Astrophotography on Location: New Zealand
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- Опубликовано: 10 сен 2024
- Join me on a night out shooting astrophotography in New Zealand with my first ever "Astrophotography on Location" vlog. While much of our three weeks in New Zealand was met with rain and clouds, we found a bit of luck when we arrived at Lake Tekapo. Situated in the largest dark sky reserve in the world, Lake Tekapo is one of the world's premier places to view and photograph the night sky.
Video and stills shot on:
Sony a7S
Zeiss Batis 18mm f/2.8
Sony Zeiss 55mm f/1.8
Sony RX100III (RIP, 2016)
OnePlus Two
Music Credit:
Dexter Britain - "Lost in Light" (CC-BY-NC-SA)
Dexter Britain - "Ink" (CC-BY-NC-SA)
from the album "Creative Commons Volume. 7"
www.dexterbrita...
This video footage is copyright Ian Norman, licensed (CC-BY-NC-SA) per the ShareAlike stipulation on the license on Dexter's musical work as a derivative work. Please see more information about license here: creativecommon...
To use the video content of this work outside of this license, please email: lonelyspeckblog@gmail.com
9:28 shooting star?
Great video Ian! I love your work
Yep! Got lucky :-) --Ian
What awesome luck, right? Perfect timing.
I was just about to say that
this video makes me proud to be a new zealander! :)
me too :)
Me Three
Me four :D
Amazing! My first thought was Psalm 19:1
*"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork."*
This is just beautiful. Great great job man!!!
You can see the LMC and SMC? that's amazing!
9:29 - 9:31 left side there was a shooting star.
Yeah, I totally saw that too! What a great bonus!
I love lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki! such a great place for camping and always enjoy the night sky with the alps in the background...great place to live!
fantastic skyscapes not accessible to mortals living on the northern side of things. Pretty impressive really.
Unfortunately there's loads of Northern Hemisphere mortals arriving every year
Very inspiring video. The tranquility of night and being able to photograph it is always a rewarding experience.
Wonderful! Thank you for raising awareness about the importance of our night sky.
So, are you addicted to Southern Hemisphere skies yet? :-)
Most beautiful sky I've ever seen. Trully astonishing... Congrays Ian. Beautiful work, beautiful.
absolutely stunning and beautiful. What an amazing opportunity to see our worlds pristine skies. I'm very jealous! I've always wanted to go to New Zealand.. one of these days.
one of the best videos Ian. really liked it. awesome!
Thanks Jan!
Wow! So inspirational!
Just wow!
I have visited New Zealand twice, and on the last trip was treated to some wonderful views of the Milky Way. Till now, I've always gone to NZ in December, which doesn't make for optimal viewing since the central Milky Way is closer to the horizon at that time of year in the southern hemisphere. Still, I got some decent night sky photos with my Nikon D810 and a 16-35mm f/4g Nikkor. But I think your photos are considerably better than mine. I've purchased a 20mm f/1.8g Nikkor for the next visit. Thanks for inspiring me to make a visit to NZ during the austral winter!
Thanks for sharing Jim! NZ is such a spectacular place. Thanks for sharing. I think that 20mm/1.8G is going to help a lot. More than two stops goes a long way.
Inspiring and beautiful video
Your video was an inspiration. I walk down the street shown in the opening clip every day -- now I just have to follow the rest of your example!
Shooting star on the left @ 9:31. love it.
Awesome work guys, love it. I'm in NZ shooting the night sky it never fails to amaze me. New sub for ya mate cheers Paul (Hawke's Bay)
wow!!! Thanks for this video. Now I know where I want to go to capture the best night sky. Absolutely love your work and appreciate your tutorials.
Beautiful work Ian
amazing video... Thanks a lot Ian for the insight to the NZ dark skies and the amazing people in that community!!!
such an amazing country. I love your video clips at the start.
thanks for sharing your work and journey!
Guys, thanks you a lot! You have brought so much inspiration to us.
one of the best videos ive seen on astrophotography!!
Great love your work
Great Video! Thanks for sharing!
Great video. Thanks!
Wow! What a nice adventure. :-) Nice to see how your latest pics came about. Would love to see more astro vlogs!
Insane skies! Thank you for making the video and your website. Your information is super helpful to amateur night sky lovers getting into the world of astrophotography and travel :)
Was that a meteor at the left at 9:30? BTW, how the heck is your camera able to capture so much of the night sky and the milky way while shooting video???
