Two Feathers

My friend has a trip to Iceland to view the northern lights . He ask me how to take pictures with a point and shoot and a DSLR , what settings etc. I really didn't have an answer.
Can someone help me with these questions. Thanks

tramsey Loc: Texas

I think the first thing I would have to know is what kind of camera and what model. There's a big different even in point and shoot camera. Some are set and you just take the picture and others you have choices. In dslr there is even a bigger range of options.

JPL

Point and shoot for this is hard to use for good results. Depends on what that camera can do.
The Dslr is of course very easy to use for Northern lights.
He needs a wide lens. The kit lens will do fine.
He needs a tripod.
He needs warm clothes and gloves.

He should shoot (on tripod) in manual mode, focus to infinity, shutter speed in the range of 4-30 seconds, ISO 100-800 and aperture 3,5-8,0. Look at the first pics and fine adjust accordingly to the results.

paulrph1 Loc: Washington, Utah

Your friend will better off with just the DSLR because he can bracket. I suppose he can do the same with P&S with a lot of post processing.

Two Feathers

The point and shoot in question is a Sony DSC-HX50V it appears to be nice little camera. Thanks in advance for any info.
The dslr is a D90

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

I have a Canon G16 and got some decent northern lights shots last New Year's Eve. Yes, a tripod is necessary, and so is a thermos of hot coffee or hot chocolate! My images were not as sharp as I thought they would be, and then I discovered that I forgot to disable the image stabilization. So yes, even a point and shoot camera can get decent northern lights images if the aforementioned settings are used. I also found that it took some playing around with different settings before I got anything worth keeping.

ralfstinson Loc: SF Bay Area

In some of the higher end point & shoot, you can get it into manual. This is for the D-SLR but also applies to the point & shoot. For the lights, you want to be as manual as possible. Normally, you want a wide angle lens. Set the lens to focus on infinity in manual and best to tape it. Zoom lenses should be set to infinity during daytime and not trust the infinity mark! At night in the cold with gloves on, you can easily hit the focus ring and not know it, so tape it. F/Stop wide open. Try ISO 1600 and 10 t0 20 seconds manual exposure. Then go from there. Take the filter off the lens, it can make an interference patter with the mono-chrome light. Aim lens down when waiting to avoid frost. Stars and the Aurora are about the same exposure, so practice on stars with gloves and red LED head light. Extra batteries kept inside the coat! Sturdy tall tripod with all the items you need for long exposures. Most of the recommendations for cold weather cloths say layers, but that is for active people! You need to bulk up! Hand warmers are nice. Have gaffer's tape on hand, and be gentle with plastic parts in the cold, they get brittle and break easily. I have used D-SLR's in -40F without problem. Sometimes the liquid crystal display gets slow or does not work, but returns to normal when it gets warmed up. Set the monitor to low light if possible, you will have good night vision if you (and people around you) use good light discipline! Also, trust the histogram for exposure, not your night vision eyes. Take picture if you just see a hint of green. Sometimes the camera can catch something you have trouble seeing. Download Patrick Endres book - it is the bible for photographing the Aurora! Also, hope fellow photographers turn off their flash. Think SAFETY. You will be in strange territory, very cold weather at night away from city lights. (Backup flashlight!) Plastic bag for camera when you go back inside. If the lights are dancing, up the ISO and drop the speed. If relatively stationary, do the opposite. If you get good pictures, the next night, try time laps photography to get a video. I had good results with a 6 second exposure every 10 seconds to make a 30 second video. Also think about scenery (trees) in the picture or reflections of the aurora off of ice/snow. A flash (maybe hand held or flashlight) to illuminate a friend during a longer exposure.

ralfstinson Loc: SF Bay Area

Nikon D600 at the Chatanika Lodge north of Fairbanks. I have used the Nikon D90 with great success for the Lights.

ralfstinson Loc: SF Bay Area

With my eyes and full night vision, I could barely see a hint of green, but took the picture and got something. I hope you have a good display, but if not - get to an open area (without hill & trees like my picture) away from lights, and shoot pictures to the North, Northwest and North East. You may get something. Think of it as a practice for the next night. Good Luck!

TomV Loc: Annapolis, Maryland

Google search is your friend.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

Take your UV filter off.