DMH

@Dave scutt- Interestingly I've been playing with that too. I'm waiting for a clear night, but it looks promising. It's super simple and to the point. Will let you know

I'll buy it on your recommendation!

Hi all, I thought that maybe a useful topic to have could be recommendations for Android and iOS Camera Apps in case new people come along.

So far I have used:

Native Android - Works well but no manual controls

ProCam X Lite - I have used this to capture videos and photos, shoots RAW and seems ok. Feels a bit clunky and slow sometimes.

Toying with getting Camera FV-5!

9 hours ago, Dark Vader said:

I've no experience with Procam, but have noticed similar with Saturn on the native phone app and Camera FV-5. I may be wrong but it looks to coincide with seeing getting a bit "bouncy" and confusing the camera focus. Still looking for a solution to that one...

Andy 

Thanks Andy, good to know it's not just me! I'll try manual next time

Now it's not the middle of the night, I guess the answer is to go manual!

Hey all, I'm using ProCam from Android to capture videos, but I'm finding that during the video the subject, Saturn in this instance comes into focus and looks great, then loses focus and looks like a bright white blob. I've set it to infinity focus.

Wonder if anyone has had similar experiences?

Example: https://photos.app.goo.gl/FH3ceNtub1VfmT7B8

It focuses correctly when I tap the object but then loses it!

4 minutes ago, Nik271 said:

For a Dob or any open tube scope I would take the cap off to let the warm air escape, and in general this will take very little time, while the mirror is well protected inside the tube.

For a catadioptics I tend to leave my caps on because the front corrector plate will dew up pretty quickly just sitting outside. The colling of a closed tube scope is largely by radiation and not so much from convection, caps do not affect the speed so much.

Amazing, thank you!

13 minutes ago, Carbon Brush said:

The sensible answer depends on scope type & size. What scope are you thinking about?

6inch Dob. Edited first post in case anyone else wonders! I assumed the cooldown process was similar for most scopes!

Pretty simple one, when leaving your scope outside to cool down for viewing, do you leave caps on or off?

My understanding: off to help gases escape.

My Scope: 1200mm 6" Dob

Cheers,

Daniel

Very cool

That looks like the milky way to me!

This is my favourite app/software! Thank you

I'm loving how close these are, very awesome. Thanks for sharing

Wow that is super close! Mega impressive

This is pretty good! I'm very impressed.

Dang that is amazing Peter!

This is fantastic @Stu

40 minutes ago, Stu said:

Excellent shots @DMH

Thank you @Stu!

Just now, dweller25 said:

Great images, what scope did you use ?

Thanks @dweller25- I'm using a StellaLyra 6" Dob

Had a clear view of the full moon last night, it was extremely bright, but it was beautiful so I couldn't resist!

Harvest Moon - Single Shot processed in GIMP

Jupiter - Stacked shot using 3 X 20 second videos and processed in GIMP

All taken with a 1200mm f/8 with a Pixel 5 attached via a cheap phone mount. Used photo delay of 3 seconds to avoid wobble (thanks @Dark Vader!!)

Daniel

This is fantastic! I love the moons in this too

Wow this is awesome!

13 minutes ago, Dark Vader said:

Tbh I tend to leave the full moon alone as a lot of the details are too washed out. There's much more visible detail during the phases and it's not so bright.

Thats a good point! So much to learn 🤣

Wow!!! That is amazing! I'm hoping to pick up a 15mm BST soon actually. I think we have a full moon due soon so looking forward to seeing some more of your snaps!

Thanks! I'm using a StellaLyra 6" Dob

8 minutes ago, Dark Vader said:

From the first photo I'd say your alignment is almost there. If it were me I'd move it just a touch closer so the round area almost touches the sides. As well as maximising the FOV,  I've found this helps with light intrusion (orange streetlights?) 

Something else I've done is to use a bit of phone zoom, say 2x, and if possible set the phone's focus at infinity. Hope it helps.

Andy

 

Thanks Andy! That makes sense, I'm using a 25mm EP which gives me that view without any zoom on the phone so I'll have to do some phone zoom to increase the size. I've just found infinity focus on the procam Android app so I'll try that. Thanks for the advice.