Thinking of trying to photograph the eclipse? I tried so hard to shoot the last one with my iPhone Pro Max and my DSLR but in the end I'm glad I abandoned both

Date:
Tue, 11 Aug 2026 12:04:06 +0000

Description:
Seeing the total solar eclipse in person is an experience far beyond what any photo or video could show, don't forget it.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter This article was originally published in April 2024, following the total solar eclipse in the US. The experience in advice is relevant for those thinking about attempting to photograph the 2026 eclipse which will be total in parts of Iceland, Spain and Portugal, and there will be major partial eclipse in the UK and other European countries so we're sharing it again. If youve never seen a total eclipse in person, whatever youve seen and what you imagine dont come close. The best photos, the most stunning video, they wont match the silent,
dazzling fury of the real thing. Your phone or monitor wont capture the infinite diamond brilliance of the Suns corona twinkling around the black Moon. I set out to shoot the total eclipse with my three best camera phones and my Nikon DSLR, but I am thankful that I decided to enjoy the eclipse in the scant three minutes I was under its totality. Latest Videos From
TechRadar Watch full video here:

Before I talk tech, Ill do my best to describe the total solar eclipse if youve never seen one in person. April 8, 2024 was my first total eclipse, and before that day I thought it would be my last.

After seeing the total solar eclipse live, I felt like I cant live the rest
of my life without seeing one again. Ive never seen a photo that was equally compelling. Seeing the real eclipse in person, it was so gloriously beautiful that I was immediately sad that it was so fleeting. You may like The winning iPhone Photography Awards images and the iPhones used to take them are stunningly varied I've taken over 650 photos on Samsung's new foldables here's which model I prefer I tried Sonys 400-800mm super telephoto zoom lens for bird photography now I'm hooked Here's what a total solar eclipse really looks like

I was not shocked to hear the crowd around me erupt into spontaneous
applause. There is a bright flash in the instant before the Sun goes dark.
The world gets colder suddenly, but the landscape is not pitch dark. Watching the eclipse from the shore of Lake Champlain in Burlington, Vermont, the view of Mount Marcy and the Adirondacks presented a panoramic sunset, with waning light surrounding me at the horizon on all sides, and the black eclipse at
the center.

The Suns corona dazzles and flares with wisps of magic. Youve never seen any light move in such a way. The contrast between the shockingly dark moon and the incredibly bright corona makes the halo seem brilliant and crisply present, as though the Sun is just beyond your grasp, and not seven light-minutes away. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
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The corona is bright, but not as bright as the face of the Sun. It reaches
the limit of what my eyes could tolerate without causing pain. To see something so shockingly intense, after avoiding the painfully bright Sun for the previous hour, is a revelation. It feels like a gift being unwrapped in the sky above. It is a surprise and a joy, and I was not shocked to hear the crowd around me erupt into spontaneous applause.

I was awestruck. I forgot everything I was supposed to do at that moment. Im now grateful that I decided at the last minute to drive all the way up to Burlington, where the clouds were wispy and few and the totality lasted more than three whole minutes. A good friend traveled farther to experience just over thirty seconds of totality in the Ozarks. Neither of us regrets taking our trip. Ruining a solar eclipse with too much tech The eclipse shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max and Vaonis Hestia telescope (Image credit: Philip Berne/ Future) Back to the tech. My plan was too much. I brought a telescope, and a DSLR, and three phones, and even smart glasses on my face. I dont know what I was thinking. The eclipse lasted three minutes. I barely had time to focus
one camera, let alone try to shoot with five. My plans fell to pieces, and I gave up quickly. I got a few good shots, then I turned my attention to the
sky and just allowed myself to soak it in. What to read next The best camera phone 2026 I compared the Lumix L10 and Fujifilm X100VI one stole my heart I've been testing cameras for over 15 years here are my 5 personal favorites for 2026 so far

Seeing the eclipse was more rewarding than the best photo Ive seen of the eclipse.

Heres the gear I brought to shoot the solar eclipse. I borrowed a Vaonis Hestia telescope, which uses your phone as the viewfinder. I used an iPhone
15 Pro Max to take photos and view the eclipse through that telescope, with a solar filter provided by Vaonis. Those photos turned out pretty good, but it isnt the most powerful telescope. Plus, an eclipse is a very complicated
scene for lighting, especially for a phone camera. Image 1 of 3 (Image
credit: Philip Berne / Future) (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future) (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future) Image 1 of 3 View Original Image 2 of 3 View Original Image 3 of 3 View Original I also had a Google Pixel 8 Pro and a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra . I already decided I was not going to try to take telephoto zoom shots of the eclipse with these phones. The 5X range is simply not enough to capture any detail, and the sensor for the longest lens is also the smallest, lowest-quality sensor on the phone. Better to take wide-angle photos.

I set up the Galaxy S24 Ultra to shoot a time-lapse ( Samsung calls it Hyperlapse) video of the entire event. I was pretty disappointed with the results. The sun was too high in the sky for even the widest lens to capture the scene around me as well as the eclipse in progress. The camera had
trouble balancing the incredibly bright partial eclipse with the
surroundings, so it just looks like a sunny day until totality occurs. When the eclipse happens, the camera balances the light in a way that doesnt present the sunset colors and the changing light in the way I remember it.
The eclipse shot with Pixel 8 Pro and a solar filter (Image credit: Philip Berne/ Future) I attached a solar filter to the Google Pixel 8 Pro, hoping I would be able to see more of the partial eclipse as it happened. Nope, the filter cut out too much light for the phone to handle. I was barely able to see the Sun through the filter, let alone capture great shots.

At the last minute, I decided to also bring my Nikon D750 camera with a Nikon 80-400mm lens. I dont have a solar filter for that huge lens, so I planned on shooting only the totality of the eclipse, when it is safe to look at the sun without glasses. I got some pretty good shots, but I was rushing around too much, juggling too many chores. I should have reduced the exposure levels, or used a manual mode to dial back the shutter speed. The photos were blurry and blown out, not very good. Eclipse shot with Nikon D750 at 400mm (Image
credit: Philip Berne / Future) Image 1 of 4 (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future) (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future) (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future) (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future) Image 1 of 4 View Original
Image 2 of 4 View Original Image 3 of 4 View Original Image 4 of 4 View Original In the end, I got a couple of good shots from the iPhone on the telescope. They were better than the shots my friends took with their phones, and they impressed the people I shared them with. From my own perfectionist standards, I was disappointed with my pics, but I wasnt disappointed at all with the experience.

In fact, Im happy that I didnt try much harder to take great photos, because at the last minute I chose to sacrifice the pics and enjoy the eclipse. It
was amazing. It was the greatest natural phenomena Ive ever seen. For the
next eclipse, Ill bring only one camera, and only one easy plan, and if I screw it up then I wont even care. The best photo I could get would pale in comparison to the totality of the real thing. You might also like... I shot the eclipse with an iPhone 15 Pro Max, Google Pixel 8 Pro and a Samsung
Galaxy S23 Ultra here's which one did best You took amazing smartphone eclipse photos, but reminded me why I didn't use Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra's 100x Space Zoom How to photograph the total solar eclipse with your camera or smartphone



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