Film astro shots vs. my phone now, no contest

I used to shoot the Milky Way on 35mm film, like a roll of Fuji 1600, and I'd sit in my car in the middle of nowhere in Oregon waiting 30 seconds per exposure, not knowing if I got anything until I paid $12 to develop it a week later. Now I just hold my phone up for 10 seconds and the app stacks 20 frames automatically, and I can see the result instantly, which is honestly amazing but also kind of kills the suspense. The change happened around 2019 when I got a used Pixel, and the first night I pointed it at Orion I got the nebula with zero effort, something I'd spent six months failing to do on film. I still keep an old film camera in my closet for cloudy nights, but I haven't loaded a roll in over two years. Does anyone else miss the thrill of waiting to see if your shot actually worked, or am I just romanticizing a process that was mostly frustrating?

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davis.noah1mo ago

Delayed gratification is overrated, man. That suspense just meant wasted gas money and disappointment 80% of the time, the phone gives you the actual result, not the fantasy of maybe getting one good frame after burning through a whole roll.

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