Camera settings for aurora photography
What are the best shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance, and other camera settings for northern lights photography? What exposure settings to use for different levels of aurora activity?
First of all, set your camera to the manual mode. Thus you will have complete control over your camera's exposure settings and can easily adjust them when needed. Also, learn how to change at least the shutter speed and ISO in the darkness. It will help you make changes faster when on the location.
Aperture
Choose the widest aperture your lens has, preferably f/2.8 or wider. It's necessary to get as much light as possible to the sensor. That allows you to use a faster shutter speed to freeze the aurora's movement and lover ISO to reduce the noise in your images. The downside of the wide aperture is that the foreground will not be in focus. Assume the foreground is an essential part of your composition. In that case, you can take an additional shot focusing on the foreground and then focus-stack it with the image of the northern lights.
Shutter speed
When the aurora is active, choose a faster shutter speed. That allows you to capture the details of the aurora. A 1-5 seconds shutter speed is a good starting point for the fast-moving aurora. You can increase the shutter speed to 8-10 or even 15 seconds when the aurora doesn't move. Just be sure that the stars still have a round shape.
ISO
Modern cameras allow you to use quite a high ISO without too much noise. Usually, ISO between 1250 and 5000 is enough for the northern lights. As for the fast-moving aurora, it's much brighter, which means you can increase the shutter speed without a need to raise ISO proportionally.
Exposure settings to start with
Here are some exposure settings you can start with. Then you can adjust them depending on the results.
Low aurora activity (Kp0-Kp2): f/2.8, 10 sec, ISO 2500
Moderate aurora activity (Kp3-Kp4): f/2.8, 5 sec, ISO 3200
High aurora activity (Kp5 and higher): f/2.8, 2.5 sec, ISO 5000
Moonlight allows you to use a 1-stop lower ISO or increase a shutter speed if needed.
The Step's Aurora Guide app recommends exposure settings depending on the aurora forecast and expected moonlight.
Other camera settings
First, shoot in RAW, which gives you more flexibility in post-processing. Then set the white balance to 3500K for more natural aurora colors. Later you can adjust the white balance when editing your photos if you shoot in RAW. Switch off image stabilization and long exposure noise reduction. Use a sturdy tripod and set a 5-sec shutter delay. Switch to the manual focus and focus on a bright star or distant light source.
