Astrophotographers, behold! The new Vaonis Vespera—the world’s lightest “smart telescope”—has landed at Lensrentals, and this backpack-sized, 11-lb. space-observation station combines ease of use with reliable results. It’s everything you need to start taking shots of anything you can see in the night sky (and some things you can’t).

Initial setup is very simple, as it’s all controlled through Vaonis’s Singularity app. After about ten minutes of setup and configuration, the app presents you with a menu that allows you to target a specific point of interest, such as galaxies, nebulae, and the like.

Vaonis claims the Vespera has a 4-hour battery life, but I used it for 3 hours and still had 65% battery life remaining, so their estimate seems to be on the conservative side. I used the Plan My Night feature, which allowed me to queue specific regions I wanted to observe, and let the app do the rest for me.

I have high praise for the Vaonis Vespera’s stacking capability, and the almost live view you get while the images are being processed. Image stacking with other telescopes can take many hours—even days, depending on your setup—but the Vespera had the files ready to edit within ten minutes of my finishing an observation. The Vespera can produce JPEG, RAW, and TIFF files, allowing for more control over the editing process.

Not everything is perfect with this telescope, though. Image quality is an integral part of astrophotography, and while the Vespera produces great images, those images lack resolution. An Expert Mode in the Singularity app gives you expanded control over the camera system, but I personally didn’t find too much of a difference in final image quality. The built-in Sony sensor and quadruple 50mm lens system are very good, but I’m not sure they would satisfy the needs of a professional photographer.

If you’re looking for a simple, easy way to explore the cosmos, the Vespera is for you; however, if you’re a professional, or are looking for James Webb Space Telescope level photos, you’ll probably want to look elsewhere.

Pros: Compact form, reliable image processing, excellent tracking system
Cons: Image quality is not the best, autofocus system can be finicky.

February 2023