lowlight

Pushing Canon DSLRs to the Low-Light Limit: Shooting Auroras Live

After photographing the solar eclipse in Idaho, I couldn't resist continuing my "long-service leave" and returning to Canada's Yukon Territory for some early season aurora hunting in September 2017. I had just two and half weeks (one New Moon cycle) based with my friends and supporters Andrea and Florian Lemphers at Shallow Bay, north of the capital Whitehorse.

The Fujifilm GFX 50S’s High ISO Quality is Insane

The Fujifilm GFX 50S's ISO invariance makes it so easy to shoot the Milky Way that it's not even funny. I was able to take an "impossible" shot, capturing the Milky Way in the middle of Sydney, during a light festival, without bracketing on the Milky Way. The sensor captured so much info on the highlights that this was possible.

Using Canon’s ISO 4,560,000 Camera to Shoot Glowing Turtles

Canon's amazing new ME20 camera can shoot at a whopping ISO 4,560,000 and can capture incredible views of stargazers under the Milky Way. Now the short video above shows what the camera can do underwater -- Canon and a team of researchers recently used the camera to shoot bio fluorescent turtles.

Google Engineer Raises the Bar On Low Light Smartphone Photography

When Google software engineer Florian Kainz showed his friends on the Gcam team a nightscape he captured using his fancy Canon 1DX, they threw down the gauntlet. Take that same photo, they challenged him, but with a smartphone camera instead. He accepted, and succeeded.

ISO 12,800. Huh! What Is It Good For?

Absolutely nothing?

Ten years ago, a Nikon D3 saved me while shooting a gig in a dimly lit club. It’s expansive ISO range of 200-6400 allowed me to shoot with a 24-70mm f/2.8 at about 1/20th of a second. Good enough for jazz as it was.

This is the Camera Tech Used to Film Animals in Pitch Dark for Planet Earth II

Wildlife photography and videography is more incredible today than ever before, thanks in large part to the last decade's amazing leaps in camera technology. This behind the scenes look at the cameras used by the BBC to shoot Planet Earth II shows you how advances in camera tech have allowed us to see the creatures of the night in ways never before thought possible.

The Sony a99 II is a Low Light Monster

Sony's latest E-mount mirrorless cameras have wowed photographers with their low light and high ISO capabilities. Now it looks like its latest A-mount SLT, the new Sony a99 II, will do the same. Above is a 2-minute video showing its performance at ISOs up to 25600 in a room lit only by two candles.

Using the Beautiful Canon 50mm f/1.2L on the Sony A7RII… Wow

I have had a great weekend shooting with the now kind-of-old, well-known, and mostly-forgotten-about Canon 50 f/1.2L lens. This lens came out years ago, and has been reviewed hundreds of times by users, reviewers, and anyone with an opinion. So why I am dedicating a post and short review to this lens?

Mountain Biking At Night, Shot Under Moonlight with the Sony a7S II

Photographer Justin Olsen of Salt Lake City, Utah, recently visited a mountain biking trail at night with Cody Kelley, the world's 39th ranked rider. While Kelley did runs and jumps, Olsen shot video entirely by moonlight using the Sony a7S II. The 1-minute Red Bull video above is what resulted.

Is a Full Frame Camera Really Worth It? D610 vs D7100 Real World Test

Since I got my Nikon D7000 camera 6 years ago I’ve used it almost everyday. That is a lot of shutter clicks, 148,558 to be exact. It looks like I will be in the market for a new camera soon as the D7000 is only factory tested to 150,000 clicks. My dilemma is should I go full frame, or stick with my cropped frame?

Nikon D5 vs Sony a7R II… at ISO 3,276,800

The $6,500 Nikon D5 DSLR and $3,200 Sony a7R II mirrorless camera are two of the current leaders in low-light, high-ISO shooting, but how do they stack up against each other? This 1.5-minute comparison video will show you.

Here’s How the Sony a7S II Compares to the Human Eye in Low Light

The Sony a7S II is known to have amazing performance in low light and at high ISO. To see just how powerful its low light capabilities are, a Greek photographer who goes by Boji decided to do a casual test that pits the camera against the human eye. You can see the comparison in the 48-second video above.

This is What a Color Night Vision Camera Can See in Near Darkness

Canon will start shipping its $30,000 ISO 4.46 million camera this month for people who need to shoot in pitch black environments. A similar technology that's making a splash these days is "color night vision."

A Las Vegas-based company called SPI has a color night vision sensor called the X27. The 1.5-minute video above shows what the 10-megapixel sensor can capture in extremely dark places.

Sony Shows Off a New Ultra-Sensitive CMOS Sensor Called ‘STARVIS’

Sony just launched a new image sensor called the STARVIS that excels in capturing images in low-light environments. Designed for industrial applications -- surveillance cameras, for example -- the new backside-illuminated CMOS sensor boasts extremely high sensitivity that can capture usable images at night.

This is ISO 4,560,000 with Canon’s Crazy New Camera

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Back in July, Canon announced an ultra-high-sensitivity camera that has a ridiculously high max ISO of over 4,000,000. If you've been wondering what the camera can capture, check out the eye-opening sample video above that Canon just released.

This is How Good the Sony a7S is with Low Light and High ISO

The highly-regarded Sony a7S is known to be a monster in low-light situations, a fact demonstrated by a number of short films have used moonlight as the only light source. Those projects are eye-opening, but another way to see just how good the camera's high ISO quality is is to compare it with other well-known cameras.

That's what photographer Tony Northrup does in the short 1-minute comparison above, pitting the a7S against the Nikon D810 and Sony a7 II at various ISOs.

‘Refuge’: The First Narrative Film Shot with Moonlight at ISO 51,200

The short film above, titled 'Refuge,' is the world's first narrative short film that was filmed entirely with moonlight. Director Sam Shapson shot the entire 7-minute story using the powerful little Sony A7s at ISO 51,200.

"On an off-world biosphere, biological researchers suspect their newly developed ecosystems may be adapting in unexpected ways," the tagline says. (Warning: the film contains very strong language and violence.)

Review: The Nikon D7200 is the More Sensitive and Sociable Sibling of the D7100

Nikon’s D7000 lineup of enthusiast level cameras is currently the highest one can go before moving onto a full-frame FX series body. The company’s latest creation, the Nikon D7200, provides incremental improvements upon the previous model while also upping the standards for low-light performance in enthusiast DSLR camera systems. In a world of connected mobile devices, Nikon has also added WiFi and NFC for smarter access to photographs.

Capturing Big Sur Under Moonlight: Testing the Sony A7s with 4K at ISO 40,000

Photographer Justin Majeczky wanted to test the 4K low-light capabilities of the Sony A7s for a short film he's planning to shoot this summer, so he took the camera and an Atomos Shogun out to the Big Sur coastline of California in the dead of night to see what the camera could do under moonlight. The video above was captured at ISO 40,000.

Sony A7s Video Shot Using Only Moonlight Looks Like it Was Captured at Dawn

It's no mystery that the Sony A7s kicks every other camera's butt handily when it comes to low-light shooting, but just how capable is it? And what's the creative potential of this sort of capability? Both of those questions are answered quite impressively in the aptly-titled 'Moonlight,' shot with the A7s using only moonlight.

What Photographers are NOT Considering When Using High ISO

It’s no secret now that modern cameras have taken photographers to new heights with their ability to shoot at and above ISO 1600. Personally, I can now shoot in situations where previously, I ‘had no choice’ but to use flash or put the camera down, so it’s no surprise many photographers are taking advantage of high ISO to be able to shoot in poor existing light.