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Aurora

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Frits Thomsen

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Location
aalborg, DK
There was some aurora tonight here in Denmark..

I have tried to take some pictures of it ...SD10 might not be the best tool for this, but ..I did capture something....







Watch uot , it might be coming to you on the other side of the Atlantic later this night..
Cheers
Frits Thomsen
See my pictures at
http://www.pbase.com/yoicz

 
GnomeToys said:
I see 3 solid black rectangles.
Click to expand...
If you're using a CRT, set "contrast" to maximum and increase "brightness" until you can see the green aurora.

I'm viewing it on a Mac LCD, which makes it a lot easier to see.

Frits, why not make the pix brighter?

j
 
Just Looking said:
GnomeToys said:
I see 3 solid black rectangles.
Click to expand...
If you're using a CRT, set "contrast" to maximum and increase
"brightness" until you can see the green aurora.

I'm viewing it on a Mac LCD, which makes it a lot easier to see.

Frits, why not make the pix brighter?

j
Click to expand...
Then there would be more noise...
but you see, later I will take some time to Post- process them a little better..
I just wanted to be the first to show this..

As far as I remember, I have never seen Aurora pictures here in this forum before..??? maybe for obvious resons..??
--
Frits Thomsen
See my pictures at
http://www.pbase.com/yoicz

 
I can see them easily on my crummy laptop LCD monitor. It has been calibrated too so I'm not cheating with Contrast and Brightness.

I'm amazed you were able to capture them so well.

Kent
Frits Thomsen said:
Just Looking said:
GnomeToys said:
I see 3 solid black rectangles.
Click to expand...
If you're using a CRT, set "contrast" to maximum and increase
"brightness" until you can see the green aurora.

I'm viewing it on a Mac LCD, which makes it a lot easier to see.

Frits, why not make the pix brighter?

j
Click to expand...
Then there would be more noise...
but you see, later I will take some time to Post- process them a
little better..
I just wanted to be the first to show this..
As far as I remember, I have never seen Aurora pictures here in
this forum before..??? maybe for obvious resons..??
--
Frits Thomsen
See my pictures at
http://www.pbase.com/yoicz

Click to expand...
--
Kent Dooley
 
Frits Thomsen said:
There was some aurora tonight here in Denmark..
I have tried to take some pictures of it ...SD10 might not be the
best tool for this, but ..I did capture something....
Click to expand...
Very impressive. There was a huge solar flare Monday and late Tuesday or early Wednsday the ejection were suppose to hit earth. Auroras were predicted for northen latitudes.

I got some images last spring in Florida. I used my Nikon Coolpix for the imaging. One of the few times they have been seen that far south. It occured in a star party at Chiefland Florida and many amature astronomers attending were treated to this rare event. I guess it is old hat for you guys that live in the far north.

Congrats again.
 
Here is a link to someone in the Fuji SLR forum that took some photos of the aurora also

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1020&message=11938272
Frits Thomsen said:
There was some aurora tonight here in Denmark..
I have tried to take some pictures of it ...SD10 might not be the
best tool for this, but ..I did capture something....







Watch uot , it might be coming to you on the other side of the
Atlantic later this night..
Cheers
Frits Thomsen
See my pictures at
http://www.pbase.com/yoicz

Click to expand...
 
Nice capture Frits,

It's a pity the colours of the first one fall into SDx noise green/purple colour pattern. Order different shade Northern Lights next time they are anounced over your place ;-).
Cheers,
W.
Frits Thomsen said:
There was some aurora tonight here in Denmark..
I have tried to take some pictures of it ...SD10 might not be the
best tool for this, but ..I did capture something....







Watch uot , it might be coming to you on the other side of the
Atlantic later this night..
Cheers
Frits Thomsen
See my pictures at
http://www.pbase.com/yoicz

Click to expand...
 
Just Looking said:
Frits Thomsen said:
As far as I remember, I have never seen Aurora pictures here in
this forum before..??? maybe for obvious resons..??
Click to expand...
What exposure time, and how fast a lens did you use?
Click to expand...
I was wondering the same thing, I have been curious about taking aurora pictures for a while, but I live too far south to get any practice.

it seems like it would have faired better either with a higher ISO, or longer exposure, or both... I couldn't find EXIF data on the pics.

--
---> Kendall
http://www.pbase.com/kgelner
http://www.pbase.com/sigmasd9/user_home
Alaska gallery: http://www.kigiphoto.com/alaska
 
Must be impressive to watch something like this.
Thanks for sharing
Thomas
--
http://www.pbase.com/aroid/
Do not wait for the Last Judgement.
It takes place every day. [Albert Camus, The Fall]
 
Last night , as I procesed and posted these pictures , I thought they looked pretty good, but now it´s full daylight and I cant see a thing on the screen...

