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@@pcsilveirasilveira4326 yes, it can be a pain, powerlines and other large metal objects can throw out the compass I do swing the phone in figure 8’s for a bout 30 seconds it can help to settle down the interface. After all this method is only going to get you within the ball park of a true alignment. Thank you for watching 😀

@@luizcarlosalvesoliveira3560 Hi, as I assume you are using a android phone the app in this video will not work on your device, however that being said sky safari 7 pro has a polar alignment function that is equivalent to the app shown in this video and is available from the google play store. Let me know how you go. Matt

Thank you Jeroen! & thanks for watching!

@@nightscapejournals thank you! Yes, you’re not wrong lol! I find I see and take notice every more things when I film. Thanks for the support. Matt 😃

Thank you for the support very much appreciated ☺️

@@GrowPhotography Thank you Greg! Thanks for the support ☺️

Glad I could help and thank you for commenting 😊

@@Mattes985 That would make things difficult! The cost of lenses are through the roof. However you don’t need to go for a super expensive lens. If you haven’t already check out Samyang lenses. Whilst they are not as sharp when pixel peeping it’s hard to notice the difference with the wider focal length lenses.

@@BigBadLoneWolf thanks for watching! These apps are not perfect but one thing that helps is to swing your phone in figure 8 pattern prior to using. This will calibrate the phone to any interference and improve accuracy.

@@telwood15 Thank you ☺️ we are very lucky here in Australia you can usually drive just over an hour and you are in dark skies! Matt

@@atmochue Hi firstly thank you for watching my video. This is the link I used. Obviously download at your own discretion 64bit. web.archive.org/web/20190223050207/download.microsoft.com/download/7/3/9/73918E0B-C146-40FA-B18C-EADF03FEC4BA/ICE-2.0.3-for-64-bit-Windows.msi

@@atmochue and the 32 bit. Again download at your discretion. Regards Matt. web.archive.org/web/20190309221948/download.microsoft.com/download/A/7/8/A7804C73-ECDB-4459-BB3E-A7F13C4C5382/ICE-2.0.3-for-32-bit-Windows.msi

@@nightscapeodyssey.mattclarke Thank you very much, I get an error when it is installing, I think it is not compatible with my Windows 11 :(

@@atmochue that’s a shame! maybe try running in compatibility mode?

@@atmochue Also make sure your downloading the correct 32 or 64 bit. Regards Matt

@@GrantMcKenzie-p4c Hi grant, it’s there but it can be hard to find. As I have had a few people ask about a link to the download. I didn’t want to recommend a place to download for obvious reasons but I will be able to point you in the right direction. I will come back to you. Matt

@@nightscapeodyssey.mattclarke Cheers Matt.

@@GrantMcKenzie-p4c Hi grant, here is a link to the forum where the links live with in here. Just one thing to point out though. The download is at your discretion whilst it worked for me safely it’s up to you to take virus and malware precautions . Hope this helps. Matt

@@GrantMcKenzie-p4c And I didn’t put the link on the last email 😂 here it is. www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4574261

​@@nightscapeodyssey.mattclarkeI can't see a link mate?

Thanks so much for watching the video! While I can’t provide direct links to the software due to potential risks like viruses, I recommend searching through trusted platforms and always scanning downloads with antivirus software. If you need any tips on how to use it once you’ve found it, feel free to reach out! Best regards Matt

@@charlespacer7421 hi Charles thanks for your opinion 😀 works for me and don’t have an issue. Best regards Matt

IMHO the 500 rule is a good starting point and is very helpful for someone starting out with wide astrophotography That said, the NPF rule uses the sensor pixel pitch (megapixels), aperture and focal length to determine shutter speed. FYI, PhotoPills app has a NPF calculator built in.

@ Absolutely agree keith! As a start point the 500 rule is great. But as you advance more the NPF rule can come into play. This video was more for the beginner, you have given me another video idea now 👍 regards, Matt

No problem at all happy to help!!

No problems 😀

@@tomprzytula Hi, thank you for your question! I chose iso 6400 and 15 seconds that night because I was using a lens with a wide aperture of f1.8. I was also using low level lighting under the tree to I help with the scene for video purposes. If I held my shutter open longer that night the tree would have been blown out. If I didn’t have low level lighting I would have used between 20-25 seconds as a shutter speed. To answer your question higher iso increases the sensitivity of the sensor it will see more light from the start. The downside of iso on some cameras is noise in the images. It’s trial and error with settings. The video should get you in the ball park though. What set up do you have? Camera,lens etc? Matt

Also depends on the focal length of your lens, but the longer you leave your shutter open, the greater chance of seeing star trails as the earth rotates - unless, of course you are using a star tracking system. You can work out focal length and shutter duration, taking into account your exact camera model by using apps that calculate it for you, such as PhotoPills.

