Night sky with simple phone cam

HUDguy · Feb 27, 2013

(Yeah, I dunno any 'bout photography, so you can keep such comments to yourself)

What could I do in order to take images of stars in a clear night sky with a simple smart phone?

I've tried with a Galaxy Tab, but all its images are really just black.
All I need is to at least dimly make out a couple of the brightest stars (I just want to identify their relative position in the sky, no cosmetics involved, just for "navigation" purposes). I actually can see a couple of the stars as dots on the screen when I take the shot. But there's nothing on the image it produces, even as I export it to PC to study it much closer.

Is it maybe the JPEG-format that "evens out" star blimps to nothingness?
If so, is it possible to capture image data in an earlier stage, way before it gets JPEG:ed?

Or is it already optically hopeless to catch a couple of stars on a picture with a phone cam?

Your thoughts on the subject are welcome!

pete72 · Feb 27, 2013

IMO, phones are good for snap shots but nothing more. It sounds to me like you are trying to push the phone cam well beyond its limits.
I've just checked my Galaxy S2 & can't find any options to put it into aperture or shutter priority. Aperture priority would be a minimum for me to take pics in night-time.
You really need a long exposure to capture enough light for a pic like this, upwards of 30 seconds or so. This is definitely tripod territory & I've not seen a phone with a tripod thread.

cgipson1 · Feb 27, 2013

Probably impossible... phone cams have a sensor the size of a pinhead, which is why they take the kind of images they do. Not much light sensitivity!

Light Guru · Feb 27, 2013

pete72 said:
I've just checked my Galaxy S2 & can't find any options to put it into aperture or shutter priority. Aperture priority would be a minimum for me to take pics in night-time.

Cel phones don't have adjustable apertures they are fixed. You simply cannot fit a mechanism that could physically adjust aperture blades in to a cell phone.

That leaves the camera with the ability to change ISO and shutter speed to get a good exposure. This is one reason cell hen cameras are not vary good.

Light Guru · Feb 27, 2013

HUDguy said:
(Yeah, I dunno any 'bout photography, so you can keep such comments to yourself)

What could I do in order to take images of stars in a clear night sky with a simple smart phone?

I've tried with a Galaxy Tab, but all its images are really just black.
All I need is to at least dimly make out a couple of the brightest stars (I just want to identify their relative position in the sky, no cosmetics involved, just for "navigation" purposes). I actually can see a couple of the stars as dots on the screen when I take the shot. But there's nothing on the image it produces, even as I export it to PC to study it much closer.

Is it maybe the JPEG-format that "evens out" star blimps to nothingness?
If so, is it possible to capture image data in an earlier stage, way before it gets JPEG:ed?

Or is it already optically hopeless to catch a couple of stars on a picture with a phone cam?

Your thoughts on the subject are welcome!

The BIGGEST issue is that you simply cannot hold a cell phone perfectly still long enough to get a sharp photo as the shutter speed is longer.

You would need to lock down ALL movement of the cell phone when taking the photo.

jake337 · Feb 28, 2013

pete72 said:
IMO, phones are good for snap shots but nothing more. It sounds to me like you are trying to push the phone cam well beyond its limits.
I've just checked my Galaxy S2 & can't find any options to put it into aperture or shutter priority. Aperture priority would be a minimum for me to take pics in night-time.
You really need a long exposure to capture enough light for a pic like this, upwards of 30 seconds or so. This is definitely tripod territory & I've not seen a phone with a tripod thread.

You can definitely take more than just snaps shots with phones if you put the effort in to it:

Cell Phone Pics - a set on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/search/groups/?q=landscape&m=pool&w=73532194@N00&s=int

http://www.flickr.com/search/groups/?q=portrait&m=pool&w=73532194@N00&s=int

HUDguy · Feb 28, 2013

Thank you for all of your replies!

Taking a closer look on all the photos I took, I really think it could work!
The night I took the photos was hazy and the area heavily "light polluted". So while the photos in an image viewer look completely black to the naked eye, ny using Matlab I can clearly identify some stars in the matrix of pixels! I just need to puzzle them together to fit some star map...

Holding the camera still is an obvious problem, as Light Guru says. In most images stars look elongated or look like two connected stars. I have no idea as to how the phone cam software works when aimed at basically empty darkness, in terms of automatic focus and other settings.

And jake337, that is quite interesting! I'll have a look into how to programatically set the parameters of phone cam photography. Your examples really look promising.

Sw1tchFX · Feb 28, 2013

Not going to happen.. Nut up and get a DSLR with a bright wide-angle.

jake337 · Feb 28, 2013

Sw1tchFX said:
Not going to happen.. Nut up and get a DSLR with a bright wide-angle.

Of course, if the OP is serious about night aky photography. but it can be fun to fart around.

weepete · Feb 28, 2013

Here is a start

GripTight GorillaPod for iPhone, Android & Windows Smartphones

Light Guru · Feb 28, 2013

jake337 said:
Sw1tchFX said:

Not going to happen.. Nut up and get a DSLR with a bright wide-angle.

Click to expand...

Of course, if the OP is serious about night aky photography. but it can be fun to fart around.

NOBODY likes someone farting around. Thats just stinky!

Michael79 · Feb 28, 2013

I don't know what if this will help with the distance for the stars, but there is programs that allow you to have dslr control for your cell phone cam.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.flavionet.android.camera.lite&hl=en

I like to fart around sometimes.

jake337 · Feb 28, 2013

Light Guru said:
jake337 said:

Sw1tchFX said:

Not going to happen.. Nut up and get a DSLR with a bright wide-angle.

Click to expand...

Of course, if the OP is serious about night aky photography. but it can be fun to fart around.

Click to expand...

NOBODY likes someone farting around. Thats just stinky!