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WHAT SMARTPHONE ADAPTER DO YOU USE TO MOUNT YOUR PHONE ONTO A PHOTOGRAPHIC TRIPOD?


paulastro

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Just to be clear, I'm NOT talking about mounting a smartphone onto a telescope, but directly onto a standard photographic tripod.

I searched on Amazon and there were numerous adapters available, but of course the reviews were not that helpful.  For every good review for an adapter there is another which contradicts it!

If you have a specific one you have used, particularly for astro imaging, and found  it to be particularly good, I'd love to hear about it.  You could save me a lot of time, and possibly my sanity 😊.

Many thanks Paul

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Poundland have done spring loaded clamps that fit onto a mini tripod. 

The mini tripods are pathetic, but the thread used to mate with the clamp is a standard 1/4" thread that should fit a standard camera tripod head

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Can highly recommend this one. Very solid all metal. Holds iPad or Smartphone. You just have to position the lens to the side of upright.Although they say it’s  for an iPad also fits most phones as long as long they are 5.4” tall.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Compatible-iPad,Aluminum-Adapter-Microsoft-Universal/dp/B08PZ9PPGS/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1ZWZHQ20SHUON&keywords=arnarkok&qid=1643232328&sprefix=arnarkok%2Caps%2C82&sr=8-5

Edited by johninderby
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1 hour ago, Gfamily said:

Poundland have done spring loaded clamps that fit onto a mini tripod. 

The mini tripods are pathetic, but the thread used to mate with the clamp is a standard 1/4" thread that should fit a standard camera tripod head

Thanks for that.  I've looked at it myself in Poundland, but couldn't decide if the tripod was removable, couldn't open it as the box was sealed. The only thing is it costs £4 ( in Pound land!? )  Not a lot, but on Amazon there are loads for £8-9 which look a lot better.  Thanks anyway.

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1 hour ago, powerlord said:

they are all basically the same - a springy clamp, and a thread to attach to the tripod. it's a generic enough thing that you just need to buy the cheapest. they are only about 2 quid.

Thank you.  I wouldn't buy the cheapest, my phone is worth more than £2  😊.  Actually, on Amazon I came across some that don't have a spring clamp, but have a 'screw down' device to hold the phone in place.  

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I went through cheap ones and ended up with the one linked to. Not so cheap but clamps an iPad or phone absolutely securely. Set the height of the clamp to just slightly more than the phone and lock the height then use the screwdown clamp on the top to lock the phone in place. 

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5 minutes ago, johninderby said:

I went through cheap ones and ended up with the one linked to. Not so cheap but clamps an iPad or phone absolutely securely. Set the height of the clamp to just slightly more than the phone and lock the height then use the screwdown clamp on the top to lock the phone in place. 

Many thanks John, it certainly looks robust enough. 

Probably a silly question, but can you use it with your phone in landscape mode?   I was going to use it on a tripod without a head, so if I want to use it in landscape mode, it would have to hold the phone on its side, which is obviously less than 5.4 inches.

Mind you, I do have a Ball - Head I could use which would probably do the trick?

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You'll also want probably a bt remote, and deepskycamera if on android.

Focus is the hardest bit, but then for wide field they can be very good. They have mentally small pixels - e. G. The s21 has 108mp camera!! But pixels are 0.8um. Though it can hw bin. But since they tend to stack in hardware for long exposures, you can get very nice shots with them without darks and bias.

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A big thanks to all of you who posted here, it helped me to finally decide which device to purchase.

Below is a pic of the one Amazon delivered to me today.  Its robust and works very well, though I'm sure there are many others that would work just as well. It cost £16.95, rather a lot but it should last me my life time - as long as I don't lose it 😊.

Thank you again.

114723204_Screenshot_20220130-184538_AmazonShopping.thumb.jpg.347441d6177a87cce7fc5549564e9b53.jpg

 

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Late to the party but this is mine.. Its a combination of an aluminium phone mount and some Smallrig bits.

20210620_161623.jpg.afde8adb3e7f7ed05100ba89cdbc5e54.jpg

As mentioned I would also get a BT remote, I am using a Zodiac one which has very low latency..

Alan

Edited by Alien 13
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