Blackmagic Forum

Hello,
I'd like to see how the BMCC copes with extreme low light conditions as I will have to face to. I'm looking for the best solution to shoot stars in the sky (Sony PMW200, BMCC, GH2 or 3, 5d, etc.) from the desert.
So it would be very kind of you if you could post here some raw test shots of a night sky at 1600 iso, shutter angle 180° and 360°, f2, f1.6… (I think f0.95 isn't possible for now but I have good hope with the Voigtländer 17.5 even if it's just wide enough).
I thank you very much for your help
Sylvain

well, this is not exactly what you are looking for but look at it you might grab something from it, until someone answers your request

I shot this at night.



When it comes to wides, they tend to be slow, so at night prepare to deal with telephoto style setups.

Hi Sylvain,
If you are looking to shoot at stars, I think your best option is photography timelapse. I did this time-lapse last year, see the last shot. I did it with a Canon EOS 1DS and a canon 14mm at F2.8, 1600 ISO and 24 second of exposition. I don't know if you are looking for something like this.

I found this....



But i can not ensure this is shot with BMCC

Jesus

Thanks for your answers. For my project I prefer real time video to time-lapse. It's about northern lights, not only stars. I don't want one more aurora time-lapse but to show what really happens in the sky. You can understand then that even a scene lighted by a candle receives more light than what I want to film.
I've already made it () but I'd like to know if it would be possible to achieve a better quality with BMCC.
As for the full moon it's far more luminous than a northern light so I can't conclude anything with this shot even if it's nice…

SylvainS wrote:Thanks for your answers. For my project I prefer real time video to time-lapse. It's about northern lights, not only stars. I don't want one more aurora time-lapse but to show what really happens in the sky. You can understand then that even a scene lighted by a candle receives more light than what I want to film.
I've already made it () but I'd like to know if it would be possible to achieve a better quality with BMCC.
As for the full moon it's far more luminous than a northern light so I can't conclude anything with this shot even if it's nice…

The 5D Mark III is crazy good at low light / high ISO. Only problem is that it's not the sharpest of cameras. What did you film your video with?

SylvainS wrote:Hello,
I'd like to see how the BMCC copes with extreme low light conditions as I will have to face to. I'm looking for the best solution to shoot stars in the sky (Sony PMW200, BMCC, GH2 or 3, 5d, etc.) from the desert.
So it would be very kind of you if you could post here some raw test shots of a night sky at 1600 iso, shutter angle 180° and 360°, f2, f1.6… (I think f0.95 isn't possible for now but I have good hope with the Voigtländer 17.5 even if it's just wide enough).
I thank you very much for your help
Sylvain

I don't think the BMCC will be for you.

I doubt you'll get stars reading.

Blackmagic's ISO 1600 is pretty much enough with a fast lens in an urban environment, but it's not going to give you the kind of performance you'll see from something like a Canon C300 in very very low light.

jb

Maybe yes, but I've shot northern lights before with a AF101, 1600 ISO, 1/12, f/2, and I'd like to compare the result with the BMCC one…

I just received my camera today, and some friends and I are going out monday night around the city to do some low light tests. If you still want to see this, I can make some time for your shots as well.

It would be so kind of you !
What I'd like is a wide shot in nature where you see a little landscape and the sky.

iso max (1600 i think)
shutter : 180° and 360°
Aperture wide open

And of course in raw…

Thank you !

Well I live in the middle of the city, so I don't know how much nature I can get, but there is a pretty big park near where we're going that I can go to.

What matters is to have the less light possible. Strange test isn't ?! Where I'll shoot auroras is a (cold) desert.

You guys are aware, that the ISO settings don't mean a thing when shooting raw - it's just metadata.

Frank

Yes

Hi Sylvain,

If you really want to do low light shooting with a BMCC rather than something more suited like the Canon C300, you should opt for the MFT version. With the right lens, can let in over four times more light.


Jules