Although your phone’s default camera mode can capture just about anything, most phones have additional modes that produce better results in specific situations. Here are a few you can find on Galaxy and Pixel phones:
Burst mode or Top Shot: During moments of fast action—think sporting events, running kids, and playing pups—it can be tough to capture exactly the right moment. Burst mode is the solution, since it captures a series of photos in quick succession and allows you to choose the perfect one later. Pixel’s Top Shot mode works similarly, taking a short video and letting you pick the frame you like best.
Night Sight or Night mode: In many situations, a flash photo doesn’t give you the kind of night shot you’re after, since it destroys shadow and highlight detail. Night Sight (Google Pixel) and Night mode (Samsung Galaxy) address this concern, taking a series of images and combining them into something brighter and more evenly exposed than any single image. There’s only one catch: It works best when nothing in the image is moving, since it combines a series of images and any fast-moving object can become a blur. Most phones with Night mode use it automatically when it’s dark, provided you disable the flash.
Panorama mode: This mode captures wider vistas than are possible even with the ultra-wide camera, and does so with less distortion. All you need to do is pan slowly across the scene, keeping the camera as level as possible, and it will capture a series of photos that it stitches together to create a super-wide panorama. Just keep in mind that these images typically look very, very small on social media.
Pro mode: If you’re really interested in the minutiae of photography, Pro mode on Samsung devices unlocks the ability to manually adjust things like shutter speed, white balance, ISO, autofocus mode, and more. While the Pixel’s Camera app doesn’t have a specific Pro mode, these settings are available in the app’s settings button in the lower right corner.
