Was dead wrong about those phone camera astro modes

I spent like 6 months rolling my eyes at everyone posting phone photos of the Milky Way. Figured it was all fake processing and AI junk. Then my buddy let me borrow his Pixel 7 Pro and I drove 40 miles out to a dark spot near Pine Grove. That 4 minute exposure of Andromeda came out clearer than anything my old Canon 60D ever did. Has anyone else had to eat their words on phone astrophotography?

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christopher_coleman172mo ago

Man I totally get this. The thing nobody mentions is how much the tripod matters even for these phone shots. I tried that exact same Andromeda thing with a Pixel 7 and just resting it on a rock gave me way more star trailing than you'd think. You have to have a solid little phone tripod or something to hold it steady or the software cant work its magic. Most people probably try it handheld or propped up on a fence and then say the mode sucks when it's really just the shakiness messing everything up.

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river_adams252mo ago

My Pixel 6a actually did okay with the Milky Way last summer but only after I bought a cheap $15 phone tripod off Amazon. The difference between propping it on my backpack and having that little stand was honestly night and day on the final image. So yeah the phone can do it but you really gotta take the shaking out of the equation first.

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