@nightscapeodyssey.mattclarke thanks Matt. I have a nikon d7500 with Tokina 11-16 f/2.8. According to the table I saw I should be OK with a shutter of up to 25sec at 11mm. Shutting milky way with my son (Matt too) yesterday I set 3200 @ 20sec. Came out not bad. If there are no star streaks at 25sec, is it better to shut at iso 1600 @ 25sec or iso 3200 at 13sec from the perspective of overall quality and visibility of milky way? Also, should I expose for a brighter image or darker one? I'll be denoising in Topaz Denoise AI, and developing in Luminar Neo. Thanks again!

@@tomprzytula Perfect camera and lens! don’t be afraid to bump up the iso. These days with tools like topaz you can’t go wrong. As far as exposure goes I recommend using your histogram. You basically want the peak to just move off the left side of the chart. If it is all the way left it’s under exposed. Try taking test shots and fine tune your settings. Different conditions / locations require slightly different settings. Great your son is going out with you! Regards Matt

@@tomprzytula Be wary of tools like Topaz, it might remove fainter stars or distort your night photos with ghosting. I use it all the time for day photos, but night stuff I'm not sure its that helpful :(

Hi the 500 rule works well for lenses up to 200mm. Best regards Matt

Hi - you divide your focal length into 500, so for example with a 50mm lens 500/50=10sec

@@paultutton9443 That makes more sense!!! In the video (4:14) you say "you have to divide that number by 500" which is the opposite.

@@NJM1948 Glad we cleared that up - not my video though! There is some confusion @4:14 but the example given @4:18 does make it a bit clearer.

@@paultutton9443 looking back at the video I did actually say it backwards but my text I added with the calculations is correct. Didn’t pick up on that during editing apologies for the confusion! Matt

Hi Carl! Ahh the algorithm…so hard to crack but glad it reached you! I actually have a video half completed. It will be based on tracked panoramas. Here I will explain what gear I use in more detail. Should be out in a week or so once I get over this flu. Best regards Matt

Thank you very much 😊 subscribed back 👍

Thank you very much! 😊

No, I have never had to use one. I do take a serious of test shots and fine tune if needed. Matt

Hi, Thanks for the insight! Ok you have a good point and happy to great a video on this. I will start putting it together over the coming weeks Matt 👍

@@nightscapeodyssey.mattclarke cool. I wasn't expecting you to go out of your way to do it, but I'll be looking forward to it. Can't seem to find that info anywhere, and it looks like it's about to become a lost art...

You’re welcome 😊

@@Steve-pw2op hi Steve, if you don’t have a plate you can also rest your phone above the battery compartment on the tracker and push the top of the phone against the housing of the start tracker. You can still get decent results like this. Hope this helps. Matt

@@nightscapeodyssey.mattclarke yes thanks Matt, that's what I ended up doing. 😀👍🏼🌌

Thanks Steven! Very much appreciated 😊

Thank you 😊

Thanks Ian 😊

@@miniaustin Thank you ☺️. Absolutely great idea! Stay tuned I will put it on my list in the coming weeks! As for the Skylabs adapter I also found the same issue. What I did was find a piece of rubber as thick as my iPhone camera lens and place it under the phone and level it out. The rubber is half the size of my phone and sits back from the iPhone lens. It works a treat! Let me know if you have any issues happy to help out.

@@omulet29 if you’re only viewing the planets and the moon this method should be ok. From an astrophotography perspective I know it is accurate especially with wider focal lengths. As you go to longer focal lengths the more precise the polar alignment needs to be. This method should get you with in the ball park and depending on what hemisphere you are in it will help you locate Polaris or the Octans for fine tuning. Hope this helps. Matt

@@nightscapeodyssey.mattclarke I use mak127

@@komerlee let me know how you go! 😀

@@GrowPhotography Hi and thank you for subscribing 😀 also subscribe in return. Yes, it’s amazing to see how many different ways there are to polar align out there! Regards Matt

Thanks for the feedback! You can use the app to roughly polar align the tracker in most cases this will get you extremely close to the sigma octans assuming you are in the Southern Hemisphere. I have tried this with a 300mm lens and got some trailing. In my opinion you will need to precisely align the tracker for nebula photography. Have a look through your polar scope once you have aligned with the app and you should see your target stars!

Thanks Richard! Not as good as you but finding my flow with every video. Got a few more coming up soon. Cheers Matt

Yes, this is an iOS application. This is the most accurate app that I have found. Let me know if you need any more information. Matt

@@nightscapeodyssey.mattclarke Thank you. Shame as I am on an android but great video btw.

@@aquatone01 if you are using android try this application play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=appinventor.ai_kechko.Polaralignment if link doesn’t work the app is called Polar Aligner Pro in google store. Let me know how you go 😀

@@aquatone01 or you can use Photo Pills also on android 😀