Category Archives: Astrophotography

Obtener buenos flats es imprescindible para conseguir una calibración correcta de nuestras imágenes astronómicas y tras haber comprado y y probado recientemente la lámina de flats eXcalibur lite ya podemos darte nuestra opinión sobre este producto de la marca Rbfocus.

Anteriormente estábamos usando para hacer los flats una lámina de calco de dibujo alimentada por USB que consiste en un panel electroiluminado y que hasta ahora nos había dado buenos resultados, o eso creíamos. Lo cierto es que el panel funcionaba muy bien con nuestra cámara réflex pero con la más sensible ASI1600MM en ocasiones nos encontrábamos con el problema de que N.I.N.A nos decía que el flat resultante era demasiado brillante. La solución económica por la que optamos fue poner láminas de metacrilato translúcido hasta conseguir reducir el brillo de la pantalla hasta una medida que consideramos «aceptable».

El problema de los avisos en NINA desapareció pero a la hora de calibrar las imágenes empezamos a encontrarnos con muchos problemas y resultados desconcertantes sobre todo en el canal azul. Tras investigar un poco parece que el problema que nos afectaba era que cuando la ASI1600MM hace tomas muy cortas (inferiores a 5 segundos) induce mucho ruido por el modo de configuración de la cámara. Necesitábamos un panel de flats que brillara mucho menos que nuestra lámina para poder alargar las exposiciones y eso nos llevó a conocer la eXcalibur lite.

Una magnífica lámina de flats

En el mercado astronómico tenemos varios fabricantes de láminas de flats pero RBfocus nos atrajo mucho por lo bien trabajado de sus productos y porque son desarrollos hechos por un apasionado de la astronomía como es Reinaldo. Sus productos mezclan el cuidado y la sabiduría de un trabajo artesanal con la precisión industrial necesaria en estos productos y todo ello a un precio muy razonable.

Esta lámina de flats permite ajustar el brillo de manera variable y además se puede controlar desde los programas de captura como N.I.N.A. ya que es compatible con el protocolo ASCOM Cover Calibration y con INDI.

La conexión con el pc puede hacerse a través de cable USB o de modo inalámbrico por Bluetooth.

La lámina es ligera ya que está hecha con fibra de carbono, aluminio y plástico pero a su vez es robusta. Requiere alimentación a 12V que en mi caso es proporcionada por el dispositivo Astrolink mediante un conector jack (RBfocus también desarrolla sus propias power box de uso astronómico).

eXcalibur lite se quita y pone manualmente en el telescopio pero podemos optar por dejar la solución de manera fija en el tubo y accionarla automáticamente en la versión normal que incluye un brazo con servomotor.

Prueba y opinión sobre eXcalibur lite

Hemos podido usar el eXcalibur lite durante los últimos meses y nos ha dado muy buen resultado. Gracias a su pequeño tamaño lo llevamos en la propia caja del telescopio y configurarlo nos llevó tan solo un rato durante una tarde para calcular los valores recomendables en N.I.N.A en base a nuestra cámara y el tren óptico.

Ahora el proceso de adquisición de flats es más sencillo y aunque nos lleva más tiempo porque estamos haciendo flats de 5 segundos en vez de fracciones de segundo como antes, la diferencia en cuanto a calidad se nota y mucho. En definitiva estamos muy contentos con esta lámina y la recomendamos sin dudarlo.

Quizá piensas que estás haciendo bien tus flats con tu lámina casera como lo pensábamos antes nosotros. Tal vez crees que tus imágenes están bien calibradas pero, créenos, si no lo están estás desaprovechando mucha información en tus imágenes astronómicas y no estás obteniendo los mejores resultados. Que pena con ese telescopio y esa cámara tan buena que tienes…

For you who might’ve not been aware, Milky Way is the name of our very own galaxy where our solar system and subsequently ourselves live within. It is our galactic home filled by a vast amounts of stars, interstellar dust, energy, old star clusters, black holes, our very own supermassive black hole in the center and other wonders. Our very own star, the sun is a modest little star in comparison to other giants out there.

