Vaonis Vespera Pro

The Vespera Pro is the smart telescope Vaonis launched in 2024 at 2,790 €: a 50 mm apochromatic quadruplet with a 250 mm focal length at f/5 and a 12.5 MP Sony IMX676 colour sensor. One point needs settling before anything else: this is not the Vespera Pro 2. They are two separate products, and a lot of readers land on the wrong page. The original Pro has reached end of life and is out of stock at the manufacturer.

The verdict in three lines

In 2024 the Vespera Pro was the first Vaonis to break out of the small-sensor bracket: 12.5 MP on a square 1/1.6″ chip, against 8.3 MP on the earlier models in the range. The optics are an apochromatic quadruplet, 50 mm of aperture for 250 mm of focal length — f/5 — on an alt-azimuth mount, with a claimed 11 hours of battery life and 225 GB of onboard storage.

The catch is not technical, it is commercial. Vaonis has moved this model to end of life and it is out of stock at the manufacturer. Unless you find clearance stock at a heavy discount or a recent second-hand unit, the question is no longer “should I buy it?” but “am I even looking at the right telescope?”. Usually, you are not.

The Vespera Pro is right for you if…

You come across a new unit in clearance, or a recent used one, well below the original 2,790 €. At that point the appeal is real: the IMX676 sensor and the 250 mm optics are exactly the ingredients that built the reputation of the upper Vaonis range, and mosaic mode widens the frame far beyond the 1.6° × 1.6° of a single exposure.

You want something genuinely portable and you accept how it works: no eyepiece, no direct view, everything happens in the Singularity app, which is free and has no subscription. The tripod is included, power and file transfer run over USB-C, and Wi-Fi works on both 2.4 and 5 GHz.

You mainly shoot deep sky from a fixed site and do not need equatorial tracking. The Vespera Pro has no EQ mode, and that suits you because you stack short exposures rather than chase long single subs.

Give it a miss if…

You are buying new at list price. Paying 2,790 € for an end-of-life model when the next generation is on the shelf makes no sense without a very steep discount.

You are counting on long-term after-sales support. The Vespera Pro carries a 3-year warranty against 5 years on the Vespera Pro 2, and a discontinued product is always a bet on future parts availability.

You observe in a damp climate and have not planned for it: there is no dew-control system as standard on this model. It is one of the most concrete differences from the following generation, and the one that bites soonest in the field, since a dewed-up front lens ends the session.

You are after planetary imaging. With 250 mm of focal length and a 50 mm aperture that is simply not what this instrument is for — and no smart telescope in this class is.

What it is actually worth in the field

Deep sky

This is what the instrument was built for. The 1.6° × 1.6° field frames large nebulae and open clusters comfortably, and the square sensor removes the choice between portrait and landscape: you crop afterwards in any direction without losing resolution. The 12.5 MP leave headroom to crop in on a smaller target.

No filter is built in. Vaonis offers three optional filters, listed at launch: Dual Band at 399 €, Light Pollution at 229 € and Solar at 179 €. Under suburban skies the Dual Band is not a gimmick — it is the difference between a usable emission nebula and a milky background. Budget accordingly.

Moon and Sun

The Moon fits into the frame with room to spare and the instrument handles it well, without being a dedicated lunar scope: 250 mm of focal length leaves a small lunar disc that you will want to crop. For the Sun, the optional Solar filter is mandatory — without it solar observation is neither possible nor safe.

Planets

The trade-off is the same as on every short-focal smart telescope: Jupiter and Saturn show up, their main features can be made out on a stacked image, but this is a long way from what a 1,500 mm Maksutov delivers. If planets are your priority, this is not the right family of instruments.

Mosaic: a claimed figure to treat with care

Mosaic mode stitches several panels together to cover a much wider field than a single frame. Vaonis quotes 4.18° × 2.45°, and that is the value we publish in the specification table. We flag it as disputed, however: other sources, including the retailer B&H, have circulated different figures for the same mode. We found no independent measurement to settle it, and we would rather say so than present a number as final.