Well it was the first time I tried to cappture this fenomenon, and after thinking it over , I guess there are a few things I would have done differently.

I used my Kit-lens 18-50 3.5-4.5, the fastest lens i have available right now , as my 24/1.8 is still at Sigma germany for repair.

I just used f:3.5 at 18 mm A-priority auto. Which gave shutter times around 3 seconds..

The camera was set at ISO 100 and Hi-res, I tried to change these setting but it was to dark ...I am not used to take pictures in the dark..

I first let the camera autofucus on the moon , and then put it on manuel ...and try not to tuoch the focus- ring.

These auroras were really faint and the result was a mix of noise and light. I did run them through the "Picture Cooler".

But next time I will hopefully have my 24/1.8, shoot manually for 4-5 sec. on low or middle res and maybe a higher ISO..

Thank you all so very much for the interest.
Frits Thomsen
See my pictures at
http://www.pbase.com/yoicz

 
Thanks Frits, I've been trying here in Iceland to take some aurora pics. We have a lot of aurora here on bright nights, it's so common that one almost takes it for granted and one tends to forget what an amazing sight it can be. The SD9 is almost useless for this type of photography, because of the restrcitons of shutter time at 400 ISO. I'm not sure what the SD10 can do. I think that to be able to get decent photos, you would have to use something like ISO 800, 10-15 secs, and an aperture around F1.8-2.8 with an wideangle. This can't be done with the SD9. Here is an Icelandic link of our Aurora, is's a slide show if you are intereseted, where "næsta mynd" means next picture.
http://www.islandsvefurinn.is/slideshowphoto.asp?Nr=1&syrpa=aurora&count=27
Halldor
Frits Thomsen said:
There was some aurora tonight here in Denmark..
I have tried to take some pictures of it ...SD10 might not be the
best tool for this, but ..I did capture something....







Watch uot , it might be coming to you on the other side of the
Atlantic later this night..
Cheers
Frits Thomsen
See my pictures at
http://www.pbase.com/yoicz

Click to expand...
 
Halldor Eiriksson said:
Thanks Frits, I've been trying here in Iceland to take some aurora
pics. We have a lot of aurora here on bright nights, it's so
common that one almost takes it for granted and one tends to forget
what an amazing sight it can be. The SD9 is almost useless for this
type of photography, because of the restrcitons of shutter time at
400 ISO. I'm not sure what the SD10 can do. I think that to be
able to get decent photos, you would have to use something like ISO
800, 10-15 secs, and an aperture around F1.8-2.8 with an wideangle.
This can't be done with the SD9. Here is an Icelandic link of our
Aurora, is's a slide show if you are intereseted, where "næsta
mynd" means next picture.
http://www.islandsvefurinn.is/slideshowphoto.asp?Nr=1&syrpa=aurora&count=27
Halldor
Click to expand...
Nice try Frits! I remember seeing this light as child.
I'm sorry I missed it... if indeed it could be seen around Copenhagen.
I wonder why sd9 and 10 hasn't been attacked as bad aurora cameras :-)
Halldor, thanks for the links to some beautifull sights.
A worthy challenge...for a m42 lens, F1.4. I bet it can be done...?

ole thofte
--
http://www.pbase.com/thofte
 
ole thofte said:
Halldor Eiriksson said:
Thanks Frits, I've been trying here in Iceland to take some aurora
pics. We have a lot of aurora here on bright nights, it's so
common that one almost takes it for granted and one tends to forget
what an amazing sight it can be. The SD9 is almost useless for this
type of photography, because of the restrcitons of shutter time at
400 ISO. I'm not sure what the SD10 can do. I think that to be
able to get decent photos, you would have to use something like ISO
800, 10-15 secs, and an aperture around F1.8-2.8 with an wideangle.
This can't be done with the SD9. Here is an Icelandic link of our
Aurora, is's a slide show if you are intereseted, where "næsta
mynd" means next picture.
http://www.islandsvefurinn.is/slideshowphoto.asp?Nr=1&syrpa=aurora&count=27
Halldor
Click to expand...
Nice try Frits! I remember seeing this light as child.
I'm sorry I missed it... if indeed it could be seen around Copenhagen.
I wonder why sd9 and 10 hasn't been attacked as bad aurora cameras
:-)
Halldor, thanks for the links to some beautifull sights.
A worthy challenge...for a m42 lens, F1.4. I bet it can be done...?

ole thofte
--
http://www.pbase.com/thofte
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link Halldor , very beautiful...

I have just come home after being out taking some pictures ,..and testing a fast lens..

