{"id":6457,"date":"2026-01-18T15:59:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T20:59:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/?p=6457"},"modified":"2026-01-18T15:59:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T20:59:36","slug":"vespera-1-ve50-vs-seestar-s50","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/2026\/01\/18\/vespera-1-ve50-vs-seestar-s50\/","title":{"rendered":"Vespera 1 (VE50) vs Seestar S50"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/3zwAS08Dxw8?si=woRj0TDGskH1h9Md\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nThis test is both very unfair, and also fair:<br \/>\nFirst, I just placed the two telescopes outside and set them to image the same three objects for the same amount of time, and I didn&#8217;t try super hard to keep the imaging area the same. Both telescopes have mosaic modes, and if I used them, I used the android app for each telescope to &#8220;eyeball&#8221; them to be about the same general size around the target.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The Vespera 1 is older than the Seestar S50 (and it cost about $1500 more than the S50 when it came out), but the imaging sensors are very similar, as are the focal length and aperture.<\/p>\n<p>On the used market, the S50 and Vespera 1 go for about the same price, so I judge them to be &#8220;equivalent offerings&#8221;, although the build quality of the Vespera is MUCH nicer.<\/p>\n<p>The S50 includes a built in Dual Band (light pollution) filter which gives it a clear advantage on the flame and rosette nebulas&#8230;.but to buy the (optional, not included in the purchase price) Vespera DB filter costs $400, and I don&#8217;t have one.<\/p>\n<p>Also, the Vespera got a good 26 minute head start on the Flame nebula as the S50 forced me to do a software update when I started it up. The S50 does this, and it is very annoying, so out of spite I just let the Vespera run because I figure if you lose 25 minutes to a software upgrade at the beginning of your night, that&#8217;s a problem that should be illustrated in a head to head shootout. [I&#8217;ve had this happen other times, such as setting up for a solar transit where it really sucked&#8230;]<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6458\" style=\"width: 586px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-Seestar-NGC-2024-flame-nebula.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6458\" class=\"size-large wp-image-6458\" src=\"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-Seestar-NGC-2024-flame-nebula-576x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-Seestar-NGC-2024-flame-nebula-576x1024.jpg 576w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-Seestar-NGC-2024-flame-nebula-169x300.jpg 169w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-Seestar-NGC-2024-flame-nebula-768x1365.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-Seestar-NGC-2024-flame-nebula-864x1536.jpg 864w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-Seestar-NGC-2024-flame-nebula.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6458\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flame Nebula as captured by the Seestar S50 (with built in DB filter)<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_6459\" style=\"width: 594px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2-Vespera-NGC-2024-flame-nebula-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6459\" class=\"size-large wp-image-6459\" src=\"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2-Vespera-NGC-2024-flame-nebula-767x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"584\" height=\"780\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2-Vespera-NGC-2024-flame-nebula-767x1024.jpg 767w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2-Vespera-NGC-2024-flame-nebula-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2-Vespera-NGC-2024-flame-nebula-768x1025.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2-Vespera-NGC-2024-flame-nebula-1151x1536.jpg 1151w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2-Vespera-NGC-2024-flame-nebula-1535x2048.jpg 1535w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2-Vespera-NGC-2024-flame-nebula-scaled.jpg 1918w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6459\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flame nebula as captured by the Vespera 1. (optional $400 DB filter NOT installed) Larger Mosasic area, including the horsehead nebula<br \/>NGC2024 (630 exp, 9.0\u00b0, 73% rh)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>It didn&#8217;t really matter, as the S50 is the clear winner on any target that needs a DB filter (unless you actually HAVE the $400 Vespera DB filter&#8230;.)<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6460\" style=\"width: 586px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5-Stacked_840_mosaic_Seestar-Rosette-NGC-2244-Satellite-Cluster-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6460\" class=\"size-large wp-image-6460\" src=\"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5-Stacked_840_mosaic_Seestar-Rosette-NGC-2244-Satellite-Cluster-576x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5-Stacked_840_mosaic_Seestar-Rosette-NGC-2244-Satellite-Cluster-576x1024.jpg 576w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5-Stacked_840_mosaic_Seestar-Rosette-NGC-2244-Satellite-Cluster-169x300.jpg 169w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5-Stacked_840_mosaic_Seestar-Rosette-NGC-2244-Satellite-Cluster-768x1365.