I took photographs of the northern lights with my Pixel 8 Professional and Galaxy S24 Plus — the outcomes had been very totally different

Final night time, an intense storm gave the world fairly a present because it ignited the sky with an array of colours that many south of the Arctic not often get an opportunity to see. Many set their sights on the sky, which was ablaze with beautiful views of the northern lights (or aurora borealis), now vividly emblazoned into all our minds and on our telephones.

I used to be a bit late to the celebration, however as quickly as I may, I made my method as much as my rooftop to attempt to seize the occasion. I reside in Seattle, so that is positively not a standard prevalence. Fortuitously, the skies had been a lot clearer than they had been for the latest photo voltaic eclipse (save for some gentle air pollution), which was blocked off by the gloomy Seattle climate. So, I grabbed my Pixel 8 Professional and Galaxy S24 Plus and pointed up, curious to see how each telephones would seize the occasion.

Pixel vs. Galaxy

I attempted to shoot the precise scene with each telephones every time I snapped a photograph, alternating one after the opposite. Since they had been each in night time mode, I attempted to remain as nonetheless as doable, and holding each on the similar time would not actually work. The Pixel 8 Professional made it simple to see the place I used to be taking pictures, however the viewfinder on the Galaxy S24 Plus wasn’t actually doing me any favors, and far of the time, it was simply guesswork.

I additionally had each telephones alternate between auto night time mode and max night time mode to see if there can be any visible distinction (there wasn’t) with the additional few seconds. Finally I simply saved them each on auto to see how they might fare (the Galaxy would normally take one additional second to seize the scene than the Pixel), and I used to be a bit of shocked on the variations between the outcomes.

I selected to not edit the photographs to match the uncooked output from each telephones.

The pictures from the Pixel 8 Professional had been far more true to life than what the Galaxy S24 Plus captured. The colours had been a bit extra muted, and the picture was total a lot softer, though there was plenty of gentle air pollution the place I used to be, so the auroras weren’t as vibrant. In the meantime, the Galaxy S24 Plus appeared fairly aggressive with its colours, punching up the saturation greater than I personally choose. 

I admit it the punched up saturation may generally make for a cooler picture, however total, I most popular the photographs from the Pixel for being a lot brighter, even when I want they’d extra distinction.

The Pixel 8 additionally appeared to do a greater job of capturing the celebs within the sky regardless of the auroras and light-weight air pollution from town.

Astrophotography mode on the Pixel 8 Professional got here in clutch

Earlier than I grabbed my Galaxy S24 Plus, I took just a few pictures of the sky utilizing Astrophotography mode on my Pixel to see if that would offer higher outcomes than the default night time mode. Sadly, they weren’t significantly better than what night time mode captured, however the cool factor about this mode is that it additionally captures a brief timelapse along with a picture, which made all of the ready round extra worthwhile.

I admittedly tried utilizing the Astrophoto mode on the Galaxy S24 Plus, however it doesn’t matter what seize time I chosen, the ensuing pictures simply weren’t usable.

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Many individuals captured wonderful pictures of the northern lights, which could be discovered on X (previously Twitter), Instagram, and different websites. You can even try extra wonderful photographs and study extra concerning the occasion at House.com.

Did you seize any good photographs of final night time’s gentle present? What telephones or tools did you employ to take them?