Aurora Borealis

[Tim Squires]

I make short films featuring the aurora borealis shot in northern Finland. Entirely amateur with no commercial intentions or ambitions. I’m currently using a Sony A7S3 (at iso 25600 with a Sony G 24mm F/1.4 @ 24fps) but am thinking about getting a Komodo. I realise that it’s not a “low light” camera but is this a totally ridiculous idea? I also use a BM P4k at iso 12800 and 1/6th s exposure which can give super results too if one accepts the timelapse effect. Obviously I’m interested in a Komodo for a variety of projects but as this is my main interest I’m interested to hear better informed views.
Thank you.

 

[PatrickWebb]

you can set the camera ti 1fps at 1 second, timeline speed set at you desired framerate, giving longer exposures which makes it a light gathering machine. It exposes well on my cameras when I have shot the Borialis in Norway. You can borrow the komodo and play around with it before you buy. Also, RF lenses offer some amazing wide angle lenses or EF adapter to get anything else you need. You can even get the PL mount and get some really cool glass to capture the lights with. Give it a go.

 

[Peter Wojnar]

Tim Squires The Komodo excels almost everywhere except in low-light settings. You'll be hugely disappointed by low-light performance coming from an A7siii. It's a great camera for many things, especially if movement is involved, but it can't drag shutter slower than 1/24th even in Timelapse mode, and it gets noisy fast when it doesn't have enough light (calibrate the sensor and shoot MQ for better results, but even then it isn't great in low-light compared to the Sony.) Even the p4k performs well in low light with it's dual gain sensor, and it's able to drag the shutter longer than the Komodo. For any astro/night/aurora work, stick with your a7siii.