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That time my neighbor told me to just use my phone for astrophotography

My neighbor Dave saw me setting up my telescope and told me I was wasting my time, said modern phone cameras can shoot the moon better than any lens. I laughed it off but out of curiosity I tried it - propped my phone against a fence and snapped a picture. The result looked like a blurry egg with craters, not the crisp shots I get with my proper gear. Has anyone else had someone give you terrible astronomy advice that just made you sigh?

2 comments

2 Comments

riverhill2d ago

Oh man, Dave is clueless. Ngl, phone cameras are great for like, snapshots of the moon if you just need a quick pic but they can't touch actual astrophotography gear. The sensor is too small and you get all that noise and blur the second you try to zoom. I've tried it too and ended up with a white blob that looked more like a lightbulb than the moon.

eva_ward882d ago

Did you ever show Dave the side-by-side comparison or did you just let him keep thinking his phone was doing something special? I gotta say @riverhill nailed it with the white blob comment, that's exactly what I got when I tried propping my old phone up on a toolbox. The autofocus just freaks out and you end up with this glowing disc that looks like a streetlight. I wonder if people like Dave have ever actually looked at a real moon photo through a scope or if they just assume new tech makes everything better by default.