Sony a7S III vs a7R V - Northern Lights Astrophotography / Video Comparison

Chasing the aurora borealis, or northern lights, has been a challenging endeavor, but the geomagnetic storm of 2024 brought colorful waves in the night sky to what seems to have been the majority of North America. While working on another project entirely, I was able to capture some amazing photos and videos of the light show and determine some interesting differences between some of the top camera models released by Sony. Were any of you lucky enough to be looking up when it happened?
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Cameras in this video:
Sony a6500, Sony a7R V, Sony a7S III
Music by Hidden URL:
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[@huyballack]

Awesome vid!

[@RobertClontz]

What you think you know vs what other people know 🤯. Nice video

[@yaj855]

Qualité vidéo le Sony a7s3 très bonne que qualité le Sony a7r5 mais en photos le Sony a7r5 bien 😊

[@gregsyverson]

I shoot the aurora at 24fps instead of 30 or 60. 1/24 of a second comparted to 1/60 a second gives you brighter auroras and you can use a lower ISO. I still believe the Sony A7S3 is tops. As you stated many other cameras can do a good job as well. Amazing what our cell phones can do for still images at night. I did test the Sony A1 for video and it surprised me. A7S3 ( still the King)

[@DesmondButler]

On one of my other KZbin channels that deals with low light scenarios, we always shoot at 24fps and 1/48, but for most social media sites, 30p is treated better during compression, so as a studio policy, I have always tried to stick with that. I have not had the pleasure of the testing out the A1, so that's pretty cool that you did. Great info as well, thanks!

[@teodormaxim5033]

amazing channel! not sure whether you have the ability to get your hands on some Sonys a7 IV/a7C 2 and a7R III. I'd be stoked to see an astrophotography showdown between Sony's older 42.4MP sensor and the newer 33 & 61MP ones! I'm looking to get the best of the best of these higher-res cameras when it comes to lowlight - you're the only channel that does the comparison I care about!

[@DesmondButler]

Glad to hear you're finding the info useful! I was always curious about these type of comparisons, and now that I've done them, I have a much better understanding of how many of these systems work, and I'm glad that sharing it has been informative for others. Thanks for the suggestions. I haven't ever played with the a7R III, but my next video is very Sony heavy, so be on the look out for that 👍

[@ChrisKoehn]

I don't know if my Lumix S1 shoots low-light video that is close to the A7S III, but I certainly find that it one of the best low-light timelapse cameras ever made. I'm able to easily bring the images up 4-4.5 stops with minimal impact on the image quality. As such, I'm able to use a bunch of f/4.0 lenses at night and get a picture that never fails to amaze me. Too bad their autofocus is trash so I've been watching your videos to see if I might add a Sony camera to my kit for my wildlife hobby.

[@DesmondButler]

I have not had the pleasure of shooting with a Panasonic model yet, but I definitely need to. I'll have to keep my eye out for the S1. You've made it sound pretty impressive. I can't speak for all brands, but I will confidently assert that Sony autofocus is still generations ahead of Canon. I have yet to have a focus failure using the a7S III at my full-time job.

[@frodomann108]

I think I finally understand how ISO works. Thanks

[@DesmondButler]

Glad it helped!

[@derekches]

what do you think of purchasing the ZV-E1 for these type of night lapse shots (video and photo lapse).... i like the compact form factor and it comes with the same sensor if im not mistaken.

[@DesmondButler]

Yes, I actually mentioned in my latest video that the ZV-E1 is the same sensor. There are some drawbacks, but for everything I did in this video, the differences would not matter. The ZV-E1 should perform exactly the same for low light video and photos as the a7S III at normal recording settings. I think there are a lot of good reasons for amateur photographers to go with the more stripped down model, and price is definitely one of them. Thanks for asking this question!

[@derekches]

@@DesmondButler thanks for the incite... sony really makes it hard to choose since they have such a wide range of sensor/body combinations. I will head over to watch that video!

[@MartinFransson]

It would be great to see a comparison with the R6 mkII for video.

[@DesmondButler]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll try to get my hands on one.

[@maxru5591]

r6 II is a monster in night photo, not in video mode

[@maxru5591]

i just taken a sony s2 yes s2 is better of s3 in night mode

[@MartinFransson]

@@maxru5591 but it must be at least as good as the R6 mk 1, right? I have the R6 mk 1 and it does pretty well also with film at night.

[@maxru5591]

@@MartinFransson i think its much better with more red sensitivity I shoot at 12,800 with no noise in the next days i hope to post a timelapse in kitt peak

[@maxru5591]

why did you not use a 1,8 ora fast lens? using a 2,8 its a huge mistake

[@DesmondButler]

Several of the shots featured in this video were shot at f1.4 and are marked accordingly. It would have been cool to shoot the timelapses with a wider aperture, but I'm still working on getting a wide angle lens that opens up to that width. Someday soon hopefully.