Every single star that appears in the night sky is our neighbor that belongs to our immediate galactic neighborhood. When we look at the night sky from the northern hemisphere we tend to look towards the outer regions of our galaxy, and when we move to our southern hemisphere we look inwards towards our galactic center. It makes sense then that the night sky is rich in stars in the southern hemisphere as everything is more dense. We can’t see individual stars that belong to other neighboring galaxies. Everything starts to become fuzzy and dim; occasionally we might see a big supernova (a star that dies) in a massive explosion, but that’s pretty much it. Without powerful telescopes we can’t distinguish these stars.

Below is a map of our Milky Way galaxy (made by SETI) that is mapping the most interesting regions of our galaxy from our perspective (solar system).

SETI stands for Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence. It is a branch in the astronomy science that pursues the question; are we truly alone in this galaxy, how about other neighboring star systems and their planets? And even more importantly, what about intelligent life and how could we communicate with them? Or should we avoid communicating with anyone at all, in the event these extra terrestrial civilizations are hostile, just like the warrior like beings Clingon from Star Trek? These and many more questions and studies and powerful telescopes is what SETI is all about.

Some of you might even remember the SETI @ Home program where you could download an app at your computer and help SETI scientists analyze recorded data from their radio telescopes.

In any case, the map above is intriguing and a reminder to us, there are much bigger things and questions to be answered by humanity, if we ever decide to stay around long enough to deal with them. After all, our very existence as a human race in a cosmological standpoint, is insignificantly small. We’ve barely been around for a fraction of a second in this enormous vastness of the cosmos.

Top 5 smartphones for Astrophotography in 2022

The cameras on modern-day smartphones have significantly improved. With the right phone, you can now capture incredible photos of starry skies or the beautiful Moon.

The majority of top-tier flagship handsets have high-resolution cameras that perform well even in low lighting. They also come with dedicated night-time shooting modes.

So, if you want to try Astrophotography, one of these smartphones should serve you well.

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra gets a punch-hole cut-out, an in-display fingerprint sensor, and stylus support.

The device bears a 6.8-inch QHD+ (1440×3088 pixels) LTPO 2.0 AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate, 1,750-nits peak brightness, and HDR10+ certification.

It houses a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, 12GB of RAM, up to 1TB of storage, and a 5,000mAh battery with 45W wired fast-charging

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra comes with a quad rear camera arrangement, that includes a 108MP (f/1.8, OIS) primary camera, 12MP (f/2.2) ultra-wide lens, 10MP (f/4.9, OIS) periscope telephoto shooter with 10x zoom, and 10MP (f/2.4, OIS) telephoto camera with 3x zoom.

On the front, it features a 40MP (f/2.2) selfie camera.

The device is capable of shooting 8K videos at 24fps.

The Xiaomi 12S Ultra sports a punch-hole cut-out and an in-display fingerprint sensor.

The handset boasts a 6.73-inch QHD+ (1440×3200 pixels) LTPO 2.0 AMOLED screen, with a 120Hz refresh rate, 1,500-nits peak brightness, Dolby Vision, and HDR10+ support.

It packs Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC, up to 12GB RAM, up to 512GB storage, and a 4,860mAh battery with 67W wired and 50W wireless fast-charging.

On the rear, the Xiaomi 12S gets a LEICA-engineered camera system, which includes a 50MP (f/1.9, OIS) main camera with a 1.0-inch Sony IMX989 sensor, 48MP (f/2.2) 128-degree ultra-wide shooter, a 48MP (f/4.1, OIS) periscope lens with 5x zoom, and a 3D depth sensor.

For selfies, it offers a 32MP (f/2.4) camera.

The device shoots 8K videos at 24fps with the rear setup.

The Sony Xperia 1 IV has a rectangular body, slim top and bottom bezels, and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor.

The device packs a 6.5-inch 4K (1644×3840 pixels) OLED display with HDR and 120Hz refresh rate.

It is backed by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC. It comes with 12GB of RAM, up to 512GB of storage, and a 5,000mAh battery with 30W fast-charging.

The Sony Xperia 1 IV’s ZEISS-engineered rear camera arrangement is headlined by a 12MP (f/1.7, OIS) main camera, accompanied by a 12MP (f/2.2) 124-degree ultra-wide sensor, a 12MP (f/2.3-2.8, OIS) telephoto snapper with 3.5x-5.2x continuous optical zoom, and a 0.3MP depth sensor.

