Final Cut Camera
Apple Inc.
Free

Afocal Imaging

Before mounting the camera on the eyepiece, focus the object in the eyepiece to your eye. If you have an iPhone with a LiDAR Sensor you also need to cover that sensor. See my article iPhone Afocal Photography LiDAR Issue. Then mount the iPhone on the eyepiece, ensuring the camera lens is centered over the eyepiece and at the "eye relief" distance from the eyepiece. I use an Accuview 3-Axis Smartphone Adapter.

Here are some afocal images I have done using Final Cut Camera with the iPhone 15 Pro Max mounted on my 12" LX600 telescope.

Crater Copernicus (271X, 1080p, 240fps, 2523 frames, ISO 64, 1/250sec, 1X lens)


Venus (271X, 1080p, 240fps, 2518 frames, ISO 100, 1/8000sec, 1X lens)


Venus (271X, 1080p, 240fps, 2521 frames, ISO 64, 1/8000sec, 1X lens)


Jupiter (271X, 1080p, 240fps, 632 frames, ISO 2000, 1/250sec, 1X lens)

Sometimes stacking video frames will not yield the best image. This afocal 443X image is a stack of 631 video frames (60fps, ISO 1000, 1/60sec, 1X lens).

This is a single afocal 443X image taken with NightCap Camera (ISO 55, 1/5sec, 1X lens) taken a few minutes before the video. Three Galilean Moons and the Great Red Spot are visible.

The slowest shutter speed available is based on the video frame rate (1/24sec at 24fps, 1/250sec at 240fps). Using Final Cut Camera for Deep Sky Objects will not yield good results since you can not use a really slow shutter speed. Using NightCap Camera, which can stack multiple 1 second exposures into a single image or the Camera app in Night Mode (up to a 30 second exposure), will yield better results as seen in these afocal 81X images of M42 (the Great Orion Nebula), a very bright nebula.

NightCap Camera (ISO 2000, 1sec, 1 minute, 1X lens)


Camera (Night Mode, 30 seconds, 1X lens)


Final Cut Camera (ISO 5000, 1/24sec, 1X lens, 731 frames stacked)

A limitation of Final Cut Camera is that the shutter speed selection is only available at specific steps (i.e., 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, etc.) and is dependent on the selected frame rate. Another limitation is the ISO setting is also dependent on the frame rate.

Summary

Final Cut Camera is an excellent alternative to the Apple Camera app for doing videos. It gives you full control over the exposure and focus, with some limitations. These limitations may or may not be an issue, depending the object you are trying to image. The User Interface is not as simple to use as the UI in NightCap Camera with its easy-to-access and use ISO, Shutter Speed, White Balance, and Focus sliders. But as NightCap Camera only allows for 30fps video recording, it is not as useful for recording many video frames in a short period of time for later stacking.

When used for imaging planets, Final Cut Camera should be your first choice since it is free to use.

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