Google releases "Feature Drop" quarterly, which is a new feature for Pixel and Nest. Among them, one of the Feature Drop released in June 2021 is called celestial time lapse.
Celestial time lapse is a new function that can be added to the celestial mode of the starry sky in a few minutes of shooting. In addition to the traditional still images, the time-lapse video in the exposure can be taken at the same time, so as to capture the motion of stars, meteors and so on.
Just a few days ago, I had the opportunity to do astrophotography, so I tried celestial time lapse on the latest Pixel smartphone, Pixel5.
Shoot in the best position
The challenge was filmed in front of a mountain hut in Oase National Park. Because it is not affected by light damage, the Milky way can be seen clearly with the naked eye, and the best environment of the Milky way can be clearly photographed with a monocular camera.
Shooting method of celestial body mode / celestial body time lapse
In order to use celestial mode in Pixel, the Pixel must be placed on a tripod. I was wearing a cell phone stand on a tripod for a monocular camera, but a mini tripod for a smartphone can also be photographed.
When the Pixel is fixed on a tripod, it is not the usual night mode, but the celestial mode. After switching to celestial mode, the shutter button will change from a lunar logo to a star logo, plus the "celestial photography function ON" mark, which will soon be known.
Next, just press the shutter button. The next step is to take 15 consecutive photos in Pixel that have been exposed for 16 seconds, and composite them (additive average) to capture a clear starry sky with less noise. During the shooting, the Milky way slowly emerged like a Poralod camera.
The time lapse of celestial bodies is based on pictures of celestial bodies taken in 4 minutes in celestial mode. It is automatically generated at the same time when shooting in celestial mode.
A practical example.
In fact, the photos and time-lapse videos taken in celestial mode are right here.
Although it is obviously not as good as a monocular camera, the Milky way comes to the surface quite clearly and feels a little brighter than the naked eye can see.
Unfortunately, the Pixel 5's ultra-wide-angle camera does not support celestial mode. Therefore, this is the most widely filmed perspective.
That's what it feels like to use Adobe's Lightroom with a little correction. A tripod is needed anyway, but a very reflective picture of the Milky way can be taken without a monocular camera.
At the same time, the time-lapse video is here. This is an one-second video of 1440 × 1920px. (here is a compressed GIF video.)
As celestial time goes by, sparkling and dazzling stars are shown tightly. It took a total of 4 minutes, and although there was little exercise, an impressive time-lapse video was filmed that made people feel the earth's rotation.
あなたのプライバシー設定では、このコンテンツをご利用できません。こちらで設定を変更してくださいSummary: outdoor activities become fun in Pixel
This is a time-lapse video, which is usually created after the photos taken by the bracket are put into PC or processed with special software, while Pixel can be shot with a single click. This is a very new experience, but also a very powerful thing.
At present, the celestial time lapse of Pixel can not be photographed for more than 4 minutes, but the disadvantage is that it has less action. However, if there are airplanes and ISS filming, or if there are thin clouds playing, you can shoot quite interesting videos. In addition, if you are lucky, you can also catch meteors. The day of meteor shower seems to be very active!
Now that there are more and more outdoor games due to the coronal disaster, it will be more enjoyable to use Pixel, which can photograph celestial bodies from all angles.
あなたのプライバシー設定では、このコンテンツをご利用できません。こちらで設定を変更してくださいあなたのプライバシー設定では、このコンテンツをご利用できません。こちらで設定を変更してくださいあなたのプライバシー設定では、このコンテンツをご利用できません。こちらで設定を変更してくださいあなたのプライバシー設定では、このコンテンツをご利用できません。こちらで設定を変更してください