Peter Bucek it's magic from sony mirrorless haha
its a mirrorless camera ad hes got his ISO hella high
Rough right, lazy left. Not sure I’d be able to overcome decades of ingrained habit. But good on ya! Beautiful!
Monster Sky at the south!
Absolutely STUNNING work, totally inspiring. I need to give astrophotography another try, last time I made an attempt the wind blew over my tripod in the Grand Canyon and destroyed my fisheye lens >.
Thanks guys, another great video!
Simply astonishing. Great work!
Beautiful video!
I'd love to see more of those videos. They're so imperssif!!
This video gave me chills! I'll be at Lake Tekapo in less than a month doing the same thing :D
Really awesome.
Awesome video, perfect timing as I'm going to NZ in early Jan for some night sky shooting too!
2:55 I want you to know this picture is my lockscreen on my work PC!! I love your work, Ian, and because of you I was inspired to pursue astrophotography myself! Got a Sony a6300 (couldn't quite afford the A7S and wanted the 4K video) and a Samyang 12mm F2 and am planning on taking a trip to Spruce Knob, West Virginia. I saw that you guys had been there at one point during your voyages and am super excited to go myself. Shooting for May 26-27 if the weather cooperates. It's the best I can do since I live in Virginia and have very few really dark locations. Keep up the good work!
Absolutely beautiful shots!! Thank you Ian for sharing this!
This is really great stuff. Your site is one of my favourite photo blogs.
Inspiring !!!!
Thanks for sharing! I wish I had seen this before visiting NZ myself last year. I'm a landscape shooter myself and it's very consoling to hear you say that you primarily shoot with one super wide and a normal prime - that's basically what I've been doing as well, at least I know I'm in the right direction.
This is an awesome video. It made my heart so full... I’m heading to South Island next month, hopefully I’ll be blessed with great weather to see something similar, and capture some breath taking pictures too. Great work! ^^
this is awesome. make more blogs. you make a cool stuff and motivate people to create. grate work, perfect
Love all the videos and tutorials! You're my go-to while I learn more about Astrophotography. I'm actually going to NZ on Nov 1!
Diese Video einfach genial 👌 danke!
Fantastic video! Thanks for sharing. Heading down there after Christmas, can't wait :)
Fantastic video Ian!!! Love it, thank you for sharing, now I just need to save up hard for a New Camera and a trip to Lake Tekapo.
Great video. Nice ideea with a vlog. I've been following the site for about 1.5-2 years and this is a wonderful addition. Keep it up :)
Thanks Cristi! It was a lot of fun to make, I'm already thinking about the next.
Really incredible!! New Zealand has been on my 'to go' list for a very long time. It would be amazing to go and get some astrophotography shots. Thank you for this video! :)
I can now proudly say that I have looked through the same telescopes that you have.
I just discover you today by chance you were in my youtube suggestions... Amazing work, what you do is very good and inspiring. Cheers from Switzerland.
Watching this for the second time.
awe inspiring
Kia Ora! Great Video,
I loved this video!
This is so amazing! Love your work!
Does the night sky really light up like that? Regardless of the shoot, do we really see the bright purple colors and the cloudy galactic core as clearly as the pictures show?
Amazing work buddy! U just get a new subscriber and fan!
love your content... thanks for sharing
could you recommend me a good budget lens for a Sony A7R? I'm very new to Astro Photography and actually don't have the camera yet but looking into a used A7R. I do live in NZ and would love to get out in the night and capture the stars.
`So wonderful, a truly moving video, thanks for all your advice and tutorials :) Tim
Very inspiring video and photographs. Is Batis lens better in image quality and build quality? I a.m. planing to buy Batis 25mm than18mm. I think Sony Zeiss 16 -35mm f4 cannot beat Batis lens??
Ian, that is an incredible shot, the color is exceptional, wow, wow, wow. I also noticed that you have changed your lenses and are not using the Rokinon, can you explain why and do you still recommend it. Thanks and now I have the fever to go there, wow. Thanks for sharing.
I'm mostly not using Rokinon now that I have switched to Sony because they didn't have very compact lenses available. That said, I still really like their lenses and they just released a couple of autofocus lenses for Sony (50mm/1.4 and a 14mm/2.8!) which I want to try. The Sony/Zeiss lenses are great but very very expensive.
great video! subscribed
great video, is this place the east coast of lake takepo, and shooting towards west and south?