Up front, the phone has a 12MP (f/2.0) camera.

It is capable of recording 4K videos at 120fps via the rear camera.

The Pixel 7 Pro features a top-centered punch-hole cut-out and an in-screen fingerprint scanner.

It sports a 6.7-inch QHD+ (1440×3120 pixels) LTPO AMOLED screen with a 10-120Hz variable refresh rate, HDR10+ certification, and 1,500-nits of peak brightness.

The device houses a Tensor G2 chipset, 12GB of RAM, up to 512GB of storage, and a 5,000mAh battery with 30W wired and 23W wireless charging.

The Pixel 7 Pro includes a triple rear camera module that features a 50MP (f/1.85, OIS) main camera, a 12MP (f/2.2) 126-degree ultra-wide shooter, and a 48MP (f/3.5, OIS) telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom.

On the front, it has a 10.8MP (f/2.2) snapper.

The device can shoot 4K videos at 60fps via its rear camera.

The iPhone 14 Pro flaunts a pill-shaped “Dynamic Island” housing the front camera and Face ID gadgetry.

The handset flaunts a 6.1-inch Full-HD+ (1179×2556 pixels) LTPO OLED display with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, HDR10, Dolby Vision, and 2,000-nits peak brightness

It is powered by an A16 Bionic chipset, paired with 6GB of RAM, up to 1TB of storage, and a 3,200mAh battery.

In the rear camera department, the iPhone 14 Pro gets a 48MP (f/1.78, OIS) primary sensor, a 12MP (f/2.2) 120-degree ultra-wide shooter, a 12MP (f/2.8, OIS) telephoto camera with 3x zoom, and a 3D LiDAR scanner.

It features a 12MP (f/1.9, AF) camera on the front.

The device can record 4K videos at 60fps via the rear camera setup.

Creators, dreamers, artists and do-it-yourselfers of all ages and backgrounds will gather this weekend for a celebration of grassroots innovation and homegrown ingenuity.

Maker Faire Orlando celebrates its 10th anniversary during the two-day festival at Central Florida Fairgrounds Nov. 5-6. The event showcases the creativity of Florida’s maker community through hands-on demonstrations and activities for the entire family.

Cosplay, in particular, will take the spotlight at this year’s gathering with costume makers showing off their handmade props and attire.

“Especially for the artists in the cosplay community, what they like is the opportunity to show their craft more so than just exhibiting the final product,” said Ian Cole, the Orlando event’s founder. “There are a lot of mentors in our crowd, a lot of people who will help someone else get started and learn.”

Cole was inspired to create this forum for Orlando’s maker community after visiting a similar event in California.

[ Subscribe to our Things to Do This Weekend newsletter ]

“I took my oldest son, who was 11 at the time, to Bay Area Maker Faire in San Francisco in 2011, and we both left so pumped up and amazed and excited. There’s that feeling when you meet your tribe,” Cole said. “We thought 300 people would show up and it would be a fun party with our friends and 2,500 people showed up the first year.”

That’s when Cole became an “accidental event producer” and knew the festival would persist.

“Makers feel like everyone is a maker,” he said. “For us to connect different communities and have them show off their craft, and get new people into their communities, it’s just super rewarding.”

Asher Adams remembers the first Orlando mini Maker Faire when he showcased a PVC instrument that resembled something the Blue Man Group might play. In recent years, his interest has pivoted to photography.

“During the pandemic, I started taking interest in backyard astrophotography. It was something that was really easy and accessible to do from home,” Adams said. “I fell down that rabbit hole of learning everything you can do to capture the night sky from home, which was really cool.”

At Maker Faire Orlando, Adams will return for the first time in nearly a decade to display his astrophotography rig and answer questions for aspiring shutterbugs.

“Even if it’s just doing stuff with your iPhone, there are so many good resources between your camera, star charts and apps,” he said. “I’m excited to be back and excited to hopefully help people learn about the night sky.”

