iPhone 15 Pro Max Milky Way with 15 Pro Max

[ToddH]

So I drove 50 minutes out of town to a dark location to see what the new iPhone can do under a dark sky. Finally got my chance. Native camera in night mode, 30” exposure at ISO 4000. I’m impressed!

All photos were taken in ProRAW & edited in Lightroom mobile


Screenshot of ProRAW file before editing

Edited

 

[subjonas]

Very nice.
Is that Andromeda in the 3rd photo?
Also are these using the 1x or 5x lens? Does zoom/focal length make any difference for sky photography?

 

[ToddH]

Very nice.
Is that Andromeda in the 3rd photo?
Also are these using the 1x or 5x lens? Does zoom/focal length make any difference for sky photography?

These are all 1x camera shots at 24mm. I also took one (not shown) at 28mm. It still worked and just a little closer.

And yes, that is the Andromeda galaxy. I don’t think the 5x works on the night sky, the 1x takes over and digital zooms in to match the 5x.

 

[redbeard331]

Looks good, I need to get out of LA soon to try this thing out. I keep forgetting you can use the Apple Watch as a remote, and just last night I found out you can zoom in and out between lenses using the Digital Crown. But yea I don’t think the telephoto camera would do very good with its smaller sensor and aperture.

 

[Kottu]

Beautiful! But how could you set native camera at 30s and could you change ISO as well?

 

[shawnneal]

impressive!

 

[Zest28]

Now we need a telescope on these things.

 

[redbeard331]

So I drove 50 minutes out of town to a dark location to see what the new iPhone can do under a dark sky. Finally got my chance. Native camera in night mode, 30” exposure at ISO 4000. I’m impressed!

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I forgot to ask if these were using a star tracker? I tried in my backyard and at 30 seconds I get star trails.

 

[ToddH]

I forgot to ask if these were using a star tracker? I tried in my backyard and at 30 seconds I get star trails.

No not anymore. The three frames that the iPhone takes are aligned differently now to avoid trails. Something new in iOS 17 apparently.

 

[ToddH]

Beautiful! But how could you set native camera at 30s and could you change ISO as well?

Thanks! The thirty seconds exposure time only is available when the iPhone is on a tripod and not handheld. The iso is automatic, I can’t change that. I looked to see what ISO was used.

Watch this video if you haven’t already

 

[ToddH]

impressive!

Thanks. I was very pleased

 

[xxBlack]

Just curious which Level of light pollution had this place?

I just have Level 4 spots around me. For Level 3 I have to go to the mountains

 

[risenphoenixkai]

That is unbelievably good image quality, and it’s inspired me to get a tripod mount for my iPhone. I live in a dark sky preserve, so I can get skies that dark just by going outside and turning my house lights off.

 

[Macalicious2011]

I have a 15 Pro, tripod and phone mount. Must try this tonight.

10 hours to go until its pitch black in the UK. Hahaha

 

[HackMacDaddy]

Does any tripod work or does it have to be Magsafe so it is detected?

 

[Jackbequickly]

Images like this make me realize how small we are in a very big place.

 

[ToddH]

Just curious which Level of light pollution had this place?

I just have Level 4 spots around me. For Level 3 I have to go to the mountains

I’d say class 3 or 4. I can see some light pollution on the horizon to the west. Here is the screenshot of the ProRAW file

 

[ToddH]

That is unbelievably good image quality, and it’s inspired me to get a tripod mount for my iPhone. I live in a dark sky preserve, so I can get skies that dark just by going outside and turning my house lights off.

Awesome!! I wish I had skies like that

 

[ToddH]

Does any tripod work or does it have to be Magsafe so it is detected?

Any tripod will work. Any phone mount for the tripod will work.

 

[xxBlack]

I’d say class 3 or 4. I can see some light pollution on the horizon to the west.

you can check here:

Light pollution map

Interactive world light pollution map. The map uses NASA VIIRS, World Atlas 2015, Aurora prediction, observatories, clouds and SQM/SQC overlay contributed by users.

www.lightpollutionmap.info

Did you take this pics with PRORAW?

 

[ToddH]

you can check here:

Light pollution map

Interactive world light pollution map. The map uses NASA VIIRS, World Atlas 2015, Aurora prediction, observatories, clouds and SQM/SQC overlay contributed by users.

www.lightpollutionmap.info

Did you take this pics with PRORAW?

Thanks… class 3.

I did use ProRAW

I added screenshots of my ProRAW files to my post

 

[xxBlack]

Even without editing it looks awesome!

 

[Kottu]

Thanks! The thirty seconds exposure time only is available when the iPhone is on a tripod and not handheld. The iso is automatic, I can’t change that. I looked to see what ISO was used.

Watch this video if you haven’t already

Thanks! Didn't know that. I was even searching for an app to use long exposure on iPhone. Ordered a small tripod from Amazon. (Tripod for my Nikon is too big to carry around).

 

[rKunda]

Wow

 

[neuropsychguy]

That’s a significant improvement over the iPhone 13 Pro (image above). Granted, this wasn’t a particularly dark place (Class 5 area) but those larger and improved sensors in the 15 Pro Max look like they make a huge difference.