DSLR Plate Solver gets your target into the frame without a GoTo mount. Plug your Canon EOS camera into your iPhone, take a short photo, and the app works out where in the sky you are pointing by matching the stars. Then it tells you, in plain words, which way to move the camera and by how much: "Move 1/8 inch up and 1/16 inch left." Shoot again and repeat until it says On target. Everything runs on your phone. The star database is built in, and a solve takes under a second, so it works at a dark site with no cell signal or internet. There's nothing to enter about where you're pointing; the app searches the whole sky on its own. ONE SCREEN PER STEP • Connect camera: plug in with a USB cable. The camera tells the app its model, and the app fills in the sensor size. • Focal length: type in your lens or telescope. The app remembers the last one and shows the field of view. • Target: search for over 160 deep-sky objects, including the full Messier catalog, (plus dozens of the brightest stars) and see which compass direction and how high to aim. • Frame the target: take a photo, tap Solve and follow the arrow. • Imaging: a built-in Bulb intervalometer. Set the exposure, number of frames and gap, then tap Start. MOVES YOU CAN ACT ON Directions are given as up, down, left and right, as seen from behind the camera: the way you'd move a ball head on a tripod or tracker. Distances are ballpark figures at the front of the lens, in inches or millimeters, with the exact angle shown underneath. SEE YOUR STARS Long exposures often look black on a phone screen. The app automatically stretches every photo so you can judge framing, focus and stars at a glance, with a brightness slider and pinch to zoom. Your original photo is never changed. BUILT FOR THE FIELD • Red night mode protects your dark adaptation. • The phone stays awake while the camera is connected. • Your camera and settings are remembered between sessions. • Practice mode with sample photos lets you learn the app indoors, no camera needed. WHAT YOU NEED • A Canon EOS DSLR or mirrorless camera. • A USB cable from the camera to your iPhone (USB-C iPhones), or Apple's USB camera adapter for Lightning iPhones. • A field of view between about 2° and 65°: roughly 18 to 640 mm on APS-C cameras, 28 to 1000 mm on full frame. Photos are saved on your camera's memory card. No account, no ads, no tracking. Though the plate solver will work on any image within the field of view range, we have not tested the camera utility features on camera systems other than Canon EOS and therefore have only listed Canon EOS in the description.
Photo & Video · iPhone, iPad · $1.99
