In a bid to draw more attention to the Galaxy S20 series and the Galaxy S20 Ultra in particular, Samsung had recently shared a handful of beautiful pictures of the night sky (seen below), wanting to highlight the flagship phone's capabilities as a tool for amateur astrophotographers.
It worked, as these photos have certainly drawn our attention, but it also got us thinking of what Samsung should be doing next if it wants to push its flagship smartphones' astrophotography prowess to the next level.
Samsung needs to add an Astrophotography camera mode
To put it bluntly, the Galaxy S20 Ultra is in dire need of an Astrophotography mode similar to what you will find on the Google Pixel 4. Although it is clearly possible to create beautiful night sky shots with the Galaxy S20 Ultra, we can tell you for a fact that it is not a seamless process. If you want to find any success in your astrophotography endeavors while using the Galaxy S20 Ultra, you'll have to rely on Pro Mode. Outside of Pro Mode, you'll find yourself struggling to capture a photo of the sky at night, mainly because the Galaxy S20 Ultra has difficulties with autofocus in these conditions.
This is something that even Seok-joon Hong from Samsung’s Mobile Communications Business – and one of the hobbyist astrophotographers behind the photo gallery below – is hinting at in Samsung's recent blog post. [The Galaxy S20 Ultra] also has the advantage of Pro Mode, which allows you to take photos manually and gives you more control over your settings, and ultimately the final results, said Seok-joon Hong.
It is true that having a Pro Mode is always an advantage, but as mentioned above, Pro Mode is the only reasonable way to capture photos of the night sky when using the Galaxy S20 Ultra, and we feel that's a shame. Users who don't normally rely on Pro Mode will be disappointed by their results outside of Pro Mode, and they are likely to be shying away from using Pro Mode if they don't have enough experience in photography. In other words, we're hoping that Samsung will be inspired by Google's Astrophotography mode for the Pixel 4 and will add a similar camera mode in the future.
Have you tried capturing night sky shots with the Galaxy S20 Ultra yet? How have your results been? Let us know in the comment section below.