My home land :) Sadly you picked the cloudiest/wettest/windiest time of the year to come here. I haven't been able to do much astrophotography lately.
Awesome video! Thanks for sharing! It would be interesting to see a review video of your Sony A7SII settings with both your Zeiss Batis 18mm 2.8 and Zeiss 55mm. Do you use the sharp star focus cards on those lenses? Keep up the great work!
Hi Kyle, I'm working on a review for sure! I do use the SharpStar on both those lenses.
great😍😍😍😍
I'm amaze, is that a real video record? I did'nt know milky way will be visible in video records even the stars, can someone explain me how's is that working, because i'm truly amaze.
wow that's amazing? how long were you there? what kind of budget does that require?
What time of year was this in NZ, and when is the best time to go for Astrophotography?
hi Ian, loved your photos. just have a request to make a video about making those shots of clouds with wide angle lens. thanks in advance.
Thanks for coming to explore our own little slice of paradise. For Astro is it advisable to stick to aps-c and full frame? Or can I get away with a good micro 4/3? I get out hunting in some wicked locations and weight is a concern for me. Doing research on first camera and lens to buy. Keep up the good work lonelyspeck team
I've seen many great photos made on m4/3. No need to upgrade but it can make a small difference in total image noise with each larger system. Larger sensor = larger lenses = more light = less perceived noise. For reference, I still love shooting stills on the RX100III which has a 1" sensor!
Lonely Speck awesome cheers for that. It's re-assuring to hear that. I was eyeing up the new Panasonic g80/85 as it seems to fit what I'm looking for,any others in micro 4/3 or aps-c you could suggest? Also cheers for taking the time to reply. Didn't think you would have the time
amazing video, i gotta get to NZ!
Whats with the video download button on youtube?
how does the batis 18mm compare to the 14 rokinon/samyang?
Learning to drive on the right side was pretty weird and fun on our trip to South Africa. Unfortunately, I didn't have a wide lens while there as my Sony Nex-6 died on me as soon as we arrived in Cape Town. I'm now seriously considering the Ziess Batis 18mm f/2.8. Automatic infinity focus is a huge plus!
beautiful!!!
Hi just watching this video. I'm not sure if you're active but nice meteor capture at 9:29.
Ha yeah! That was a little bonus.
Zeiss Batis 18 is so good?
What are the reasons? I will go for some lenses for my A7III soon and I want to know wich is the best option in wide angle terms. Wait for your answer
The Batis 18mm is excellent, albeit expensive. We like it for how lightweight, and sharp it is.
Great video and so inspirational! I'd love to book a trip out there. What resources did you find to be the most helpful for planning your trip? I'd love to do the tour as well
Hey Zach, check out our complete trip details here: northtosouth.us/campervan-trip-planning-new-zealand/
One more meteor at 10:29
Beautiful Ian..!❤️👌🏼
What kit did you shoot the videos with when showing us venus?
With your wide angle lens how did you get the gas clouds to be so distinct and visible?
It's amazing what can be done with a long exposure and some really dark skies!
What time of year was this? I'm planning to go to NZ Nov/Dec.
Best time to come. Our summer. Clearer skies and in the south much later evenings. Enjoy your visit :)
I just noticed in your gear list: 'Sony RX100III (RIP, 2016)'. What happened? Have you replaced it?
Rick Warner we drowned it in Milford Sound and temporarily replaced it as Diana's primary shooter with a Canon t5i. probably would like to have a nice point and shoot again soon. RX100 series is still awesome. New Panasonic LX15 looks cool too.
Lonely Speck Sorry to hear of the demise of the RX100. I just upgraded my RX100M3 with an M5, mostly to get phase detection AF. Folks are amazed at the photos I can take with such a small camera.
Wow what camera and lens did you use to capture stars on video like that? Nice work!
I'm surprised when i see the milky way on the video :o, is this even possible?
Where about at Lake Tekapo did you go?
sir .. can i use aps-c sensor camera for astrophoto ... and can u suggest me a aps-c camera and a lense for astrophotos ..... plzzzx😊😊😊😊☺😄
Yes absolutely! For APS-C, I highly recommend the Sony a6000 + Rokinon 12mm f/2. One of my favorite compact kits for astrophotography.
thank you sir ☺😄😄
Totally! Obviously, I'm not Ian, but I can at least tell you from experience, having shot astro for the last 3 years with all APS-C cameras that it is possible. I started on two sony SLT cameras, though, I wouldn't recommend it. The high ISO performance was bad back then (a55 and a65) and is nothing like their full mirrorless counterparts.
