[UPDATE: Martin has chimed in with more details and original photos…all info after the jump].
After reading the headline of this post and looking at the image, you’re probably waiting for the other shoe to drop. What’s the catch? Well, there isn’t one. Yes, my pal Martin Gisborne used only an iPhone 3Gs and a telescope to get this shot. He did some slight tweaking in Aperture, but no crazy-fancy space cameras, no Photoshop, no compositing, no gimmicks. Pretty impressive. The best camera is the one that’s with you.
[By contrast, last spring I was dorking around and also shot an image thru a telescope. My results were, er… let’s say, less interesting. That image after the jump…]—Here’s my laughable shot:
Not nearly as powerful a telescope…
[And here’s Martin’s addendum, just cut and pasted from his email to me…Thanks Martin!]…Here’s the scoop:1) Exposure was simply controlled using tap to focus/expose.
2) The telescope was a modest 80mm William Optics Zenithstar II… only 545mm focal length. I used a 20mm Plossl eyepiece in a 2″ diagonal.
3) The iPhone was handheld – which was the most challenging part… getting the lens in alignment over the eyepiece without moving the scope.
4) The size of the moon in the frame came from using the 20mm eyepiece on the telescope.
This is the original frame from my iPhone… you can see that it’s not BAD exactly as it is:
This is the image cropped in Aperture:
This is the cropped image with Levels applied:
This is with Definition applied:
And, lastly, this is with Edge Sharpen applied, no external plug ins used:
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Wow, thats pretty impressive. I should really start utilizing that camera, since it is always with me!
how much did the telescope cost?