EOS 70D Exposure setting recommendations for northern lights

[kd6y74]

Currently in the UP of Michigan trying to take pics of the northern lights. Can’t seem to get the setting right .. any suggestions?

[shadowsports]

Greetings,

What lens(es) are you shooting with?  A tripod is also recommended.  Any pics for us to look at? Or links to uploads that have EXIF data.

[kd6y74]

I believe I’m not properly equipped.  My lens won’t go down passed f3.5 (ef-s. 18-135mm and  55-250mm) and no tripod.Never got any pics with my canon just used (unfortunately) iPhone. All new to this .. keep reading its trial and error for settings. No lights forecasted tonight. 

[shadowsports · Accepted solution]

Greetings,

Don't feel bad. I just spent 12 days in Alaska and I never saw the aurora borealis.  I was up late too.  🙂

18-135mm and  55-250mm.  Those are nice kit lenses, I owned both years ago.  However, they are not optimal choices for night time or astro photography.  Popular lenses for this might be something 14-35mm with an aperture of f1.8 or f1.4.  Shutter somewhere in the 8-12 sec range, ISO 6400 or less and a tripod.

Any lens with a maximum aperture above f2.8 will require higher ISO and longer shutter.  The camera's sensor only has so much capability.  Without a tripod, you'll get blur.  The higher ISO's will also introduce various degrees of graininess.  The photosites on an APS-C sensor are smaller and have less light gathering capability.  That is not to say you cannot get good night time shots with an APS-C based camera, but a faster lens is needed to help the sensor do its job.  

[jrhoffman75]

As Rick says, the wider the aperture the better.

Some aurora are moving and you want a higher shutter speed, but if you are lucky to get relative static aurora you could get a good shot with your equipment. 

I captured this in Iceland. One-click Auto in Lightroom produced the processed image.