[ Have an upcoming event? Submit it here to be included in our Calendar listings. ]

A decade into this festival’s Central Florida tenure, organizers anticipate 10,000 attendees and 250 exhibits including power racing, combat robots, learn to solder, take-it-apart and make-a-shirt. Other exhibits allow visitors to experience drones, daleks, belt sander racing and homemade creations of all kinds.

“Some people are looking for a hobby, some people are looking for their next business venture. It’s a great place to come feel the vibe where anything is possible if you set your mind to it,” Cole said. “You have this amazing group of creative, innovative people all in one space. You can’t go wrong with a crowd like that.”

• When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 5-6
• Where: 4603 W. Colonial Drive in Orlando
• Tickets: $15 for youth and students and $20 for adults in advance; $20 for youth and students and $25 for adults once the event begins. First responders, active military and veterans, employees of schools, colleges, universities, home-school educators and libraries receive free admission.
• Parking: On-site parking is free.
• Food: Vendors are available at the festival.
• More information: makerfaireorlando.com

Find me @PConnPie on Twitter and Instagram or send me an email: pconnolly@orlandosentinel.com. For more fun things, follow @fun.things.orlando on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

PixInsight has many keyboard short cuts build in right from the start (you can find an overview of them here.), some very useful while others won’t get used at all probably. One thing that bothered me though is that I can’t start processes using keyboard short cuts so I decided to look for a way around this. Luckily there is this great open source program called AutoHotkey that will let you define your own keyboard shortcuts and basically have them do anything you like. Even better; you can also program mouse buttons and movements!

Using AutoHotkey

You can download AutoHotkey for free here. As far as I’m aware, this only works on Windows at the moment. AutoHotkey will work with so called scripts, in which you can program the keystrokes or mouse behaviour it needs to react on and define what the program will need to do once it detected the particular keystroke(s).
This scripting can seem a bit complicated from the start, but there is a lot of great documentation and examples available. I’ll post some example code specificaly for PixInsight further down in this post.

Now let’s run briefly through the required steps to use AutoHotkey to add custom keyboard shortcuts to PixInsight:

1. Download and install AutoHotkey

Download AutoHotkey here and simply run the installer

2. Add AutoHotkey to Startup

It will be really convenient for AutoHotkey to always run in the background, so add it to Startup

3. Create a script

Now it’s time to start creating a script for AutoHotkey;

1. Right-Click on your desktop.
2. Find “New” in the menu.
3. Click “AutoHotkey Script” inside the “New” menu.
4. Give the script a new name. Note: It must end with a .ahk extension. Ex. MyScript.ahk
5. Find the newly created file on your desktop and Right-Click it.
6. Click “Edit Script”.
7. A window should have popped up, probably Notepad.

Now we can start editing the file to create some shortcuts for PixInsight.

4. Special keys and their symbols

First we need to be aware of the symbols we’ll need to use to define certain keys like Alt, Ctrl and Shift. AutoHotkey uses the following symbols for the keys:

Symbol	Key
#	Win (Windows key)
!	Alt
^	Ctrl
+	Shift
	Use the left key of the pair. e.g.
>	Use the right key of the pair. i.e. >+a = right Shift + a

5. Add a custom shortcut for an existing keyboard shortcut in PixInsight

Let’s start really easy and simply use another keyboard shortcut to toggle the ScreenTransferFunction. The default shortcut for this is F12, which I don’t find convenient for frequent use. Let’s say we want to use Alt+S instead. We can do this with this simple line of code:
!s::send, {F12}

6. Save the script and run it

Save the file and double click it on your desktop to run it. Now open up PixInsight and open an image on which you can test the ScreenTransferFunction Toggle. Hit Alt+S to toggle the ScreenTransferFunction!

Now you have your first script succesfully working, let’s dive in a bit deeper and use the PixInsight Console to open up Processes

Open up Processes with keyboard shortcuts

Most people probably won’t know this, but the PixInsight console is more than just a monitor for processes to output to and which you can keep an eye on to see what’s going on when you execute processes. It is also a really extensive input console which you can use to do really a lot of (complicated) stuff. This is very useful in this case because it is the console we will use to fire up Processes instead of mimicking mouse movements and menu clicks which are far less reliable. Luckily there is even a keyboard short cut to open up the Console in PixInsight, so scripting a custom keyboard shortcut in AutoHotkey for PixInsight is remarkably easy!
Basically we need to do 6 things when we want to open up a process;

1. Define the keyboard shortcut that needs to trigger the opening of the process.

Let’s open up the ScreenTransferFunction with Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S. We can do this by starting the script with ^!+s::
Note: Please be aware of existing keyboard short cuts like Ctrl+S to save a file, and avoid using those.

