Taking pictures with an iPhone 6S

[Haylz]

Hi all

I don't have a fancy camera for taking pictures of what I see so I have been trying to use my iPhone. I have seen in the photo competitions section some pictures taken with smartphones, but I think I am missing something as mine are rubbish! 

Any advice?

Thanks in advance.

Hayley 

[Bradderstar]

Hayley, can you show pics, just so i know what your definition of rubbish is, ive posted pics on a crappy nokia lumia manually with some patience all pics are welcome

 

 

 

[Haylz]

This was a picture of the moon through my 20 mm lens. To my eye it was crystal clear and perfectly focused... On my picture, not so much!

Hayley 

[wimvb]

Have a look here:

 

[Bradderstar]

when did you take this? It does appears small and out of focus, these pics where taken last thursday 20mm and 10mm, you can buy phone holders from amazon ranging from about 10 quid upwards, im only a new to this myself but the slightest vibrations will ruin the pic, i had to hold my phone at a slight angle to the eyepiece to get these pics 

[Haylz]

Last week some time, I don't remember the day. I'll try holding my phone at an angle and investing in a phone holder. It seems you can get some awesome pics! Hopefully tonight will be clear and I can try again. 

Thank you both for your help

Hayley 

[Peter Drew]

Lots of our visitors attempt to photograph the Moon and planets with their phones, some get really good results and others almost nothing. Difficult to hold the camera in the right place and it needs to have a suitable exposure. A fair bit of luck is also required, a phone holder would make things easier. 

[Ger]

I have had some success with my Samsung phone to take pictures and I posted some recently..below are some examples . I used my 10mm and my Barlow, a little patience and many attempts.. 

[Dust Cap]

I managed to capture some of these by manually holding up an Iphone 6 through various 10 & 25mm eyepieces with a red filter during the blood moon last year. Some were way too bright and funny shapes (I've attached one that's really bright if that looks familiar), but some I was really amazed by. Keep trying! Would love to see what you get if you do go the phone holder route.

[Bruce Leeroy]

My efforts iPhone 4s. GRS and 2 moon shadows for pic 1+2 pic 3 is a panorama letting the moon drift through the view..I think my jupiter images would have been improved using a moon filter at the eyepiece. Good luck, and I recommend using a remote shutter.

[Galen Gilmore]

As others have said, try getting a phone adapter. I'm not sure how big the iPhone 6s is so I can't recommend one specifically, but if it's about as big as a normal iPhone 6 than the Carson universal is a good choice.

Also the iPhone camera isn't good with the automatic ISO and exposure settings, so a photography app such as night cap pro would help a lot.

[Haylz]

Hi again 

I ordered a phone holder and managed to get these pictures of the moon and Jupiter with its moons. I found the normal camera app wasn't too bad but it took a few tries and a bit of luck! 

My biggest issue is keeping the telescope steady, it seems to be wobbling around a lot so most pictures were blurry. 

@Bruce Leeroy Which lenses/telescope did you use to get those images of Jupiter? Also, did you crop or zoom in on those images? I can't seem to get mine like that at all. 

Hayley 

 

[Charic]

I have a couple of images in my gallery taken with an Android, and I think their better than the Nikon shots.
They / I still need a bit more effort, but my scope is not the most suitable for imaging. 

Your latest image is a big improvement, and I laughed with you, on your first attempt, but your not alone, its not just a matter of point and shoot!

Enjoy the process. 

[Art Gecko]

Your 2 best friends in iPhone imaging are your phone holder (digiscoping adaptor) which vary in price and a blue tooth shutter release, which you can pick up for about £2 on eBay... that will help with the wobbly telescope.

choose the right eye piece! By that I mean one with a lens roughly the same size as the camera lens on the phone or very slightly bigger... try a few and see which one works best... the aim is to get as much of your target on screen as possible and as little of the black ring around the edges.

the native camera app isn't too bad for video capturing (remember you can take video and screen shot certain frames to avoid wobbly shots... or stack them to bring out detail in planets) procam 4 is also good for planetary shots and also has DSLR style controls but if you want to try long exposures on DSO's like Orion Nebula, night cap pro is much better!! These apps are not free though if you want all the features.

Hth, Art

[mysteriousnights]

On 4/10/2017 at 18:46, Haylz said:

Hi all

I don't have a fancy camera for taking pictures of what I see so I have been trying to use my iPhone. I have seen in the photo competitions section some pictures taken with smartphones, but I think I am missing something as mine are rubbish! 

Any advice?

Thanks in advance.

Hayley 

hi hayley i was just looking at your post and noticed you dont have a "fancy camera" there are two things i can offer advice on that may or may not help 

firstly when you set up your scope do you leave it outside for atleast 30 mins for it to adapt to temp? i.e when it is inside it will gain room temp. this can cause vibrations when viewing is a thermal term that many dont realise it would be like putting red wine in a fridge or drinking white wine at room temp it simply will affect the result.

secondly again this may seem silly but is your mount steady enough? and how are you getting exposure to take the pic? are you touching the phone itself because based on wind factor or air factor and touch you will be surprised at how much movement this causes.

im not saying i am right im saying something that i havent seen mentioned yet and possibly offering info you may or may not know.

[Galen Gilmore]

On 4/12/2017 at 02:48, Art Gecko said:

Your 2 best friends in iPhone imaging are your phone holder (digiscoping adaptor) which vary in price and a blue tooth shutter release, which you can pick up for about £2 on eBay... that will help with the wobbly telescope.

choose the right eye piece! By that I mean one with a lens roughly the same size as the camera lens on the phone or very slightly bigger... try a few and see which one works best... the aim is to get as much of your target on screen as possible and as little of the black ring around the edges.

the native camera app isn't too bad for video capturing (remember you can take video and screen shot certain frames to avoid wobbly shots... or stack them to bring out detail in planets) procam 4 is also good for planetary shots and also has DSLR style controls but if you want to try long exposures on DSO's like Orion Nebula, night cap pro is much better!! These apps are not free though if you want all the features.

Hth, Art

About the blue tooth shutter release, you don't need to get one with an iPhone. Because the volume buttons on earbuds act as a shutter release when plugged in. 

Of course if you don't want the wires all tangled up then go for the blue tooth.

[Art Gecko]

On 14/04/2017 at 22:26, Galen Gilmore said:

About the blue tooth shutter release, you don't need to get one with an iPhone. Because the volume buttons on earbuds act as a shutter release when plugged in. 

Of course if you don't want the wires all tangled up then go for the blue tooth.

I use blue tooth because it cuts down on vibrations. Also I like to use the interval timer on nightcap pro and don't want wires dangling from the phone while I'm nice and warm in the house... but the volume buttons would do nicely if you don't have the blue tooth option.