GOSKY Smartphone Adapter Mount Regular Size - Compatible with Binoculars, Monoculars, Spotting Scopes, Telescope, Microscopes Fits almost all Smartphones on the Market Record Nature and The World

First off, I’m no imager. I’m almost a pure visual observer with an un-driven Dobsonian scope, a 16-inch. I could normally car less about imaging and lost what little obsession I had in it thirty years ago. On the other hand, with the advent of decent cell phone cameras, I HAVE messed around snapping the occasional shot through the eyepiece, with mostly lousy results. The big issue is holding the camera at just the right angle in the exit cone to get a photo. With tilt and all, it’s not as easy as it sounds. Just for a goof, I decided to spring for a cheap adapter to hold the camera in place at just the right angle, so I can take my crummy shots and get a somewhat clear image.Why am I doing this?It’s mainly for a goof and also for drawing flies to paper, in a way. Whenever I post something about my visual observations to the club web site, I’m lucky to get one or two hits or comments. However, some schmuck posts a blurry photo of the moon or something, and he or she’ll get a hundred hits before the electrons are even settled.So, bait and switch. I take a crummy, unrelated image, attach it to my visual observation report, and draw flies to the paper!There’s a logic to my madness.As for how this doohickey works, I checked out the Orion and TeleVue versions, which were both around $100. No way was I going to spend that kind of money for a goof. Then, after a recommendation from a forum on the astronomical web site Cloudy Nights, I found this Gosky device. So, I read the bad reviews yet decided that even if there were some potential drawbacks, it was still worth the risk of a mere $25. I was sure I could get SOME use out of it.It was two months after Christmas before I got to take my present into the field and try it on for size. I attached it to several Explore Scientific eyepieces (and a Meade UWA), the 18mm 2-inch and the 8.8mm 1 ¼-inch and a 4.7mm 1 ¼-inch. It worked great in all cases (except see below). My main target was the moon, which that night was nothing but a sliver.As for attaching my Samsung Galaxy 8, it was no issue at all. The clamps did not come even close to interfering with the side buttons. The camera lens was able to slide right up to the perfect spot to align with the eyepiece exit cone as well.Now, the images are round and there’s plenty of viginetting, but hey, what to expect from such a cheap and easy deal, anyway? I did have one issue when I first attached it to the Meade UWA eyepiece. The thing slipped off because I didn’t set the eyepiece clamp just right. Also, you need to make sure the clamp is tight, or the whole thing will just tilt right off the eyepiece. Beware of the rubber eyecup and make sure everything is solid before you go messing around.The next thing was getting it centered in the exit pupil, or eye cone. It took a bit of adjustment. While it was still daylight it was easiest because I had surrounding scenery to use. However, after dark, it was more of a challenge, especially when I tried to focus on Uranus and it was a bit too tiny to keep in the field, even at 209X in the 8.8mm EP. I had taken the eyepiece/cell phone assembly out and when I put it back in, everything shifted a bit. I had to shine my flashlight down the tube and re-center the phone in the eye cone. However, it didn’t work all that well and I finally gave up trying to image Uranus. It was just too tiny and faint to get it to register well in the phone, though it darted through the field a couple of times.The adapter worked well. It was the cell phone camera that’s going to take some practice. With a magnification of 209X that I was mainly using, and only a sliver of moon, the phone kept trying to focus on different parts of the sliver while I was trying to focus the eyepiece. When I thought it looked sharp on the display, snapped a photo with my remote shutter release, it didn’t end up that way later.When I got home, none of the images were sharply focused. Part of that was the phone and my tweaking the focus going against each other. Part of it was probably using too high of a magnification.Overall, the adapter did what it was supposed to do, at least for a Samsung Galaxy 8 phone. It clamped the phone just fine, clamped the eyepiece just fine, once I figured out how to do it correctly, and it held it in position correctly.Oh, and it’s a very light device so there was no balance issues, at least for my Dob.The only issues I see are after dark if you change eyepieces or take it off the telescope, you may have to re-center it in the eye cone and that may require a bright light or at least a flashlight. Or, leave it attached to that eyepiece, make sure it’s very tightly secured, and be very careful handling it!Highly recommended.

First of all, you have to figure out how much max width you have with your Bino's wide open which makes a huge difference in being able to angle these units enough to get your phones perfectly horizontal "whether at 0 degree's or 90 degree's" without having to tilt the bino's on the tripod head. i had purchased and returned 4 other supposedly Quality brands ranging in price from $50 to $100 that were rated pretty good but not good on my heaviest Bino's "Cheapo Pentax 20x60" that are very heavy weighing in at 4.1 pds nor my lighter units because they just wouldn't stay in place once mounted and did not have near the adjustment these have. On these particular Bino's i have to mount them at 20 degree's to get my Iphone 5s to near perfect horizontal plane which isn't a real problem. There is a lot of adjustment with this unit but the way it clamps on i have to use every bit of it but it works awesome ! I have found that the field of view improves dramatically with backing the camera lens away about 1/2" and the same with both pairs of my Vortex. It does take a bit to get it adjusted so if you are running and gunning with quick set-ups you will probably get very frustrated but i had worse problems with the other units i had. This unit is by far more durable than the other units i tried " with this Being made mostly of Metal. The ocular clamp is awesome with with very durable inserts that will definitely not damage your optics but will grip without moving once tightened. The Phone clamp is also very easy to adjust and grips my Iphone 5s very firmly and will not damage the phone nor move once tightened and also with durable soft inserts surrounding the phone ! With my particular adjustable , rubber ocular piece with the Outside Diameter of 48.49 MM with this clamp opened to its max it is extremely snug to get the clamp around but it will work with some patience and finesse. If your particular eye cups are hard with little to no give then it will not fit at this max adjustment. In my opinion it is a Must to purchase a remote Bluetooth shutter release for the best pictures possible. At this point i am very satisfied with my experience and will not be returning it! I Know, My Grammar sux at best so please forgive me.

Works great on my Athlon talos scope. There are a lot of more expensive options that might be faster setup, etc. It works great at the range for my purposes. Photos attached are at 200 and 100 yards. It was over 90 F, so heat mirage was there but I could see my shot groups just fine and take a few pictures.