Telescope Reviews: iphone and afocal mount ( first for me)

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newtoskies
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 07/15/12

Loc: SE Ma.

iphone and afocal mount ( first for me)
#5687315 - 02/18/13 04:58 PM

After having a blackberry cell phone fr the past two years I was able to upgrade to an iphone 4s. It arrived on Friday and I am looking for apps for shutter and timer set ups to use for afocal imaging.
Today is/was my birthday and the missus surprised me wit the NightWatch book and....the afocal mount from Orion. Very cool.
I am waiting for it to get dark since we have clear skies at the moment. Gonna take out the Dob to try and get a couple of quick pics of the moon and maybe Jupiter before we head out for dinner.
After trying to get some pics with my cheap camera this should be much easier. I just uploaded Registax6 and hope to get to play around with this if I can get some ok pics and maybe video. Will post my results of playing with my new toys.
It's not a scope so I think the curse doesn't count for this...lolol

Did I mentioned that I am so addicted to this hobby.

Post Extras:

Dave74
sage

Reged: 10/23/12

Loc: Gelatinous, MA

Re: iphone and afocal mount ( first for me) new

[Re: newtoskies]
#5687341 - 02/18/13 05:09 PM

Enjoy NightWatch.

Post Extras:

Agatha
professor emeritus

Reged: 06/04/12

Loc: Minneapolis, MN

Re: iphone and afocal mount ( first for me) new

[Re: newtoskies]
#5687360 - 02/18/13 05:18 PM

Rob,

Happy birthday. The book Nightwatch is wonderful. I'm sure you will also enjoy that mount for your iPhone.

Have fun.

Best, Linda B.

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Jeff2011
sage

Reged: 01/01/13

Loc: Sugar Land, TX

Re: iphone and afocal mount ( first for me) new

[Re: Agatha]
#5687745 - 02/18/13 08:32 PM

Rob,

I am interested to see if you can get better results with the 4s. I have the 4 and I could only get good results on the moon and sun. Jupiter is over saturated because the IPhone 4 appears to be adjusting the brightness up to compensate for the dark sky around Jupiter. The 4s should have a better camera in it. I have tried downloading other camera apps but they did not appear to have helped. I have moved on to a DSLR now but I still like to play with the iPhone from time to time. It's main use now is as a replacement for a crosshairs eyepiece for doing star drift alignments of my EQ platform.

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lamplight
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 09/18/12

Loc: west central MA, U.S.

Re: iphone and afocal mount ( first for me) new

[Re: Jeff2011]
#5687879 - 02/18/13 09:44 PM

Rob happy birthday!
I love that book im sure you will too.

It may be clear but the seeing. Is Horrible!

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Jason D
Postmaster

Reged: 10/21/06

Loc: California

Re: iphone and afocal mount ( first for me) new

[Re: Jeff2011]
#5688188 - 02/19/13 01:41 AM Attachment (17 downloads)

Quote:

I am interested to see if you can get better results with the 4s. I have the 4 and I could only get good results on the moon and sun. Jupiter is over saturated because the IPhone 4 appears to be adjusting the brightness up to compensate for the dark sky around Jupiter

I took the attached photo afocally using my hand-held iphone4 -- no bracket. In my case, I used a variable polarizing Moon filter to reduce brightness. The photo is a single frame without any processing.

Jason

Post Extras:

Jason D
Postmaster

Reged: 10/21/06

Loc: California

Re: iphone and afocal mount ( first for me) new

[Re: Jason D]
#5688194 - 02/19/13 01:50 AM

More photos with my iphone

The star in the yellow circle is the Pup (Sirius B)

Jason

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Jeff2011
sage

Reged: 01/01/13

Loc: Sugar Land, TX

Re: iphone and afocal mount ( first for me) new

[Re: Jason D]
#5688217 - 02/19/13 02:13 AM

Doh!

Moon filter! Yes I have one of those. Why did I not think of that. Thanks Jason. I will have to try that next time.

Great iphone pics by the way.

Edited by Jeff2011 (02/19/13 02:21 AM)

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Maverick199
Postmaster

Reged: 02/27/11

Loc: India

Re: iphone and afocal mount ( first for me) new

[Re: newtoskies]
#5688218 - 02/19/13 02:14 AM

Happy Birthday to you! Nightwatch is a great book. Have fun with the iPhone and afocal mount.

Great images for handheld single shots Jason.

Post Extras:

Jason D
Postmaster

Reged: 10/21/06

Loc: California

Re: iphone and afocal mount ( first for me) new

[Re: Maverick199]
#5688227 - 02/19/13 02:24 AM

Quote:

Great images for handheld single shots Jason.

