ARI’S RECOMMENDED PHOTOGRAPHY GEAR

 

I’ve always loved those incredible abstract images of distant nebulae and galaxies, but at this stage of my photography, my heart is still very much in wide-field astro-landscape photography — being out in nature, under a dark sky, combining the landscape with the universe above.

I always thought deep-sky photography would be something I’d explore later in life — perhaps when carrying cameras into the wilderness becomes a little harder and I’m happier spending my nights in the backyard, pointing a telescope towards distant galaxies.

Then this tiny thing arrived at my door. 😁

​

A big thank you to DWARFLAB for giving me the opportunity to test the DWARF Mini.

What can I say? My first impressions have blown me away.

And importantly, I don’t see it as something that replaces the astrophotography I already do.

I see it as a fantastic addition to it.

​

Think of the DWARF Mini almost like having a second camera working beside you. While I’m photographing the Milky Way, shooting panoramas, star trails or simply enjoying the night, I can set this little telescope up, align it, choose a deep-sky target and let it track and capture images, timelapses, moon, sun,  for one, two, three or even four hours. It does its thing while I do mine. 🌌📸

That, for me, is where it becomes really interesting.

It’s incredibly small and lightweight, tracking is built in, and there’s no need for the traditional collection of telescope, tracker, controller and other equipment.

​

And you can even process the results directly from your phone — including noise reduction, star removal and image adjustments. I’ve included some examples here, including experiments with starbursts.

So rather than replacing my traditional cameras and the kind of astrophotography I love, the DWARF Mini gives me another window into the universe while I’m already out there.

​

One camera capturing the landscape and Milky Way…

while the little DWARF beside me quietly collects photons from a galaxy millions of light-years away.

Now that I find pretty exciting. 😁🌌

​

​

🤔 IS THERE A DOWNSIDE?

​

Of course — nothing is perfect.

For me, the main limitation of the DWARF Mini is resolution. The final image is 1920 × 1080 — around 2 megapixels. That's absolutely fine for social media, screens and enjoying your images digitally, but it doesn't give you the large files we're used to from modern interchangeable-lens cameras. 

​

But that's a relatively small compromise when you consider how tiny, lightweight and incredibly portable this thing is — just 840 grams, with the telescope, tracking and processing essentially all built into one little package.

​

If image resolution is more important to you and you don't mind carrying something a little larger, have a look at the DWARF 3 instead. Its telephoto camera produces 3840 × 2160 images — around 8.3 megapixels — and uses a larger Sony IMX678 sensor, so it's the more serious option for image quality. 

​

For me though, the Mini's whole attraction is in the name: MINI. 😁

It's something I can throw in my bag, set up beside my normal cameras and let it quietly photograph the deep sky while I concentrate on my astro-landscapes.

​

​​

​​