NexYZ fits any eyepiece from 35 mm to 60 mm in diameter including telescopes with 1.25” and 2” eyepieces, spotting scopes, monoculars, and binoculars. NexYZ will also attach to microscopes with the addition of the included adapter ring, which takes the usable diameter down to 25 mm, the size of a standard microscope eyepiece. A strong spring and a threaded twist lock provide a two-level strong and secure grip on the optical instrument’s eyepiece so you can image with confidence. NexYZ also accommodates a huge range of smartphones. The phone platform is fully adjustable and can fit any device—usually with the case still on. Even larger “phablets” like the iPhone 8 Plus and latest Samsung Galaxy devices work perfectly. The secure platform stands up to the weight of these heavier devices with ease. If multiple people want to capture a shot through your optic, NexYZ’s simple spring-loaded clamps make it easy to remove one device and replace it with another in seconds. NexYZ is the ideal solution for star parties and group bird walks where everyone wants their own shot of the action. Easy as X-Y-Z – What makes NexYZ different from other smartphone adapters? The three-axis adjustment. Most adapters rely on you placing your phone perfectly on the platform and only offer limited adjustment in two axes. But NexYZ gives you the power to place your phone on the platform, center it over the eyepiece with the X and Y knobs, and then move up or down over the eyepiece until you have the entire field of view in your shot. And even though this adjustment is ultra-precise, it’s still quicker and easier than with other adapters. From start to finish, the process only takes about 30 seconds, including the time it takes to insert the phone into NexYZ, attach NexYZ to an eyepiece, start the camera app, and center the camera over the eyepiece using the knobs. If you switch phones, eyepieces, or optical instruments, you will need only slight adjustments to re-center the camera over the new eyepiece. You can also switch your image from portrait to landscape simply by turning the padded eyepiece clamp and readjusting the X, Y, and Z axis to realign your phone with the eyepiece. NOTE: NexYZ fits telescopes, spotting scopes, binoculars, monoculars, and microscopes. It will not fit riflescopes. NexYZ will work with most phone cases, but if you have an especially large phone case with built-in batteries or a folio style case, Celestron recommends removing it for optimal use. US and International Patents Pending. The phone clamp can open to 92mm in width. The bottom of the phone can be as much as 160mm from the center of the camera on the phone. Imaging Tips and Tricks Camera Controls The standard camera apps that come preinstalled with your smartphone offer very rudimentary controls and are designed to automatically adjust focus and exposure. This is not a problem for everyday photography such as landscapes or portraits, but can be a problem for imaging a planet or the Moon where you have a very bright object against a very black sky. The phone’s camera tries to compensate for the imbalance of lighting by brightening up the dark areas, but this causes the bright areas to overexpose and blow-out the details. If your camera app settings do not allow you to manually select the focus point or have an option to disable the autofocus or auto-exposure, you may want to consider using a different camera app. You can find lots of aftermarket apps for iOS and Android that offer a greater amount of control for your camera. Many of these are free. Vibration To help eliminate any vibration induced when you touch the camera to snap the image, try using a shutter delay. Some apps offer a 2, 5, or 10 second delay before snapping the image. This will give the vibrations a chance to dissipate before actually taking the images. Subjects to Shoot Using this method, you should be able to take images of daytime terrestrial objects and nighttime astronomical images of the Moon and bright planets (Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn). Unfortunately, smartphone camera sensors are not designed to work well in very low light, so it will not be possible to capture faint astronomical objects such as galaxies or nebulae in this manner. Magnification When looking at the Moon or planets with a stationary telescope, you will notice that the object appears to drift across the field of view. This is actually caused by the Earth’s rotation. If you were looking visually through your 20mm eyepiece, a planet would take approximately 3.0 minutes to drift across the entire eyepiece’s field of view. If you are using the 10mm eyepiece, it would only take 1.5 minutes. The smartphone does not use the entire eyepiece’s field of view and only uses the center of it, making the motion appear even faster. When centering an astronomical object in the phone’s field of view, try leading the target. Try to point the scope ahead of the planet so that it is just entering the field of view. This will maximize the amount of time it takes to drift across the entire field, allowing you more time to take images before needing to re-aim the telescope. The 10mm will have a narrower field of view and will need to be adjusted more often as a result. Working with the 20mm eyepiece will be easier at the start. Once you are comfortable with it, try stepping up to the 10mm eyepiece.