Thanks, Haseeb

1) My reflector is on an eq platform
2) I take lots of photos and I only upload the best ones. Most are bad

The point I am trying to make is that taking photos with an iphone afocally is not easy especially if the scope does not have some sort of a tracking mechanism.

Jason

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Maverick199
Postmaster

Reged: 02/27/11

Loc: India

Re: iphone and afocal mount ( first for me) new

[Re: Jason D]
#5688233 - 02/19/13 02:29 AM

Quote:

Quote:

Great images for handheld single shots Jason.

Thanks, Haseeb

1) My reflector is on an eq platform
2) I take lots of photos and I only upload the best ones. Most are bad

The point I am trying to make is that taking photos with an iphone afocally is not easy especially of the scope does not have some sort of a tracking mechanism.

Jason

Agreed. Tried that initially with a dobsonian and results were blurred. Takes lots of practice and dedication for afocal.

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jkaiser
member

Reged: 01/07/13

Loc: Wood River Junction, Rhode Isl...

Re: iphone and afocal mount ( first for me) new

[Re: Maverick199]
#5688363 - 02/19/13 06:20 AM

Hey Rob, A very big happy birthday for you.
Very nice of Gabi to but you the book and mount, thats awesome.
And yes I know how addictive you are with your new hobby....lol. I knew you would be right from the start, in fact if you remember I told you how addictive it is when we first started talking about it. I always loved it, I could never walk outside at night without staring up and beyond. Can't wait to see your new pics with your new Iphone.

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newtoskies
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 07/15/12

Loc: SE Ma.

Re: iphone and afocal mount ( first for me) new

[Re: jkaiser]
#5688669 - 02/19/13 11:10 AM

Hi all

Sorry for the late reply, went for dinner after a short 30 minute session with the scope and iphone.
Matt, it was clear and ok seeing early in the evening down here, but then seeing got really bad later, but I was out with the missus so no biggie.

I took some pics and a couple of 10-20 videos just to get then hang of the new phone and the mount. Yes a mount with tracking would be best suited for sure. I figure the short vids will work as well, sort of. I have to read up on using registax6 before I work on the images. With post a pic up later.

John thanks bud. Yeah once you started talking about scopes etc and then gave me the two magazines...that was it...lol

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newtoskies
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 07/15/12

Loc: SE Ma.

Re: iphone and afocal mount ( first for me) new

[Re: newtoskies]
#5691840 - 02/20/13 10:07 PM

Hi all, been a busy week and will get busier until Monday. I played around with the iphone and mount the other night but haven't had time to read up on Registax and play with the images.
Here is one of the better pics. This was taken using my 6" dob and next time will be with the XLT102.

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Gert K A
super member

Reged: 07/16/12

Loc: Copenhagen, Denmark

Re: iphone and afocal mount ( first for me) new

[Re: newtoskies]
#5692160 - 02/21/13 03:17 AM

Wow Rob! that is one heck of a Iphone pic, good job

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Coy
super member

Reged: 02/03/12

Loc: Shreveport, Louisiana

Re: iphone and afocal mount ( first for me) new

[Re: Gert K A]
#5692467 - 02/21/13 10:17 AM

If you ever have problems with white glare on moon photos, an app that splits the focus and exposure will help.

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newtoskies
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 07/15/12

Loc: SE Ma.

Re: iphone and afocal mount ( first for me) new

[Re: Coy]
#5692527 - 02/21/13 11:02 AM

Thanks for that info.
Thanks Gert. One of the better pics..lol

I do plan on down loading an app for the iphone for the shutter speed and timer.

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Jeff2011
sage

Reged: 01/01/13

Loc: Sugar Land, TX

Re: iphone and afocal mount ( first for me) new

[Re: newtoskies]
#5692547 - 02/21/13 11:17 AM

Good shot Rob. Don't know how the 4S camera works, but on the 4 these apps just simulate shutter speed. The timer feature is very useful.

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OldManInHawaii
member

Reged: 03/12/12

Re: iphone and afocal mount ( first for me) new

[Re: Jeff2011]
#5692591 - 02/21/13 11:55 AM

Very impressive Iphone pics, and more so with all the Iphone apps you can use to give more control over the photos.

I bought a $150 Sony point-n-shoot digital camera (to replace my disfunctional old Canon Powershot) that was on sale at Costco before XMAS, and it has a timer & under/overexposure adjustments that allowed decent photos of the moon & Jupiter.

I guess I don't need my old Pentax 35mm SLR anymore.

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