I just did a 60 stack on my K70 and 50mm f/2 last night that I'm excited to edit and I can't wait to try out the 15PM in November, see how it compares to my 11PM.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPhone 15 Pro Max Star Test: 15 PM Night mode is better than 14 pro max!!
- Thread starter ToddH
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
For these shots I used a Nikon D810 with a Sigma 135mm f/1.8 at f/2.2 for a single 6 minute exposure. The andromeda galaxy was taken with the D800 and an older Nikon 500mm f/8 reflex lens, singe exposure, ISO 2000 for 8 minutes.
I haven't had a proper camera in years, got used to the quality of smartphone cameras. When looking online I'm also just comparing pictures from different smartphones. Every now and again you look at a picture from a proper camera like your incredible photos above and are just reminded how big the gap is from a smartphone. I should buy some gear again.
The pictures look nice! I remember growing up and seeing stars at night, and being able to hear crickets outside my window. I’d love to have that back. I live in a major city and there is no relaxation or escape. One day I’ll be able to hear the crickets again. And take some nice nighttime photos with my iPhone 15 Pro
I live in Buffalo and I have to go to Allegany State Park, two-three hours way, to see the night sky
Never ever in my life was I able to get anything resembling the moon with an iPhone
Star trail, star rail, trailblazer.
(Sorry I linked that word to games I play recently)
Seriously tho. With today’s camera producing maybe 30% from the actual sensor and 70% AI processed, I have to wonder how much that AI has compensated to deliver that result on iPhone. Not that I don’t believe the authenticity of the photo, I am a bit skeptical about those sample photos, unless they are completely untouched by Apple.
It’s all I hear at night in northeastern Oklahoma lol. They are loud!The pictures look nice! I remember growing up and seeing stars at night, and being able to hear crickets outside my window. I’d love to have that back. I live in a major city and there is no relaxation or escape. One day I’ll be able to hear the crickets again. And take some nice nighttime photos with my iPhone 15 Pro
Mine are awful by comparison but note the below pics were taken and it was extremely dark to my naked eye. And yes I accidentally caught my dog doing her business as I couldn’t see her. 15p absolutely blows my 12p out of the water for night pics. It’s really a huge upgrade. No special settings just point and clicked.
Attachments
Last edited:
These look like images from a telescope and not a camera!
Thanks… the first two images are of the Milky Way central area which is really large and a 135mm lens pulls in a lot of detail. The third shot is of the entire constellation of Orion which I used an 85mm for and lastly, was the Andromeda galaxy which was captured with a Nikon D800 using a retro Nikon 500mm F/8 Nikon reflex lens.
These sort of shots always blow my mind that they weren’t taken with a telescope. I’ve gotten more and more interested in astrophotography over the past few years but it seems so daunting. I just purchased the Sony 20mm 1.8 for my a7iii a few months ago because my kit lens just wasn’t cutting it. Haven’t had a chance to test it out living in Los Angeles, I’m planning on going out to Death Valley this fall on a moonless night.
I know that the longer the focal length is, that you either have to shorten your exposure time or use a tracker. I finally got a new telephoto lens recently as well and I would love to be able to get shots like yours. What I wonder is how difficult it all is? I’ve read about people taking thousands of pictures over hours and having to do some really complex editing, although for your pics you got those with just a single exposure?
I dream of the day our phones can take pics like this, makes me wonder what you could do with an iPhone hooked up to a telescope and a tracker using an app that allows full manual controls?
I've done a prelim edit on the stack and a single exposure and I'm liking the results so far. They were taken with a 50mm f/2 at 5s, ISO 1600. I just wish I'd known more about astro when I started trying with my ist*DS years back. I may give it another go this weekend if it's not raining with the 35-80 just for kicks. Got it in a bundle buy off ebay and have never really liked or used it.
I will definitely be posting them in the POD thread when they're finished.
Wipe your lens off next time, will fix those huge streaks coming off the lights!
I happened to be near Great Sand Dunes NP a few weeks before upgrading from 14Pro to 15Pro. These shots were with the 14Pro on the cheap pocket tripod I keep in my backpack, and make me extremely excited to retry with the 15Pro and a legit tripod. As an amateur photographer, I'm very impressed big-picture with the fact that you can get photos like these with the everyday phone you carry in your pocket.
Cool. The skywatcher star adventurer is an inexpensive tracking device If you’re interested, you can find that on Amazon. They have several different kits along with it and I think the pro kit sells for about $420. I have one and I really like it. It will definitely help you achieve Much longer exposure times without having to stack so many images.
I was in Fort Davis Texas when I took these photos during the Texas star party. That’s a yearly event that takes place and people come from all over the United States and from other parts of the world as well to spend a week out at the Prude Ranch to do astronomy. As far as the tracking device, you can get the skywatcher star adventurer on Amazon and the pro kit cost about $420. it has a maximum payload of 11 pounds, so you can definitely put a telephoto on it. It works really well, runs on four AA batteries, lightweight and portable. You just need a good really sturdy tripod for it. I use a wooden field survey style tripod for mine. it looks like it’s on sale for 23% off on Amazon.
Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Pro Pack – Motorized DSLR Night Sky Tracker Equatorial Mount for Portable Nightscapes, Time-Lapse and Panoramas – Wi-Fi App Camera Control – Long Exposure (S20512) https://a.co/d/4O5Qunj
There are quite a few people on Instagram that use these and you can do a search and chat with people probably on Facebook as well. It’s really easy to set up an align with the north star. I have an app on my iPhone that shows me exactly where to point it and put Polaris in the viewfinder and I can have it set up in 10 minutes or less.
Astrophotography does take a little bit of getting used too. I’ve been doing it a long time and I don’t get nearly as involved as other people that take 5 to 10 to 12 hours of exposure time, it cost too much money, and the telescope mounts are outrageously expensive.
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
I'm one of those crazy people that take long exposure astrophotos but always thought about putting phone on top the scope to take some Timelapse photos while doing some long exposure shots. I'll have to try it sometime. I took the image of the crescent nebula in my avatar.
I don’t go that deep with astrophotography. I couldn’t now anyway, not dark enough around here. Plus I don’t have the expensive mounts like the paramount ME etc..
I am seriously thinking of getting the ZWO Seestar 50 ($500 US) once they catch up with filling their pre-orders. It has some great potential for EAA and casual astro photography . It is a slippery slope though. Some of the images on the cloudynights.com forums are amazing.
Not the most impressive, and done handheld, but this is straight out of the telephoto w/ 5 sec exposure of the sky in my back yard. I ordered a tripod and can’t wait to push the 15 Pro Max. This is completely unedited out of the 15PM. There were some amber deck lights on providing ambient lighting.