I have "converted" a Yashica 50 f1.7.. so now I´ll just have to wait for the Aurora again..
Ole I know it could be seen in Næstved...
And Haldor, no a SD10 isn´t much better for this than the Sd9 I think.
It´s just about on the limit of possible ..for me anyway.

Ole have you seen my other thread about the update of the Picture- cooler..It is much better now , you can save the pictures in Jpeg or Tiff now..among other improvements.

Have a nice day
--
Frits Thomsen
See my pictures at
http://www.pbase.com/yoicz

 
What do you mean by "converted a Yashica 1.7"?

I got one but it hits the protector. Can you change that?

jac
Frits Thomsen said:
ole thofte said:
Halldor Eiriksson said:
Thanks Frits, I've been trying here in Iceland to take some aurora
pics. We have a lot of aurora here on bright nights, it's so
common that one almost takes it for granted and one tends to forget
what an amazing sight it can be. The SD9 is almost useless for this
type of photography, because of the restrcitons of shutter time at
400 ISO. I'm not sure what the SD10 can do. I think that to be
able to get decent photos, you would have to use something like ISO
800, 10-15 secs, and an aperture around F1.8-2.8 with an wideangle.
This can't be done with the SD9. Here is an Icelandic link of our
Aurora, is's a slide show if you are intereseted, where "næsta
mynd" means next picture.
http://www.islandsvefurinn.is/slideshowphoto.asp?Nr=1&syrpa=aurora&count=27
Halldor
Click to expand...
Nice try Frits! I remember seeing this light as child.
I'm sorry I missed it... if indeed it could be seen around Copenhagen.
I wonder why sd9 and 10 hasn't been attacked as bad aurora cameras
:-)
Halldor, thanks for the links to some beautifull sights.
A worthy challenge...for a m42 lens, F1.4. I bet it can be done...?

ole thofte
--
http://www.pbase.com/thofte
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link Halldor , very beautiful...
I have just come home after being out taking some pictures ,..and
testing a fast lens..
I have "converted" a Yashica 50 f1.7.. so now I´ll just have to
wait for the Aurora again..
Ole I know it could be seen in Næstved...
And Haldor, no a SD10 isn´t much better for this than the Sd9 I think.
It´s just about on the limit of possible ..for me anyway.
Ole have you seen my other thread about the update of the Picture-
cooler..It is much better now , you can save the pictures in Jpeg
or Tiff now..among other improvements.

Have a nice day
--
Frits Thomsen
See my pictures at
http://www.pbase.com/yoicz

Click to expand...
 
Jafalt said:
What do you mean by "converted a Yashica 1.7"?

I got one but it hits the protector. Can you change that?
Click to expand...
Hello Jafalt.

Well it is (or was) a lens for the Contax/Yashica mount that I have been grinding on..

There is a aluminium flange around the rear element, I have grinded (?) as much of it as possible. But it still hit the dust-protector...

So , when I was out testing it today I reckoned it could only be used for close to middle distances..
But as I took more and pictures , I got more and more confused...

It seems as the register distance is a little different so when I focus on an object 3 meters away the scale on the lens would show 1.5 meter...

I took this picture , focused on the mast..f5,6 it seems to me it can focus on infinity afterall...



I will have to do some more testing to find out how use it but sofar it looks promising..
Frits Thomsen
See my pictures at
http://www.pbase.com/yoicz

 
ole thofte said:
Halldor, thanks for the links to some beautifull sights.
A worthy challenge...for a m42 lens, F1.4. I bet it can be done...?
Click to expand...
I'm sure you can get some good results with F1.4 but in general, wide angle would produce the best pictures, because usually it's more impressive to include some foreground into the scene. The 20mm F1.8 should be a good choice, I will do some more experiments at ISO 100 on the next bright night, using maybe 30-60 secs. But that would produce very blurry aurora.
Halldor
 
Halldor Eiriksson said:
ole thofte said:
Halldor, thanks for the links to some beautifull sights.
A worthy challenge...for a m42 lens, F1.4. I bet it can be done...?
Click to expand...
I'm sure you can get some good results with F1.4 but in general,
wide angle would produce the best pictures, because usually it's
more impressive to include some foreground into the scene. The
20mm F1.8 should be a good choice, I will do some more experiments
at ISO 100 on the next bright night, using maybe 30-60 secs. But
that would produce very blurry aurora.
Halldor
Click to expand...
Yes it will be very noisy.

When I opened mine in the SPP X3F mode I could allmost see nothing but blue noise, then I changed the white ballance to "flourescant", most of it disappeared, but so did the aurora...
I had to apply X3fill-light and push up shadows to bring it up again..
Finally I ran it through the Picture - cooler program ..
Yes the 20 1.8 will be the best choise.
Good luck
--
Frits Thomsen
See my pictures at
http://www.pbase.com/yoicz

 
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