Mobile phone imaging through eyepiece

[jadcx]

Hi

I feel as though I see a steady stream of images along the lines of “I just held my phone up to the eyepiece”.  Now either I’m absolutely missing something (which is definitely possible) or there is considerably more luck/effort in those images than inferred.

I have an iPhone, and seem to have two significant problems using it to grab any kind of useful image. And no, I’m not expecting it to rival a dedicated imaging rig. Firstly, alignment is very difficult. And secondly, focus seems to be impossible. I have one of the Celestron NexYZ phone mounts, which is less steady than I expected but I can eventually get the camera aligned with the eyepiece. But I’ve never managed to get focus. I’ve tried the default camera app as well a dedicated one with more manual control. I’m failing.

Overall this is not a significant impediment to my observing.  But it would be great to be able to get some reference shots to go with my observing notes. Does anyone have any tips?

Edited May 3, 2020 by jadcx
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[Robindonne]

Try tapping the screen? Dont know with iphones through a scope but i do spmetimes need to image in between ceilings for my work.  Tapping the screen helps me

[jadcx]

2 minutes ago, Robindonne said:

Try tapping the screen? Dont know with iphones through a scope but i do spmetimes need to image in between ceilings for my work.  Tapping the screen helps me

That was what I started with - it seemed like an obvious thing to try but it didn’t work.  Maybe I have the spacing wrong?