6 replies to this topic

[jeffbones]

I am trying to do some solar photography with my 6se and an iPhone 16. But I can’t seem to get it in focus or not have a round black spot in the center. I’ve tried hand held and the XYZ mount. Same problem with the moon. Any help would be appreciated.

[havasman]

What solar filter are you using?

 

And you might get more & better answers if you get this into the solar observing and imaging forum.

Edited by havasman, 14 December 2024 - 03:20 PM.

[jeffbones]

I'm using a home made filter using some Thousand Oaks optical film. It doesn't matter what I'm trying to photograph sun, moon, DSO or a tree. I still can't get rid of the secondary mirror or get the object in focus.

[ngc7319_20]

Just thinking quickly about the optics...  I'm not sure of the pupil size of the iPhone 16 but it is probably in the range 1 mm to 3 mm.  So to get rid of the black spot you need to fit the 152 mm pupil of the scope into that 1 mm to 3 mm camera pupil.  So you need say 152 power to be safe (using the 1 mm camera pupil size).  So for F/10 that means about 152 * 10 / 152 = 10 mm eyepiece.   Something like a Morpheus eyepiece with long eye relief will be easiest.  What eyepiece are you using now?

 

If your goal is to get the entire sun, it would obviously be easier with a small refractor.

Edited by ngc7319_20, 14 December 2024 - 04:23 PM.

[Mike G.]

I have a 6" Celestron SCT and have no issues taking solar or lunar phone pics with my Motorola Stylus G or my wife's Pixel 7.  Others have used their phones as well (including plenty of iPhones) and had no problems. I use a Celestron Eclipsmart solar filter that has had the film replaced with Baader film.  Should not be a problem at all unless your iPhone isn't using the correct lens. Can you visually look through the EP and see the Sun (Moon)?  When I am doing outreach, people just walk up and put whatever phone they have up to the EP and start snapping pics with no problem.  There is a bit of fiddling with getting the EP-to-phone distance correct so the image is centered and properly sized, but other than that, pretty straightforward.  There should be some kind of 'manual' mode on the phone to allow you to lock it into landscape or similar.

[jeffbones]

I have been using the 25mm that came with the scope. Nice full view of the Sun. I'll try some higher power EP and see if that works. It definitely could be operator error, would not be the first time I didn't hold my tongue right.

[Mike G.]

The camera could be shifting into macro mode automatically. Make sure the camera is in landscape mode.