urgent advice for winter protography DSLR

[starry]

I am going to Iceland and pray can see northern light. What camera+len specs to look for winter photography? [family canon 300D+kit lens spoilt] What settings usually for these kind of stuff? I am looking for cheaper and lightweight camera but not sure if it works for winter I really confused.

 

[JacePhoto]

I am going to Iceland and pray can see northern light. What camera+len specs to look for winter photography? [family canon 300D+kit lens spoilt] What settings usually for these kind of stuff? I am looking for cheaper and lightweight camera but not sure if it works for winter I really confused.

Keep yourself warm. Your boots are important. Stay in the car if you can. Get a thermoflask too.

Any camera will do but get a good solid tripod due to strong winds.

Put camera settings as the following:

Aurora
ISO 1600
20 - 25 seconds
F2.8

 

[SkyStrike]

If it's for northern lights, play around with the shutter speed. As some aurora movements are fast... And having a long shutter speed might just create a big patch of green in the sky.

When you reduce shutter speed, you will need to bump iso or aperture

 

[Octarine]

I am going to Iceland and pray can see northern light. What camera+len specs to look for winter photography? [family canon 300D+kit lens spoilt] What settings usually for these kind of stuff? I am looking for cheaper and lightweight camera but not sure if it works for winter I really confused.

Cameras are usually fine with low temperatures. What gives problems is the battery. (You can search the many existing threads about taking pictures during winter.) The low temperature slows down the chemical processes that release electric current. Solution: multiple batteries, keep them warm on your body (inner pockets of jackets), swap them when required.
For the 300D, the LCD display might go blind. Low temperature causes the liquid crystals to solidify. (It returns back to normal in warm temperature, no issue.) No solution to that, just learn to operate without that display.
For the lens, get some of those UWA lenses in the focal length range of 10-22mm. Canon, Sigma, Tokina.. Tokina has a f/2.8 version which is reported to be very good wide open. Just read the reviews to pick the right model.
Again the advice already given: worry more about yourself, keep yourself warm. If you use a tripod and remote shutter you can keep the gloves on. Don't forget skin care, lip balm, a warm hat that covers the ears as well ..

 

[Kermitfm]

In addition to all the very good advice give above --

Before going you should at least try your setup in Singapore. Shoot anything in the dark - trees, stars (if you can find any ) , the moon, whatever you can find to help you get a feel as to how it is to take night landscape.

This will not help you to be fully prepared for Iceland but at least you will know the challenges you may face.

 

[DSolZ]

I am going to Iceland and pray can see northern light. What camera+len specs to look for winter photography? [family canon 300D+kit lens spoilt] What settings usually for these kind of stuff? I am looking for cheaper and lightweight camera but not sure if it works for winter I really confused.

Hmm I think typically u need a camera with decent low light performance and a wide apecture lens. U can try get the Fuji xt1 (currently has a trade in promo) .. If u know what to do the body can be quite cheap... Then get a samyang 12 mm f2 lens. Or if u want more versatility get the 18-55 f2.8-f4 lens and put it to 18mm f2.8. PC fair this week .. U might have a lot of choice ...

 

[daredevil123]

I am going to Iceland and pray can see northern light. What camera+len specs to look for winter photography? [family canon 300D+kit lens spoilt] What settings usually for these kind of stuff? I am looking for cheaper and lightweight camera but not sure if it works for winter I really confused.

Get the widest lens with the widest aperture you can afford. Get the camera with the best ISO performance you can afford. Practice shooting before you head out. Get your basics right. And on top of it all, pray hard you actually get to see the northern lights.

 

[thoongeng]

Agree with all the seniors have suggested. In addition I will suggest since SITEX '16 is around the corner, go and handle the different cameras during the show to see what is the max tolerance of your "cheaper and lightweight camera". Since most of the cameras on display will have the 'kit' lens attached, if you want to get a wider field of view you need to check how much is the cost of an ultra-wide angle lens for the camera system you are eyeing.

(and you should check out the usual recommended camera shops after to compare prices)

Then remember to also budget for a sturdy tripod, probably will cost a bit over $100 if you go for the China brands or more than $500 for the branded ones.

And as others have mentioned remember to practice how to set up your camera and tripod in the dark before the trip so you will be familiar with your equipment because the conditions there will be much worse - cold, windy, dark, you may be wearing gloves etc

Actually if you do see the Northern Lights most important is to enjoy the moment. Getting a nice photograph is just a bonus. Good luck

 

[SkyStrike]

Other things to note, if you are trying to get a nice photo of the aurora, you will also need to plan the location before dark...

From my experience is that,
- At many hotels, you won't actually have a very scenic view, so you will have to drive out further (at least 15-20 mins) to get to some places with foreground/background and/or a dark enough place.
- In some (many) case, even finding a safe spot to park the car then to shoot the aurora is already a challenge. So to reduce the time spent to hunt for parking spots when the aurora is up there, do scout early.
*because when I was able to see aurora, I'm stuck in somewhere ulu with no good natural foreground/background (plain low mountains/hills), so, many times end up shooting with the rented car as foreground -_- *

Check aurora forecast regularly, especially so before you move out for aurora hunting (http://en.vedur.is/weather/forecasts/aurora/)
- If it's completely dark green = heavy overcast no chance..
- Light Green = light overcast, aurora can be seen illuminating the clouds (green clouds)
- White = clear sky... hope you can see it. There can be nights where the sky is CLEAR, but no aurora... so it's really based on luck.

Use the website to plan your schedule for the night... it's so far pretty accurate (at least it can give you a rough guideline on the upcoming days what to expect).



Gear wise, like DD123 said, try to get the best ISO performance camera you can afford. As you will be shooting in high ISO most of the time (usually in the region of 1600-3200). And these settings are assuming you are using a lens of aperture f2.8. So, if you are using kit lens, like 18-55 (where the largest aperture is f3.5), you might have to bump the ISO even higher.

Typically, for Milky Way/Aurora, many would prefer to use Ultra wide Angle lens (UWA), and the "cheapest" UWA lens with f2.8 is probably going to cost from 300-500+ (depending used or 2nd hand).