Capturing the Northern Lights on my Camcorder

[Wildguard]

Hi all, I've been loking all over the internet for an answer but no luck. Is anybody here able to help me?

I have a Sony HDR-SR11E Handycam which I'm taking to Norway to capture the Northern Lights.

I was wondering if it would do the job.

To adequately capture them, I'll need the meet the following specifications:

400 ISO, preferably 800 or higher

A lense with a wide aperture (f2.8 but as low as f1.4 is better)

A long exposure setting of 10-20 seconds

I'm told that filming the lights is impossible without specialist equipment, so that's ruled out :(

Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated
. If you need more information, I will provide as much as I can.

[Watashiwateshdes · Accepted solution]

Hi GeneMarshall and hope all is well.

To be honest, a lot of the information is quite right. The problem with the northern lights is that depending on where you are, they are not bright enough to capture on most devices without having to use higher sensitivites, slower shutter speeds or fast lenses. The majority of photos I have seen as stills taken from a DSLR or a compact camera with a manual mode.

To the eye, the lights may look bright or visible enough to see but digital products do not see in the same way. If you are going soon, you might be in with a chance but the footage might be quite dark or grainy due to the Handycam having to increase the sensitivity.

What you could do is cheat a little, record what you can but it might be dark and then use some video editing software to increase the brightness but I wouldn't say that the footage will be as pleasing as some of the images/videos you might see online.

I haven't tried myself with a video recording product but it could work but if you would like the best results, I would recommend a tripod and a camera which allows you to set a shutter speed of around 10-30 seconds and set an ISO of around 200-800 manually.

I am off to Sweden (northern region) in a few days so will take some stuff with me and have a go also. I have seen the lights there before but never had a tripod with me.

[cmosse]

Most of the movies of Norhtern Lights movies you see are timelapse animations of single photos taken with DSLR mounted on a tripod and long shutter speeds.

To directly capture movies of Northern Lights usually professional videocameras or even DLRS are used which feature a very high ISO setting.

However even your Sony HDR-SR11 can use shutter speeds up to 1/2sec and as it is generally a good low light performer chances are good that you will be able to record some NL with it. However the shutter speed can not be set manually on this handycam, so you will have to try some of the auto modes designed for low light work.

Gnerally I would prefer one of the latest SLT or NEX models which can use ISO6400 in movie mode and allow manual shutter speed setting in movie mode. I think NEX-5N/5R would fit that purpose quite well.

[Mick2011]

It's probably worth a try but as you say Michael, a stills camera would be a much better choice.

The main problem is the lack of manual control which will make a consistent exposure very difficult.

Don't use NightShot as this only captures near-field infrared. Twilight mode would seem to be the best candidate, as it opens the aperture to its widest.

A sturdy tripod is absolutely essential for decent results.

Have fun

Mick