If you have recently come across from a DSLR to the sony mirrorless system, you might know how the camera works...but there are a few new settings that are worth learning about. Moon Shot: Sony a7III with Sony FE 200-600 F5.6/6.3G This image was captured hand-held at the maximum focal length 600mm, ISO 640, shutter speed 1/1,600 using Spot Metering, DMF (direct manual focus) and then processed in Lightroom. In January I embarked on a personal challenge to spend #100NightsUnderTheStars . Dark frame subtraction using Long Exposure Noise Reduction removed most – but not all – hot pixels from thermal noise.Â, Live View Focusing and Framing Sony a7III with Sony FE 200-600 F5.6/6.3G. You do get the benefit of reduced hot pixels in shadows, especially on a warm night like this was. While it does have a 1 frame-per-second movie mode in its “Slow-and Quick” functions, that’s not sufficient for night time-lapses, plus S&Q mode only works with HD movies, not 4K. The Nikon looks very clean, but the Sony also shows discoloration, green here, and an increase in noise. However, I emphasize that the noise increase from using LENR with the Sony was visible only when severely boosting underexposed images in processing. Sony A7III Software. Shooting typical 400-frame time-lapses used about 40% of the battery capacity, similar to the other DSLRs.Â. Sony’s A7III camera has enjoyed rave reviews since its introduction earlier in 2018. • The A7III’s red sensitivity for recording H-Alpha-emitting nebulas was poor.Â. Video Capability  These have had exposure and contrast increased to exaggerate the differences. Which means higher iso. I did put all the high ISO images through the classic noise reduction program Noise Ninja to measure total Luminance and Chrominance noise, and included the Canon 6D MkII’s images. As versatile as a mirrorless camera is for lens choice, making use of that versatility requires buying the right lens adapter(s). STAR EATER SERIES at 400% – This is the same series as above but now blown up 400% to better reveal the very subtle change in pixel-level sharpness as exposure lengthened from 3.2 to 4 seconds. Indeed, the ease of manually focusing in Live View is a key function.Â. I expected the new BSI-equipped Sony to better the Nikon by about a stop. When shooting deep-sky objects, particularly red nebulas, we like a camera to have a less aggressive infrared cutoff filter, to pick up as much of the deep red Hydrogen-Alpha emission line as possible. The Canon is free of any such issue – stars are naturally colored whether LENR dark frames are applied or not. (See other lenses that work.) Image quality was just fine. SONY WITH THE SYRP GENIE MINI – The Sony A7III worked well with the Syrp Genie Mini motion controller with the right shutter cable but only when placed in Continuous mode. His work has been commissioned by Adobe, Microsoft, Nike, Samsung, Dell, AVS, Starbucks, Viber, and WeWork. Both are very good – indeed, among the best performing cameras for high-ISO noise levels. Thanks for reading! Sony A7III & Sony A7RIII Camera Settings Righto! SkyWatcher Star Adventurer. Now it’s time to get deep into those camera menus and show you how I setup my camera to shoot surf and ocean images. They can cost anywhere from $100 to $400. However, I’ve found these post-shoot darks rarely work well, as the dark frames are not at the same temperature as the light frames, and often add noise or dark holes. The disadvantage is that full-time live view draws more power, with mirrorless cameras notorious for being battery hungry. The Sony still showed some discoloration artifacts and added noise when boosting images by +4 EV that the Nikon did not. The Canon does show more noise than the Sony. As soon as the Sony a7S was announced, I knew I had to try it for astrophotography. 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