Building upon the success of the DwarfLab Dwarf II, the Dwarf 3 is a bit larger and offers state-of-the-art hardware upgrades, which include optics, sensors and increased processing power. Promoted as "the world's most portable observatory," it remains the physically smallest and lightest smart telescope available. Its refractor optical design features an apochromatic telephoto lens with a periscope mechanism, a 35 mm aperture, 150 mm focal length and an f/4.3 focal ratio. The wide lens aperture is 3.4 mm and its focal length is 6.7 mm.
Automatic setup simplifies astrophotography of the Milky Way, galaxies, nebulae, Sun and Moon. The dual color cameras accommodate exposure times of up to 60 seconds. Shooting modes include Photo, Video Astro, Pano, Burst and Timelapse. The 35 mm telephoto lens gathers double the light of the Dwarf II and the Sony IMX678 STARVIS 2 sensor has 2 mm pixels, which is a size increase of more than 90%. Four image formats are supported: PNG, JPG, FITS and TIFF. 128 GB of eMMC storage is included.
EQ (equatorial) mode is recommended for exposure times 15 seconds and longer to prevent field rotation, which is rotation of objects around the field of view center point while tracking. By tilting the Dwarf 3 and following a calibration sequence, the alt-azimuth mount is effectively converted into an equatorial mount that compensates for the earth's rotation.
Your smart device functions as both the eyepiece and the telescope's control center. Images are landscape-oriented with a telephoto resolution of 3840 x 2160 and a wide-angle resolution of 1920 x 1080, resulting in fields of view of 2.93° x 1.65° and 31.98° x 18.31°, respectively.
VIS, Astro and Dual-Band are three built-in filters that improve image quality. For daytime terrestrial telephoto and wide-angle photos, use the VIS filter, which covers 430-650 nm wavelengths. For telephoto astronomy and low light applications, the Astro filter encompasses infrared (430-690 nm). And the Dual-Band filter is designed to reduce city light pollution/Moonlight in the OIII (500.7 nm), Hβ (486 nm) and Hα (656.3 nm) range.
One-click shooting simplifies the process while every aspect can be precisely controlled manually. Use the Schedule Shooting feature for fully autonomous astroimaging sessions and either create a plan from scratch or select a target in the atlas. Automatic post-processing uses AI for noise reduction. AI is also used for stitching blend of scenery to create giga-pixel panoramas. A built-in Sky Atlas suggests which objects make the best targets daily.
A unique feature is called Plan and Auto Capture. You can create an astrophotography schedule and the Dwarf 3 will automatically capture images—even while you're sleeping. And background imaging will continue even if the app is minimized or closed.
At home in a variety of climates, it resists moisture and dew, and dust.
The Dwarf 3 was released in late 2024. Its battery capacity is 8 hours, it measures just 8.7 in. x 5.6 in. x 2.6 in. (125 cu. in.), and weighs only 2.9 lbs. Solar filters with a protective pouch are supplied along with a padded carrying case; a tripod is not included. Specifications are listed below.
To learn more about the DwarfLab Dwarf 3 and for upated information, visit the Dwarflab website.
Image Credit: DwarfLab
Product Overviews, which are based solely on manufacturer-supplied data, have been reviewed by the manufacturers, provide significantly more detail than Product Reviews and do not include personal opinion.