Phonescoping

[Paul Hackett]

Went to see the Green Heron the other week, because the bird was very still for long periods, i decided to take a few pictures with my Nokia N95 mobile phone which incorporates a Carl Zeiss Lens, it was handheld to my Zeiss 85 Diascope and zoom eyepiece set on 30X, and the optical zoom on the camera set to just under full optical zoom.

The bird was on the canal dam so quite close, (15 - 20 metres?) weather was overcast, some rain and dark, but no wind, so pic has been lightened and sharpened and colour balance altered, the picture is the original but resized, it has not been cropped.

The data for the picture was as follows -

2592 x 1944 pixels

File size - 2.45mb

F stop - 2.8

White Balance - Auto

ISO - 100

Shutter Speed - 1/200th

Exposure Compensation - Minus 1

Sharpness - Normal

Contrast - set to 0

Scene Mode - Auto

Colour Tone - Normal

Original pic wasnt too bad, but colour rendition has never been really good with these mobile phone cameras, but sharpness and contrast is ok, and i took 12 pictures of this bird, and this was the best of the bunch

Paul

[Geoff Pain]

Thats not bad for a phone.

[dantheman]

Nice. I also took some pics of the Green Heron with my mobile/scope (Sony Ericcson K800/ Nikon ED50 27x) the other day. Could put them up here for comparism ;) (not sure how I'd extract all the data like you provided mind . . .)

Phonescoping not as popular as it should be!! (And you have an optical zoom??)

[RJM]

I bought a Samsung 920C with a 5MP camera, a 3x optical zoom and Image Stabilisation a few weeks ago. Initial test pics were kinda flat and dull too, but after I pumped up the camera's saturation and sharpness settings I am getting some nice photos.

cheers,
Rick

[horukuru]

excellent shot paul and i've some success with my sony ericsson K660i and nikon ED82 too.

[glynnsmith]

Brilliant shot! Good job no-one called while you were focusing. :)

[jimmyg]

This really is a great shot, and looks like it could only be improved by having a phone with more megapixels. I know several phones now have 8mp or more, which is easily enough to take perfect shots if you've got decent quality lenses. Are there any about which have lenses of suitable quality? I can't exactly bring my scope into O2 and ask to try out their cameras, but someone out there must have some info! Please?

[petemorris]

I recommend a decent camera, after all, you're unlikely to go into Warehouse Express and ask for a camera that has a phone on it if you know what I mean! The camera will be cheaper than the top of the range phones too, and do a better job, and won't even be that much bigger. ;)

[ldick]

Hi All,

I'm a newbie here.
A common kingfisher by Swar STS80HD + 30x + handheld Nokia N82

Rgds,
Dick

[jimmyg]

Thanks Dick and Pete. I know you're right about the camera vs phone thing Pete, but I'm looking to take record shots more than become a top photographer - something of Dick's Kingfisher quality is fine for me really. The great advantage of a phone is that you don't have to make a conscious effort to bring a camera, and is perfect when you're out in the field on a stroll and happen across something good - cf. the Cambs Pallid Harrier! and thats really why I'm looking for one I suppose. Had a look at Nokia N82: 5mp for under £250, which is cheaper than buying a reasonable camera and phone separately.

One question Dick: how is your phone when it comes to macro photography please, as I have found this to be a weak point of phones?

[Derry]

now we need the phones to multi task so we can take photos and have a call going over the speakerphone or how about live view being sent out over the phone while your shooting,,

the phones are getting better at photos and imagine they will be up to P&S levels some day and have impact on that segment of photography sales,,

gotta love technology,,

Derry

[jimmyg]

Took this photo with my brother's Nokia N73 (3.2mp) with Zeiss lens the other day (not digiscoped). Leaves a little to be desired, but getting there. The close focus isn't that great.