When director Alec Ernest approached us seeking help with a low-light project, we were eager to hear more about it. He was going to shoot a short documentary about Eric Merrell, an LA artist who paints in the desert under the moonlight. We knew right away that this would be a great opportunity for the Sony A7s to shine.
If you’re not familiar, the Sony A7s maxes out at ISO 409,600. But how far can you push ISO and still have a reasonably good-looking end-result? Far enough to get a decent exposure using moonlight? Alec did a number of camera tests with the A7s to try and figure out exactly that. You can see more details in the BTS video below, but he and his crew settled on ISO 24,000 – 32,000 as the sweet spot.
In the behind-the-scenes video, Alec covers several tips for shooting with A7s at night. He also talks a little about the post-process, including color grading and noise reduction.
Tips For Shooting With The Sony A7s At Night:
- Plan around a full moon
- Record at the highest bit depth possible
- Don’t have on-camera subjects wear black
- Don’t whip pan/don’t move the camera too fast
- Don’t go overboard with noise reduction
For more information on how to rent the Sony Alpha A7s, email [email protected], give us a call or stop in for a demo. We’d love to see you!
Watch the full Nocturnes Behind The Scenes video:
And check out the final Nocturnes production right here:
