[AlanM]

I am contemplating going to the north of Europe next winter to see and take photos of northern lights. I have the Sigma 17-70mm. Is that wide enough on the KP or would I want something wider?

[Michail_P]

Maybe you could decide by looking at reference photos and their exif data ... just a thought, based on the opinion that some people don’t have a thing for ultra wide angle...
Otherwise I’d say I’ve seen a lot of great Northern Lights photos taken with 17 or 20 mm

[damianc]

Just an opinion. I feel the best aurora photography is simply good landscape photography so the 17-50 will be plenty wide for most circumstances. An ultra wide might be helpful for capturing stars above the lights depending on how far north you go

[HoutHans]

I think that should work. Here's a series of aurora images taken with a 15 mm on a K-1, so a 17 - 20 should be plenty wide.

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Last edited by HoutHans; 04-22-2021 at 02:50 AM. Reason: typo corrected

[AlanM]

Thanks for your replies. Most helpful.

Is there anything I should be aware of when the temperature is low (around -10 deg. C / 14 F)? How will lens and camera perform?

[hadi]

more than the lens, think you need a decent tripod or a method to secure your camera in place long enough to keep the shutter open for a period of time. even if its placed on a rock, or table tripod etc.

but yes, composition over a wide angle lens is more important

[MossyRocks]

I feel the best aurora photography is simply good landscape photography so the 17-50 will be plenty wide for most circumstances.

This is really the key. The same also applies to milky way photography. A sturdy enough tripod for long higher to high ISO exposures and a release cable or better yet intervalometer are almost a necessity. After that it is just a question of how much star trails you want. For no star trails and point stars use 200/(focal length) in seconds, for out of round stars with not really too noticeable trails you can go up to 500/(focal length), anything longer and you will start noticing trails which may or may not be what you want.

My only other advise is go out and practice shooting the night sky before you go on the trip you will really want to be able to operate your camera in the dark and also have some practice getting correct focus (you will use manual focus), and getting to know how to get the picture you want.

[sealight]

17mm should do well in most cases, on my K-3 I took all my northern light-photos with the Sigma 18-35mm Art....Aurora can fill quite some space in the sky, so sometimes you might wish for something wider- now shooting on a K-1 I am currently using an Irix 15mm, in terms of IQ I was a bit happier with the Sigma....
as MossyRocks already mentioned- a good tripd is important, since you'll be shooting long exposures, personally I don't use any release cable or intervall timer though- the main reason for that in my case being, that I usually do some reframing- depending on the action of northern lights...
haven taken now over 10000phots of aurora within the last 5- 6 years, temperatures ranging between +20° and -50°Celsius - I haven't run into any serious technical issues so far...you always should had a second battery on you, sometimes the battery can drain quite quickly at certain temperatures...

[DWS1]

I love to be able to travel to a location to see the northern lights.

[Pål Jensen]

This is shot at 16mm with the DA* 16-50/2.8 and the K-3. The challenge is to focus at infinity. Use live view and magnification and focus on any bright light or bright star.

[HoutHans]

In addition to the tripod suggestion: make sure your batteries are fully charged (they'll loose capacity when the temperature drops); if you have a second battery put it in your coat close to your body, keeping it as warm as possible. Finally, bring your camera bag with you so that you can put the camera in when you're still outside and allow it to slowly warm up in the bag. That way you won't be getting condensation on your camera when you enter the cosy warmth of the building after taking the lovely pictures that you'll hopefully share with us. Enjoy!

[hadi]

In addition to the tripod suggestion: make sure your batteries are fully charged (they'll loose capacity when the temperature drops); if you have a second battery put it in your coat close to your body, keeping it as warm as possible. Finally, bring your camera bag with you so that you can put the camera in when you're still outside and allow it to slowly warm up in the bag. That way you won't be getting condensation on your camera when you enter the cosy warmth of the building after taking the lovely pictures that you'll hopefully share with us. Enjoy!

actually, that is a good point...but come to think of it, ive had instances where I took my glasses from a warm place to a cold (canadian winters), and my glasses instantly steam up.
I wonder if that would also apply to camera lenses. As in, if its a drastic change in the temperature, or atmosphere (ie, former is humid, latter is dry), will that also result in condensation?

i wonder if it would be better, then to keep your camera outside of the bag, but the batteries close to your body, and when ready, pop in the batteries, and have at it?

humm...

[LSR]

I've been fortunate to view our Northern Lights from many locations over the course of the past 4 decades.

However, one of the most memorable was on a flight crossing the north Atlantic. The plane was dark, almost everyone asleep when the pilot whispered over the PA system "If anyone is awake and wants to see Mother Nature's most incredible light show, have a look out North facing windows now."

Every Atlantic crossing trip since then I've always made a point to sit on what would be the North side of a plane if it is traveling at night.

[hadi]

I've been fortunate to view our Northern Lights from many locations over the course of the past 4 decades.

However, one of the most memorable was on a flight crossing the north Atlantic. The plane was dark, almost everyone asleep when the pilot whispered over the PA system "If anyone is awake and wants to see Mother Nature's most incredible light show, have a look out North facing windows now."

Every Atlantic crossing trip since then I've always made a point to sit on what would be the North side of a plane if it is traveling at night.

that sounds so magical! Mother Nature is so spectacular!

[MossyRocks]

Use live view and magnification and focus on any bright light or bright star.

An added pointer that I got from someone else is to also look at the spots where there are flickers. If there is a star there you can tell if you get perfect infinity focus if you can get it to stop flickering on and off if it is not too dim. Also turn off focus peaking as that just bloats stars when you are close to perfect focus so it becomes hard to tell when you have actually gotten to real infinity.

That is a nice photo, I need to get farther north than 48N.