My first attempts at Saturn!

[DaveTp]

That bracket (posted above) is very similar if not identical to the one that I use. I bought a couple of brackets form eBay and this one was definitely better because it clamped to the eyepiece body (definitely recommend for phone).

The other one I trialed gripped the top edge of the eyepiece but I found that it would droop and potentially fall away from the eyepiece (not good).

Great tip by Bengrant76
 

[Shera]

On 20/06/2017 at 21:38, Bengrant76 said:

Its just called "Open Camera" and is available on the play store. you can do stuff like set a delay timer, set voice activated exposures (to avoid accidental movement) set the ISO. The right hand image is just the left one processed using the wavelet function in Registax. I tried the same with my saturn image but just couldnt coax any detail out!

 

I've installed Open Camera...was your Jupiter image from a photo or a video? What settings do you have it on and have you tried it for just pointing at more deep space objects (the reason I ask is the book I have says this is possible?!)? 

[Shera]

The camera on my Samsung phone is worse than the iPhone 6 even with Open Camera! I tried getting Jupiter last night and there was no definition at all so back to the iPhone!

[Bengrant76]

9 hours ago, Shera said:

The camera on my Samsung phone is worse than the iPhone 6 even with Open Camera! I tried getting Jupiter last night and there was no definition at all so back to the iPhone!

Hi there sorry i missed your other message. My Jupiter was done using video. I didnt play around with my settings that much, as it was a first attempt. just checked the settings i used and they were basically all default except for the time delay.  When i took that image Jupiter was much higher in the sky than it was last night! It was also much darker too so maybe that was the problem last night?

there is an exposure compensation function in open camera (which i think equates to ISO) which may be the key to unlocking better images. i was going to experiment with that last night, but the cloud didnt clear!

I did try it on the orion nebula earlier in the year.. wasnt particularly impressed with the result!  but then, i didnt really know what i was doing then!  I will definatley have another go ast some DSOs when its darker out there, and i know a bit more about processing.

[Shera]

16 minutes ago, Bengrant76 said:

Hi there sorry i missed your other message. My Jupiter was done using video. I didnt play around with my settings that much, as it was a first attempt. just checked the settings i used and they were basically all default except for the time delay.  When i took that image Jupiter was much higher in the sky than it was last night! It was also much darker too so maybe that was the problem last night?

there is an exposure compensation function in open camera (which i think equates to ISO) which may be the key to unlocking better images. i was going to experiment with that last night, but the cloud didnt clear!

I did try it on the orion nebula earlier in the year.. wasnt particularly impressed with the result!  but then, i didnt really know what i was doing then!  I will definatley have another go ast some DSOs when its darker out there, and i know a bit more about processing.

How do you take images of Nebulae? Is it through a telescope or just point your phone at the sky?

[Bengrant76]

Through the scope, using a low power. I captured the trapezium and a bit of nebulosity with some single shots. unfortanately i didnt keep the images as i didnt think they were that good, they werent very well focussed..

 

[Shera]

On 26/06/2017 at 19:18, Bengrant76 said:

Through the scope, using a low power. I captured the trapezium and a bit of nebulosity with some single shots. unfortanately i didnt keep the images as i didnt think they were that good, they werent very well focussed..

 

Thanks. I had decided to stick to the iPhone and I have bought a bracket to fix to my telescope. I was messing about with an image I captured of Jupiter which I did before I tried Saturn and you said you used to wavelet function to make your image clearer...which part of the function did you use? My image looks a lot like your image before you used the wavelet function and I've tried the gamma and automatic r/g/b function which has made it a bit better but nothing like yours!

[Art Gecko]

On 26/06/2017 at 18:52, Shera said:

How do you take images of Nebulae? Is it through a telescope or just point your phone at the sky?

I wouldn't bother trying for Nebulae through your iPhone... I used to try it and it's ridiculously hard! Best I ever managed was a fuzzy image of M51 and a fairly dim Orion Nebula... Top tips for phone images would be 1: Get the phone bracket for the telescope (holding your phone is just too awkward) 2: Use a bluetooth shutter release (or headphones volume buttons if you have them) 3: Pick your eyepiece carefully, a widefield EP is good for viewing but your phone camera won't be using the whole viewing field, use an eyepiece with an appeture roughly the same as the camera 4: For planetary imaging, your stock video capture app will probably be fine, but if you do go after nebulae, you'll need more control over the exposure settings, Nightcap Pro is a good app for this..... And finally, if you really get the bug... Upgrade to DSLR! it's much better!

[Bengrant76]

On 7/3/2017 at 22:25, Shera said:

Thanks. I had decided to stick to the iPhone and I have bought a bracket to fix to my telescope. I was messing about with an image I captured of Jupiter which I did before I tried Saturn and you said you used to wavelet function to make your image clearer...which part of the function did you use? My image looks a lot like your image before you used the wavelet function and I've tried the gamma and automatic r/g/b function which has made it a bit better but nothing like yours!

Hi There

I've been away on holiday hence the delyed reply.

i followed this tutorial by wwgeb on youtube: (he also does a tutorial for the controls on the right hand side and its well worth trying both)

 

[Shera]

On 28/07/2017 at 18:34, Bengrant76 said:

Hi There

I've been away on holiday hence the delyed reply.

i followed this tutorial by wwgeb on youtube: (he also does a tutorial for the controls on the right hand side and its well worth trying both)

 

Thanks, I'll have a look!