Solar White Light image - 15th Jan 2023

[Stu]

The sun was really busy today, though typically quite elusive! I grabbed a couple of very short sessions in between showers and I’m glad I did, despite the fair dodgy seeing.

This is the best of a number of images taken with an iPhone 11 Pro handheld at one eyepiece of my binoviewer. Tak FC100DC plus Baader CoolWedge.

[Franklin]

Do you use a solar continuum filter or is the phone/camera in monochrome?

[Stu]

2 hours ago, Franklin said:

Do you use a solar continuum filter or is the phone/camera in monochrome?

I do use a continuum filter, then convert to mono on my phone when processing.

This is the original frame, but just the jpeg. I process the RAW images which makes quite a difference.

[Littleguy80]

Excellent image. Worthy of a StuPOD 😉

Are you processing everything directly on the phone?

[Stu]

7 hours ago, Littleguy80 said:

Excellent image. Worthy of a StuPOD 😉

Are you processing everything directly on the phone?

I had forgotten all about StuPODs, perhaps I should reinstate them? As long as I win! 😉

Yes, these are all done on the phone. I use ProCam 8 to capture (only on iPhone I think) and PS Express to process them. That’s subscription now, not cheap but I use it a lot.

[Littleguy80]

5 minutes ago, Stu said:

I had forgotten all about StuPODs, perhaps I should reinstate them? As long as I win! 😉

Yes, these are all done on the phone. I use ProCam 8 to capture (only on iPhone I think) and PS Express to process them. That’s subscription now, not cheap but I use it a lot.

I still treasure my two StuPODs  

Thank you. I fell out of the habit of using ProCam so will have to get back to using it. I often look at the PS subscriptions and wonder whether it’s worth splashing out. 

[Stu]

34 minutes ago, Littleguy80 said:

I still treasure my two StuPODs  

Thank you. I fell out of the habit of using ProCam so will have to get back to using it. I often look at the PS subscriptions and wonder whether it’s worth splashing out. 

I find ProCam really good, particularly for solar, lunar and planetary images. Nightcap and others probably better for deep sky.

Again, I find PS Express really good for the same targets as ProCam, whilst Snapseed is probably better for at least some processing on deep sky due to its curves feature.

[PeterStudz]

9 minutes ago, Stu said:

I find ProCam really good, particularly for solar, lunar and planetary images. Nightcap and others probably better for deep sky.

Again, I find PS Express really good for the same targets as ProCam, whilst Snapseed is probably better for at least some processing on deep sky due to its curves feature.

I haven’t found any major benefit from using ProCam, Nightcap or any other app over the iPhone stock camera app. Sure there can be a benefit but I don’t like fiddling about  

For extended exposures modern iPhones stack to a maximum of 30 seconds. This feature is only available via the stock camera app. For some reason apps don’t have access to it. For DSO I’ve found this really useful especially for my simple tracking on a basic EQ (I’ve been using an EQ1 + motor drive for this) or recently my EQ platform. 

If possible I’ll do as much editing as I can on the phone using the stock camera app. I think smartphone images should remain simple. Occasionally I’ll use Lightroom or Snapseed, although personally I find the Snapseed interface a little annoying!

[Stu]

14 minutes ago, PeterStudz said:

I haven’t found any major benefit from using ProCam, Nightcap or any other app over the iPhone stock camera app. Sure there can be a benefit but I don’t like fiddling about  

For extended exposures modern iPhones stack to a maximum of 30 seconds. This feature is only available via the stock camera app. For some reason apps don’t have access to it. For DSO I’ve found this really useful especially for my simple tracking on a basic EQ (I’ve been using an EQ1 + motor drive for this) or recently my EQ platform. 

If possible I’ll do as much editing as I can on the phone using the stock camera app. I think smartphone images should remain simple. Occasionally I’ll use Lightroom or Snapseed, although personally I find the Snapseed interface a little annoying!

Very true that the standard iPhone app is good for up to 30 second exposures, it works well. I do find that for the shorter exposures needed for planets, lunar and solar images, ProCam gives much better control of exposure and focus. It also saves RAW files, not sure if the standard app does too? Totally agree that Snapseed has an annoying interface, I generally only use it for the curves feature which is very handy for DSO images.

[PeterStudz]

1 minute ago, Stu said:

Very true that the standard iPhone app is good for up to 30 second exposures, it works well. I do find that for the shorter exposures needed for planets, lunar and solar images, ProCam gives much better control of exposure and focus. It also saves RAW files, not sure if the standard app does too? Totally agree that Snapseed has an annoying interface, I generally only use it for the curves feature which is very handy for DSO images.

Yes, the standard camera app does save RAW files, although by default the option is hidden. I had to enable it in settings. Once that’s done a “RAW” button will appear in the camera app. For adjusting exposure and focus tapping the screen in the camera app when open with show the automatic focus area & exposure setting. Then tap where you want the focus. Drag the ☀️ icon up/down to change exposure. You can also lock these settings. I guess ProCam can give more but I’ve never needed more than this. 

[PeterStudz]

In the iPhone camera app you can also adjust the exposure here… tap on the ^ icon and the the +- as shown below

[Sunshine]

Whoa! thats amazing! I have the 11 Pro too, this gives me an idea of what I could do with a wedge and my 102. 🤔

[Stu]

1 hour ago, PeterStudz said:

In the iPhone camera app you can also adjust the exposure here… tap on the ^ icon and the the +- as shown below

Thanks Peter. Useful to know. I’ve just always found my results are sharper and clearer with ProCam so I’ve tended to stick with that.

[PeterStudz]

6 minutes ago, Stu said:

Thanks Peter. Useful to know. I’ve just always found my results are sharper and clearer with ProCam so I’ve tended to stick with that.

I’ll give ProCam another go. I have an iPhone Pro now so it’s quite possible that it’s more suitable for that than a regular iPhone. 

[Stu]

1 hour ago, Sunshine said:

Whoa! thats amazing! I have the 11 Pro too, this gives me an idea of what I could do with a wedge and my 102. 🤔

A decent 4” plus wedge is a really powerful combination on the sun, amazing clarity particularly when seeing is excellent.