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5-Stacked_840_mosaic_Seestar-Rosette-NGC-2244-Satellite-Cluster-864x1536.jpg 864w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5-Stacked_840_mosaic_Seestar-Rosette-NGC-2244-Satellite-Cluster-1152x2048.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5-Stacked_840_mosaic_Seestar-Rosette-NGC-2244-Satellite-Cluster-scaled.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6460\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rosette Nebula as captured by the Seestar S50 (Mosaic Mode, built in DB filter)<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_6461\" style=\"width: 594px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/6-Vespera-Rosette-NGC-2244-Satellite-Cluster-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6461\" class=\"size-large wp-image-6461\" src=\"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/6-Vespera-Rosette-NGC-2244-Satellite-Cluster-1024x975.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"584\" height=\"556\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/6-Vespera-Rosette-NGC-2244-Satellite-Cluster-1024x975.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/6-Vespera-Rosette-NGC-2244-Satellite-Cluster-300x286.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/6-Vespera-Rosette-NGC-2244-Satellite-Cluster-768x731.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/6-Vespera-Rosette-NGC-2244-Satellite-Cluster-1536x1463.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/6-Vespera-Rosette-NGC-2244-Satellite-Cluster-2048x1950.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/6-Vespera-Rosette-NGC-2244-Satellite-Cluster-315x300.jpg 315w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6461\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rosette Nebula as captured by the Vespera 1 (Mosaic Mode, $400 optional filter NOT installed)<br \/>NGC2237_44 (1051 exp, 10.6\u00b0, 72% rh)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Both telescopes don&#8217;t have enough aperture and \/ or focal length \/ magnification to do great on NGC 2419 (Intergalactic Wandere, 4.6 arcmin in size), but in my opinion the Vespera gave a slightly cleaner image.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6462\" style=\"width: 594px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/9-Seestar-NGC2419-output.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6462\" class=\"size-large wp-image-6462\" src=\"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/9-Seestar-NGC2419-output-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"584\" height=\"329\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/9-Seestar-NGC2419-output-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/9-Seestar-NGC2419-output-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/9-Seestar-NGC2419-output-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/9-Seestar-NGC2419-output-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/9-Seestar-NGC2419-output-500x281.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/9-Seestar-NGC2419-output.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6462\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">NGC 2419 as captured by the Seestar S50<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_6463\" style=\"width: 594px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/10-Vespera-NGC2419-output.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6463\" class=\"size-large wp-image-6463\" src=\"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/10-Vespera-NGC2419-output-1024x591.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"584\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/10-Vespera-NGC2419-output-1024x591.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/10-Vespera-NGC2419-output-300x173.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/10-Vespera-NGC2419-output-768x443.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/10-Vespera-NGC2419-output-1536x887.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/10-Vespera-NGC2419-output-500x289.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/10-Vespera-NGC2419-output.jpg 1871w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6463\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">NGC2419 As captured by the Vespera 1<br \/>(860 exp, 10.0\u00b0, 72% rh)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>My overall recommendation would be to get the S50 over the Vespera 1 (unless the VE50 you are looking at comes with the Vaonis DB filter).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This test is both very unfair, and also fair: First, I just placed the two telescopes outside and set them to image the same three objects for the same amount of time, and I didn&#8217;t try super hard to keep &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/2026\/01\/18\/vespera-1-ve50-vs-seestar-s50\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,2],"tags":[154,159],"class_list":["post-6457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","category-technology","tag-seestars50","tag-vespera"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6457"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6464,"href":"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6457\/revisions\/6464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.summet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}