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In development

Noxpose

A long exposure camera for the night sky

I think phone cameras can do astrophotography, and the software just isn't there yet. So I am writing my own long exposure camera for the Nothing Phone (3), with a red night-mode interface I can use without ruining my eyes.

Settle and count downAfter I press the shutter, the phone waits until it has been still for a second, then counts down from three. The Glyph Matrix on the back of the Nothing Phone (3) shows the same rings, so I can read it with the screen face down.
Ready screenExposure, ISO, frame count and the estimated session time. The exposure ruler marks the NPF limit for the main lens, and Star Trails switches to longer frames and a bigger count.
ShootingOne dial for the session and the current frame, with a shake scope, a seismograph of the last frame and a timeline of the whole session. A bump past the limit costs that frame. Ending early needs a two second hold.
StackingFrames are aligned on their stars as they arrive. When the session ends the backlog finishes, then the stack is rendered and saved, and the log shows each step.

Patience the stock camera lacks

Stargazing leads to wanting a photo of it. Phone cameras have come a long way, but the stock apps give up on the night sky after a few seconds. They are not patient enough.

So I started on a long exposure camera that waits properly.

Still first, then shoot

It has two modes so far. Starry Sky stacks many frames into one cleaner shot. Star Trails stacks them to draw the stars as arcs.

Before the first frame, it waits until the phone has been still for a full second. Then it counts down, shoots, and checks every frame. A frame that was shaken or blurred by rotation is thrown out and counted as a reject.

A screen that stays out of the way

The interface is a red hairline HUD on true black, so my eyes keep their night vision. One dial shows session progress. Beside it sit frame time, sensor temperature and a live shake trace.

The Glyph Matrix on the back shows progress too, so the screen can stay dark while the shot runs.

The hard half

The interface is in good shape. The image processing is still in progress, and I am yet to find out if I am cut out for it.