Sony A7III Night Photography

Sony A7III Night Photography Settings and Gallery

Hey, in todays blog post i thought id introduce some night photographs that ive taken with my sony a7iii/tamron17-28mm setup and the settings that i used to take them.

Until the end of last year, i was living on a remote island called the Ogasawara Islands located approximately 1000km south of Tokyo. One of the perks of living on a island so remote was the lack of light pollution resulting in a beautiful night sky. Especailly during the summer months, the milky way appears very clearly with countless shooting stars roaming the sky.

I spent alot of nights taking my camera and tripod out to various spots around the island to take photos of the stars and night sky. Below is a photo i took in August last year when the milky way is the most clear in the sky.

 
How to take photos of stars with the sony a7iii and tamron 1728mm lens

The Milky Way - Sony A7III/Tamron 1728mm

(ISO 1250 F2.8 SS 10sec)

 

Gear

My primary setup for night photography was my Sony A7III and the Tamron 17-28mm/f2.8.

[Tamron 17-28mm sony e mount]: https://amzn.to/3jh0YHB

[Sony A7III]: https://amzn.to/2YXTH8R

For night photography, pretty much any lens with a low aperture (f-value) and a wide focal length works great for night photos.

Before using the tamron lens i used to use the Samyang 14mm f2.8 lens, this is one of the cheaper alternatives for astrophotography with sony cameras.

Also, a tripod is pretty much a must, the one i was using was one i found on amazon for around $20!

 
The Milky Way at Ogasawara Islands Taken With The Sony A7III/Tamron 17-28mm Lens 小笠原諸島で撮影した星空

The Milky Way at Ogasawara Islands - Sony A7III/Tamron 1728mm

(ISO 2000 F2.8 SS 15sec)

 

Settings

Some of the important settings that i usually start with

  1. Focus is set to Manual Focus

  2. Set camera to M mode so that you can adjust the ISO, SS, Aperture

  3. Shutter Speed: 10-30 seconds

    ISO Value: 1000-5000

    F Value - 2.8 (or the lowest F value your lens will let you.

Step By Step Guide

  1. setup tripod

  2. point camera towards the brighter stars to align focus as you will be using manual focus

  3. Make sure red peeking is turned on and alighn focus by turning the focus wheel on the lens. Once the stars are in focus the stars on your screen should turn red.

  4. Connect camera to a remote or your phone to press the shutter. The reason being the impact of pressing the button can move your camera very slightly resulting in a blurry photo.

  5. Start with settings around shutter speed 20sec, iso 5000, f value 2.8 and adjust and experiment after taking each photo!

  6. After practicing a lot you will start being able to adjust settings accordingly to the conditions

  7. Try to switch up the foreground to get interesting frames!

This photo below i took at a abandoned heliport at Hahajima Island. Its a little difficult to see but a few of my friend are sitting in the foreground. As the shutter speed is at 20seconds, i asked them to stay completely still for 20 seconds otherwise they will turn into a blurry shadow. You can briefly shine a torch/phone light on the foreground if you want a subject in the foreground to stand out!

 
The Milky Way at Hahajima Island Taken With The Sony A7III/Tamron 17-28mm Lens 母島で撮影した星空

Milky Way at an Abandoned Heliport -Hahajima Islands

(ISO 4000 F2.8 SS 20sec)

 
 
Sony A7III night photography settings and tutorial

Red Lunar Eclipse Ogasawara Island - Sony A7III/Sigma 100400

 

Thanks for reading all the way, ive posted lots more photos on instagram (@ryuta_og) so please check me out there!

Let me know if you have any questions or thoughts in the comments section below.

See you in the next blog post.

This is a list of the gear that i use!! Let me know in the comments if you have any questions or need recommendations :)  

My Main GoPro’s  [Hero 10Black]: https://amzn.to/3pbiEIn

      [Hero 9 Black]: https://amzn.to/2YZVwS2


My Backup GoPro [Hero 8 Black]: https://amzn.to/3DRrKOz

                              [Hero 5 Black]: https://amzn.to/3DSUqa1


Micro SD card for GoPro [128gb-fast]: https://amzn.to/2Z62fuf

SD card for Sony Camera [128gb]: https://amzn.to/3ANFpEw

External Hard Drive [2tb]: https://amzn.to/3jgNXh8


My GoPro Mounts:

[3 Way Mount]: https://amzn.to/3n9XjN7

[Bite Mount]: https://amzn.to/3FYcd1y

[Neck Mount - for pov]: https://amzn.to/3ANEGTO


My Main Camera [Sony A7III]: https://amzn.to/2YXTH8R

My Backup Camera [Sony A6000]: https://amzn.to/3psXS7x


My Lenses [Sigma 100-400mm sony e mount]: https://amzn.to/3aMIRoj  

                  [Tamron 17-28mm sony e mount]: https://amzn.to/3jh0YHB



Links used in the description may or may not be an affiliate link.

By using the affiliate link I earn a small fee of your purchase, however it does not cost anything extra for you to use them. Thank you for the support!

0 LikesShare