its compact, periscope design results in a low center of gravity for improved stability. However, at just 2.4 pounds (1 kilogram), it’s advisable to opt for a heavy-duty tripod to prevent shaking if you decide to upgrade from its small yet effective mini tripod. Dwarf II is among the smallest, lightest telescopes on the market, making it perfect for camping, hiking, or any scenario that requires minimal packing.
A major strength of Dwarf II is its double-duty capability, serving as a feature-laden camera during the day and as a handy robotic telescope at night. The device features a dual camera system—wide angle and telephoto—with a picture-in-picture capability, allowing users to toggle between the two views with a single click. A virtual joystick, displayed as a compact circle on the screen, enables camera movement across multiple axes at various speeds. I found the joystick to be jumpy and laggy and, at times, frustrating to use—a feature that could stand for some improvement. The camera is capable of gigapixel panoramic shooting, as well as capturing bursts, time-lapses, regular photos, and, of course, astronomy images.
The Sun, featuring unusually large sunspots, as viewed with the Dwarf II telescope fitted with its solar filter (no external editing). Photo: George Dvorsky
In
case
you’re
wondering,
Tinyscope
was
a
predecessor
to
Dwarf
II,
but
it
was
eventually
discontinued.
Unlike
Tinyscope’s
single
telephoto
lens,
Dwarf
II
took
the
concept
further
with
its
dual
lens,
among
many
other
new
features.
It’s reasonably easy to get started on an astrophotography session, as Dwarf II features autofocus (to attain crisp views of stars), automatic calibration (to pinpoint its direction in the night sky), and one-click GOTO, in which the telescope automatically points to the target object as selected in the available catalog (experienced astronomers have the option of entering their coordinates). Navigating this UI was far from instinctive, leading me to confront the most dreaded of things: consulting the manual.
I
liked
the
neat
feature
of
being
able
to
turn
off
the
unit’s
various
lights
to
prevent
possible
interference
during
imaging.
Combining
Dwarf
II’s
timelapse
feature
with
no
auto-tracking
was
fun,
allowing
for
creative
captures
of
the
“passing”
full
Moon,
as
shown
below.
Dwarf II timelapse of full Moon
The
app
provides
a
searchable
catalog
of
target
objects.
The
app
will
let
you
know
if
an
object
is
unavailable
for
imaging,
such
as
below
the
horizon
line.
Still,
it
would
be
nice
to
have
the
option
of
having
targets
sorted
according
to
peak
availability.
Thankfully,
the
catalog
lists
prospective
target
objects
by
category,
such
as
nebulae,
galaxies,
star
clusters,
planets,
etc.
A cautionary note about imaging planets. Observations of objects like Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, while possible, don’t yield the best results (it’s still worth it, though; I managed to resolve Jupiter’s larger moons, which was pretty cool). Dwarf II is primarily intended to image the Moon, Sun, and deep space objects, in addition to non-astronomical daytime viewing (that said, I used Dwarf II to capture some really cool shots of the Moon during daylight hours).
I had an absolute hoot using Dwarf II to take photos and time-lapses of the Moon. The images were crisp and breathtaking, capturing details not visible to the human eye. It took some time and patience to get the settings just right, but it was worth it.
M42 the Great Nebula in Orion, as imaged by Dwarf 2 and with no external editing. Image: George Dvorsky
The app’s auto star tracking and stacking features enable long-exposure photography of deep sky objects, allowing for the instant creation of celestial images, including galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters. This robotic technology simplifies what is typically a demanding, complex, and often frustrating aspect of astrophotography. Indeed, the automation provided by Dwarf II and other smart telescopes is finally transforming astrophotography into a more accessible hobby. The telescope is good for objects larger than 15 arc minutes in size and with magnitudes below 9, making it ideal for capturing large and reasonably bright objects, such as the Pinwheel Galaxy, Orion Nebula, and Andromeda.
That said, Dwarf 2 is still fine for imaging smaller and dimmer objects, owing to its impressive focal lengths: 675 mm for telephoto and 48 mm for wide-angle. Its solar filters (available with the Deluxe version) allow for the safe imaging of the Sun, including sunspots and solar eclipses.
The M50 star cluster features a deep, dark background and sharp stars, as imaged by Dwarf 2 and with no external editing. Image: George Dvorsky
Dwarf II supports a maximum of 15-second exposures and automatically stacks up to 999 shots in real-time—traditionally a manual process that requires third-party imaging software. As a result, I could watch my observations improve through long exposures for instant gratification.
While shooting, I adjusted the “curve” settings to tweak the colors of the RGB channels to bring out the finer details of objects and to darken the blackness of space. The curves feature works as a built-in image editor, allowing me to save my tweaked images on the fly, which appear in my phone’s photo gallery. Dwarf II supports FITS and TIFF formats, enabling advanced users to export images to Adobe Lightroom, PixInsight editors, or in my case, GIMP.
The Cigar galaxy, with Bode’s galaxy at the top, as imaged by Dwarf 2 with no external editing. Image: George Dvorsky
Once
a
session
is
complete,
the
image
automatically
appears
in
the
app’s
album,
which
can
be
downloaded
locally
for
sharing
or
further
edits.
As
the
images
weren’t
watermarked,
I
found
it
challenging
to
identify
them
days
later
properly.
The
images
are
labeled
in
the
app
but
only
accessible
when
the
device
is
powered
and
linked.
Dwarf II supports FITS and TIFF formats, allowing more advanced users to edit their long exposures in image editing software. The image above, showing the Flame Nebula, was cropped and edited in GIMP. Image: George Dvorsky
Dwarf
II
now
features
an
enhanced
connection
system
that
simultaneously
supports
one
primary
connection
and
two
secondary
connections.
While
the
two
secondary
connections
can
only
view
the
telescope’s
activity,
the
primary
connection
has
exclusive
control
over
operating
and
directing
Dwarf
II,
which
is
fairly
standard.
Two
secondary
nodes
are
nice,
but
even
more
would
be
better.
I’m
imagining
a
bunch
of
kids
at
a
campsite,
all
wanting
to
see
the
action
on
their
smartphones.
I liked the Dwarf II, but I didn’t love it. True to its word, it does make astrophotography more accessible. Still, users lacking experience with cameras, or astrophotography in general, will have to muddle through an at-times challenging learning curve. Indeed, if terms like “exposure time,” “gain,” and “saturation” sound exotic, you’d best be prepared to learn about such things.
The astronomical images were very good, but I wouldn’t describe them as outstanding. Given the size of the telescope and its reduced focal length, that shouldn’t be a surprise.
In terms of competing offerings, Vespera’s Observation Station and the Seestar S50 are both (reasonably) affordable, compact, and powerful. Other options include Celestron’s NexStar 130SLT Computerized Telescope and the Sky-Watcher 8" Collapsible Dobsonian Telescope. For those willing to spend a bit more, Unistellar’s robotic telescopes, eQuinox 2 and Odyssey Pro, are excellent options.
Disclaimer: DWARFLAB let me keep the Dwarf II, but I retained full editorial control over this review.
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