Vaonis · France
Vaonis Vespera 3
A 50 mm apochromatic quadruplet with a flat field, with baffling against stray light. Large 2.9 µm photosites: it is quick, where the Pro 2 is fine.
At three-quarters on its tripod, optical head tilted
≈ €2,490
List price recorded in 2026, excluding promotions and accessories. It is not an offer. The price offered to you arrives in writing.
This device can be ordered from me. No basket and no online payment: the price, the lead time and availability arrive in writing. I have never had it in my hands. That is written further down this entry, and I am not going to tell you otherwise in order to sell it to you.
The device photographs are the manufacturers' official images. UST is an authorised reseller for all five brands. No image comes from a competing reseller.
not tested In this catalogue: no shots at all. Entry built on public sources.
0 · aucune donnée de première main
0 towards 165h · hours I have logged with this device, this is not a rating
For the image the l'Origin makes in 1h, it takes 4h 58m here.
This equivalence says nothing but speed. It says nothing about resolution, about the field, or about optical quality. f/2,2 on 152 mm and f/4,9 on 50 mm do not photograph the same objects. The calculation takes nothing but the published focal ratios, with sensor, sky and target held identical.
Rapport d'ouverture : the focal length divided by the diameter, written f/, and the smaller that number, the faster the image forms.
- Aperture
- 50 mm
- Focal length
- 245 mm
- Focal ratio
- f/4.9
- Sensor
- Sony IMX585, format 1/1.2 inch, 11.2 × 6.3 mm, 2.9 µm photosites
- Resolution
- 3,840 × 2,160 px (8.3 Mpx)
- Mount
- Motorised altazimuth
- Weight
- 5 kg
- Software
- Singularity (iOS, Android)
- Indicative price
- ≈ €2,490
Monture azimutale : it moves in altitude and in rotation, but the field turns during the night.
The device
Seen from closer up
The other images published by Vaonis for this device.
Where it excels
What it does well
The wide field with careful optics. It sees 2.5° by 1.4° at one go, where the Pro 2 sees 1.6 by 1.6: the large nebulae fit in the frame without a mosaic.
Strong points
- The cheapest of the new generation Vesperas, and the only one under €2,500.
- 2.9 µm photosites against 2 µm on the Pro 2. Vaonis quotes faster results.
- The widest native field in the Vespera range: 2.5° by 1.4°, against 1.6 by 1.6 on the Pro 2.
- Optical baffling against stray light and a field corrector, both new in this generation.
- Eleven hours of battery, a dew heater fitted as standard, and a five year warranty.
- 128 GB of storage, of which 115 are available according to the manufacturer.
Weak points
- 50 mm of aperture for about €2,490: the price is high per millimetre of diameter.
- 8.3 Mpx and 24 Mpx in mosaic, against 12.5 and 50 on the Pro 2.
- Detail resolution quoted at 2.39 arcseconds per pixel, against 1.60 on the Pro 2. The smaller the number, the better the device separates fine detail.
- Aluminium tripod, where the Pro 2 gets carbon.
- No filter in the box: the manufacturer itself writes “none” on the built-in filter line.
- Alt-azimuth mount only: no equatorial mode.
In practice
Starting out, observing, setting up
-
01
The focal ratio printed here is the one Vaonis publishes, f/4.9. The calculation on the published 50 mm and 245 mm lands on it.
-
02
Between the 3 and the Pro 2, the choice does not turn on the optics: they are identical, 50 mm at 245 mm of focal length, same quadruplet, same glass. It turns on the sensor, and so on the field and on the fineness.
-
03
Vaonis publishes two sets of fields that do not agree from one page to the next. The values printed here are those of its official comparison table, and the discrepancy is written under the diagram of the fields.
-
04
The light pollution filter, at €169, and the rucksack were included with payment when recorded on 14/09/2026. That is an offer, not the contents of the box.
Images made with this device
No images: it has not been tried
This device has never been used to make one of my images. The photographs above show the device, and they come from the manufacturer. No sky image is borrowed to fill the space. Its entry rests on the published sources, listed further down. Its integration time scale therefore stays at zero.
Temps d'intégration : the total exposure time, the sum of every exposure stacked on an object.
0 images · space left empty
I publish 10 photographs, 2 of which are of equipment. None of them appears on this entry, and that is deliberate: not one of them shows this device, and an image placed there would amount to a claim.
Getting hold of one
Order this Vespera 3
≈ €2,490
Market price recorded in 2026 from the sources cited below. It is not a selling price, and it does not constitute an offer. Your price, your lead time and availability appear in the written reply.
Say what you want to photograph, and from what sky. The answer says whether this device suits. If not, it says which one suits better. Are you looking for a second-hand one, or do you have a device to trade in? Write it in the message. The answer will be straight, including when it is no.
Sources
Where these figures come from
- Vaonis, tableau officiel de comparaison des modèles
- Vaonis, caractéristiques techniques de la nouvelle génération Vespera
- Vaonis, fiche Vespera 3
The prices are indicative and recorded in 2026. A specification wrong or out of date? Report it. The field of view and the sampling are not published here. The physical size of the sensor is not part of the project's sourced data, and those two values cannot be estimated.