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Imaging With Phones & Tablets

Discussion in 'Astrophotography and Imaging' started by Bomber Bob, Sep 9, 2015.

Imaging With Phones & Tablets

Started by Bomber Bob on Sep 9, 2015 at 3:07 PM

9 Replies 2295 Views 0 Likes

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  1. Bomber Bob

    Bomber Bob Well-Known Member

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    Bomber Bob, Sep 9, 2015
    #1
    I have two digital imagers, and I'm happy with their capabilities, but I don't like hauling all the other gear out to capture video for processing. I've tried snapping images with my phone, but these were not satisfactory on anything but the Moon. My Droid tablet has a 6MP camera. Have any of you used your phone or tablet to make astro-videos at the eyepiece? Did you get decent results? If so, what's your technique?
     
  2. gustavo_sanchez

    gustavo_sanchez Active Member

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    gustavo_sanchez, Sep 10, 2015
    #2
    Not videos, just images like you. I took this with a Nokia Lumia 1520 phone, using a Celestron Omni XLT 120 refractor and a Vixen NPL eyepiece for afocal imaging. Resized for posting since the original is almost 20MP.
    moon.jpg
     
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2015
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  3. Bomber Bob

    Bomber Bob Well-Known Member

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    Bomber Bob, Sep 10, 2015
    #3
    ^^^ That is a beautiful Eye-Opener! ^^^
     
  4. StaringAtStars

    StaringAtStars Administrator

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    StaringAtStars, Sep 11, 2015
    #4
    *Jaw Drop*
    @gustavo_sanchez I am amazed at how great that photo is.

    I may have to try this myself. I always thought taking a photo with most phones would result in some horrific quality.
     
  5. gustavo_sanchez

    gustavo_sanchez Active Member

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    gustavo_sanchez, Sep 11, 2015
    #5
    @StaringAtStars thanks! I just take several images with phone camera set to manual focus, and set the shutter speed and ISO setting manually. Many phones just overexpose the moon due to the black sky, but my phone has manual camera settings like a DSLR. Also, the picture was taken holding the phone by hand to the Plossl eyepiece, since the phone camera features OIS (optical image stabilization). Good hardware helps, but luck helps even more!
     
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  6. StaringAtStars

    StaringAtStars Administrator

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    StaringAtStars, Sep 11, 2015
    #6
    This is a new thing for me and sounds more convenient than taking my camera and a scope. Now I just bring the scope lol.
    Thanks for the info @gustavo_sanchez.
     
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  7. StaringAtStars

    StaringAtStars Administrator

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    StaringAtStars, Sep 26, 2015
    #7
    IMG_20150926_222643.jpg

    So I decided to try this out tonight. Came out better than I thought it would. I will try this out more often.
     
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  8. Robert Clark

    Robert Clark Well-Known Member

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    Robert Clark, Sep 28, 2015
    #8
    I've done a couple of Saturn and the moon. I'll post them shortly. I deleted them on phone, but backed it up on Google+. Those two are the only things I've had success with. Jupiters brightness obscures any detail.
     
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  9. CosmicMachinist

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    CosmicMachinist, Jun 9, 2016
    #9
    There is a user on Instagram who goes by the name of Failedprotostar. He does lots of planetary and some DSO afocal imaging with his iPhone. Its pretty impresive for just a phone. I beleive he uses an unguided alt/az mount as well.

    https://www.instagram.com/failedprotostar/
     
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  10. bventrudo

    bventrudo Staff

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    bventrudo, Jun 9, 2016
    #10

    The "Failed Protostar" on Instagram and Twitter is Andrew Symes from Ottawa, Canada. He does good with with an 8" Celestron Nexstar (as I recall). He has more good stuff at his Flickr page:

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/41133015@N00/

    I think he uses mostly an iPhone.
     

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