A few photos I was able to capture on Friday, 24 March 23 from the capital city. All of these were taken on my Google Pixel 7 Pro with a tripod.

Wow, I am impressed. I’ll be there in October.

Thank you, Kent
I would suggest packing a small but sturdy travel tripod. Although with that said, some people on the trip were getting great shots with iPhones handheld! I'm guessing they had turned the ISO way up. Another person had a Canon mirrorless with a fast wide-angle lens. She was getting great shots handheld as well. We went with the moon in the new moon phase, so luna would not be so overbearing. Clouds, however, are a big issue, but on Friday, the stars aligned, and these photos are the results. Make sure you bring your heaviest coat, hat, and gloves because it's very cold and windy. We did not encounter any rain, but it did snow for a few days. The wind is a constant issue, with gusts up to 50 MPH!!

I plan to either take one of my small Manfrotto aluminum lightweight tripods or buy a carbon fiber. I hope to take a Canon 60Da DSLR and a 16mm f/2 lens. Of course, I'll also have an Phone 14 Pro.

Good move. The 16mm will come in very handy on this trip.  I used a small aluminum Vanguard VEO travel tripod with a smartphone holder when I wanted to use the phone to photograph the aurora. I also brought a Panasonic DMC-ZS100 that has an f2.8 25 to 250mm lens to create larger files. Unfortunately, this tripod with the point-and-shoot was bumped into and crashed to the ground on the second to last night of the trip, putting it out of action. The Pixel phone was not damaged, so this smartphone came to the rescue! Be prepared for cold and windy conditions, as this is the norm in the fall and winter in Iceland. I am attaching one of the photos taken with the Panasonic before it was knocked out of commission.

 

Also, I used the website to prepare me for when the aurora would be intense. It turns out it was spot on. https://auroraforecast.is/