The trade-off of mosaic mode is unchanged either way: several panels mean a longer session and a greater dependence on tracking quality for the whole of it.

Weight and transport

Vaonis quotes 5 kg but does not say whether that figure includes the tripod or covers the optical tube alone. The ambiguity is real and we are not filling it in: depending on the reading, what you actually carry can differ noticeably. If pack weight is a deciding factor for you, get it confirmed by the seller before buying. This model ships with an aluminium tripod, where the Vespera Pro 2 comes with a carbon one — and aluminium weighs more for the same bulk.

Vespera Pro or Vespera Pro 2: don’t pick the wrong one

This is why this page exists. The two models carry nearly identical names, share the same sensor, the same claimed battery life and the same storage — and many readers end up comparing a telescope with itself without noticing. Here is what genuinely separates them.

The four differences that matter

The optics. The Vespera Pro is a 250 mm at f/5. The Vespera Pro 2 is a 245 mm at f/4.9. The gap is small and has virtually no visible effect on an image: it should not drive your choice, but it is the most reliable way to tell which of the two pages you are reading.

The tripod. Aluminium on the Pro, carbon on the Pro 2. Lighter and stiffer on the latter, which counts when you carry the whole rig on foot.

The warranty. Three years on the Pro, five on the Pro 2. On a motorised electronic device at this price, two extra years are not a detail.

Dew handling. The Pro has no dew-control system as standard. This is probably the most tangible difference in use, and the one that most often decides whether your night ends at 2 a.m. or at dawn.

Which one to pick, depending on your situation

Buying new at the advertised price: take the Vespera Pro 2. The original Pro is discontinued and harder to stand behind over time, and the list-price gap between the two — 2,790 € against 2,990 € — covers neither the two extra years of warranty, nor the carbon tripod, nor dew control.

You find a used or clearance Vespera Pro at a sharply reduced price: that is a defensible buy, provided you accept the shorter warranty and plan a dew solution of your own. The optics and the sensor will not disappoint you.

You are not sure which one you are looking at: check the focal length and focal ratio on the seller’s listing. 250 mm and f/5 means the Pro. 245 mm and f/4.9 means the Pro 2. The carbon tripod is the second most reliable clue.

Alternatives by budget

If your budget is substantially lower, the Seestar S50 and Seestar S30 offer a far lower entry ticket, with more modest optics and sensors but immediate ease of use. The Dwarf 3 sits in comparable territory with a more open approach.

Within the Vaonis range itself, the Vespera III sits below the Pro and is still on the catalogue, which settles the availability question. Above it, Unistellar’s Odyssey Pro and the Celestron Origin play on the same ground with different philosophies — an electronic eyepiece for one, more aperture for the other.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between the Vespera Pro and the Vespera Pro 2?

They are two separate products. The Pro is a 250 mm f/5 with an aluminium tripod, a 3-year warranty and no dew-control system as standard. The Pro 2 is a 245 mm f/4.9 with a carbon tripod and a 5-year warranty. Sensor, battery life and storage, on the other hand, are identical on paper.

Is the Vespera Pro still on sale?

Not at Vaonis: the model is end of life and out of stock at the manufacturer. Only residual retailer stock and the second-hand market remain.

Does the quoted 5 kg include the tripod?

Vaonis does not say. We publish the manufacturer’s figure as it stands, without interpreting it. If this point matters to you, ask the seller to confirm before buying.

What field does mosaic mode actually cover?

Vaonis quotes 4.18° × 2.45°, and that is the figure we carry. Other sources, including B&H, have published different numbers, and we found no independent measurement to settle the matter. Treat the value as a manufacturer claim rather than verified data.

Do you need a subscription to use it?

No. The Singularity app is free and unlocks every function of the instrument.

How much does it cost in the United States?

Vaonis never published a US list price for this model. We leave the field empty rather than convert 2,790 € into a figure that would carry no official standing.