2. Open the Console

We can open the console with ^!c

3. Wait for the Console window to open

We can’t start typing right away, we’ll need to wait till the window is opened. This can be done by using the sleep command and specifying the time in miliseconds that AutoHotkey needs to wait. sleep, 600 is what I use to make sure PixInsight has opened up the Console window.

4. Type in the name of the process we want to open

We can simply send keystrokes to mimick typing. To open up the interface window of a process from the console, all we have to do is add ‘–interface’ to the name of the process.

5. Hit Enter

To mimic hitting enter we can simply add; {enter}

6. Tell AutoHotkey we are done with the actions for this particular shortcut

If we use only one line of code like before, we don’t need to specify the end of the script and we can simply begin a new shortcut on a new line in the file. If we use multiple actions like we are doing now, we need to tell AutoHotkey when this collection of actions end so that we can start up a new shortcut after it.
We do this by simply adding “Return”

If we combine this we’ll get the following code:

^!+s::
send, ^!c
sleep, 600
send, ScreenTransferFunction --interface {enter}
Return

Now save the file and right-click the AutoHotkey icon in the Taskbar and Reload the script.

Go to PixInsight and try it out!

Add more keyboard shortcuts in the same script file

You can just continu adding more shortcuts by placing the code for new keyboard shortcuts after the previous ones. We’ve seen two examples already, now let’s just add a third one to open another Process interface; Windows key + S for Starmask.

#s::
send, ^!c
sleep, 600
send, StarMask --interface {enter}
Return

It is usefull to add comments in the script file, so you can keep track of what everything means. You can do this by starting a line with “;”.
If we combine all three examples and add comments, our script file will look like this:


;ScreenTransferFunction - Toggle
!s::send, {F12}

;ScreenTransferFunction – Interface
^!+s::
send, ^!c
sleep, 600
send, ScreenTransferFunction –interface {enter}
Return

;Open StarMask interface
#s::
send, ^!c
sleep, 600
send, StarMask –interface {enter}
Return

Limit the keyboard shortcuts to only work in PixInsight

It is very useful to limit the keyboard shortcuts to only work in PixInsight. This enables you to use the same keyboard shortcuts again in other programs for instance.
You can do this by simply using the #ifWinActive statement with the title of the window. So in our case we’ll be adding the following to your script: #ifWinActive PixInsight 1.8 and place the keyboard shortcuts for PI between {}
So if we add this, now our script file looks like this:


#ifWinActive PixInsight 1.8
{
;ScreenTransferFunction - Toggle
!s::send, {F12}

;ScreenTransferFunction – Interface
^!+s::
send, ^!c
sleep, 600
send, ScreenTransferFunction –interface {enter}
Return

;Open StarMask interface
#s::
send, ^!c
sleep, 600
send, StarMask –interface {enter}
Return
}

Add more commands

In addition to opening up the process windows, you can also execute them with certain settings and do a lot more using the Console in PixInsight.
Just type in –help in addition to the process name to see all the things you can do in the Console with that particular process.
Please let us know in the comments below if you have any good ideas for more keyboard shortcuts!

El próximo 8 de diciembre, de madrugada, podremos observar desde España la ocultación de Marte por la Luna, un fenómeno poco habitual que coincide además con la oposición del planeta rojo, el momento en que se encuentra más próximo a La Tierra.

Podemos decir que se produce un «eclipse marciano» ya que nuestro satélite natural tapará durante unos minutos a Marte aunque lo interesante de la ocultación son los momentos inmediatamente anteriores y posteriores a ésta, cuando podemos ver el planeta junto a la Luna, ser testigos de sus movimientos orbitales y hacernos una idea de sus diferentes tamaños aparentes ya que la Luna es más pequeña que Marte, pero está mucho más cerca que éste.