I then picked up a Nikon D5300, which gave me more wiggle room.
I do a lot of timelapses, so, when my shutter died on the D5300, I pitched for the Nikon D500, a high end APS-C body. the performance between all of these range pretty significantly and I can tell you that the D500 is quite nice, but not perfect for astro. You really should grab a cheaper full frame for the price you'd pay on that camera, but I bought it for other uses as well.
However, if the budget is tight, I totally recommend the Nikon D7100, or even a D5300 (or newer) to get into it. The flip out screen in the 5xxx series is very handy for astro in cases where you want low-to-the-ground but upward perspectives, and the performance is not too shabby if you've got your exposures set well. The D7xxx series handles a little better, but doesn't have the flip out screen - a seemingly minimal difference, but I do like having it in a pinch. I haven't ever owned a D7100, but the reviews are quite nice and know a few other night sky shooters who use this and the D7200 who rave about it among its other strengths.
Anyhow, you can check out my channel if you want. All my timelapse videos were shot with all the various APS-C cameras I've owned so you can check out what each of those was able to do for me during my growth in the field.
David has some really great points in his experience. The flip-out screen especially. APS-C cameras are still probably the best value when looking at low light performance and price.
Hey man, do you need an intervalometer with the a6000?
Were you using Sony a7s astro modified on this trip?
No, just stock.
Great video Ian, why are you using the A7s and not the A7r ii for these shots?
Were any of those 18mm shots via averaging/if not, when would you recommend the technique?
Alex Holt yes, I tend to always stack exposures.
Lonely Speck Thanks for the reply, roughly how many shots?
Alex Holt it varies a bit but I always shoot a minimum of 16 exposures.
Ian - you've really inspired me to do this trip. I searched the flight prices, but what did all the other stuff cost approx? The van, food, etc..?
Good question. We rented the van for 20 days at just over $970 USD total. Something to note is that we were coming out of the "low" season so it's possible we had a lower than current rate.
For food, we mostly went to grocery stores (Countdown, etc.) as we traveled and stocked up on sandwich fixings and easy to cook meals for a two burner stove (what we had in the van). Our van had a refrigerator that could be run 24/7 since we were driving almost every day which made it easy to keep milk and other perishables. We made a lot of soups, sandwiches, and other things that required only one pan/pot if possible. We only used about $5 NZD of petroleum gas for our stove for the entire trip, cooking most of our dinners each day. Most of those grocery runs were relatively comparable to what you could expect of most USA stores although I found produce more expensive than California. In total about $150-200 USD per week for two people.
Freedom camping is prevalent all over New Zealand in designated freedom camping sites (we used the "Camping NZ" app to find these sites). Keep in mind that you usually get no facilities in these sites and they require a self-contained campervan with an internal toilet. Some of the primitive Department of Conservation (DOC) campsites we used (which run $6-8 per person) had vault bathrooms and cold showers but if you want a warm shower, laundry facilities, etc, you'll need to find a "holiday park" (RV park) which usually runs about $20-30 USD a night for a powered campervan site. Your tolerance for going without a shower will probably determine how often you want to stay at a holiday park over the course of your trip. We ended up using them more often overall than the DOC or freedom camping sites, especially because of our desire for warm showers and wi-fi. It might be wise to budget $175/week for camping fees if you see yourself doing less freedom camping.
Campervans are usually rented as "self-contained" but keep in mind that that toilet is definitely for emergencies only. They're usually chemical reservoir toilets that must be dumped manually at a designated dump station. We didn't use our campervan toilet once, instead opting for holiday parks, gas stations, and public facilities whenever possible.
Where costs were the highest (and more unforeseen) was probably gasoline. Our campervan took unleaded 91 octane (as opposed to cheaper diesel) and prices for gasoline are just under $2.00 NZD/L which is almost 2x the cost of gasoline in the USA. In total, we spent $724 USD on gasoline for our entire 20 days of campervanning which included driving the more than full north to south length of each island, estimated at about 5000+ km driven. Definitely something to plan for when budgeting your trip.
Hope that helps. --Ian
the right side of the car and correct side of the road