Sony A7 S - Anyone using one for astrophotography ?

[Space Hopper]

Thought i'd ask on here.....as the title suggests really.

I'm thinking of buying one of these down the line (when Sony reduce them a bit )

As well as normal photography use, i'd like to try some wide field astrophotography too.....the Milky way, comets, star clusters etc

Theres a load of online reports of its astro prowess. For anyone not familiar with it, it's a full frame chip, 12MP, and has amazing iso sensitivity up to 409,000 !

I've had a bit of a play with a friends A7 (not the 'S' version), and been very impressed. I love this camera.

Any thoughts guys.....?

[frostynixon]

Hello,

i think the A7s is a very capable astro camera and the only thing that might limit it`s usefulness is software support.

I found this video very impressive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUzLJ-M2Z_I

greetings

[Shiggy]

I've had an A7S since it was released.

It is a fantastic camera. For regular use I use it as a leica m body. It handles the m lenses really well and has a good focus peaking system (yellow).

Astro use has been a bit more difficult. The peaking is actually very good for focusing on stars but the tethering options are not as good as canons (no backyard EOS etc).

You have to get the triggertap system to program exposures longer than 30 seconds or use a manual trigger cable.

The sensitivity is truely something to be seen. ISO3200 is equivalent to 100 on this camera!

[NickK]

Yup - the A7 really seems to be a game changer. However I'm attempting to understand how much is sensor QE and how much is gain.

The only issue is that EAA folks normally want more FPS.. but at 4 fps it's more than plenty for normal space use.

Someone asked if I'd be interested in building support for it with the Sony SDK.. but it seems a bit mobile focused (perhaps for tablets). The hardware needs a bit of a DIY or addition of a shutter controller for DSO use.

[Photosbykev]

It's a camera I've been very tempted by I believe that the Promote Control intervalometer now has support for the Sony cameras, I use it alot with my Canon bodies

[Space Hopper]

Thanks for your comments...

Doesn't it have a completely silent shutter.......?  Or am i confusing this with something else ?

[Mick J]

There are a few images on the forum, a search for Sony A7s will find them, well worth a look, some stunning shots using high iso's.

[Shiggy]

It does have a completely silent (electronic) shutter mode, though it won't sync with flashes without the normal shutter enabled. Not that you would use a flash for astro. 

[Space Hopper]

.....a flash ?

This camera can, quite literally, see in the dark !  

[NickK]

The real issue is image quality.

I've not seen any long exposure DSO shots with this yet - only EAA where it's used for short exposure and any noise is tolerated.

[NickK]

Anyone considering the A7 may be interested in this: http://www.astrosurf.com/buil/sony7s/eval.html which is Christian's comparison and interesting for AP as well as spectroscopy.