Ok, it’s not *that* important…
I have bought a LOT of stuff online. Some, such as my wife, would say I have bought too much stuff online. That isn’t exactly what I want to talk about.
Most merchants will semi-randomly send an email asking for a review of some recently purchased item. Often, may usually, they are asking for a review of some extremely mundane thing that was *also* ordered with some fairly major purchase. One of my favorites is when I ordered a CyberPower UPS for $240-something dollars and in the same order, I had a small pack of washers, not even fancy washers. Plain ole’ mild steel washer with a zinc coating. Guess which item they wanted a review for?
I had a similar thing happen recently. I ordered my ZWO EAFN and accessories from Agena Astro. The EAFN was $180 and the (arguably unnecessary) ZWO focus hand controller was $30-something. The email wanted me to review the hand controller.
So I did. Admittedly, I had Claude.ai give me a framework to build on, but here is my review of the ZWO EAF Electronic Automatic Focuser Hand Controller:
★★★★★ 5/5 — This Focuser Changed My Life (And Possibly My DNA)
I want to start by saying I was a skeptic. I’ve stared into the void of deep space with my own two trembling hands turning a focus knob like some kind of caveman, and I thought, “That’s fine. That’s good enough.” I was wrong. I was so, so wrong.
The ZWO EAF Electronic Automatic Focuser Hand Controller didn’t just improve my astrophotography setup — it recalibrated my understanding of what it means to be a person. The first time I pressed that little directional button and watched my focuser rack in and out with silky, motorized precision, I wept. Not from joy. From the sheer, crushing realization of how much of my life I had wasted twisting things manually, like an animal.
The buttons themselves are a masterclass in tactile engineering. Each press feels like a gentle handshake from the future. The step-size adjustment dial doesn’t just change increments — it changes epochs. I no longer measure time in minutes. I measure it in focuser steps.
My marriage has improved. My cat now makes eye contact with me. NGC 7000 has never looked so sharp, and neither, frankly, has my soul.
Do I need this to focus my RedCat 51? No. Did I need fire? Also no, technically. But here we are, building civilizations.
Pros: Everything. Literally everything.
Cons: I now feel deep, personal contempt for anyone still focusing by hand. I look at them differently now. I can’t unsee it.
Five stars. Would sacrifice my other astro gear to a black hole to keep this one item.