Sony A7s incredible ISO range

The Aurora season has finished for us in Shetland, they are still happening but as the nights pull out darkness does not happen until around mid night.

Having used the Sony A7s since January i thought this might be a good time to review its ISO capabilities.

The Sony A7s has an incredible ISO range up to ISO 409,600. Well beyond most cameras and therefore excellent for low light. The Dynamic Range is also superb even at high ISO

For Astrophotography this 12.2 mp camera is ideal, this camera is supported by Lightroom 5.8 my preferred software.

As a result of the low mega pixels and a full frame Exmor sensor the pixels are extremely large and can therefore collect more light. This produces low noise, always a problem with astrophotography as it tests your camera and lenses to the limits.

The images shown are a range of ISO settings, the first in the set exported direct as jpeg's from Lightroom, the second on as a Tiff. Both are converted to web-size.

As you can see the images are clean right up to ISO 51,200 and beyond although Stars tend to get eaten after this although the images are still usable. Let me know what you think. , all these images have been taken on RAW with noise reduction turned off in camera. However noise reduction was undertaken in Lightroom.

I think these are very impressive compared to the Nikon D610 full frame camera which is good up to ISO 3200

I have been very impressed with live view, the milky way looks amazing as you increase the ISO which makes it easier to frame and see what how the final photo will come out. Its tilt screen is another bonus as you point the camera high up.

Where the Sony A7s excels as a tool for astrophotographers is its live view feed, particularly with its S-log2 picture profile PP7 enabled (available via Menu>camera>5 Picture Profile.

I need to carry out more tests but so far i am impressed, just have to wait now until late September when it come dark.

Don't forget to join Shetland Aurora Hunter on facebook - send a request to join already over 870 members

Full Moon at Bigton

It was just after a full moon at Bigton when we made the short visit over the hill. An Aurora was showing but very faint in the moonlight.

Even though it was supposed to be a clear night cloud built up quickly

Looking south cloud quickly obscured the night sky

Only a short visit but still worth getting out under the Shetland night sky

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22 3 17 Tingwall Aurora

Although not as active as the night before it was still a good  Aurora show under a clear sky at Tingwall

Using the car headlights to light up various parts of the landscape is a good idea to add an extra dimension to the photo

The reflection in the loch from the stars and colour of the Aurora also gives depth

On a previous post on Tingwall, lots of cloud was present reflecting the Light pollution from Scalloway and Lerwick but on this occasion with clear skies the south gave a more natural colour

Did you observe Earth Hour on Saturday 8.30 - 9.30 ?

Using car head and tail lights adds a bit of a focal point

Looking north to the old Manse is one of the classic views in Shetland.

I will be offering a new 6 session course on Nightscape Photography for Shetland Adult Education around October 2017 (in Shetland) message me if interested

If you haven't does so, please send a request to join the facebook page - Shetland Aurora Hunter. Lots of great photos and interesting information

Superb Aurora 21 3 17

The 21 3 17 proved to be one of the best Aurora's we have seen coming to Shetland. First a clear night, that's been a rarity recently and the prospect of a good Aurora tempted us to visit Bigton.

A rare sight in the UK, a pink Aurora (For a short time)

The colours on the night were amazing, anything from various shades of green, purple, pink, even a bit of blue

From the off the Aurora was very active with pulsating pillars and lighter green curtains moving rapidly across the sky

reaching above the green curtains large purple pillars all moving very fast. All these captured at 1- 2 seconds at ISO 6400

I left after 2 hours after it seem to be calming down as it reached 11 pm, but this one will stay in our memories for many years to come. March has proved to be a good month to see Aurora's

More photos to come once i have had time to process them

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Tingwall Light Pollution

Tingwall can be very good for seeing the Aurora but it also suffers from light pollution, which is especially evident when cloud forms

The first two are looking north and east showing light pollution from Lerwick

The 4 photos below are looking south picking up light pollution from Scalloway

You can still see Orion from half way up Tingwall valley

Further north at Brae and Sullom the light pollution is very bad.

Join us on Shetland Aurora Hunter - send me a request, here you can see many more photos of the Shetland night sky from a number of people

Tingwall earlier in month

 Finally after some time i have processed some photos from an Aurora at Tingwall at the beginning of the month. These were all taken with a Sony A7s and a 24mm lens a great combination

Detail in this full frame camera seems a lot better even though it only has a 12 Mp sensor.

All taken at ISO 3200 F/2 these are a lot cleaner images than most of the other full frame cameras. The Sony A7s ability of handling high ISO makes it the ideal camera for night photography. I am still waiting to push it to its limits and hope to post images here soon.

With its wide open vistas Tingwall is an ideal location, looking north from the boat house. For the second time in a couple of months an otter came out on the jetty beside me and jumped straight back in the loch surprising both of us.

Its surprising how busy this road is but the headlights can add an extra dimension when they light up the houses at the north end. 

I have just developed a  new NIGHTSCAPES Photography course for  Shetland Adult Education , this will take place Monday 9.30 - 12.30- 6 sessions x 3 hours starting end of October 2017 covering equipment, planning, Milky way, stars, Orion, Moon, Aurora, Processing, dealing with noise and some other areas. Send me a message if you are interested in attending this course in Shetland

Don't forget join us at Shetland Aurora Hunter on Facebook already well over 700 members

Please take a look at my other blogs
shetland dream.blogspot.co.uk  - out time in Shetland

shetlandsfp.blogspot.co.uk - Shetland widlife