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Opticron MM3 50 mm and Iphone 6S (1 Viewer)

FrankD

Well-known member
Just upgraded my phone to the new IPhone 6S with its higher resolution camera and 4K video capabilities. I haven't really done much with the video side of things yet but I have been taking a few still shots. Here are the best of the lot so far.

Downsized, of course, to fit into forum requirements.
 

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Thank you Colin. I am still learning how to tweak the new pictures. The difference between the 6S pics and the 5S pics I subtle but definitely there.
 
This past weekend I attended the Cape May Bird Observatory's annual Fall Birding Festival. I had the opportunity to see so many birds and get alot of pics. The most fun though was a 6 hour pelagic trip on Sunday afternoon. For those not familiar with these trips digiscoping is extremely difficult as the boat continuously rocks up and down so trying to use a tripod can be practically useless.

In anticipation of this I brought along a lightweight shoulder stock to mount the little Opticron MM3 50 and took several videos (1080 p - 60 fps). I then used the StillShot app on the Iphone to pull the best frames from the video. The first pic is of a Northern Gannet that flew fairly close to the boat. The second, though not great in terms of detail, is pretty cool considering it is a Parasitic Jaeger and I managed to catch it as it passed in front of the Cape May Lighthouse.

Other pics from the trip can be found on my Flickr page..... Pics on the page were taken with the same phone but with the MM3 60 mm model.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/73029961@N07/
 

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A recent pic using the aforementioned combination of a local Mute Swan....close up.
 

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I haven't posted to this thread in awhile so I thought I would share a pic from earlier this month. Photo taken with the Opticron MM3 60 mm and I phone 6S.
 

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This week's MM3 60 mm and iPhone 6S pic. White-throared Sparrow.
 

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Frank

these pictures look really impressive to me - what adaptor are you using to link the phone to the MM3 may I ask?

Regards

John
 
John,

Before Opticron came out with their own adapters I was using the Carson Hookupz Iphone adapter (for binoculars). I accidentally found out that if you don't use any of the rubber adapter rings with the Carson then it matched up perfectly with the Opticron HDF wide angle eyepieces.

More recently I have been using the Opticron Iphone adapters....and occasionally the Phoneskope Universal adapter.

Thank you for the compliment.

I will post a few other shots that I took recently and am fairly happy with.
 

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Chickadee species (I live in a hybrid zone between Carolina and Black-capped).
 

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Eastern Screech Owl. My first attempt at a night time owl pic.... Excuse the graininess as it was complete darkness minus the flashlight beam.
 

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interesting to hear that you've used the Phoneskope universal adaptor. I've been trying their dedicated Swarovski adapter with my Swarovski 65m angled scope - with the zoom eyepiece and been very disappointed indeed with the initial results. Lots of vignetting that needs to be zoomed out on the eye phone and dreadfully flat and soft images - almost look like a French impressionist painting! I'm tempted to send it back but wondering about trying their universal adaptor with my Nikon ED50 - not sure if I'd just be throwing good money after bad....
 
John,

I went back and read through your post a couple of times just so I understood the situation.

You currently have the Swaro ATM 65 mm with one of their zooms (wide angle or standard 20-60)?

My initial thoughts are that if you are getting vignetting then it is most likely because either the eye relief is too short on the zoom or the apparent field of view is fairly narrow. Of course it could be that the adapter is too "thick". The way to determine which of these issues is the cause would be whether or not you are getting a sharp black edge to the vignetting. If the edge is sharp then it is likely a narrow apparent field of view. If the edge is fuzzy then it is either the adapter or the eye relief.

With some eyepieces I readily get vignetting from the narrower apparent field of view. Others I don't get anything at all. It also depends on whether or not I am in regular "Photo" mode or I am in "Video" mode. Video mode seems to introduce some zoom into the image without actually using the manual zoom adjust. As a result vignetting is greatly reduced.

In the instances where I do get vignetting in the image I remove it simply by cropping in post-processing.

Hope this helps.
 
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i have the standard 20 - 60 zoom. I think mine's the pre-2009 model. Phoneskope do two very slightly differently sized adapters to suit pre and post 2009 lenses. I initially got the one for the newer adaptor but it was an uncomfortably tight fit and so I swapped it for the version to suit the older lens, which is fractionally larger. Still a very tight fit mind. Given that Phoneskope sell this adaptor as being specifically designed to fit I was surprised to encounter such a large amount of vignetting. (soft edges which you suggest is caused by inadequate eye relief) I'm having to zoom the iPhone to about 50 per cent of its available zoom to eliminate vignetting. The image is also slightly off centre on the camera which again is disappointing as its supposed to be designed to fit. The one bit of the set up which I do like is the Bluetooth shutter release which for £20 is well worth having....
 
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John,

Let me take some demo pics with my setup and then maybe you can pick out which one most closely resembles what you are experiencing. I may be able to help further from there.
 
Most recent Iphone 6S/Opticron MM3 60/Phoneskope Universal Adapter pic that I was pretty impressed with.......

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These are impressive to say the least...you have talent,no doubt,but the scopes you use really do a great job.The digiscoping forum that i visit in Spain are preparing a comparison weekend ..they plan to bring the Atx,Kowa 88 and tele photo 500 lens,Nikon EDG VR and i think Meopta , Kite and maybe some other brands..I should try and find one of these to add to the game..
 
Thank you for the compliment. I would love to see one of the Opticron MM3 models in the mix too. It would be restricted as there isn't an 80 mm class MM3 yet but other than that. ;)

Here is another pic I took yesterday. Handheld with the MM3 50 mm, IPhone 6S and Phone Skope Universal adapter.


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One more that I took between the Bald Eagle and the Ring-billed Gull pic. White-throated Sparrow again. MM3 60 mm, IPhone 6S, Phone Skope Universal adapter.
 

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