Good instruction on the solar finder

Good information

Now I am really debating about buying it or not. More leaning to not now. You are right people would want it to just work and this seems like it has too many moving parts to fail.

I am a complete novice to solar or telescopic photography. Saw the unit early on kickstarter. I purchased the basic version with the optional solar filter. Package arrived 4/5, opened an NO instructions, or schematics. No setup instructions except on the app. Your review has been helpful, didn't see the thin plastic sheet over the lens, ( of course with no instructions, I had to guess that was the lens). It may be obvious to some, but the actual placement and activation of my phone has been guess work also. For instance both your camera app and the gravity app need to be turned on. I had to use double sided tape to attach hestia to my tripod. Very sorry I purchased this unit.

Great info, thank you! I also have a Samsung and was worried about the negative reviews about the App for androids

I didn't buy the tripod but my tripod has a 1/4" screw. So i'm needing to get a 3/8 16 thread. Thanks!

Thank you for the review. I did not buy the Eclipse Edition, but instead ordered the Basic version with the Solar Filter as an add-on and no tripod (I still need a tripod). I have yet to receive my order, but the tracking shows that it is almost here. I am disappointed that there is no lens cap. I consider that to be a significant omission. I am also disappointed with the rubber sleeve that they added to the cell phone side. Rubber decomposes with time, and becomes brittle, so I expect the sleeve to fall apart. There should be some kind of cap we could put over that end as well. It might be useful to put a 1.25 inch UV Daylight filter over the objective lens and the try putting one of your lens caps over that. I don't know if stacking filters over the objective would impinge upon the field of view. It may also be that the Hestia carrying case may not have room for an installed filter. The fit in the carrying case may be the reason why a lens cap was omitted. The fact that my Hestia won't have a carrying case is something I will lament. I think Vaonis instead included a carrying bag. Thank you for the info on the Galaxy S10 camera Pro mode. I did not know that existed. I have a S10e, and tried it out and was thrilled with all the manual adjustments we can make. I will definitely give that a try when I use the Hestia!

Thank you for the review. Would this make a good telescope for a beginner to use after the eclipse to view the sun and night skies? Thank you.

You don’t need to get a single dot of light on your hand to use the finder. Just look at the inside on the black plastic to see where the dot of light is and you can easily guide it to where it’s over that bottom hole

Great video! Would love to hear your story with this great "hobby"! I'm 41, and wish I'd gotten into this earlier, the skies would've been so much better! I don't mean to ask how old you are, but in 1969 I'm sure America, and most of the world would've been in astro fever! I'm from India, Kerala, polaris at 10.52 by the way. My dad, born in 1950, still remembers hearing the moon landing news live on the radio! And he just recently look through a telescope at the moon, shown by his son, moi! It's shocking how many people have never had the chance to look through a telescope! i would love to talk with you, maybe we can make it a podcast kinda episode!

Hello Greg, It's François from Paris (France). I found your video very interesting and very informative. I should receive my Hestia in 1-2 months (shipments to the USA are priority due to the solar eclipse visible from North America). I have an important question. I saw that you had added another filter to the Hestia (I was able to read on the side "... Filter 13% T Korea") on which you attached the Vaonis/Hestia solar filter. Does this mean that we can put filters from other brands on the Hestia? If so, what size filter can we use? Also, can we put a CLS (city light suppression) filter? This would be very important to me because I live near a big city and there is a lot of light pollution. Thank you for your answers and your time.

I Just Cant See The Justification..Ill Stick To Telescopes

i wasnt keen... needed to buy a newer phone for starters... and the suggested a top line apple to get the best.. and for me persoanlly that was a deal breaker... i dont like apple products, over priced and over hyped... so went with seestar s50 and boy thats blown my mind