PSA: That guy on the forum who told me to stop using a tripod for Milky Way shots was actually right

I used to swear by my tripod for night sky photos. Then some random commenter, user AstroBob42, told me to ditch it and just brace the camera on a rock or my bag for 15-second exposures. I laughed it off for about 6 months until I tried it during a camping trip near Moab. The shots came out way sharper because I wasn't fighting wind or a cheap tripod head. Has anyone else had better luck going handheld for wide field astro shots?

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davis.ivan1mo ago

Yeah, 15-second exposures with my Nikon D5300 on a rock near Arches National Park changed my life. I'll never forget how I spent 45 minutes leveling a cheap 30 dollar tripod in the dark just to have it slowly droop down during a 20 second shot. After AstroBob42's advice, I braced my camera on a muddy bag and got the clearest Orion I've ever captured. Now I only bust out the tripod for windy nights or to use as a walking stick when I trip over sagebrush. Feels like I wasted a whole season of shooting being stubborn.