After successfully mating a web cam with my microscopes (http://ift.tt/19BhcUO) and telescope (http://ift.tt/1AenlDj), I decided to design and print adapters to mount my Droid Turbo phone on the same scopes (http://ift.tt/1ANB4lc and http://ift.tt/1I9vNS3) so I could shoot higher resolution stills (21 Mp) and 1080p (and even 4k) video. The telescope adapter fits over a Meade 32mm focal length Super Plössl eyepiece and provides about 47X magnification with the telescope. I printed a similar adapter for my surgical microscope.
The telescope adapter firmly grips the phone and the eyepiece.
Initial tests were a little disappointing. The combination of the phone’s camera and the telescope’s optics has significant pincushion distortion. The image has only been mirrored L-R and scaled down (original is 21 Mp). Note the lack of contrast (looking through 1/2 mile of humid air) and the curves in the power line and pole, and even the grass line:
A quick search found that the Gimp has built in transform tools to correct (or create) lens distortion.
It only took a couple minutes of messing around to get acceptable results. Here’s the same image with the pincushion distortion corrected (whole image), contrast stretched and white balance corrected (rectangular area). The pole, power line, and even the grass line now look straight.
And here’s the final image with all corrections and cropping applied:
Next step: photograph known square grids through the microscope and telescope and then create and save some preset corrections to apply with Gimp.
I wonder if something like this exists for video. Hmmmmm…
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