Concretamente en el momento de la ocultación la Luna estará a 397.703 kms de nosotros mientras que Marte se encontrará a 82.207.000 de kms.

La última vez que pudimos ver este fenómeno desde España fue el 6 de septiembre de 2020 y algunos astrónomos amateurs consiguieron algunas imágenes espectaculares de aquella ocultación.

El fenómeno de ocultación será visible únicamente desde parte de América del Norte, Groenlandia, Islandia, parte de Europa y parte del norte de África pero la conjunción de ambos astros si será visible desde todo el mundo.

Horario de la ocultación de Marte

El inicio de la ocultación varía dependiendo de la posición geográfica desde la que se observe el fenómeno. Te recomendamos que consultes algún programa como Stellarium para comprobar a qué hora se observará desde tu localidad.

En Madrid el fenómeno comenzará a las 06:20UT a una altitud de 24,1º y la reaparición será a las 07:05UT a una altitud de 15,4º por lo tanto tendremos que buscar un lugar con horizonte despejado para poder ver el fenómeno completamente. Recordad que es la madrugada del 7 al 8 de diciembre.

¿Cómo observar la ocultación?

Para observar esta ocultación es recomendable el uso de un telescopio de bastante focal ya que Marte es un planeta con un tamaño aparente bastante pequeño. Podemos utilizar también prismáticos pero éstos no nos darán los mismos aumentos y tan solo veremos Marte como puntito brillante.

Recomendamos que planifiquéis bien la observación y que madruguéis bastante. Se tarda un rato en montar el telescopio y aclimatarlo así que nos tocará levantarnos prontito y aguantar bajo temperaturas gélidas. Para evitar pasar frío os recomendamos que leáis este artículo que escribimos hace algún tiempo sobre ropa para observaciones astronómicas. También es recomendable que llevéis algo de comida y bebida caliente (un café, un caldo, etc…).

Buscad un lugar elevado con el horizonte despejado. El fenómeno se observará aquí en España con la Luna bastante baja en el horizonte, sobre todo al final. No hace falta que el sitio esté muy oscuro ya que no es un fenómeno astronómico al que le afecte demasiado la contaminación lumínica, se puede observar incluso desde la ciudad pero buscad un sitio donde los edificios no os tapen la Luna.

El fenómeno de ocultación y reaparición dura muy poco. Tanto Marte, como la Luna y La Tierra están en continuo movimiento así que estad muy atentos porque es todo un «visto y no visto». Si estáis atentos podréis llegar a ver a Marte desaparecer y aparecer entre las montañas y cráteres del relieve lunar.

Fotografiar la ocultación de Marte

Para fotografiar la ocultación también necesitaremos focales muy largas. Hay que tener en cuenta que la ocultación se produce en fase de Luna llena por lo que el brillo de la Luna saturará la imagen si queremos sacar a Marte bien expuesto. Necesitaremos una cámara con muy alto rango dinámico o bien hacer múltiples exposiciones para intentar hacer luego una composición HDR.

Además, en astrofotografía planetaria la mejor técnica es el «lucky imaging» que consiste en grabar vídeos, pero el diferente movimiento aparente de la Luna y el planeta nos obligará a hacer vídeos muy cortos para poder hacer posteriormente un apilado correcto.

En nuestro canal de Youtube tienes multitud de vídeos de procesado de imágenes planetarias que te pueden servir de ayuda.

¿Cuándo se producirán las próximas ocultaciones de Marte por la Luna?

Si no puedes ver esta ocultación podrás volver a intentarlo en cualquiera de las siguientes fechas.

Sony’s Alpha 7 series cameras are split into three categories: the all-purpose A7, the resolution-focused A7R, and the video-oriented A7S. And it’s in the latest iteration of the latter, the Sony A7S III, that we find a camera that may be designed for ultimate video performance, but also offers virtually unparalleled stills performance when it comes to shooting in low light conditions. 

While the A7S III was designed as a specialist video device, a byproduct of its ingenious design also makes it one of the best astrophotography cameras (opens in new tab) on the market. That’s thanks to its low-resolution, back-side illuminated, 12.1MP image sensor and outstanding 80-102,400 ISO sensitivity (which is expandable to 40-409,600). 

