Shooting the Eclipse with a GoPro Hero5
Back-Bone
, , , , , , , , , , H5PRO, Ribcage
Shooting the Eclipse with a GoPro Hero5

At Back-Bone we’re always looking for creative ways to use our modified cameras. In this case we decided to use one of our C-Mount modified GoPro Hero5 Black cameras to shoot a timelapse of the 2017 eclipse from our location in Ontario, Canada.

We mounted our camera on a heavy duty tripod and fitted it with a Kendrick 6007-SF Solar Filter. The camera was fitted with a 25-135mm 1/2″ C-Mount lens with a 52mm variable ND filter. We also added a 0.9 OD neutral density filter inside the camera along with the IR-Cut filter. A USB power bank was used to keep everything running for the full duration. A Paralinx Arrow+ was also connected to beam the live video inside to one of our TV’s.

We recorded the entire eclipse at 1080/30. We could have done a timelapse with stills obviously, but we where hoping we might catch something interesting like a plane or birds flying in front of the sun, but unfortunately no luck ! Because our tripod wasn’t capable of tracking the sun, we had to manually adjust the position every 10 minutes or so to keep it in frame.

Next we spit out a subset of frames from Adobe Premiere and stabilized the sun’s position using After Effects. We adjusted the image and added a little color to make the shot more interesting. And there you have it!

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Use A Ribcage Modified GoPro on a Microscope or Telescope
Back-Bone
, , , , , , , , , , , , H5PRO, Ribcage, Ribcage AIR, YI 4K
Use A Ribcage Modified GoPro on a Microscope or Telescope

USING THE RIBCAGE MOD’S NATIVE C-MOUNT

Our Ribcage Modified Cameras are small, portable and have powerful shooting options at a reasonable price. That makes them a perfect option for microscopes, telescopes and many other scientific applications. C-Mount is commonly used in scientific and medical imaging equipment so the camera can be directly connected to all kinds of different devices! The image sensor makes it ideal for beam splitters that are designed for ½” C-Mount cameras and can also be attached in place of the eyepiece with a simple adapter. The camera is also capable of seeing infra-red for your custom applications. Filters are easily added or removed to the inside of the camera so you can image exactly the areas of the spectrum that you need.

There are many benefits when using your Ribcage modified camera on a microscope:

Theses benefits include:

  • 4K recording
  • High resolution 12MP stills (RAW with H5PRO or YI 4K)
  • Manual exposure / shutter speed control (Hero4, Hero5)
  • Connection to high-res displays
  • Clean 4K (UHD) HDMI out (H5PRO)
  • Smartphone and tablet connectivity
  • Custom wavelength imaging
  • Compact size / portable / self-contained
  • Remote control
  • Up to 240 fps (720p)
Aquarium water drop 1
Still frame taken from a recording of water mites by Ciencias ULisboa
Aquarium water drop 2
Still frame taken from a recording of water mites by Ciencias ULisboa

What you will need:

1. C-Mount Ribcage modified camera
2. Microscope
3. C-Mount eyepiece adapter / C-Mount beam splitter
4. Filters (Optional)
5. Micro HDMI cable (or YI 4K A/V cable)

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Ribcage close up on a microscope
cmount-microscope
C-Mount adapter for microscopy
ribcage-filters
Custom Ribcage filters
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Ribcage with microscope C-Mount to the side

A Cost Effective Alternative

Other C-Mount imaging systems are often quite costly with substantially fewer options, weaker specifications and require an external power supply and controller. Our solution is available at a small fraction of the cost, is simple to operate, compact and portable. With our native C-Mount you can easily transfer the camera to other equipment as needed or pack it up and use it in the field. The camera can be permanently powered if required so shooting long segments or time-lapse sequences is a breeze.

Getting started:

1. Add the C-Mount adapter to your Ribcage.
2. With your microscope, you will get a C-Mount support which you will need to screw on the Ribcage.
3. Insert the camera on the top of the microscope.
4. Make sure everything is turned on (camera and microscope).
5. You are now ready to start taking amazing shots!

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Ribcage with C-Mount adapter for microscope

Post-production:

With GoPro’s Protune camera settings you can get much higher quality throughout your post-production and get more dynamic images from your camera. You can edit your pictures with Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom. GoPro’s Quik™ is also a great choice for post-processing your clips into a short video as is Adobe Premiere or any other video editing package.

A short video taken by Ciencias ULisboa of water mites trough a microscope equipped with a Ribcage modified GoPro.

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SHOOTING THE MOON
Jon Clouter
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Ribcage
SHOOTING THE MOON

GoPro probably didn’t have this in mind when they designed the Hero3+ ! We finally had a chance to test out the Ribcage on our Telescope. These images and the video below were taken by attaching a c-mount to 1.25″ nosepiece adapter to our Celestron C6 750mm Newtonian Reflector telescope. No lens was used on the Ribcage. It’s great to be able to see everything through a field monitor and not have to peer through an eyepiece. We can achieve additional magnification by using a barlow, however we didn’t have one when this was shot.

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