Smartphone picture advice

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Hi all,

I am not really into to much of the imaging side but like to take the odd pic here and there with my phone. I literally just try to line my Sony Xperia up to the focuser and take the shot. Nothing to technical about that  🙂 attached is a couple of shots of the moon,  Jupiter and Venus I took.  

When lining my phone up to the focuser I  often get a red light flicker on my screen of the phone which I assume is the camera and eye piece optics being at odds with each other. Some times I can tilt the phone enough to get a clear shot at the target but most of the time my phone and scope do not want to play together 🙂

Is there a setting or something on the phone which would eliminate this?  and what would be the best settings on a smartphone to try and take the best possible pics.

 

Thanks all

 

Baz

[johninderby]

Best thing you can do is get a smartphone adapter like this. Makes it so much easier to take photos as you are not messing about trying to align the phone with the eyepiece. I like this particular type as I’ve tried a few and find this the easiest to set up.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gosky-Binocular-Spotting-Smartphone-Adapter/dp/B075N8J438/ref=sr_1_22?keywords=smartphone+telescope+adapter&qid=1579774671&sr=8-22

Couple of smartphone shots just using standard settings.and setting focus to infinity.

 

Edited January 23, 2020 by johninderby

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Thanks for the Link John, I will be investing in one of them come pay day! My Asto gear list keeps getting bigger!

 

Nice shots of the moon, Its impressive what you can achieve with just a smartphone.

 

Baz

[johninderby]

The same smartphone holder can be picked up much cheaper on eBay if you don’t mind waiting a couple of weeks for it to arrive from China.

[Barry-W-Fenner]

1 hour ago, johninderby said:

The same smartphone holder can be picked up much cheaper on eBay if you don’t mind waiting a couple of weeks for it to arrive from China.

I am up for that, its not an urgent item so I dont mind waiting to save a buck.

Thanks John, Ebay here I come.

Baz

[Barry-W-Fenner]

4 hours ago, johninderby said:

The same smartphone holder can be picked up much cheaper on eBay if you don’t mind waiting a couple of weeks for it to arrive from China.

All purchased for a whopping £3.39 🙂 Now time to wait.

Thanks again John

[Frank the Troll]

I've tried the cheap ones, IMO their not worth bothering with

I have one of these, they are well worth it mine came with a scope I brought

Celestron NexYZ Phone Scope Adapter

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Celestron-NexYZ-Phone-Scope-Adapter/dp/B07D7V3B8M/ref=asc_df_B07D7V3B8M/?tag=bingshoppinga-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=&hvpos=&hvnetw=o&hvrand=&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584070139104123&psc=1

 

[johninderby]

Had a couple of the expensive ones but wasn’t that impressed. The cheap replacement was so much easier to adjust and just plain worked better.

Edited January 24, 2020 by johninderby

[Barry-W-Fenner]

41 minutes ago, Frank the Troll said:

I've tried the cheap ones, IMO their not worth bothering with

I have one of these, they are well worth it mine came with a scope I brought

Celestron NexYZ Phone Scope Adapter

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Celestron-NexYZ-Phone-Scope-Adapter/dp/B07D7V3B8M/ref=asc_df_B07D7V3B8M/?tag=bingshoppinga-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=&hvpos=&hvnetw=o&hvrand=&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584070139104123&psc=1

 

I will give the cheapie a go and see how I get on, I'm not a huge taker of pics anyway. Just nice to get an image now and then. If it's naff it's no bother at 3.39. 😊

Cheers all

 

Baz

[johninderby]

Most of the cheap ones are indeed rubbish but the one I linked to is really good and most importantly works.  🙂

[Ciaran Meier]

I've been doing a wee bit of smartphone photography too, just to have an image or two for the log book. I think I'll go down Baz's route and try a cheapie adapter from ebay. I'm using a Samsung S7 for this. 

 

[Barry-W-Fenner]

1 hour ago, Ciaran Meier said:

I've been doing a wee bit of smartphone photography too, just to have an image or two for the log book. I think I'll go down Baz's route and try a cheapie adapter from ebay. I'm using a Samsung S7 for this. 

 

Nice pic! Some great detail you got there.

I think the cheap route is a good option as advised by John. I'm looking forward to seeing if I can get some decent/focused shots of the planets with this adapter 👍

Baz