In a world where high resolution is all we seem to hear about, you may be wondering why we’re recommending such a low-resolution camera – but that reduced pixel count is exactly why this camera is such a sniper in low light. With just 12.1 million pixels on a full-frame sensor, each individual photosite is much larger and able to capture a greater amount of light – and because the camera only has to process half as many pixels as most rivals, it generates minimal heat (and, therefore, noise).

So whether your reason for shooting is getting the cleanest 4K video imaginable or achieving the best low light, astrophotography and night capture possible, the A7S III offers a truly inspired solution and rather remarkable results. 

Sony A7S III: Design

• Bigger, better buttons
• Phenomenal viewfinder
• Fully articulating screen

If you’ve ever handled a Sony A7 camera then you know exactly what you’re getting here. A compact, lightweight body with all the buttons and dials exactly where you’d expect them. Within that, though, there are some very welcome updates, such as a beefier grip and buttons (including the larger REC button), though there are also video-first rearrangements such as the REC, Movie and S&Q buttons being given top-plate priority. This makes sense given the video-first nature of the A7S III, though stills shooters will have to get used to the re-jigging.

The top plate is also where we see one of the most important upgrades, as the newly chunkier electronic viewfinder section accommodates one of the best digital finders we’ve ever seen. It boasts a phenomenal 9.44 million-dot OLED monitor that offers resolution arguably better than the human eye is capable of reading. The result is that every detail of your scene is crystal clear – and in particular, the night sky is rendered with the kind of clarity that astrophotographers have always dreamed of.

While the resolution of the rear touchscreen is comparatively paltry, at just 1.44 million dots, the fact that it is a fully articulating affair is again incredibly welcome. It’s obviously a must for the videographers that the A7S III is aimed at, but it also offers ultimate versatility for stills shooters, especially when the camera is mounted on a tripod.

Sony A7S III: Functionality

• Dual native ISO
• 4K internal at 10-bit 4:2:2
• Hybrid CFexpress A / SD cards

When it comes to low light / cleanest output performance, the Sony A7S III has three tricks up its sleeve. The first two are the 12.1MP sensor and enormous ISO range, which we’ve discussed. However, the third is equally important: dual native ISO. This means that the camera has two base (in other words, optimum) ISO settings, one at ISO640 and the other at ISO16000. 

When you increase the ISO, more current is run through the circuitry – which introduces noise, and also generates heat (which compounds the noise). By having dual native ISO settings, the camera produces low-noise, low-voltage capture at a medium (640) and high (16000) sensitivities. So, rather than bumping your ISO and introducing noise, you can shoot at either of these settings for imaging that’s clean as a whistle. 

Looking to the video specs, which are the intended selling point of this camera, the A7S III offers a treasure trove of 10-bit 4:2:2 codecs that can be used to record unlimited, uncropped 4K video internally at up to 60p, or at 120p with a minimal 1.1x crop, all while retaining full autofocus performance. And if you want to record to an external monitor (over the full-size HDMI out), you can push that to 12-bit ProRes RAW. You can even capture 240fps in 1080p, though this S&Q mode is video-only.

We’re also supremely grateful to Sony for introducing a hybrid memory card system. The twin slots support the standard SD format, but also accommodate the new CFexpress Type A cards (which, it should be noted, are different to the CFexpress Type B cards supported by Canon, Nikon and co). This means you can upgrade to the newer format as and when you’re ready, while still using your existing SD cards to get shooting right away. 

Sony A7S III: Performance

• Great autofocus
• Minimal rolling shutter
• Beware “star eating”

The Sony A7S III delivers the kind of low- and zero-light performance that we’ve only dreamed of in the past. Shooting with all the aforementioned technology means that you walk away with images possessing maximum brightness and minimum noise, with a claimed 15 stops of dynamic range (and from our tests, we’ve no reason to doubt that) whether you’re capturing stills or video. 

As a video device it boasts fantastic autofocus performance, with a fantastic hybrid AF system, along with minimal rolling shutter (the Jell-O-like warping of vertical objects, when you pan side to side) and capable image stabilization (though Sony still lags behind the stabilization of all its rivals). 

