Off to Iceland, help required!

Hello all

I'm off to Iceland for 3 nights on Boxing Day to hopefully get a glimpse of and photograph the Northern Lights....fingers crossed....

I intend to take all of my lenses in my sig and my 5D3.

Thing is, the fastest lens I have is my aged Canon 28-80L which isn't brilliant wide open. With the high ISO ability of the 5D3, do you think I'll be able to capture the lights well with a 17-40?

Thanks

Yes, the 17-40 should be OK if you wind the ISO up to 1600 or 3200.

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hollis_f wrote in post #16497638
Yes, the 17-40 should be OK if you wind the ISO up to 1600 or 3200.

Thanks, good to hear as I'm not sure my wife would be happy if more lenses started to appear!

xpfloyd wrote in post #16497642
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Nothing received yet.....

nellyle wrote in post #16497650
Nothing received yet.....

Should be there now mate

xpfloyd wrote in post #16497653
Should be there now mate

Thanks

Replied.

Perfect thread, as I was about to start the same one!

I'm headed to Iceland for the New Years holiday (28th-2nd), and we'll be staying in Selfoss. Our biggest reason for visiting is trying to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights, and of course I'd love to photograph them.

I think I'm going to have my 60D and use either the ultrawide or 30/1.4 to get my shots. Any other special tips for shooting the aurora?

GoHokiesGo wrote in post #16516583
I think I'm going to have my 60D and use either the ultrawide or 30/1.4 to get my shots. Any other special tips for shooting the aurora?

I woul duse the 10-20mm.

If you're going out in a group beware the idiots with P&S cameras with in-built flash. A large number of people will have no idea how to disable the flash and no idea as to why all they're getting is black skies. Be prepared to walk a fair distance away from them.

If the weather's cold (not always a certainty) then keep spare batteries in a pocket close to your body. Make sure you know how to ajdust your camera with gloves on in the dark.

hollis_f wrote in post #16516628
Make sure you know how to ajdust your camera with gloves on in the dark.

Very important! I've been out taking moon pictures to practice.

hollis_f wrote in post #16516628
I woul duse the 10-20mm.

If you're going out in a group beware the idiots with P&S cameras with in-built flash. A large number of people will have no idea how to disable the flash and no idea as to why all they're getting is black skies. Be prepared to walk a fair distance away from them.

If the weather's cold (not always a certainty) then keep spare batteries in a pocket close to your body. Make sure you know how to ajdust your camera with gloves on in the dark.

Good advice on both counts!

Thanks for the tips guys! Good idea about adjusting settings with gloves on, haha, most of my night scenes have always been in warmer weather in the past.

I've taken a few milky way shots with the wide angle and was able to capture that, so I'll give it a go with that first for the lights.

Nellyle - let's hope there is a lot of Aurora activity that week and that we both get some great shots! I think I'll be a few days after you, so I'll check the forum to see how your luck goes!

Northern lights are on my bucket list. I check this website out daily. It may help you plan for the lights.

http://helios.swpc.noa​a.gov/ovation/#

GoHokiesGo wrote in post #16518468
Nellyle - let's hope there is a lot of Aurora activity that week and that we both get some great shots! I think I'll be a few days after you, so I'll check the forum to see how your luck goes!

We fly back on the 29th so there'll be a slight overlap!

lehmanncpa wrote in post #16518472
Northern lights are on my bucket list. I check this website out daily. It may help you plan for the lights.

http://helios.swpc.noa​a.gov/ovation/#

Although this site will probably be the more important deciding factor.