ZWO SeeStar S30

ZWO SEESTAR S30

The ultimate travel scope — bottle-sized, featherweight, and shockingly good on wide-field targets.

Deep Sky

DEEP SKY

Galaxies, nebulas, star clusters, and deep space objects

Solar System

SOLAR SYSTEM

Sun, Moon, planets, and solar system objects

The ZWO SeeStar S30 Pro is the most portable serious astrophotography instrument ever made. At the size of a large Yeti bottle and weighing next to nothing, it fits in a carry-on, a day pack, or the corner of any bag. The 30mm aperture and wider field of view are ideal for large emission nebulas, sweeping star fields, and grand mosaic projects spanning degrees of sky. The same intelligent stacking engine, plan mode, and app experience as the S50 — in a package you'll actually have with you.

Specifications

Aperture30mm f/5
Focal Length150mm
SensorSony IMX462 (color)
Field of View2.8° × 2.1°
Weight1.35 kg
FilterBuilt-in dual-band (Ha/OIII)
PowerUSB-C, 5V/2A
ConnectivityWiFi (AP & Station mode)
FeaturesBuilt-in dew heater, EQ mode, mosaic, plan mode

Pricing

New

~$299 USD (S30 Pro)

Used

~$200–$260 USD

Pros & Cons

✓ Pros

  • +Best in class for large deep sky objects — the wide FOV is a superpower for big nebulas
  • +Mosaic mode spans enormous swaths of sky in a single session
  • +Plan mode enables fully unattended overnight imaging sessions
  • +Very capable on the Sun and Moon — great solar detail
  • +Excellent terrestrial photography, including auto-tracking video
  • +Exceptional price point — the most accessible serious smart scope available
  • +Most portable smart telescope made — the size and weight of a large Yeti bottle
  • +EQ mode for improved tracking on long exposures
  • +WiFi Station mode for comfortable indoor control
  • +Excellent sky atlas with a polished, intuitive graphical interface for finding objects
  • +Good integrated stacking solution right in the app

✗ Cons

  • −The S30 (non-Pro) is not worth the money — get the S30 Pro
  • −The wide field of view means you run out of good targets to image sooner
  • −Milky Way / wide sky mode does not work reliably yet — ZWO is reportedly fixing this
  • −WiFi Station mode can be finicky and occasionally drops connection
  • −Not usable for planets — focal length too short for planetary detail