The only thing to be wary of is the Achilles heel of many Sony A7 bodies, the “star eater” phenomenon. This is where the camera’s overenthusiastic noise reduction system ‘eats’ stars that it misidentifies as noise or hot pixels. This tends to rear its head when shooting with particularly sharp wide-angle lenses, and / or at extreme ISOs, so be mindful if you start to see stars disappearing! 

Should you buy Sony A7S III?

If you’re a video-first shooter, then you shouldn’t even think twice about picking up the Sony A7S III. There’s a reason that it’s the camera of choice for the majority of professional YouTubers and content creators. However, this is far more than a video-centric device. 

For the cleanest possible low-light performance, particularly when it comes to night and astrophotography, the A7S III is exceptionally compelling. The only strike against it is that you may find yourself limited by the 12.1MP resolution. This is more than fine for video, online and even for small prints, but if you want to produce large prints of your work then you may want to consider the merits of a higher resolution camera – even though it won’t be able to match the Sony’s unique combination of back-side illuminated sensor with dual native ISO. 

If this product isn’t for you

For astrophotographers familiar with conventional cameras, the obvious alternative is the Canon EOS Ra – a dedicated astro camera, with a full frame sensor boasting more than twice as many megapixels, a modified IR filter array (for superior star-shooting capabilities) and an extremely useful 30x magnification (compared to the Sony’s meager 4x). 

If you’re savvy enough to try a dedicated CCD camera, then the ZWO ASI183MC (Color) (opens in new tab) packs a Sony-made sensor and a dedicated cooling system to reduce noise, while still delivering 12 stops of dynamic range and impressive spectral response. 

Finally, don’t overlook a camera that can fit into your pocket: a high end smartphone. Our pick is the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (opens in new tab), which offers fantastic bang-for-buck imaging – especially for shooting the stars, with an f/1.8 primary camera and an f/2.2 ultra-wide, and Pro mode enabling you to shoot up to 30-second exposures and adjust the ISO to 3200. 

Sigma and Tamron lenses already offer lower-cost yet quality alternatives to Canon, Sony, and Nikon lenses. And right now, they are even more affordable during an early Black Friday sale on Amazon. If you’ve been considering getting a new lens to fill out your arsenal of gear or are a generous soul and want an exciting gift for a photographer, it’s a great time to do so.

A good wide-angle lens is something every photographer should have available. Designed for Sony APS-C photographers, this lens offers a 35mm equivalent focal length of 24mm. It provides an extremely fast f/1.4 maximum aperture for strong low-light performance, making it a great tool for capturing wedding receptions or night skies. The wide aperture also helps to create separation between your subject and the background and even results in some attractive bokeh. It’s one of the best APS-C wide-angle lenses you can get for your Sony camera, and this price makes it even more enticing.

Sony APS-C users sure have a good selection of affordable wide-angle lenses to choose from during this early Black Friday sale. This Tamron lens offers a 16-30mm equivalent focal length, which is an ideal range for real estate, landscape, astrophotography, and even event coverage. It offers a lot of sharpness and quality in a very compact body, so it won’t feel out of place on the smaller APS-C cameras. And it’s moisture-resistant, giving you peace of mind if you get caught in bad weather.

Additional Tamron lens deals:

• Tamron SP 150-600mvm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras $1,199.00 (was $1,399.00)
• Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD for Sony Mirrorless Full Frame/APS-C E Mount $799.00 (was $899.00)
• Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7 Di III VC VXD Lens for Full Frame Sony $1,299.00 (was $1,399.00)
• Tamron SP 70-200mm F/2.8 Di VC G2 for Canon EF DSLR $1,199.00 (was $1,299.00)
• Tamron 70-180mm F/2.8 Di III VXD for Sony Full Frame/APS-C E-Mount $1,099.00 (was $1,199.00)
• Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 for Canon Digital SLR Cameras $1,199.00 (was $1,399.00)
• Tamron 17-70mm f/2.8 Di III-A VC RXD Lens for Sony E APS-C $749.00 (was $799.00)
• Tamron 18-400mm F/3.5-6.3 DI-II VC HLD All-In-One Zoom For Nikon APS-Cv Digital SLR Cameras $599.00 (was $649.00)

Additional Sigma lens deals: